Eat Breakfast Before You Go
Stay at a hotel that offers free breakfast or bring breakfast stuff with you to your hotel. We’ve stayed at several hotels and THIS one has the best breakfast by far! Hot waffles, fruit, pastries, lots to choose from. (Be sure to research what “free breakfast” means at each hotel – sometimes it’s just a yogurt.)
Pack a Lunch
Disneyland will let you bring in a soft cooler (we have a cooler tote bag like this!), so we pack a lunch every day we go! We got these rubbermaid containers that work great for lunch trays. Typically, we pack the girls (and ourselves) a peanut butter sandwich, grapes or apple slices and cubes of cheese. We’ll also bring along juice boxes for meals (and it saves money so we don’t have to buy them at the park!)
Bring Snacks
We always pack snacks with us! Typically, we leave them in the stroller and the kids can grab one before we hop in another line. Our favorite snacks are: granola bars, protein bars, peach cups, gold fish, pretzels, animal crackers, grapes, apples, carrots, cheese sticks, fruit snacks, fruit leathers, gogurts, or popcorn. We like to use THESE snack size bags, to make them easier to hold for smaller hands – and if they spill, it’s less of a mess!
Don’t Forget Treats!
Disneyland has so many amazing treats – and we always like to try one or two while we’re there. Since we bring in all our snacks, and lunches, and drinks, I don’t mind splurging on one treat for the kids a day. They love the “Tigger Tails” and “Chershire Cat Tails” over in the Pooh Corner (a huge chocolate and caramel covered marshmallow with sprinkles!) If you don’t want to splurge on too many treats, we’ve brought in a few of our own before. We’ll bring in our own kettle corn, it saves us from buying the expensive stuff (that smells SO good).
Share Dinners
Most of the food at sit down restaurants is $20-$30, and other quick stops are $10-$15 a plate. We always like to share our plates to cut down on the cost. If you’re in New Orleans square, share the Monte Cristo Sandwich. It’s worth the hype (and the cost) and can easily feed Brian and I. It could probably feed our entire family if we could get the girls to eat it. 😉 The soup and bread bowls are huge! And if you’re going with a larger crowd, consider buying the whole pizza (usually around $40-$50) instead of buying buy the slice ($10!).
Bring Drinks!
We always bring our own refillable water bottles and water bottles for the kids. You can refill them with filtered water at any of the Baby Centers, or fill them up at the soda machines in any of the restaurants. Also, right outside the Mexican restaurant El Rancho, is a great filtered water station! We refill there every time. If you like soda – consider bringing your own in. A soda cup will run you $3+, but my husband (who loves soda) will bring in his own 2 liter (insert face palm emoji) and refill his insulated water bottle throughout the day. 😉 This is why he can outlast us all!
Helen
This comment has been removed by the author.