mrfrugal

I will start off with the second costly expense at Disneyland besides the tickets ($69 per adult and $59 per child over 3), you give up, and it’s food. Today’s blog will be for a one day pass to Disneyland with a spouse and two kids, ages 5 and 10. We will also pretend that you do not have your own form of transportation (if you do have a car then better for you).

First, get your family’s asses up early. Your goal is to “open the park” and “close the park.” Now that’s your goal and I know you will not be able to do it unless you have a hotel room nearby and can tap an hour nap. Get up two hours before the park opens and eat breakfast. When I say eat breakfast it means a good size meal. Do not let your kids skip breakfast because they will get hungry around 10:30 and make you spend money in the park. DO NOT BUY FOOD IN THE PARK. Unless you are eating at the Blue Bayou or Café Orleans (both located in New Orleans Square) and know you will be paying high dollars for your meal then wait for tomorrow’s blog of Save Money on Beverages. For the rest of us follow the five ways to save money on food.

1) Eat a big breakfast. Try the Denney’s on Harbor Blvd or even the McDonalds which is also located on Harbor Blvd. Make sure you load up on the carbohydrates such as bread, pancakes. These foods will keep you kids full since they take longer for their bodies to break down the food.

2) Take snacks in the park. Hide snacks such as breakfast bars or those pocket fruit snacks in your kid’s pockets or the bottom of your wife’s purse. Disneyland will not let you take food in the park. But what they don’t know will not hurt them. Give the snacks to your kids around 10:45.

3) Skip your traditional noon lunch and buy McDonalds French fries. Why eat a lunch that will cost you over $55 in the park when you will be eating diner in three hours time? There are two spots to buy McDonalds French fries in Disneyland, one is in Adventure Land near the entrance to the steamboat and the other is between New Orleans Square and Critter Country (the Haunted Mansion exit). WARNING: Please do not give your young kids a full fries side, have them split the $3.50 side because let’s face it, fries are not really good for you.

4) Go Euro. Eat dinner between 4pm and 5pm (16:00 and 17:00 hours) in Downtown Disney. Eat at either the Jazz Kitchen but do not dine in, eat at the eastern end of the restaurant or eat at Tortilla Jo’s. Do not dine in at Tortilla Jo’s, buy some bean and cheese burritos outside. This will be a healthier meal since the beans, cheese and tortillas are a good source of protein when eaten together.

5) And my final advice on saving money at Disneyland is DO NOT BUY FOOD IN THE PARK. My wife and I have probably eaten at every place in Disneyland except Club 33 and let me tell you that the food is not worth the money you dish out. The Blue Bayou and Café Orleans are different stories but we are not eating there today. Today we are saving money.

Have fun and remember to eat a big breakfast.

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