Ok, some truth right up front. Disneyland is just plain expensive. If you live close and don't need a hotel, that helps. If you have parking included on your annual pass, that helps. But no matter how you slice it, its never cheap. So today we want to give you some of our favorite tips on where to save money and where its worth it to splurge.
Save Your Money
This is our specialty. Going to Disneyland in itself is a splurge, so we're ready to save wherever possible!
1. Hotels
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Photo Credit: Tesla Designs |
2. Disney Clothes
**HOWEVER! If its important to you to have something that says DisneyLAND on it or that has a picture of the castle or something like that, then we completely change our minds and say go for it!
3. Snacks
If you like to munch a lot during the day or have little kids who seem to always need to eat, a great money saver is packing your own snacks. My backpack is usually full of granola bars, fruit snacks, little cereal boxes, and other munchies that I can buy cheap at home and bring with me every day so that I can save my food budget for the good stuff (and not waste it on chips or a $4 banana).
4. Drinks
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Photo Credit: Disney Food Blog |
Personally, I wear a Camelback backpack every time I go to Disneyland. There's plenty of room to hold our snacks and extra clothes for the kids, PLUS it holds 2-3 liters of water (or sometimes, lemonade!) so we can drink that all day long and save a lot.
5. Some Souvenirs
I say some, because like our tip with the clothes it really depends on what you're looking for. Disney toys are everywhere. Sometimes to get ready for a trip, I get my kids little Cars toys that they can play with on the drive down or while waiting in lines. They're like $3. Disney mugs, movies, and even candies can also be found all over. Don't buy them at "park prices" if you don't have to!
6. Fans/Spray Bottles
A Disneyland fan/water bottle is $25....please, just don't.
7. Photo Pass Pictures
You can ALWAYS hand your camera to a Cast Member and they'll take pics that are free to you. Don't feel like you need to have the picture that they took. (However, if your picture doesn't turn out the way you wanted, the photo pass pics are online for a couple months and you can decide if its worth it to buy them later.)
Times to Splurge
1. Disneyland Exclusive Merchandise
2. Meals
3. Coffee
4. Special Treats
5. Once in a Lifetimes
If this is your big trip, spend on experience you might not get to have again! Maybe its a special tour, or reserved seating for a show, but keep an eye out for something that's going to make your trip extra magical.
We Just Can't Decide
There are some places where we just can't decide if we should spend or splurge. What would you do?
1. Max Pass
This is still new to us. As of this point, we haven't used it yet. For $10 per person per day, you can make your fast pass reservations from your phone, rather than going to the kiosk in person. I'm honestly so undecided! I can see the benefit of it, but I can also see saving $40 a day for my family of 4.
2. Park Hopper Tickets
We here at Dole Whip A Day actually disagree on this one. One of us sees it as totally worth the extra price to have the freedom to spend as much or as little time in each park as we feel like. The other one likes having a dedicated day (or more!) in each park and also saving quite a bit on ticket prices. What's your vote?
I'd say I'm surprised to see this post...but I'm not! I got a heads up that it was coming...but I do have to say you work fast, DoleWhipperSnapper!
ReplyDeleteHaha, once I get an idea for a blog, I move!
DeleteI recently had a friend try out the Max Pass for the first time and she absolutely loved it and recommends it to everyone! But it also kind of goes hand in hand with a park hopper pass since the trek for fast passes between the parks is now eliminated :) so I guess it again depends on how much you're willing to spend, but from what I've heard it's totally worth the little extra money! Especially considering the possibility that the $10 extra per person may go up in the future if the Max Pass popularity booms!
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