Single-day tickets to the theme parks Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and its sibling, Disney California Adventure Park, start at $104 per person, so calling Disneyland cheap is about as credible as saying that an elephant can fly. But at Disneyland, elephants actually fly (Dumbo, anyone?) – and successfully planning a trip to Disneyland on a budget isn't as impossible as it seems.
1. Buy Discounted Disneyland Tickets
Authorized third-party sellers such as Undercover Tourist often sell Disneyland Tickets for less than buying directly from Disney.
Some membership programs, including AAA and Costco offer tickets or vacation packages, although they generally require a membership fee to join. Other memberships, such as employee or student discount programs, may also unlock discounts.
2. Avoid Park Hopper for Multi-Day Trips
There are two Disney theme parks in Anaheim, and if you want to see both in one day, you'll need a Park Hopper Ticket. The problem? Park Hopper tickets are $65 more per person for a one-day ticket.
If your day trip feels incomplete if you don't see both, say, Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Avengers Campus on the other side of Disney California Adventure, then you'll need the more expensive Park Hopper option. But if you're there for several days, save money by visiting one park per day. Either way, the best way to visit Disneyland is to focus on one park at a time.
3. Arrive early (like, really early)
Theme park turnstiles typically open their gates a little before the park's official opening time, and it's likely that guests will be waiting. By arriving early, you will be able to go through security and scan your tickets. From there, you'll usually be able to linger the first few hundred feet inside the park, browse the stores, and be ready to walk to the rides as soon as they open.
You can run to your priority experiences, like Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. This new ride opened just in time for the Disney100 Celebration. By going early to your essential races, you will avoid the longest wait times. According to Disney travel planning website Touring Plans, which tracks ride wait times, lines are typically longest between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
4. Bring your own food and drinks
When it comes to dining, the cheapest way to visit Disneyland is to bring food from elsewhere. Disneyland explicitly allows outside food and non-alcoholic drinks, with only a few stipulations, such as banning glass containers.
Prepare nutrient-rich snacks like protein bars and nuts. Day trippers can stop at a supermarket along the way. Nearby cafes and fast food restaurants can offer similar quality food at a lower cost, and a few are within walking distance of the park. If you want to venture further afield, dine at Anaheim Packing District, a food hall located in a renovated historic 1919 citrus packing house, a 10-minute drive away.
🤓Nerdy tip
Certain Disney Credit Cards may entitle you to discounts on hotel rooms, souvenirs or restaurant meals.
5. Use Mobile Food Ordering
The official Disneyland app has many features, including displaying GPS-enabled maps, live attraction wait times, and, perhaps most useful, mobile ordering of food and drinks.
This feature is offered by almost every quick service restaurant, including the notoriously popular home of the Dole Whip, Tiki Juice Bar. Plan your time and avoid lines by ordering and paying for your food and drinks in the app.
6. Ditch your friends (for a few minutes) with Single Rider
Another tip in the time is money vein: Single Rider. A handful of particularly popular attractions, such as the Millennium Falcon at Disneyland and the Incredicoaster at Disney California Adventure, offer Single Rider queues, where people who want to ride separately from their group fill unused seats.
The Single Rider line almost always gets you on board faster than the standard queue.
7. Buy souvenirs elsewhere
Forget expensive Disney gift shops inside the parks. Instead, purchase character stuffed animals or clothing in advance from your local toy store. Then, hide some “souvenirs” in your suitcase and give them to the kids while you’re on vacation. They probably won't realize that their new stuffed animals aren't actually from Disneyland.
The “Disney tax” on food and souvenirs also applies to other items. For example, the plastic poncho from the gift shop near Splash Mountain is probably much more expensive than what you would buy elsewhere.
8. Consider nearby airports
Many people think the best airport for Disneyland is Los Angeles International Airport – the fifth largest commercial airport in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
But LAX is actually almost 40 miles from Disneyland, and that distance can equate to a few hours of traffic. Two smaller airports, John Wayne Airport and Long Beach Airport, are each about 15 miles away, which can mean a cheaper and quicker trip to the park.
That said, according to 2021 FAA data, LAX handled 6.2 times more passengers than John Wayne Airport and 22.7 times more passengers than Long Beach Airport. This suggests that if you choose to fly to LAX, which is further away, you are more likely to find a direct flight or have more route options.
And if you can avoid a layover, you'll probably save a little money on flight costs. A 2019 study by the MIT International Center for Air Transportation, a research arm of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that the cheapest nonstop flight costs on average $31 less than the cheapest flight with a stopover.
9. Stay off the property
There are three Disney-owned hotels in Anaheim, and they are almost always more expensive than non-Disney hotels of similar quality nearby. Unlike Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where staying on-site typically has benefits such as more frequent bus transportation to the parks, this is generally not the case on the West Coast.
In California, many off-site hotels remain within walking distance – and many can be booked using credit card points.
10. Spend with the right credit card
If you end up spending $13 on a turkey leg in the park, you might as well earn some rewards. Although the best Disney credit cards are not actually Disney branded.
How to Maximize Your Rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what's important to you. Here are our choices for best travel credit cards of 2024including those best suited to: