We went to Disneyland for the second time last week. We went a couple of years back when the kids where four and eight and now they are 6 and 10. Years ago the visit to Disneyland was a bit different than last week, we stayed in a motel down the street, we stayed for three days and we visited in the height of Summer.
This time the visit to Disney was different.
We really had a good time but this time it seemed really expensive and we had a time crunch. Here was the cost
- $14 for parking
- $280 for entrance fee
- $75 for lunch
- $20 for dinner
That may seem really expensive and it kind of was. For many families Disneyland is really inaccessible because of the price and last week our trip to Disneyland was more of a side trip in our holiday so the price seemed pretty shocking.
Let’s get away from what we paid and what we saved as well along with some fun tips
Saving money at Disneyland
The best way of getting the most for your money is to spend as little as possible. To keep up your energy you need water and we brought a 6 pack of water in inside our backpack (I came in with a heavy backpack and left with it much lighter). We also brought in many snacks and Disney did not seem to mind. I also think that eating breakfast off site is the best idea.
As far as lunch and dinner go we ate last time off site and this time we ate at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney (great food and big desert and great service but pricey). There are many places right off site outside the main entrance and these places give huge portions so that you can bring the kids extra food back in for a snack later.
Remember. You can leave and come back to the park anytime during the day, just get a hand stamp on the way out so that you can come back in.
Our kids are terrible for snacking and we were lucky this time but the snacks we kept giving them (granola bars and other single serve type snacks) helped a lot.
As far as toys go we make sure that the kids only get a toy at the end of the day otherwise they keep asking for this and that all day and Disneyland is great for giving you opportunities to buy toys and stuffed animals and juice cups and flags and piggy banks and shirts and clothes….you get the idea, wait until the end of the day so that you can deal with the arguing only once.
Getting on Rides at Disneyland
The lineups even in mid March are terrible at Disneyland and the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are apparently better but we went on a cool Saturday and paid the price with a busy park. We did not get many rides in during the early part of the day but later in the day especially in the evening was much better.
When you buy your entrance fee it includes all rides and the fast pass. The Fast Pass is a line stander for you. You put your ticket in a fast pass machine in front of a busy ride and it tells you when to come back for the short lineup. You can only use one fast pass at a time but this way you can stay in a line and know that you have another ride coming up with a short line in an hour or so. This really helped us in the Roger Rabbit ride in Toontown the lineup was over an hour long but when we came back at our fast pass time it was just 5 minutes or so lineup for fast pass people. After you have used the Fast Pass you can then use it for another ride. The Fast Pass rides are listed in the Disneyland park map at the entrance.
As I said earlier the late morning was terrible and the evening was better for rides. Make sure that you get to the park when they open at 8AM and if you have a three day pass then you can get in one day even earlier, and then ride a few rides quickly before the lineups start and then do the big popular rides in the evening with short lineups while knoking a few of those off with the fast pass. One great fun time killer in the afternoon was the Innoventions exhibit which was a lot of future (5 or 10 years out) kind of technology which really make you excited about the future (great for a geek like me).
And remember the fireworks are usually at 9 PM although maybe a bit later in the evening in the Summer? And there are a couple of quick parades that the kids love during the day.
Disneyland is still a lot of fun and is still expensive like it always has been. The kids have lots of new memories and with a lot of time planning we would have done more rides and may have been able to make things cheaper and probably should have.
Have fun in Disneyland
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