I recommend booking your Disneyland trip with a Disney travel agent. My sister looked online at so many discount travel sites and my friend that is a Disney travel agent had the best deal for her family.
Sometimes you get a better deal when you book your hotel, park tickets, and character dining in a package deal. Disneyland will sometimes have good deals on their hotels. Watch for that on their site to get the best deal available. Any Disney travel agent can book the package deals.
You can bring your own food into Disneyland to save money. You can eat your food in Disneyland on a bench or you can go back to your hotel if it's close by.
You can also bring your own snacks. Make sure you bring plenty of snacks for kids.
Anytime you order food at Disneyland you can ask for a cup of water. It's free!
Adults are allowed to order the kids meals. You can get a great meal with plenty of food for a cheaper price.
If you have a car you can go to the nearest grocery store to buy food there. If you fly there you can pack snacks in your suitcase. I do know that some car services that take you from the airport to hotel will take you for a short trip to the grocery store. So you can look into that if you would need a ride to the store. I know there is a Wal Mart about a mile away from the hotels across the street from Disneyland.
Look online on Disneyland's website or a Disneyland app that has the restaurants on it ~ to see how much the meals costs so you can budget for that.
You can share meals. My sister, her husband, and her eight kids went to Disneyland and shared their meals. Some meals at Disneyland offer a lot of food. So share meals if you need to.
The picture above ~ Just if you were wondering where I got that chicken... it's from the French Market Restaurant in New Orleans Square. It's one of my favorite meals at Disneyland!
My daughter and I always share our snacks like the churros and popcorn. They both cost $4.25 and easy to share.
Buy Disney shirts before your trip at the Disney store website or Kohl's website to save money. The shirts at Disneyland cost about $15 to $35. If you need to save money and stick to a budget buy shirts before the trip. When I buy shirts on the Kohl's website I can get each shirt for about $10! They have great deals!
Buy the cheap ponchos before your trip. Just in case if it does rain ~ you won't have to buy everyone in your family a poncho at Disneyland. They are really cute, but if you need to be on a budget this is something you can easily save money on.
Buy souvenirs before your trip if you need to save money there. I know some families buy Disney items at the store in their hometown and then when they get to Disneyland each kid gets to buy one item.
The cheapest souvenir is collecting the pressed coins. Disneyland and California Adventures have pressed coin machines all over the parks. It's a great way to get a souvenir without spending a lot of money.
In California Adventures they have the Boardwalk Games. Kind of like games at a fair that offer stuffed toys as a prize. The Fishing game is a great one to play if your kid wants a souvenir but you need to stick to a tight budget. The games are all $2.50 and you always win a prize with the fishing game.
My friend told me she heard one family saves money before their trip for souvenirs by cleaning the house for "Disney Dollars." The kids will earn money for the own souvenirs If you want to try that out ~ it's a great idea!
If you want to see some options for great souvenirs for kids you can Click Here and read my blog post about kid souvenirs.
If your kids want the characters to sign an autograph book ~ you can save money by making your own. The books at Disneyland are around $12 to $15. If you need to make your own to save money just buy some scrapbook items or find some around the house.
To help you save up money for your trip buy Disney gift cards at the store here and there. If you buy a $25 or $50 every week or two before your trip to help save up money for your trip. Kind of like putting money aside each week for your trip, but instead of it being cash that you might be tempted to spend on something else. You have a gift card that's only for Disneyland.
If you are going with a lot of people in your family ~ you can rent a house near Disneyland. You can look that up online. I know some people do that to save money because it can be cheaper than getting a bunch of rooms at a hotel.
The hotels right across the street are the best ones and I usually get a hotel there for about $150 to $175 a night. There are cheaper hotels for around $85 to $100 a half mile or a mile away that offer transportation to Disneyland. Some offer the transportation for free and some have a fee. So make sure you know if your hotel offers the transportation for free or the fee. Disneyland's parking has a fee so going to a hotel that will take you to Disneyland will save you money.
If you need transportation from the airport to your hotel you can ride the Super Shuttle for a cheap price. That one is the cheapest for adults. The Disneyland Resort Express is cheaper if you are traveling with kids. The adults cost money for their ticket, but the kids are free.
I know you can get discounted Disneyland tickets, but if you look online ~ just make sure the website is affiliated with Disney. You don't want to spend money on tickets that are not real.
I hope these tips help with your family going to Disneyland on a budget. Disneyland is worth every penny!
~ Britt
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