Did you know that you can bring your own food into Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park? This is absolutely allowed and a great way to save money and maybe lower your stress. Keep reading for our advice on why you should bring your own food to Disneyland Resort and how to do it.
You Can Bring Your Own Food to Disneyland
We never visit Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park without bring some food. Many people are surprised to discover that it is not against the rules to bring outside food into the Disneyland Resort parks.
As we are writing this, the only food-related items you are prohibited from bringing into the parks are glass containers (except for small baby food jars), alcoholic beverages, loose ice and hard coolers larger than 24” x 15” x 18”. Rather than loose ice, you are allowed to bring reusable ice packs. You can see the full and current list of park rules and regulations for Disneyland Resort here.
Of course anything you bring through Disneyland Resort security is subject to inspection. Security cast members have the final say on what is and is not allowed.
Why You Should Bring Your Own Food to Disneyland
We like eating at Disneyland Resort’s fun and varied restaurants and carts, but buying all of our meals at Disney restaurants is just not in our vacation budget. Instead we focus our food budget on our favorite items and restaurants around Disneyland Resort. Then, we fill in the gaps with food we bring into the parks ourselves.
We choose to spend our dining money where it is going to bring us the most enjoyment. Bringing our own food also helps us to avoid making impulse purchases when hunger strikes. Plus, we know we will have food on hand that works for our pickiest eaters.
Here is an example of our meals over a day of bringing our own food to Disneyland Park
Before we leave our hotel, we eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant or grab some yogurt and granola from our in-room refrigerator. We pack some sandwiches, apples, carrots and other easy to carry items like trail mix. Then we head to Disneyland Park. Our stroller and park bags are already loaded up with full water bottles.
When midday crowds get heavy, we pull out our packed lunch and have a meal break. Maybe we have a picnic in CenTOONial Park or overlooking the Rivers of America. We never have trouble finding a picturesque spot.
For dinner, we eat at a Disneyland Park restaurant that we are excited to try. Maybe we go for a warm hearty meal and a great view at Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree, or we enjoy a Monte Cristo sandwich in the dreamy ambiance of Blue Bayou.
In between meals, we treat ourselves to some of Disneyland Park’s signature snacks like a Dole Whip or churro. If someone gets suddenly hungry, we also have apples and trail mix on hand.
Where to Get Groceries Around Disneyland Resort
If you are staying at a hotel in the Disneyland area, you have a few options for getting food.
Pack Your Own Food
First, you can pack items to bring with you. We always travel with snacks. If you want to pack snacks in your luggage or carry-on bags, we suggest non-perishable and non-liquid items like protein or breakfast bars, trail mix and dried fruit.
Purchase Food Near Disneyland Resort
You may want to purchase groceries at one of the many convenience stores within walking distance of Disneyland Resort. You will recognize names like Walgreens and CVS on the streets around Disneyland, and most area hotels also have their own small stores. The prices will usually be higher here than at your hoe grocery store.
When we travel, we like to put in an advanced order for Target pick-up and grab the food on our way to the hotel. If you are driving to Disneyland Resort or can arrange an extra stop with your ride share or taxi, this is our favorite way to get groceries.
Have Food Delivered to Your Disneyland Hotel
Finally, you can take advantage of one of the many grocery delivery options including Amazon, Instacart, UberEats or your store of choice. We suggest starting with any services you have used before, and checking to see if they serve the Anaheim area. Unless the service is something specific to your hometown, it is likely they also have a presence in Anaheim.
Disneyland Resort Hotels will accept your grocery order and even store it in bell services until you can retrieve it. Other hotels in the area will do the same. Before you set-up an order, we suggest calling your hotel and asking about their policies and how they would like the order to be labeled to ensure easy delivery. Depending on your hotel’s policies, you may also be able to have food delivered by mail.
Storing Food at Your Disneyland Hotel
Numerous hotels near Disneyland Resort have in-room refrigerators. These can be more like “drink coolers” than true refrigerators, but they are still nice to have. Many of these hotels also have small microwaves in the rooms or available in the common areas.
We suggest calling ahead of time to see which of these appliances are available to you. On a recent stay, we discovered that our hotel provided toasters, so we brought some bagels and waffles with us.
If you are staying in a Disneyland Resort Hotel, and you get a room without a refrigerator or microwave, be sure to call the front desk and ask for them. We did this on our latest visit and had a microwave in our room almost immediately.
We like having both a refrigerator and microwave for storing and preparing groceries and leftovers from our Disneyland Resort meals.
Foods We Recommend Bringing to Disneyland
When deciding what foods to bring to Disneyland Resort, we suggest approaching the list as if you are preparing school lunches. Think about easily portable handheld items that do not require refrigeration or heating if eaten within a few hours. You can bring a small cooler (under 24” x 15” x 18”) and reusable ice packs, but we prefer to bring foods that do not require a cooler.
We have linked our suggestions to examples of the products on Amazon. These are just examples to get you thinking about your own list. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission if you choose to use these links to purchase products on Amazon. The price you pay does not change. Thanks for supporting this blog.
Here are some suggestions:
- sandwiches
- apples
- oranges
- carrots
- jerky or salami
- string cheese or cheese sticks
- nuts
- trail mix or other snack mix
- protein or breakfast bars
- single serving milk boxes that are shelf-stable
Thank you for reading our tips on bringing your own food to Disneyland Resort.
Do not forgot to pack a water bottle too! For other tips on what to bring to Disneyland, check-out: 5 Things We Bring to Disneyland for a Wonderful Day and our Things We Bring to Disneyland: A Clickable List. Finally, please consider subscribing to our free newsletter to get all future tips in your inbox. Thanks for reading!