Before going through the turnstiles into one of Disney’s theme parks you have to go through a bag check. It is not as involved as the airport so don’t be worried. In fact there is a spot for you to go around if you have NO bags. (I had a little camera bag that was on my belt and they sent me back through the bag check) It is important to remember about the bag check and know how to get through quickly so you don’t get hung up. The different parks are set up differently so different strategies apply. Part of this will also depend how crowded it is and how many adults and children you have with you.
Magic Kingdom
After you get off your disney transportation (bus, boat, monorail) you will proceed toward the turnstiles to go into the park. If you have young children with strollers and a few bags, it is a good idea to not put everything back in the stroller. Carry your bags if you can or just put them on the back of your stroller. We have even put the bags where the kids go and someone else takes care of the kids. It is not a long walk to the main gate from the buses, boats, and monorails. The stroller and bags have to go through to get checked but people can go right through the middle. If possible you can send one person through the middle with the kids and then one person can go through the security line with the stroller. You can get through the bag check quickly if you open every bag and zipper and open the bag wide or hold it open for them. They are just looking for dangerous things. They have never questioned bottles of water and food. They will ask you to open every zipper though so go ahead and do that ahead of time. The more prepared you are and open the quicker it seems to go. It can be hard to do this with little kids around your ankles or being worried that they are going to wander off. If one person can take them right through then the other person can concentrate and get through the bag check quickly and you won’t worry about losing someone before the day starts. After you get through the line then you can stash everything where it belongs on the stroller and then wheel over to get the rest of your group. While they are waiting for you they can take some nice pictures of the kids (don’t bring the camera through in a bag though)
Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom
These parks all have a decent walk from transportation to the bag check. You can load the kids up but don’t pack the bags away too much. Again have one person take care of the kids and the other handle the bag check and meet on the other side.
If you have older kids with no stroller then you might just have one bag so splitting up can still help.
