Recently my little family took our first Disneyland Trip! Me, a seasoned Disneyland goer and my husband and son’s first time in the park! We also brought along my sister-in-law for child back up, also a first timer. We were determined to make this Disney trip as memorable and inexpensive as possible! Here’s How to go to Disney on a Budget. I will keep my running total of money spent on the right side from our April trip to Disneyland! And don’t forget to check out Disneyland Tips from a local.
-Enjoy!♥
How to go to Disney on a Budget
First decide on your budget…
I picked a budget of 2,000 for three people (my husband, my son age 2 1/2, and me), which I’m happy to say we easily stayed under!
Next pick how many days at Disney and plan your days..
We went during the week during off season to avoid the busy days at Disney (also, they are cheaper!). ($260) Since we were on vacation from Monday to Friday we went to Disney two days, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday we decided to go walk around the Hollywood Stars and Visit a few museums which we got in a bundled passport ticket($35.99)! We got to look through the Hollywood wax museum, Guinness World Records, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Big part of saving money on this vacation was my son was free to both Disneyland and the museums since he was under three!
$591.98
Mode of transportation…
We decided to drive. There was four of us, so flying would have been expensive and then we would have to rent a car or take taxis/ ubers everywhere. Our drive was 883 miles… long drive I know! But we switched off driving through the night which worked out great! My son slept most of the way and so did we in our non driving shifts! Our gas was only $310, and we even have a car thats not great on gas mileage. I use Gas Buddy to plan my road trips.
$901.98
Hotel…
This will differ depending on your budget. Bigger groups can save more by renting an Air BNB, or search your favorite hotel booking site! Don’t hesitate to call the hotel and ask about group discounts, AAA or AARP discounts!
When we were looking for a hotel we wanted something with a shuttle or in walking distance to Disney, this saved us $20 a day on parking. Another bonus we looked for was a free breakfast. Eating before you get to the park will save you bunches!
We stayed at the Days Inn and Suites for 4 nights, free breakfast, and free shuttle to and from Disneyland for $458.
$1,359.58
Food Budget…
This is an huge money sucker! To save money on food we packed the car with snacks for the road trip. Less stops, healthier choices and saved money! For Disney days, we packed in a water bottle and a lunch with a few snacks to entertain my toddler in lines. (read more of my Tips for Disneyland with a Toddler here). This way we only ate one meal in the park, dinner. We also packed a cooler with juice boxes and vitamin waters. Drinks are pretty expensive inside and you really need to stay hydrated bring a reusable water bottle to save some money for other things! But there are still those iconic Disney foods you have to try!
We budgeted about $60 a day in food since we had the free breakfast for 5 days. At The Target down the road from our hotel, we spent $17.71 on snack, stuff to make sandwiches and drinks for the park. We ended up spending $309.45, a smidge under budget.
$1,669.03
Souvenirs…
This is obviously optional. However, try to get your toddler out of Disneyland without some kind of toy and no meltdown! We broke down and bought some Disney Merchandice for the toddler and some clothes for us. But a little secret, the Walgreens across the street from Disneyland sells really inexpensive Disney Merchandise! Or Order on Amazon before you leave. Our budget was $200, we only spent $189!
$1858.03
This made our grand total of a five day four night Disneyland Vacation:
$1858.03
We came home with an extra $141.97 we put towards a mini vacation to Belknap Hot Springs off the Mckenzie High way in Oregon! I’d love to know your tips for saving money on travel! Let me know in the comments below! Would you guys like to see more Budget Travel Posts like this?
That’s a great idea to set the budget and work towards it. We are planning a Disney trip for next spring and I love the idea of bringing sandwich items, snacks to help reduce the cost.
It probably saved us hundreds of dollars! You know toddlers are always hungry until they eat two bites and are full!
Wow, girl, I am impressed!! Planning is definitely the way to go to maximize time and save money! The best tips were to bring food and shop outside the park. I’m going to remember that the next time we decide to visit Disneyland.
Shopping outside for souvenirs was the best way to save money. Similar shirts or hats in the park were more than double the price outside!
I have not been to Disneyland, only World, but these are some great tips on how to budget for it! Because it adds up rapidly!!!
These are great tips! Going to Disney can be super expensive, but you’ve shown that it’s possible to do it on a budget!!
It is definitely possible! My goal is to keep it low next time we go even though there is now one more in our family!
Thanks so much for sharing some actual prices. I’ve never been to Disney (FL or CA) so this really helped me out with getting a frame of reference. And your photos are great. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! We had a blast it is definitely a trip I could take time and time again!
Whew! Thanks for sharing the specifics! We are locals and would love to enjoy Disney, but with 6 family members, it’s pretty insane cost-wise. Would love to do the So Cal special passes that come out in the spring next year.
I had never heard of Gas Buddy! This is be great for our next road trip! We like driving where we can as well. It makes for a fun adventure. I saved the hotel as that is always our most difficult decision about where to stay. Love that it has a shuttle and free breakfast. Thanks!
Gas buddy is my favorite every since high school! When I was young my parents would have me budget our trips and this was my cheat to budgeting gas 🙂
That’s not bad at all! We are closer to Disney World and I want to go but it’s insanely pricey. What is the off season?
Where you can buy the tickets from Disney themselves online it will show you there “discount days” those are the slower days. Then pair those up with seasons not traveled in as much. Such as january – february, april, September. And go during the week, it makes a huge difference!
That is impressive, I would like to keep budget below 5K too, but we require flight to go there, still can not find the possible way to keep it under budget yet.
We are a huge Disney family! Great ideas ❤️
I love Disney! Hopefully these budgeting tips will get me there more often.
Whoa that isn’t bad at all. I want to go back because I haven’t been since I was little. The boyfriend seems to think we don’t need to go because we don’t have kids, but I am a kid at heart, right? I’ll have to show him this post and let him see it can be done on a budget.
I think I was more excited than my child to go 😉
Wow! Great tips! The kids have been asking to go and I just haven’t been able to get a really good number for what it will really cost. I love that you shared your dollar amounts and tips for saving money!