Bottled water: We bring several bottles of water that we had placed in our freezer a few hours before we leave for the parks.  We also bring water flavors packets (available at most grocery stores) and mix them when we are ready to drink the water. Each park has a policy about bringing food and drinks into their perspective park but we’ve never been told to get rid of the water.   Disney's policy on bringing food into the park  Universal Orlando's food policy  SeaWorld's food policy 

Small snacks: Small snacks, like granola bars, pretzels pieces, candy and gum are given to our son while he is waiting in line. We like to provide him with crunchy items because it helps drown out noise while he is eating and also gives him the sensory input he craves.  Our son is also a teenager so he is constantly hungry. Our experience has shown that his being hungry can contribute to an increase in inappropriate behaviors and/or increased sensitivity to what bothers him. Waiting in line for food on a busy day is difficult for our son. He also has a limited number of foods he likes to eat so we try to bring snacks he likes.  Disney World's policy on bringing food into the park. Universal Orlando's food policy.  SeaWorld's food policy. The only time we’ve been told we couldn’t bring food into a park was the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we recently had in our backpack at SeaWorld.  (Please note that plastic straws are prohibited at Animal Kingdom and SeaWorld due to the hazard they present to the animals).

Communication needs: Flash cards or iTouch/iPhone/iPad apps:  Before our non-verbal son got an iPod Touch and prior to the popularity of apps for kids with communication deficits, we created flash cards with the name of every attraction and restaurant and activity for Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Studios. We printed them out on color coded cardstock (blue for food & drink, yellow for rides, red for needs, etc), laminated them, punched a hole in the upper left corner and hung them on a craft ring, one ring per park. For children who cannot read, you could use pictures of the rides or a park map. 

Now he uses the proloquo2go app on his iPod Touch, which is connected to a speaker (iMainGo2 portable speaker) that doubles as protection for the iPod Touch. We programmed the app with all of the necessary information for each park.  We also use each park's map for our son to point where he wants to go next. The first few times we went to the parks, we showed him the attraction and then pointed to it on the map, then showed him the flash card. He caught on rather quickly how to use the map, the flash cards and eventually the iPod Touch app.

Ear plugs/headphones:  If your child is sensitive to sounds (like ours), you may want to bring ear plugs to the parks.  We use ear plugs that are “spongy” and are difficult to get stuck in the ear. We usually get them at our local Walgreen’s. If your child pushes one too deep and it gets stuck in his/her ear, tweezers usually are all you need to get them out. For the water parks, my son uses swimmer's ear plugs which do cut down the sound levels but not as well as the other types of ear plugs.  Our son also wears sound reducing headphones and we usually get them at our local Wal-Mart in the gun department.  Your child may prefer to use music headphones connected to an mp3 player to help drown out noise while waiting in line or especially while eating in restaurants.

Poncho and/or small umbrella: During your visit to Orlando, it is likely that it will rain sometime while you are here. This does not stop people from attending the parks unless it is a really heavy storm and that’s when you should go to the parks because everyone else will be afraid of the rain. Our son has a poncho because he would accidentally jab someone if he had an umbrella. Mom and Dad carry an umbrella. We also use umbrellas on very sunny days when a hat is not enough to shield the strong Florida sun and you need some shade.  Dad carries both an umbrella and poncho, but uses the poncho to prevent getting soaked at certain parts on Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld and Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure (Universal Orlando) since he rides those rides more than once with our son.

Many people wear their ponchos when riding Kalhi River Rapids in Animal Kingdom, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure, in the soak zone at the One Ocean Show at SeaWorld and other wet rides at the different parks. Each park sells the ponchos but they are less expensive at most chain stores.  Since we go to the Parks so often, we purchased sturdier ponchos that campers use.  It may also be a good idea to purchase the same colored ponchos for your family for easy identification in a crowd.

Plastic kitchen trash bag:  We use a kitchen-sized trash bag at the parks to store our wet ponchos when the rain stops preventing everything else in our backpack from getting wet.  We also use them at the water parks. They are great to put your wet bathing suits in before putting them in your backpack when you are leaving.

First aid/medicine: Each park has a First Aid station. We have a very small first aid kit that includes Band-Aids, Neosporin, etc., that we bring along with any needed medicine, including prescription and over-the-counter medications. If your child takes prescribed medication, please do not skip their dosage during vacation.

Stroller/Wheelchair:  If your child is hard to keep close, fatigues easily, and they are small enough, you may want to rent a single or double-sized stroller at the park for them to ride in if you don't bring your own. This will help with fatigue issues and also reduce the chance of your child getting lost. On busy days (except for the very busiest days of the year), we have rented a wheelchair for our teenaged son to ride in because he walks very fast and can easily get away from us. When it is super crowded (major holidays), it is too difficult to maneuver a wheelchair or stroller through the crowds so we either hold our son's arm or avoid going to the parks altogether during that time.