We are a family that loves to travel, and the place our kids ask to go the most is Disneyland! We've now been to Disney 4 times and it's been so much fun to watch our kids enjoy the magic of the parks at each progressive age. Over the years and trips we have found some ways to cut costs, save time and experience as much we can. Here are 7 Disneyland Hacks that have been super helpful for us!

Keeping your food budget down - we budgeted for $200 for food each day for a family of 4. Which we were able to do, and it included all our snacks and random moments when someone got hangry. We are a family that can do the same thing food wise over and over for a short period of time and our main goal was to maximize our time in the park and on rides, so when we find what works, we repeat it. We ate breakfast each day at La Brea Bakery Express. The Express side is the “to-go” side of the restaurant… I actually would call each morning on our walk from the hotel to the park and order 3 sides of eggs, 2 sides of bacon, 2 sides of potatoes, 1 lemon loaf, an orange juice and a coffee. After using my discount for staying “on property” breakfast each day was under $30 and everyone was full to kick off our day. Not only did this allow us to start out the day with plenty of food, it kept us under our budget, but it was also much faster to call ahead of time, skip the line, pay and pick up our order and eat it quickly at their outside tables and then head to the parks. (I waited until I got there to actually order my Latte’s so they would still be hot). We would do lunch or dinner in the park even though it was more expensive, again for the sake of maximizing our time in the parks actually riding rides, so we would plan accordingly each day what we wanted to accomplish and then would plan our meals accordingly. Napolini was another spot we would hit for lunch or dinner (the other we would eat in the park) - Napolini is the "to-go" side of Naples but has basically the same menu. You can grab a good size slice of pizza for $6 or order a kids meal of pasta or risotto for $10 and it's plenty to feed most adults. My hubs eats a sizable amount and was good with the risotto and one slice of pizza. Again, we were able to have a meal under $40 and stay under our daily budget!
Double your snacks for the cost of 1 - When we buy snacks, especially when we are in theme parks or places that are just more expensive, I typically have my kids share snacks. Even though they share snacks, it doesn’t mean they like sharing with each other… so I usually will ask for another cup, box, bucket, or whatever container the snack comes in so that I can split it and they each feel like they have their own snack. 3 of the 4 times I did this in Disney, rather than giving me an empty container, they just gave me another portion for free! Now this was not my goal… but it was consistently how they responded to my requests. So, if you can get by on one snack, purchase it and then ask for another container and there's a good chance you'll end up with another snack on the house!
Maximize your time - The Disney MaxPass! As soon as you purchase your tickets for your next Disney visit you are going to be informed about the Disney App and the MaxPass. The App is free and gives you an interactive map of the entire property including hotels, downtown and both parks, as well as all wait times, and the little blue location finder we’ve all grown adapt to using for getting anywhere. The MaxPass can be purchased "in app" and is a $10 a day per pass addition that allows you to get 'FastPasses' via the App. I cannot stress this enough: this completely changed our park experience! We purchased the MaxPass the last 3 days of the 5 days we where in the park and it truly was worth every penny. With the MaxPass we were able to get a new FastPass every 30-90 min. depending on what ride we had just got the last FastPass for and what time of day it was. Obviously the more popular the ride and the busier the park got the longer the FastPass wait times where… but we hardly waited at all. In the 3 days we used the MaxPass, I don’t know that we waited more than 10 min for any ride. Rather than riding until we got tired of waiting in line, we rode until the kids could literally no longer walk to the next ride and were asking to go back to the hotel!
Cutting down on walk time - We averaged 10+ miles each day. We typically got to the park during the “Magic Hour” and didn’t head back to end the day until late in the evening or later when the kids finally said they had had enough each day. Any time you go to Disney you are going to walk and walk a lot! We were able to cut through the Disney Grand Hotel from the side entrance to Adventure Park on our way back to the Paradise Pier, which cut out a good mile from our walk… However; the next morning we were stopped by a security officer at the cross walk from the Pier to the Grand Hotel who informed us that the entrance is only for the Grand Hotel guests. So, if you are adventurous as a family and don’t mind breaking the “rules” from time to time, the cut through can save you some time and miles on your legs, but you may get stopped…but it’s Disney and they are pretty nice about it even if they do stop you. If you like to walk and get your miles in, then skip this. We attempted this move twice - where successful once, and turned away the next.
Ride during the night time shows - Splash Mountain was our family fav ride this trip and even more so in the dark! Yes, you do get wet on this ride and yes it is cold in December… But, if you catch that magic moment when literally every one else in the park is watching a light show or fire works, you can ride as much as you want and you get your pick of the seats… We literally rode as much as we wanted with no wait time at all during a Fantasma Light/Water Show. We sat seats 2,3,4,5 in the log and no one got wet because of the weight distribution in the log since we had our choice of seats.
Get your coffee fix - There are multiple Starbucks locations both Downtown and in the parks. However; the farther in you get…the busier the coffee shops are. So, when you pass the first Starbucks and think “oh I will just grab my coffee in the park”, DON’T! Turn back around and get your caffeine fix at the first location in Downtown. They let you take your food and drinks in the park and the wait time at the Starbucks locations inside the parks are so much longer.
10% off - If you stay at a Disney Hotel you get 10% off all food and beverage in Downtown Disney. However; most places don’t offer that info up, you have to make sure you tell them. You will also have to show them your room key, which I would assume you would have one you. 10% is not a lot, but if you are working to stay under a budget, every little bit makes a difference.

All 7 of these Hacks have helped to make our Disney experiences even more magical! Hope you have a blast on your next trip and feel free to offer any additional hacks in the comments!

xo

Riane