Bring Your Own Ponchos
For the best prices on your Disneyland vacation, visit my favorite travel agency, Get Away Today!
For even more Disneyland tips and tricks, check out these posts: (and be sure to pin Disney Everything! for a continually updated list of Disney tips and tricks and ideas for family vacations.)
Guide to Disneyland and California Adventure
Our Favorite Disneyland Tips and Tricks
Our Disneyland Family Vacation
Avoiding the “Gimmies” While Vacationing at Disneyland
Thanks for the great tips, Mariel. I have also heard that you can bring coolers in the park? Is that true?
Mandy,
Apparently, the official rule is no outside food or drinks. There is an area right outside the entrance that supposedly has lockers (for a small to medium size cooler) and a place to sit and eat. But, if you bring snacks in a small, soft-sided cooler, they almost never say anything.
And, THAT’S the word on the street.
I live in LA and we have annual passes. Our favorite time to go is October. The weather is lovely and it isn’t very crowded at all. End of March on can get pretty crazy because of spring break and high school groups.
Most of the food is yuck in Disneyland. California adventure has better food (still nothing to get super excited about). The hotels and downtown Disney are better foodwise. I bring my own food and snacks in all the time. Just shove it in diaper bag and they never say anything. You can always say you have dietary restrictions. (which considering all the junk food there wouldn’t be a lie)
There are several iPhone apps like mousewait that post wait times so you can decide if you want to walk all the way to something or catch it another time. We go so often that there are certain rides we won’t wait over a set amount of time for.
If you go to World of color with little kids be sure to move to the front of a platform or they will not be able to see well and the meals or specials with priority seating for that show are worth it because many times even if you go to the fast pass for the show right away you might miss it or get the much later one.
Sounds soooo fun! Can I ask you which hotels you stayed at or recommend?
@Bethany – Thanks!! Great info 🙂
@Heidi – The first time, we stayed at the Desert Palms. It was pretty nice, had a hot breakfast that saved us money from having to buy breakfast. Last week, we stayed at Del Sol Inn. It was a little bit closer to Disneyland, cheaper, but not nearly as nice. However, both hotels were within walking distance. So, we didn’t need to rent a car. We just took the Disneyland Express shuttle from the airport to and from the hotel…then just walked to Disneyland.
I would probably prefer to stay at a nicer hotel than the Del Sol next time…like the Desert Palm that we stayed at previously. I think it would be worth a couple hundred bucks more. People love staying at the Disney hotels and I hear they have extra perks for staying there, but we haven’t decided to spend the extra for it, yet.
Thanks!!! I’m all about saving money where you can:)
Thanks for sharing your experience. We are on our way there in less than a month. Hopefully the crowds will have thinned out by then. We are also staying at the Del Sol Inn this time around. It was nice to hear your opinion on it. Did your kids get much use out of their fanny packs? I am still debating buying some for my kids.
Brooke,
The kids used their fanny packs pretty much every day until they ran out of money. The packs were really cheap, so overall I think it was a good buy…they can use them for other things as well.
I always book with getawaytoday. We love to stay at the Homewood Suites Hotel. It is about a mile away from Disneyland, but so worth it! They have a shuttle that is reasonable and fast! Plus it is right across from Target to get snacks and stuff to pack lunches. Homewood Suites offers a Great breakfast everyday,( we loved the belgian waffles) and then free dinner M-Thurs. The dinner was good too, nothing fancy but better than paying for crap at the park for 3x as much. We would just shuttle back and take a much needed hour break for dinner 🙂 Plus the rooms are nice and have kitchenettes too, so you can make and store your lunches to take into the park. I take a cooler bag with drinks and sandwiches and have no problems. This last time I was nursing my youngest and Loved the Baby Care Centers they have in each park. I could nurse in private and air condition 🙂 Love Disneyland! Can’t wait to go again!
We also like to go to the cheesecake factory, or PF Changs not too far away. Way better food for about the same price at the park.
Thanks for all your tips! Love this blog!
Thanks, Heather! That hotel sounds fantastic! I always hate being so far away from a grocery store, so it would be nice to be by Target. And, free dinner?? Hello. That would save a ton!
Thanks for commenting, I love it!
Great post! My family is a huge Disney World family. One thing we did last summer was put a peice of tape on the back of each small child’s shirt with the cell phone of their parent, just in case, heaven forbid, someone got lost.
http://www.familyeverafter.blogspot.com
Rach H ~ Thanks for the suggestion! Good idea! I even saw kids with their names/numbers written in magic marker in their arm 🙂