If you are looking for a truly magical family adventure, Disneyland is an excellent choice for a vacation. The Disneyland Resort offers the highest quality of service and just about everything you would need to make your vacation a memorable experience.
Though the Disney experience is wonderful, if you have ever visited the Disneyland Resort you know that it can get very costly, but don’t despair and write off a Disney Vacation as a lost cause. With a little planning, you can make the Disneyland Resort a more affordable vacation for your family.
Lodging
One of the first and most important facts to keep in mind is, if you are on a tight budget, you will not want to book your hotel accommodations at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels. There is no doubt that staying at one of the Disneyland Hotels add some magic and convenience to your vacations, but remember that you will pay for it. The cost is often at least triple of those using a different hotel or motel.
To conquer the problem of affordable lodging, begin searching online for a hotel that is within your budget. There are many hotels near the Disneyland Resort at a fraction of the cost of one of the resort hotels. These neighboring hotels offer clean and comfortable lodging and many of them also provide a complimentary shuttle service to the resort.
Meals
Once you are at the resort, it will soon become apparent that stretching your vacation budget to accommodate meals may not be so easy. The resorts do not allow outside food and drinks to be brought in, though there is an area just outside of the park to picnic, but it is seldom used. It is much too inconvenient to go out of the park to eat for each meal.
The dilemma of affordable meals can be less of a daunting task if you check the menus of the eating establishments inside the park to locate the most affordable places to eat ahead of time. You will spend much less money this way. You will find that it will be better for your budget to eat breakfast before going into the parks, and on those days when you leave the park early, there are several restaurants that will ease the cost. One alternative is to order pizza to your hotel room. There are a few pizza delivery establishments that will deliver complete meals to your room at a very affordable price.
Another way to beat those expensive prices is to buy bottled water for each person as you enter the park and just keep refilling it through out the day. You will need plenty of liquids and this is a better alternative that spending big bucks on soda.
Resort Tickets
This is one of the more important tips to help you save money. It is much better to buy your tickets separately, outside of a package. The Disney packages do make things much more convenient, but the cost is a great deal higher, Make all your travel and lodging arrangements yourself, and only order your tickets through Disney Travel. You will pay more, even if Disney books you at the same hotel you would have booked yourself.
Another tip that will help you save a lot of money is to know when to go to Disneyland. Low season is the most affordable time to go. Disney usually has deals on their park tickets during low season, and the hotels are not as expensive. Low season ordinarily runs from October through April.
With the proper planning, a vacation to the Disneyland Resort is within reach for most any family, even those families on a tight budget.
