A Frugal Family's Path to Disneyland

Ah Disneyland.  If you live in or grew up in Southern California, chances are it has played a part in your cherished memories.  I have some wonderful childhood memories of Disneyland.  I have a cherished picture of my mom holding me at the entrance when I was a baby, and I even performed in Disney's Magical Music Days a few times.  Throughout the 1980's I visited there a handful of times for special occasions like Birthdays and even as a reward or ceasing sucking my thumb!  We lived approximately 2.5 hours away, and I think I only remember staying at a hotel once.  I have fond memories of falling asleep in the car ride home, all tired out from wonderful magical days.  Fast forward a few decades.  I now have 2 children of my own.  We have not been to Disneyland as a family yet, but boy do my kids know about it!  They know a few characters and have heard some friends talking about it.  My daughter is so cute when she pronounces it as "Dis-a-ney-land." We definitely want to give our kids this experience, but we do not want to pay the high prices!

We're a pretty frugal family.  We have financial goals and practices that I am pretty confident in saying are probably considered weird or different from the vast majority of Americans.  Being graduates of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (which I think everyone should check out - his books too!), we do our best to practice "Living like no one else, so you can live like no one else."  It's sometimes the harder road to follow, and we still have some areas of finance that are going better than others, but it's a work in progress that is having some amazing results.  I do believe it's this different view of how to handle money that has me so perplexed at the whole Disneyland experience.  I have absolute sticker shock at the price!  We have been to Legoland (off season rocks!  I need to do a post on that!), Sea World, zoos, Knott's Berry Farm and a bunch of smaller attractions throughout southern California.  We took advantage of BOGO admissions, coupons, and season passes for the zoo that paid for itself in 2 visits.  We've learned some tough lessons along the way too, like beware of all the money traps at your local carnival. 

Let's first evaluate a few financial facts.  It's interesting to note the history of Disneyland ticket prices under Section 9 in this article Here.  I'll allow for some obvious inflation.  Comparing to the other theme parks, the current $96 adult ticket price and $90 kids price still has me shocked!  It is by far "ears above" the other parks in the experience factor - I'll give it that.  But if it's taking at least $700+ out of our budget for just a single day only (maybe 2 day) experience (I'm including gas, food, tax, and extras) you better believe I'm going to find out every way possible to save as much cash as possible, not have it affect our current budget and financial goals, and also make sure we are getting the biggest bang for our bucks. 

Check out my spreadsheet comparing the current prices and deals we found for Disneyland California as of July 4, 2014.  This is for a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids.

Considering we are saving up for this trip outside of our current budget, and we want to only spend a smaller amount, the only 2 options we are considering are the 1-Day (1 park) tickets or the 2-Day (1 park per day) tickets with the AAA savings.  Being realistic with ourselves, there is no way we would visit 6 or more times per year (see notes on the spreadsheet) to even break even with the cost of the annual pass options, nor do we even want to spend that much. 

Now for the fun part - building up our fund and finding even more deals on some of the extra costs!  Our trip so far has been funded by a combination of selling toys and household items, a monetary gift from a family member, and a small amount of some unexpected money that came in.  This has been a great way to teach financial principles and numbers to our kids.  Each time they sell a toy we track the money earned towards our trip on the flip board.  The amount has been updated since I snapped this picture, and we now stand at a total of $499.  We'd like to have $300 in addition to the cost of tickets to cover gas, food and extras like souvenirs.  This puts us at a goal of $672 (1 Day) or $966.50 (2-Days).  Just typing these amounts out makes me want to stick with the 1-Day option!


I also have some other tips & tricks up my sleeve for this trip that I've learned.  We like to pack our own lunches and snacks on trips.  I cringe at the theme park food prices - and for junk food!  Yikes!  I allow for some treats and junkier food on trips because, well it's a treat!  So, about a week before the trip I head to the 99 Cent Store first to see if they have some pretzels, granola bars, and other snack items that are junky enough that they are a treat, yet aren't entirely chemical laden. After seeing what I can score there, I also make sure to pack peanut butter, jelly, bread, organic apples, cereal, ziplocks, and a big flat of bottled waters.  We use reusable water bottles during the year, but on trips we opt for these because who wants to do dishes on a trip?!  If I've had time to do some couponing, I may throw some of those food items in our bag too.  Lunch and snacks are therefore covered.  We probably will have 1 or 2 snacks or meals at the park, but at least this limits the amount spent on food. 

Let's talk souvenirs!  Gift shops are another money sucker.  I want to buy my kids something to enjoy and remember the trip by, but I do not want to spend a fortune.  So, I like to buy some gifts ahead of time at discounted prices, then surprise them with it while we are there.  I also like to strategically avoid the gift shops!  Steer clear of them in the park as best you can!  If you live near a Disney Outlet Store, go there without the kids sometime and get a few things to surprise them with.  Zulily also routinely has Disney branded items at a discount.  To save even more, see if Raise.com has some Disney Gift Cards available.  Raise sells gift cards at a discount.  If you have some extra gift cards laying around that you will not be using, sell them on Raise to make some extra cash! Then, use those gift cards at the outlet, or even at the park itself.  Be sure to read restrictions carefully!  Also keep your eyes open for Disney Gift Card deals at other stores like Target, and grocery stores.  If you have a Target Red Card, you will get 5% back. I've also seen some grocery store promotions throughout the year like get $10 in groceries for every $50 in gift cards spent.  Every little bit of savings counts!  Although, I will say the disclaimer here that if you are a Financial Peace University Grad, you know to stay away from credit cards!  Perhaps just keep your eyes out for those grocery store deals.  You can also use the gift cards as a way to budget out your trip, only allowing yourself a certain amount to be spent in the park. 

We are lucky that we have family and friends in Orange County to stay with for a night. If you need to stay in a hotel, you can find many options near the park that are much cheaper than the Disney branded hotels.  Trip Advisor is a wonderful resource for finding such hotels.   

I hope this post has helped you get some ideas for saving for Disney.  I will update this post as we get closer to our goal and also post after our trip.