Disneyland On A Budget: Tips To Save You Money!

Disneyland On A Budget: Tips To Save You Money!

Planning a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth can be daunting, even more when you are planning a trip to Disneyland on a budget. It is possible to make a Disneyland vacation affordable with a little planning and research!

In fact, it is definitely doable, if you really do your homework, I am proof to that. Below is a picture of my family, as you can see we are a family of seven. I get asked all the time, “how do you do it?”

I have either used these tips myself, or have enough first-hand experience at Disneyland to know that they work. Several of these tips could save you hundreds of dollars.

Here are my tips and tricks of making a Disneyland Trip affordable for a family on a budget.

Discount Tickets-I always look to find the best discount Disneyland tickets, but you have to be careful who you buy from and make sure they are a reputable Disneyland ticket seller. The two I use are:

Get Away Today, has the lowest prices hands down for Disneyland tickets and hotels. Get Away Today often does deals where you can purchase Disneyland tickets at child prices and other limited time offers. And after you book your trip you can call them anytime to make sure you are getting the best price!  They have excellent discounts on 2-day to 5-day tickets, for many people, a 5-day ticket is too much; fortunately, there are plenty of tickets for shorter durations that are also discounted.

Undercovertourist– Is like Get Away Today and has low prices as well, so check both websites to make sure your getting the best deal

Buy early – The price of Disneyland tickets goes up every year, and you can buy tickets a year or more in advance to beat price increases. February is usually the month when increases are announced, so Christmas is a great time to surprise the family with next year’s Disneyland trip for last year’s price.

Watch for sales – Get Away Today regularly has Disneyland ticket sales. Adults at Kids Prices or 5th Day Free sales happen a few times each year. Keep an eye out for free hotel nights and other package deals. Don’t forget Black Friday!

Consider layaway – Avoid paying high credit card interest fees with Get Away Today’s layaway option. You can lock in your price for $175 down and pay off your trip on your own schedule – as long as it’s fully paid two weeks before you leave. Learn more at www.getawaytoday.com/layaway.

Skip the Park Hopper option – Park Hopper tickets are nice to have because Disneyland and California Adventure are just steps away from each other. However, they aren’t essential and this is one way that your family can save hundreds of dollars with the 1-Park-Per-Day option. You can easily spend 1-2 full days in each park and save up to $50 per person on tickets

WHERE NOT TO BUY DISNEYLAND TICKETS– Now that you now where to buy discount Disneyland tickets, let’s cover where you should not purchase tickets. Do not buy Disneyland tickets on eBay, Craigslist, or roadside stands in and around Anaheim. Ticket “rental” or buying partially used tickets is a scam, and you will be throwing your money away.

The reason these won’t work is because Disneyland now takes your photo at the turnstiles the first time you use a ticket. Each time thereafter that you reenter the park, that photo pops up on the screen, and Cast Members verify your appearance against that photo.

Unless you have a really compelling Face/Off kind of story, you’ll be denied entry. Cast Members will not have any sympathy if you’re caught with “rental” tickets; you will have to purchase new tickets at the gate, at full price. We have heard horror stories about this; it’s not a fun way to start a vacation, and instead of “saving” $40 or so, you’ll be losing hundreds of dollars.

Another place you should not purchase Disneyland tickets is DisneyWorld.com. Remember, this guide is for Disneyland Resort, encompassing Disneyland (park) and Disney California Adventure in Southern California. If you’re visiting Walt Disney World in Florida,then you shouldn’t be reading this article because even though they are both Disney Parks, Disneyland Resort is different from Walt Disney World.

You might laugh, but we know Cast Members who have worked the turnstiles and Guest Relations at Disneyland and Disney California. Guests arriving with tickets purchased for the wrong coast is a daily occurrence. While this is a problem with which they can assist you, it’s time-consuming, cumbersome, and embarrassing, so don’t make this mistake.

How Many Days at Disneyland? We highly recommend spending more than a single day at Disneyland, but then again, we’re hardcore Disney dorks who spend way too much time in the parks. So your mileage may vary if you’re traveling to California and want to spend the majority of your time exploring Los Angeles, San Diego, and the beach cities.

Unfortunately, no authorized ticket sellers offer discounts on 1-day tickets. None. You’re better off purchasing those directly from Disney. There are almost no exceptions to this, so if you see somewhere advertising discounts on 1-day Disneyland tickets, it’s probably not legit.

If you really only want to do a single day and you can’t be convinced otherwise, we highly recommend doing the Park Hopper tickets and bouncing between the two parks to see as much as possible, scoring FastPasses for both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as you go.

Those on a tight budget might consider forgoing the Park Hopper option, in which case you should only do Disneyland, rather than Disney California Adventure. Keep in mind that if do that, you won’t be able to visit the awesome Cars Land, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Incredicoaster, and more. Also know that it’s impossible to do everything in one day.

Take young children – It may never be cheaper or more magical to visit Disneyland than when your kids are little. Children under age 3 get in free, and can ride more than you might expect. Kids over age 10 pay adult ticket prices at Disneyland, so you’ll save if you can go sooner rather than later. Trust me, they get more expensive the older they get.

Stay off-property – Disneyland is different than Walt Disney World. It has only three on-property hotels, and some off-property hotels are just as close to the park gates. The Disneyland Resort hotels come with some nice benefits, but you’ll save money by staying off-property. We’ve even stayed at the Lemon Tree Hotel a few miles away, but in the end we saved a lot of money and most of all, our family only sleeps there at night so to me it was worth the savings. The room was a family suite with 1 king and 2 queen beds with a kitchenette with a good-sized fridge and had a microwave which saved us on food costs.

Watch for extra fees – Resort fees and parking fees are becoming more common at hotels near Disneyland. Make sure you know what’s included and what isn’t before you book

Figure in transportation costs before you book a hotel – Hotels that are farther away from Disneyland are usually cheaper, but you may pay more to get to Disneyland. Disneyland parking is currently $20 per day and shuttle availability and costs vary. Assume that it will take more time than you expect to get into the park each morning.

Eat breakfast at your hotel – It’s not hard to find hotels near Disneyland that offer complimentary breakfast or an in-room fridge where you can store your own food. This will save you money, but more importantly, it will save you time. Morning is the least crowded time at Disneyland.

Pack your own food into the parks – Disneyland allows you to bring snacks, sandwiches and drinks into the park in a day pack or stroller. Disneyland dining is fun, but not cheap, so this is an easy way to save money. Grocery stores and grocery delivery are available near Disneyland.

Use Amazon.com – You can ship Ziploc bags, juice boxes, snacks and other provisions directly to your hotel for free if you have Amazon Prime or meet the minimum shipping requirements.

Schedule Character Dining for an off-park day – Most of Disneyland’s character meals are located in its hotel restaurants, so you do not need your park ticket to enjoy them. Sleep in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast buffet with your favorite Disney characters and then spend the rest of the day in Downtown Disney, at the beach or at your hotel pool. Whether in the middle or at the end of your trip, you’ll be glad for a “day off.”

Get free ice water – You can ask for a free cup of ice water at any counter-service restaurant in Disneyland, with or without a meal.

Order a kids’ meal – Guests of any age can order kids’ meals at Disneyland’s counter service restaurants. Kids meals are smaller and less expensive, and generally include fresh fruit and vegetable options.

Apply for a Chase Disney Visa Card – We have done this for two different Disneyland trips – four years apart – and saved hundreds of dollars. I pay for my groceries, gas and any shopping throughout the year on the card, but I only buy what I have money for and pay it off as I go so I never owe interest. So if I go grocery shopping at Walmart Thursday morning, that same day when I get home from grocery shopping I make a payment, this way I am never spending outside my means, but I am earning the free Disney Dollars which you can earn and have it put on a Disney Rewards Redemption card and can buy food or other things in the park. Best of all, it was free cash I earned by using my card. Then you can save 10% on food and shopping inside the parks also by having the card.

Ask PhotoPass photographers to use your camera – PhotoPass is a good way to get professional pics of your whole group throughout the parks, and it’s included with MaxPass. However, it’s not essential. There is no obligation to buy any PhotoPass photo and the photographer will usually take a second photo with your own camera if you ask

Airfare

Planning your trip in advance and buying airline tickets early will save you money in the long run. If you aren’t picky about airlines, flying Frontier is typically your cheapest airline option.

Plan to Fly into SNA (John Wayne Airport)

Choosing the John Wayne/Orange County airport to fly into will save you money on transportation to the parks since it’s only about 20 minutes away depending on traffic. And it’s an easy airport to navigate!

I usually don’t fly as we are from Salt Lake City and flying would cost too for seven of us, so we drive. That also saves us on a rental car if we opt to take the kids to other theme parks as well, like Universal Hollywood, SeaWorld, LEGOLAND, Knotts Berry Farm or even SeaWorld San Diego.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Disneyland On A Budget: Tips To Save You Money!Do you already follow any of these tips? Have a tip we haven’t listed? Share in comments below!

Make sure to get in touch with www.getawaytoday.com  so they can help you save the most on your next Disneyland Vacation or You can also get discounted Disneyland tickets from www.undercovertourist.com

Come join in on the fun in our Facebook Group, there you can talk about this and all things Disney, compare notes, talk about your trips and most of all be apart of one big o’hana