I thought it would be fun to track the detailed cost of every trip we make to Disneyland this year. Our most recent trip to see Star Wars Land kicks off this feature:

How Much Does It Cost to Go to Disneyland?

Bottom line: $1200 plus four Annual Passes with MaxPass ($2796). That’s a grand total of $3996, but most families won’t buy Disneyland Annual Passes so I’ll list all the legitimate discount Disneyland ticket options below.

Save money on your Disneyland vacation with my referral links in this post.

Are you just looking for Disneyland on a Budget info? Use these quick referral links:

• Disneyland on a Budget book 2019 3rd edition.
• Disney Visa link for the $200 statement credit on the No Annual Fee Disney Visa (the regular bonus is only $100!) updated 11/22/19 ch
• Use Get Away Today promo code ALLDAYMOM for a stackable, extra $10 off any package when you book at least 2 nights and 2 Disneyland tickets (layaway for $175)!
• Get money saving referral links and credit card bonus links on one Google doc here.

Top of this post:

• Ways to save on your Disneyland tickets
• 3-Day, 1 Park per day tickets and Disneyland ticket discounts

Bottom of this post:

• Every dime we spent on our 4-day, 3 night Disneyland vacation in August, 2019.

Learn all my money saving tips and tricks as a 13-year Disneyland Annual Passholder in my book Disneyland on a Budget: How Our Family Spends 30 Days a Year at Disneyland Without Breaking the Bank.

Ways to save on your Disneyland tickets:

1. We save at least 13% on every Disneyland dollar by buying discounted Disney gift cards at a grocery store that offers fuel points for gift card purchases, and paying for the gift cards with the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card which pays 6% cash back at grocery stores.
   • Get the links to all the credit card bonus deals including this Amex in one spot on my Google Doc here.
   • We’re in Phoenix so we buy gift cards at Fry’s for fuel points discounts at Fry’s Fuel and Shell/Circle K.
   • You can pay for your Disneyland tickets online or at the Park with Disney gift cards.
2. If you don’t have a store that offers fuel points near you, most grocery stores carry Disney gift cards so you can still get 6% cash back from Amex buying Disney gift cards at the grocery store.
   • Target and Walmart don’t count as grocery stores.
3. A Disney Visa is NOT the best credit card for Disneyland spending (it’s better to use any card with 3% cash back on travel and restaurants), but Disney Visa does offer a $200 statement credit, No Annual Fee, and exclusive Meet & Greet locations with free Photopass photos in both Disneyland and California Adventure. $200 bonus link here. updated 11/22/19 ch More details here.

3-Day, 1 Park Per Day tickets and Disneyland ticket discounts:

I compared 3-Day, 1 Park Per Day Disneyland tickets. Parkhoppers add an extra $55 per person, and daily MaxPass adds an extra $45 per person. That’s a $400 ticket upgrade for a family of 4, and you’ll see in the detailed cost breakdown that that’s about what we spent on our hotel across the street from Disneyland for 3 nights. Choose “1 Park Per Day” tickets to save the most money on your Disneyland vacation.

Prices are for 4 people age 10 and over. (Tickets for kids ages 3–9 are $20 less.)

1. Disneyland’s own ticket prices. There’s no discount but you can pay with Disney gift cards, which will save you more money than any legitimate Disneyland ticket seller can (stacking Amex 6% cashback and 7–14% fuel points promos):
   • $300 per person
   • $1200 per family of 4
   • $1128 per family of 4 if you pay for your tickets with Disney gift cards purchased at the grocery store with Amex 6% cash back (get $300 bonus offer here).
   • $960–$1044 per family of 4 if you stack 6% cash back on Disney gift cards and fuel points discount. Discount depends on your gas tank size. $960 based on 35-gallon tank; $1044 based on 17-gallon tank.
2. Undercover Tourist:
   • $280.95 per person
   • $1123.80 per family of 4
3. Get Away Today:
   • $295 per person
   • $1180 per family of 4
   • Extra $10 off with Get Away Today promo code ALLDAYMOM if you book tickets and hotel (any 2 tickets and hotel stay 2 nights or more). Stacks with all discounts.
   • Check for current sale at Get Away Today here.
4. Costco – Don’t Bother!
   • Costco lures you in with bonus gift card promises and tricks you with a total package price you can’t figure out. Even if you book one of the cheapest hotels through Costco/Disney (like Best Western Anaheim Inn), you’ll pay at least an extra $117 over 3 nights, compared to buying your Disneyland tickets straight from Disneyland, and booking through Best Western yourself—this hotel goes as low as $143 a night when you book on Best Western. That extra price you’ll pay is after factoring in the bonus gift card.
   • Also, “Good Neighbor” just means the hotel pays Disneyland to use the Good Neighbor logo and put its hotel on the Disneyland site. It is no guarantee that the hotel will be close, clean, or cheap.

Every dime we spent on our 4-day, 3 night Disneyland vacation in August, 2019, or, How Much Does It Cost to Go to Disneyland?

Notes:

• These are the receipt prices we paid. We actually paid zero dollars for our Disneyland vacation, including four Annual Passes, thanks to Found Money. Read my Found Money posts here.
• Prices include Annual Pass discount (10%) if noted, and Anaheim sales tax (7.75%).
• Anaheim room tax is 17%.
• Could we do it cheaper? Oh, yes.

Spending by Category (scroll down for details):

Tickets: $2796 for four Disneyland Annual Passes (Flex Pass) with MaxPass.

Gas: $101

Hotel: $429.18

Dog: $127.42

Food and Drinks: $477.36

Snacks packed: $25

Souvenirs: $28.54

Incidentals: $9.70

TOTAL: $1198.20, or $3994.20 with Annual Passes.

Details on the Disneyland Budget Breakdown (Every Dime We Spent):

Tickets: $2796 for four Disneyland Annual Passes (Flex Pass) with MaxPass.

• We were at Disneyland for 4 days this trip, and it was the first trip with our current Annual Passes. Cost per day for Annual Passes so far: $699 for our family of 4, or $174.75 per person per day.

Gas: $101. That’s the fuel cost driving from Phoenix to Disneyland and back again (774 miles round trip).

• Pilot in Quartzsite has the cheapest Arizona gas on the I-10 near the California border.
• To calculate how much you spent on gas for a trip:
  • Start with a full tank. Don’t count that cost in your total.
  • Fill up as needed.
  • Fill up when you get home.
  • Total of gas purchases on your trip plus total cost to fill your tank when you get home is your total fuel cost.

Hotel: $429.18

• We stayed at Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites for the first time. We paid $99 a night for an Executive room with two queen beds and a double sofa sleeper. That’s the best room type for us since we have a teenage girl and a teenage boy; i.e., each kid gets their own bed. I’ve seen rates for regular rooms with 2 queen beds at this hotel as low as $89 per night.
• The “resort” (haha) fee and parking fee at Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites total $22.23 per night after tax. ($6 “resort” fee and $13 parking fee, plus 17% tax.)
• The room tax in Anaheim is 17%.
• Total on a $99 per night room for 3 nights after fees and tax: $414.18
• We tip $5 per night at hotels under $200/night. Total housekeeping tips for 3 nights: $15.

Dog: $127.42

• $120: Our wonderful neighbor (one of Jameson’s best friends) took care of our dog at $30 per day. She would do it for free, but I believe in helping kids earn a dollar whenever possible.
• $7.42: We bought our dear dogwatcher Disneyland caramel popcorn ($5.81 after AP discount) and put it in a Galaxy’s Edge reusable bag ($1.61 including tax; no AP discount on reusable bags).

Food and Drinks: $477.36

• We left for Disneyland on Monday at noon, and returned home in Phoenix on Thursday at 7 p.m. Total meals this trip: 10. [It should have been 11 meals, but everyone was still stuffed from Round Table Pizza (lunch on the way home) so we skipped dinner when we got home.]

Meals:

• Monday lunch—Phoenix, McDonald’s: $26.91. We are the only family who can spend more than $15 on a fast food meal.
• Monday night dinner—Disneyland (Adventureland): $37.67 after tax (no AP discount) at Tropical Hideaway for 5 bao buns ($15.99 for 3 plus 2 at 5.99 each) and 1 sweet lumpia ($6.99). It was OK, but not our thing.
• Tuesday breakfast—at hotel. We packed Pop Tarts, Nutri Grain bars (neither nutritious nor grain), and fruit. The hotel has a terrible continental breakfast, with the exception of pretty good Svenhard’s-level danishes. The coffee at Desert Inn is awful. Pack your own coffeepot and coffee if you stay there.
• Tuesday lunch—Disneyland (Fantasyland): $46.59 at Red Rose Taverne after AP discount. We ordered: cheesecake shake ($7.49), cheeseburger (11.79), grilled chicken sandwich ($11.29, not tasty), pepperoni flatbread ($9.99), kid’s meal turkey sandwich ($7.49). I expected the kid’s turkey sandwich to be real turkey breast like they used to serve at Riverbelle Terrace, but it was made with processed lunch meat.
• Tuesday dinner—Disneyland (Star Wars Land): $51.36 at Docking Bay 7 after AP discount: $47.49: noodle salad ($15.99), tip yip ($13.99), roast beef ($18.99) Coke ($3.99). Docking Bay 7 entrees have tons of veggies; this meal was a good break from the junk food.
• Wednesday breakfast: $12.78 with AP discount. We snacked at the hotel (Pop Tarts, etc.), then Jameson had a breakfast burrito from Galactic Grill in Disneyland (Tomorrowland). They are not delicious to me but she loves them. Burrito ($8.99) and Dr. Pepper for Jefferson at 8 a.m. ($4.19). Parenting takes a holiday at Disneyland.
• Wednesday lunch: Disneyland (Frontier Land): chimichangas. 5 at $6.79 = $36.58. (My mom joined us that day.)
  • Get your chimis across from Big Thunder and head to The Golden Horseshoe for inside seating and a show.
• Wednesday dinner: Denny’s, $41.79. Jameson’s stomach protested after a day full of Disneyland treats so we left Disneyland at 8 p.m. Dry English muffins for Jameson and chicken fingers and burgers for the rest of us. Total with 10% off hotel discount: $36.79 plus $4 takeout tip.
• Thursday breakfast: at hotel.
• Thursday lunch: Round Table Pizza in Moreno Valley on the way home: $47.07.

Drinks: $132.53:

• We don’t often buy Cokes or water bottles at Disneyland. I think we spent more on Cokes on this trip than we spent in more than 30 days combined at Disneyland last year. We didn’t buy any water bottles, thank goodness, because one water bottle at Disneyland costs more than 40 water bottles at Costco.
• We spent less on alcohol than we usually do, but spent more per drink because we visited Oga’s Cantina.
  • The drinks at Oga’s Cantina are prohibitively expensive, teeny tiny, and jam-packed with crushed ice. I estimate you get a total of 4 ounces of liquid, and probably less than 3/4 of an ounce of that is alcohol in the alcoholic drinks. That is fine by me since I don’t think Disneyland should be serving alcohol anyway. (Even though I bought the alcohol Disneyland should not be serving.)

• Sour Sarlacc (non-alcoholic Star Wars Land drink in Disneyland) and 2 large Cokes: $14.03 with AP discount.
• Large Coke at Smoke Jumpers in DCA: $4.06 with AP discount
• Americano with an extra shot (3 shots espresso) at Market House (Starbucks) in Disneyland: $4.34 with AP discount.
• Double espresso at Jolly Holiday in Disneyland: $2.89 with AP discount.
• $50.05 for four drinks at Oga’s Cantina:
  • Bad Motivator $13.25
  • Blurrgfire non-alcoholic $7
  • Hyper Drive non-alcoholic $6
  • Jedi Mind Trick $15
  • $7 tip, $3.10 tax, AP discount on non-alcoholic drinks.
• Round Coke bottles in Star Wars Land (Disneyland): $10.75 for 2
• $21.55 for 2 beers at DCA beer truck (Pacific Wharf).
• Blue Milk in Star Wars Land (nobody really liked it; it’s like a milky Icee with a bit of berry flavor): $8.61.
• 4 Large Cokes at Hungry Bear in Disneyland: $16.25 with AP discount.

Snacks at Disneyland: $45.08:

• $4.30: Pickle in Frontierland, Disneyland
• $15.01: Cheese on a stick with chips and a la carte cheese on a stick at Corn Dog Castle in DCA with AP discount.
• $1.25 breadstick at Jolly Holiday in Disneyland with AP discount.
• $6.13 Dole Whip at Tropical Hideaway in Disneyland.
• $8.71 Funnel cake at Hungry Bear in Disneyland with AP discount.
• $9.68 Soft serve (2) at Cozy Cones in DCA.

Snacks Packed: $25 We always pack tons of junk food and fresh fruit and veggies for our road trip and to snack on in the hotel room. I didn’t track this well since I picked up junk food on sale for several weeks before the trip, so I’m estimating $25 based on how much we usually spend on our Disneyland trips.

Souvenirs: $28.54 We don’t usually buy souvenirs since we go to Disneyland so often, but KC had to have the mouse droid popcorn bucket from Star Wars Land. $21.54.

I bought the cheapest souvenir in Disneyland: reusable bags. Extra large bags are $2 (about the size of an Ikea bag), large bags are $1.50 (size of an XL tote bag), and Galaxy’s Edge bags are $1.50 (size of a typical reusable bag). Total for 4 bags: $7 after tax.

Incidentals: $9.70. Incidentals can derail a vacation budget so I try to plan ahead. I count incidentals as unexpected purchases—things like sunscreen, ibuprofen, bandaids, new outfit for a kid whose pants arre bugging her…. This trip, Jameson’s $1 Walmart flip flops broke and we found $10 flip flops on clearance in the Frontierland shop. Price after tax and AP discount: $9.70.

 

Are you just looking for Disneyland on a Budget info? Use these quick referral links:

• Disneyland on a Budget book 2019 3rd edition.
• Disney Visa link for the $200 statement credit on the No Annual Fee Disney Visa (the regular bonus is only $100!) updated 11/22/19 ch
• Use Get Away Today promo code ALLDAYMOM for a stackable, extra $10 off any package when you book at least 2 nights and 2 Disneyland tickets (layaway for $175)!
• Get money saving referral links and credit card bonus links on one Google doc here.