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It’s a great, big beautiful tomorrow!

We live in such an amazing time to be theme park tourists. The bulky cameras and brick mobiles of yesteryear have been largely replaced by sleek smartphones-- and other favorite traveler tools have been streamlined to match!

We’ve talked about building your own Walt Disney World (or Universal Studios) survival kit before, but if you really want to take things up a notch, you will love these 6 amazing travel gadgets for your next theme park trip. Some are like having an Innoventions showcase in your pocket!

1. This uber-versatile travel pillow

Video: TRTL Pillow, YouTube

Let’s get one thing out of the way: most horseshoe-style travel pillows suck. They’re bulky, they don’t support your neck correctly, and they generally don’t make it any easier for the average mortal to sleep on an airplane or in a car. While innovators have come up with a number of creative (and downright wacky) travel pillows, for us one has risen above all as the best travel pillow ever.

The TRTL pillow doesn’t really look like a pillow at all. At first glance, it sort of looks like a weird scarf. The hidden magic of the TRTL pillow is a lightweight, flexible frame hidden in the pillow side. You place this frame against your neck and shoulders, then wrap the scarf end around your head and secure it with Velcro. The result is that the pillow uses the combination of the frame and the tension from the scarf to produce a very supportive and comfortable pillow.

While it is designed to be used on one side of your neck, I have also used mine in front of me to keep my head from bobbing forward, or unsecured behind my neck as a comfy neckrest. It also makes a pretty decent phone, book, or tablet holder if you tilt it on its side. The pillow folds up respectably small and can be easily attached to the outside of a bag if needed. For parents visiting Walt Disney World with little ones, the TRTL could serve as an awesome impromptu pillow for naps (skip the scarf part if your kid is fidgety). All in all, this has become one of our favorite travel accessories!

2. This pair of noise-cancelling earbuds

Audio Technica Earbuds

Image: Audio Technica

A good pair of headphones can prove a lifesaver on any trip but even more so on a Walt Disney World vacation. First off, a solid pair of noise-canceling earbuds like the Audio Technica ATH-ANC23’s might mean the difference between a peaceful flight and a stressful one—particularly if you want to catch any sleep on the way. The same applies for road trips.  If you’re an iPhone user or prefer wireless headphones, you could splurge on ultra-crisp Bose Quietcontrol 30 Wireless earbuds or save some money with either the Phiaton BT 100 NC or these Meidong HE8F Noise Cancelling earbuds.

The uses for a solid, lightweight pair of earbuds on a Walt Disney World trip aren’t limited to catching naps. As long as your headphones don’t bleed noise (which would annoy other guests), instead of twiddling your thumbs for hours waiting in long theme park lines, you could grab your headphones and listen to some music, an unabridged audiobook, or even catch up on your favorite Disney movies if you have enough battery. Want to listen with others in your party? Use a headphone splitter like this one from LP. You can also use noise cancelling headphones to soothe a stressed child, particularly if they don’t like loud noises like the scream of the train engine (if even small earbuds covers hurt their ears, you could do the same hack with a foldable pair of over-ear headphones). Same goes for if you struggle from panic attacks or anxiety—sometimes all you need is to quiet the noise!

Want to really take things to the next level? Try our recent hack for Disney superfans and use headphones to add your own soundtrack to dark rides!

 
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