No straw rule, what drinks work?

[mommymanda]

We are paying OOP for our meals. I know a money grab is drinks.

The two youngest will get drinks with kids meals anyhow. DH and I will decide/day whether we need one and DD who is 11 will most likely just get a drink with lunch each day same as the boys.

Currently my plan is for each of us to have a reusable bottle for water. I also want to bring one drink each. We are driving down so will most likely buy a case of pop for DH and I. A case of Gatorade and I wanted to bring a case of juice boxes. From what I'm reading I am not allowed the straws?

What options do I have without the straw that is still a healthy 100% juice? I'm thinking for my 3year old mostly. The idea of bringing something reusable for a week makes me nervous, water is easy to deal with. Juice I am just thinking all the germs that can build up over a week.

 

[Aaeolien]

Get the juice boxes for in the room and just go with water in the parks in one of your reusable bottles. It's all about just staying hydrated in the parks anyway and enjoy the nice cold juice boxes on a break or when you are done with the parks for the day. I also believe the only park that doesn't allow straws is animal kingdom.

 

[EMode]

I think the no straw rule is for AK only so I don't think it would be an issue in any of the other parks.
I don't think its a real problem anyway, just pour the juice boxes in a reusable bottle or sippy cup. You can bring a small bottle of detergent and wash it out on your room.

 

[MommaPeel]

The no straw rule is only at animal kingdom, they have paper straws on site so the animals are not harmed if they get ahold of one of them.

At the water parks, MK, EPCOT, and HS you will be perfectly ok bringing your chilled juice boxes.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Y0H0H03]

The no straw rule is only in AK, so you should be fine in the other parks to do juice boxes for the kids!

 

[Crl1817]

I believe treetop apple juice comes in little cans so you could do those at AK. I hear you on wanting water only in reusable containers, I do that at home even.

 

[Karenj2]

What about something like this, from www.onestepahead.com? It's a cap you put on whatever you purchase at the restaurant, that allows for a straw, but self-seals when the straw is out?

They have a few other cool ideas I'm looking into for my kids.

Sorry - just re-read your post, and realized that you were more asking about what type of juice to bring, not about the containers exactly... As others have said, you don't need to worry about the straw thing except for at the AK. Personally, I'd just get water - my kids don't do juice at all. (When I went to WDW while pregnant, and needed to drink LOTS of water, I did bring some of the individual flavor packs to give the water a different flavor, but I generally avoid those now. But, if you're already planning on buying gatorade, you might want to consider that instead - it's less bulky to pack than both water AND gatorade.)

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

I totally agree. I plan to bring some Koolaid flavor packets for our trip. (we are flying and cant bring liquid anyways) but I think it would be MUCH easier to carry a little flavor pouch around than a Gatorade!

 

[amym2]

Ditto the suggestion to bring along some flavor packets for water (Crystal Light, lemonade, etc) instead of lugging around drinks. We don't even bring along water, we just get free water from the CS restaurants whenever we're thirsty. But then we're way past the stroller stage, so assuming you'll have one, it will be easier for you. Just go with whatever juice boxes your 3yo prefers and don't give him juice the day you're at AK. And I'd bring along a small dish soap to clean the reusable water bottles occasionally.

 

[scrapquitler]

We are paying OOP for our meals. I know a money grab is drinks.

The two youngest will get drinks with kids meals anyhow. DH and I will decide/day whether we need one and DD who is 11 will most likely just get a drink with lunch each day same as the boys.

Currently my plan is for each of us to have a reusable bottle for water. I also want to bring one drink each. We are driving down so will most likely buy a case of pop for DH and I. A case of Gatorade and I wanted to bring a case of juice boxes. From what I'm reading I am not allowed the straws?

What options do I have without the straw that is still a healthy 100% juice? I'm thinking for my 3year old mostly. The idea of bringing something reusable for a week makes me nervous, water is easy to deal with. Juice I am just thinking all the germs that can build up over a week.

The no straws thing is only at Animal Kindgom, it's not all of WDW. You can bring a reusable cup of some sort and wash it in the room, I don't see a big problem with that. If you are against that idea, buy some of the 'take and toss' type sippy cups and throw them out at the end of each day.

Also look around the juice aisle at somehwere like Walmart. I know ours has smaller (8-10 ounce maybe?) bottles of 100% juice like cranberry, grape, etc. I think they may be welch's brand. And there's definitely smaller cartons an bottles of orange juices in the dairy case.

 

[CharmedLife]

I second the bottles of juice. I've bought bottles of apple juice, grape juice, etc. I would prefer the water for staying hydrated, but if your kids want juice then I think there are many other "container" options besides juice boxes with straws.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just carry a few small paper cups with you and pour the juice box content into them; just put a sharpened key on your ring to punch the hole.

No big deal if you lose the paper cups. If you really want to try to avoid spills; buy the paper coffee cups that have the sipper lids included.

 

[bookgirl]

We are paying OOP for our meals. I know a money grab is drinks.

The two youngest will get drinks with kids meals anyhow. DH and I will decide/day whether we need one and DD who is 11 will most likely just get a drink with lunch each day same as the boys.

Currently my plan is for each of us to have a reusable bottle for water. I also want to bring one drink each. We are driving down so will most likely buy a case of pop for DH and I. A case of Gatorade and I wanted to bring a case of juice boxes. From what I'm reading I am not allowed the straws?

What options do I have without the straw that is still a healthy 100% juice? I'm thinking for my 3year old mostly. The idea of bringing something reusable for a week makes me nervous, water is easy to deal with. Juice I am just thinking all the germs that can build up over a week.

AK is the only place that prohibits straws. They're good everywhere else.

Also there are mug washing stations at the food courts if you are staying value or mod, or take a small travel bottle of dishsoap with you and wash your bottles in the room at night.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I totally agree. I plan to bring some Koolaid flavor packets for our trip. (we are flying and cant bring liquid anyways) but I think it would be MUCH easier to carry a little flavor pouch around than a Gatorade!

FYI - You can get powdered Gatorade in individual packets too. They're not that easy to find. I ended up getting a box of them on Amazon. My teen boys love Gatorade and using the packets gave them a nice break from plain water. We went in August, and our rule was soda was OK with meals only, and water or Gatorade at other times.

 

[DisneyLvr55]

Just a thought.... If you get your two youngest 1 adult meal, rather than 2 childrens, you will probably save $$ and be able to buy the extra drinks with it.