What Can (and Can’t) You Bring Into Disney World?

A vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida is an amazing experience whether you’re a little kid, an adult, or anything in between. Disney World is a magical place with rides, attractions, food, and resorts that appeal to anyone.

Because Disney World is generally a family-friendly destination with tens of millions of annual visitors, they do have a lot of rules in place to help keep guests and Cast Members safe. Chances are high you might’ve wondered what can you bring into Disney World.

Read on to learn about some of the things Disney prohibits and allows you to ensure the easiest experience at the parks. After all, not bringing in prohibited items means you have more park time!

General Process

There is a security screening in place at all Disney parks. You can expect that any bags and strollers will be searched, regardless of anything that you might have brought with you. Disney has added different measures and techniques to try to get guests through the process quickly.

Traffic is of course heaviest at park opening, so bring a bottle of water and stay patient! The Cast Members are only trying to keep everyone safe.

It’s worth noting, too, that Disney will frequently update their list of what’s allowed on the property. Always consult their official site before starting your trip. Now, onto the list.

Weapons

Disney does not allow any weapons into their parks at any time. In the United States, different states will allow for different weapon regulations, but know that Disney will not allow any weapons or anything that resembles a weapon into the parks at any time. This includes such things as:

Firearms

This includes not just firearms, but also ammunition.

Blades

This includes knives, swords, or anything else with a blade.

Self-Defense Items

If you regularly carry pepper spray, mace, a taser, or anything similar, be sure to leave that at home. The same applies to zip ties, handcuffs, and other restraining items.

Fireworks and flammable objects

No sparklers, cherry bombs, or anything like that allowed! If, for some reason, you were thinking of bringing a smoke or a fog machine, leave those behind as well.

Objects that look like firearms or weapons

This applies regardless of age. Bubble wands are allowed, but bubble guns are not. Prop swords are not allowed. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios sells replica lightsabers but you are not allowed to bring your own lightsaber into the parks. 

Stores in the Disney parks will sell swords that are very obviously toys, but don’t take the risk of bringing your child’s favorite and risk losing it!

Drugs and Alcohol

To help keep things simple, recreational drugs of any kind are strictly prohibited at Disney World. Let’s dive into a few often discussed areas.

Marijuana

Marijuana is now decriminalized or legal in many states. Regardless of that, marijuana in any form is strictly prohibited. This includes both THC- and CBD-based products.

Prescription Medications

Items such as EpiPens, antihistamines, and asthma medications are allowed. Be sure to let the Disney Cast Member check your bags that you have medically necessary items ahead of any bag checks so there aren’t surprises when they see those or similar items with your possessions.

Alcohol

While the Disney parks now do serve alcohol to guests of age, you are not allowed to bring your own alcohol to the parks. This includes beer, wine, spirits, flasks, and anything else you might think of.

Notably, one exception to this is at the Disney Springs complex. Some restaurants do allow guests to bring their own bottles of wine. Be sure to check with the restaurant about their policy before you do this. These restaurants will usually have an extensive wine list anyway!

Guests can bring outside alcohol into resort hotels, assuming any guest is of age.

Bags/Containers

Many large attractions are moving to only allow clear, plastic bags, but Disney allows guests to bring any kind of bag that they want. They do place a restriction on size, though. Bags can’t be any larger than 24” long by 15” wide by 18” high. If you measure that out, that’s actually a pretty large bag, so your standard backpack or purse will be just fine.

Plastic containers are okay, but glass containers are prohibited in the Disney World parks unless they’re for something like baby food. Glass containers such as jars are allowed in the Resort hotels. So if you’re bringing water bottles for you or your family, ensure that they’re not made of glass before you get to the park!

Strollers

This is a section that upsets a lot of parents, but it has to be in there. For parents with young kids, the idea of going to Disney World without a stroller sounds like a nightmare. However, as strollers kept getting bigger and bigger, all of Disney World had a stroller parking shortage causing congestion all over the place.

The good news is that strollers are still allowed! There is a size restriction, though. Anything over 31” by 52” is prohibited. So if your stroller (or even double stroller) fits there, you’re good to go.

Stroller wagons, regular wagons and any trailers are not allowed.

Technology, Recreation, and Transportation

This category is constantly being updated as new gadgets get released. Let’s take a look.

Technology and Recreation

Drones are all the rage and can give beautiful photos. Unfortunately, they’re not allowed on Disney property. Neither are things like remote control cars, megaphones, horns or noisemakers.

Selfie sticks were all the rage a few years ago and guests have a ton of horror stories from that time period. To respond to that, selfie sticks are not allowed at any park or water park. The same thing goes for tripods that extend past 6 feet. Disney has professional photographers all over the park, so don’t worry about capturing that perfect shot!

Disney also prohibits guests from bringing musical instruments into any of the parks. You might think it’d be cool to bring your electric guitar over to the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, but your six-string won’t make it past the security screening.

You’ll see balloons sold in most of the parks, but they’re forbidden in the Animal Kingdom to help keep animals safe. So if you’re park-hopping from Epcot to the Animal Kingdom, make sure that you stop at your hotel to drop off your balloon. That will help you avoid any upset kids! 

Transportation

Basically, unless it’s an approved stroller or a mobility device, personal wheeled transportation isn’t allowed in Disney parks. This includes skateboards, scooters, roller skates, rollerblades, hoverboards, and shoes with built-in wheels.

This also includes anything ending in “cycle.” However, the Fort Wilderness resort area and the Boardwalk offer bicycle rentals. These are great ways to check out those areas and give your tired feet a break!

Guests are also not allowed to bring in any kind of foldable chair or table into the parks. This includes the standard metal or plastic folding chair, but also fabric-based camping chairs.

Food/Drink

Disney World does allow guests to bring in outside food and drink, provided that they don’t fit in with any guidelines above. So plastic bottles of water, snacks, and sandwiches in a bag that’s smaller than the allowed limit? That works. Beer, glass jars, and an enormous cooler? That won’t work.

In addition, plastic straws are prohibited at Animal Kingdom park because they present a threat to the wildlife. If you have a reusable straw, that you can bring inside. The Animal Kingdom also has one-use paper straws available at all dining spots.

Bringing your own food is a great perk for Disney guests because food in the parks can be really expensive. Being able to bring snacks or lunch in gives you a built-in break and saves you some cash. There is one more prohibited food item though that you should consider.

Ice

Reusable ice packs and frozen water bottles are allowed. However, dry ice and loose ice are not. Loose ice includes ice cubes and bags of ice.

So, if you’re going to bring food to the park, make sure to plan ahead because days in central Florida tend to be hot and humid.

Animals

Bringing your beloved pet to Disney World might sound nice, but it can be complicated. Let’s look at some of the different distinctions.

Service Animals

Disney World prides itself on accessibility, so service animals can come with you to all areas, even to the parks. Service animals can even come with you on some rides, but not all. 

If you’re someone who needs a service animal and is planning a trip to Disney World, we recommend calling ahead to Disney Guest Services who can help give you the proper guidance to keep your service animal-safe.

Companion Animals

Companion, or emotional support, animals are not generally permitted within the parks but can be welcomed at resort hotels on Disney World property. Again, we recommend contacting Guest Services for the most up-to-date guidelines.

Dogs

If your dog doesn’t fit into the above but you still want to bring them to Disney World, you can but with conditions. Dogs that aren’t service animals aren’t allowed into any parks. However, Disney does offer four on-site resorts that are dog-friendly:

• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
• Disney Port Orleans Resort-Riverside
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

There are dog-friendly rooms and designated areas to let your dog get exercise!

Other Pets

Cats, reptiles, rodents, and others are prohibited from Disney World property at this time.

Clothing and Costumes

When it comes to clothing and costumes at Disney, there’s a lot of nuances but the rules are pretty easy to follow for prohibited items. Let’s take a look.

Clothing

For clothing, it’s pretty open but use your best judgment. Disney asks that guests not wear anything that’s “objectionable” or “inappropriate.” 

To be fair, that’s a pretty broad definition. What you can interpret that as, though, is to maybe not wear your skimpiest swimsuit to any of the parks (at least not with clothes over it!). We also don’t recommend shirts that recommend violence or have profanities.

Guests must wear footwear, but that can include sandals or open-toed shoes. We recommend something comfortable for all the walking!

Costumes

Disney has a ton of rules around what costumes are and are not allowed, but it’s fairly easy to break down.

For the most part, costumes and costume masks are not allowed for anyone over the age of 14. So, you’ll have to leave your full Goofy costume (complete with the head!) back at home. The reason for this is safety. While Disney offers photo opportunities with characters, they do not allow photo opportunities for guests with other guests in costume. There are a few exceptions:

Star Wars

With the recent opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Hollywood Studios, guests worldwide were excited for the opportunity to be immersed in the world of Star Wars.

To meet that, Disney allows some Star Wars costuming for guests in that area. Things like muted vests and colors that you might see in the world of Batuu are allowed. However, full costumes with helmets (think Luke Skywalker’s orange flight suit or the red Sith guards) and Jedi robes are not allowed. Disney posts official pictures of what is and is not allowed regularly.

After-hours events

Events like the After Hours Boo Bash and Villains After Hours are great ways to see the Magic Kingdom at night. For these themed events, Disney does loosen their costume guidance a bit.

Guests 13 and younger can wear full costumes with masks. For any masks, though, the child’s eyes must be completely visible. So no full Iron Man helmets!

Adults can also wear costumes, but there are a few more restrictions. Adults can not wear full-face masks and can not bring in anything resembling a weapon. 

Capes may be worn so long as they don’t go below the waist, and costumes can’t drag on the ground. Your screen-accurate Cinderella dress may be a showstopper, but you’ll have to leave the train behind.