A Cheap Disney Vacation

Can a family of four enjoy a Disneyland vacation over a holiday for under $1,000? Let's say two adults and two kids are looking over Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25, for their vacation. They arrive late in the afternoon on Friday, roam through Downtown Disney and walk through the Grand California Hotel to the Whitewater Snacks counter for dinner. There the adults get sandwiches and the kids share chicken tenders ($37 with tax).

They head to the Alamo Inn & Suites on Katella Avenue across from the resort that they booked on Hotels.com for $50/night, which includes two double beds, refrigerator, microwave and free wireless connections in the lobby. Three nights: $150

On Saturday morning, the family walks a half-block to Denny's for breakfast ($22) then over to the Disneyland gate for tickets. Now a good majority of Disneyland visitors buy their tickets online and they buy the "park-hopper" passes for multiple days, which allows them to go from Disneyland to California Adventure on the same day. However, our family decides that because they're on a budget and because their young kids can only deal with so much stimulation in a day, they buy the single park day tickets for Disneyland, the main attraction in the visit ($256 for two adults and two kids). They brought some snacks for the kids to munch on, and they have an early dinner at the Rancho del Zocalo restaurant in Frontierland, sharing a couple of their large entrees, as well as four drinks and churros for dessert. $40.

On Sunday, they head to the Whitewater Snacks counter again for rolls, muffins, coffee and milk ($20) then buy single-day tickets for California Adventure ($256). For a late lunch, they head to the PCH Grill at the Paradise Pier Hotel for burgers and drinks, making sure they show their AAA card to get 10% off. ($37) then ice cream in the evening ($20).

Monday morning they splurge on the brunch at the Disneyland Hotel's Goofy's Kitchen, remembering again to show their AAA card for 10% off. ($78). They do another walk through of Downtown Disney then head for home. Of course, their kids need something to something to remember the trip, so they spend a total of $50 on souveniers. Grand total: $966.

Of course, this doesn't include transportation to Anaheim. If they're within 100 miles, the $34 left over should pay for gasoline. If they're farther away, let's just say they used one of our favorite sites for airline deals Airfare Watchdog. Then they used Hotwire to pick up a cheap rental car or took a shuttle down to the resort area. So, in all likelihood, they spent more than $1,000, but compare that to some of the vacation packages that are advertised and you'll see you can do Disneyland much cheaper.