Which shoes and bag for Florida holiday (theme-park friendly choices needed)

[ShutTheFuckUpBarbara]

DH, DD and me are off to Florida for 2 weeks over Easter.

We will be spending a fair amount of time in Disneyland and other theme parks, and everyone I know who has been said there is an awful lot of walking involved.

With this in mind, I am looking for options of comfy yet stylish footwear that I won't be too hot in. I have a pair of Stan Smiths but I can't see myself wearing them in mid- to high 20s temperatures. I have some nice flat sandals from Boden bought a couple of years ago but although they are comfy for sightseeing I'm not sure they're the right choice for amusement parks.

I also need a bag. I don't think any of my handbags will be practical so I'm thinking of a smart backpack. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Mountain Warehouse do a good choice of sandals which are ever so comfy - I got the Shore ones when pregnant with twins and could walk all day in them with no issues (not very stylish however) and good prices, and they do a wide selection of backpacks, again good prices.

Any sandals with thick soles and not to many straps. Fit flops were my heroes walking round last summer. Nothing ached, rubbed or blistered even after a week walking in 35 degree heat.
Buy something now and wear them in though.

I bought a cross body bag from fatface a couple of years ago - make sure it's waterproof if you're going on water rides or to sea world! They don't seem to have any waterproof ones in at the moment.

Something like this

i wore trainers when i visited the theme parks and used a bumbag. Alot of other visitors at the parks did the same too.

Oh, I hadn't thought of looking for a waterproof bag. Great tip, thanks theaveragewife!

Crocs all the way!

I wore a pair of new balance trainers that were really comfy and let my feet breathe when we went in August. I used a cross body bag and DH carried a rucksack with sun cream, water bottles etc in.

I always take both trainers and walking sandals (Teva or Keene) as I have a bad back and need the cushioning in the footbed. I alternate as I find them both have good points.,My trainers are lightweight with material uppers for that the air can circulate.

Recently I have bought a pair of Sketchers Go Walk 3 and will be trialling these on my hot touring break at Easter (not Florida this time).

As for a bag, from the first time I went (28 years ago) I have always used a 'fanny pack' or bum bag if you are from the UK, in here I just keep the essentials. This stays on me the whole time and on every ride, there are a couple where you would have to take it off but they are far too scary for me. This is the only place I wear one, everywhere else I use a small cross the body bag.

We then have a small back pack that has the other stuff in it, such as suncream and water, when the DC were little this went on the buggy, now we are all grown up we share carrying it. We travel light though.

My SIL wears sun dresses and fit flops but she is much younger and has no medical issues.

Sorry for the essay - I got carried away

Have you been to www.thedibb.co.uk for lots of handy hints?

I wore fit flops around Disney they were great. Cross body waterproof bag plus a backpack fir ponchos etc.

Step away from the Bum bags. #fashionfelony

I'm going later this year and plan on getting skechers with the memory foam.
I've got a pair for work and they are amazing. I'm on my feet for 12 hours and walk around 4miles a shift, so I think they'll do the job for Florida.

I wouldn't worry about style, it'll be really hot and you'll be walking all day. Comfort all the way! I'd for for fit flops (or similar) and a light weight rucksack.

I have just seen this on Amazon, £17.99 and it can be worn cross body or as a backpack. It seems a good price.

Trainers all the way. It sounds mad in 30+ degrees but if the rest of you is in shorts and a vest then they won't make you too hot. Plus it's like the uniform for theme park visitors

Bag wise we took a drawstring bag as we were trying to travel light. It was mostly successful but next time I think we'd buy a little back pack for the more comfortable straps.

One thing we did to ensure dry valuables and cash was to take a pack of those good quality ziplock freezer bags. The sort you can freeze soup in. We had a couple in our bag each day and put our electronics, shared wallet etc in them. If they looked like they were wearing out around the ziplock seal we switched them out for new ones. It meant we could get onto any ride and not worry about our bag getting drenched. We even used one in a water park with just bank cards, tickets and cash in (we travelled VERY light!) which DH tucked in a zip pocket in his shorts.

Just so you know, no one looks stylish at Disney...... (and it's humid and your hair goes really frizzy )

Trainers really are the best option in my opinion.

You can get away with quite a small bag at Disney, as you can get free water from any quick service restaurant and if you are staying at a Disney hotel you get a magic band that you can pay for everything with & that's also your room key.

In fact, I have gone out for days at Disney parks without anything on me at all but the magic band on my wrist - it's so liberating!

Totally agree with bumbag. Can stay on on rides and doesn't make you hot!

For shoes I'd say something like a light trainer. You don't want anything that'll fly off!

I'm looking at Fitflop sandals on their website, they have some lovely designs but the price puts me off!

I had a few pairs of flip flops from there years ago, I didn't remember them to be this pricey (then again this was pre-DD when I seemed to have disposable income)

Time to trawl through Ebay!

Yes to a bumbag for security of cash etc.

I recommend sketchers go walks. Really comfy.

Try m and m direct for cheaper fit flops. I had mine from there. I also bought a really cheap cross body bag from claire's which was big enough to hold a travel size sun cream and a pack of tissues. DH was in charge of the cash!

I've done Florida 3 times at Easter and the only shoes that consistently don't give me blisters / rub / sweat / feel uncomfy are crocs - hideous as they are to look at - but they make a massive difference. Don't wear trainers or fabric shoes if you plan on going on anything water based! Step counts are usually 20k in Florida theme parks....

I use a small kipling cross body bag - waterproof and I can wash it when it gets dirty.

I second Florida is not somewhere that is for fashion. People don't dress up for dinner, it's all about comfort and casual. At least at Easter it's not too humid and your hair shouldn't frizz (which is why we go then!!)

I love my sketchers go walk but crikey do my feet get hot in them in hot weather. For hot weather and getting wet on rides etc as a PP said I don't think you can beat Crocs, I have a pair of these and they are extremely comfortable and never rub

www.crocs.co.uk/womens-crocs-isabella-sandal/202465,en_GB,pd.html?cid=001&cgid=sandals#start=15

These also look nice...

www.crocs.co.uk/womens-crocs-anna-ankle-strap-sandal/203001,en_GB,pd.html?cid=28H&cgid=outlet#&origin=category&srule=availability&start=37&sz=75&prefn1=gender&prefv1=Women&prefn2=variationSize&prefv2=&prefn3=refinementColor&prefv3=&prefn4=fitGuideFit&prefv4=&prefn5=lifestyle&prefv5=