# Disneyland Cost **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542 "2010-07-13T15:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/21 "2010-07-13T19:22:35Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > There was a Doper who worked at Disneyland, who said that it is a little known fact (and something that I had never heard before) that guests are allowed to bring all the food and drink (no alcohol) that they want into the park with them. > [@](#): > > **Can I bring food into Disneyland Park or Disney’s California Adventure Park?** > With the exception of food items for Guests with specific dietary restrictions, food or beverage items are not permitted into either of the Disneyland Resort theme parks. > **[Help](https://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/dining/#dining-q5)** > > Help ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/22 "2010-07-13T19:24:49Z")
It’s would be easy enough to claim that what you have in the cooler is for your specific food allergy or whatever. I guarantee that they don’t want to be in the business of inspecting your cooler’s food and questioning you about your allergy. They’ll do a cursory check for bottles or booze but they won’t go into the details of what’s in your sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/23 "2010-07-13T19:25:33Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [Help](http://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/dining/#dining-q5) I guess it was Disneyworld that I was thinking of… (See post #14) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/24 "2010-07-13T19:41:47Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I guess it was Disneyworld that I was thinking of… > > (See post #14) > [@](#): > > **Can food be brought into Walt Disney World Resort hotels and Theme Parks?** > Guests are allowed to bring food items-such as snacks or foods that do not require heating-into any Walt Disney World Resort hotel. If you have food items that need to be refrigerated, please ask the front desk at your hotel to have a refrigerator placed in your room. Refrigerator may require an additional charge. Guests are allowed to bring food items-such as snacks or foods that do not require heating-into any Walt Disney World Theme Park. Inform a Security Cast Member of any food items when you enter the Theme Park. > **[Help](https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/dining/)** > > Help ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/25 "2010-07-13T19:42:08Z")
And this doesn’t include the cost of lodging. I wonder, is Disney World still doing great business, or has attendance fallen off the last few years? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/26 "2010-07-13T20:30:35Z")
I am a well known huge Disneyland fan and I think the trick is- much like anything in life- choosing wisely. Sure, you can get some soggy, crappy burger and fries or slice of pizza and a Coke for $12 at one of the walk up “restaurants” in the park — OR you could eat at the beautiful sit down restaurant, the Blue Bayou. At the Bayou, you get unlimited bread and butter, a DELICIOUS salad (seriously, huge with dark lettuces, great dressing, wonderful toppings, very filling), a lunch entree that I guarantee you wont be able to finish, and a drink for $18. With the pizza or burger, it’s not “real” food, so you’re going to be hungry again soon thereafter and get some more over priced junk. With the Bayou, you aren’t going to want to eat again all day AND you’ll have left overs you can take with you. And this isn’t counting downtown Disney or walking 2 minutes across the street from the Main Gate and eating at Denny’s or Mimi’s or whatever else is out there. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/27 "2010-07-13T21:42:12Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > And this doesn’t include the cost of lodging. > > I wonder, is Disney World still doing great business, or has attendance fallen off the last few years? WDW appears to be doing fine–but I believe they have been offering more discounts lately to keep attendance up. I haven’t noticed much difference in the crowds in our last few visits. (We’ve been twice in the last year, and are going again around Christmas. I fully expect the Christmas/New Year’s crowds to be absolutely insane.) As for food, it’s one of the highlights for our trips to WDW. There are dozens of sit-down restaurants in and around the parks, including some 4-star restaurants such as the California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, or Jiko at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. See here: [http://allears.net/din/dining.htm](http://allears.net/din/dining.htm) The only downside to the restaurants is that you have to plan ahead–don’t expect to get in to a WDW table-service restaurant without a reservation. We’ve already made all of our restaurant reservations for December, for example. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/28 "2010-07-13T23:20:34Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I suppose someone could argue that Disneyland was 3 times better in 2009 than it was in 1981… but I think that would be a stretch. Since Disney park attendees don’t appear to be price sensitive it looks like they were able to sucessfully ratchet up the price every year. > > BTW, when I worked at a marine park in the 1970’s we were told that the admission price covered the employees, electricity and food for the animals. The profits came from all of the concessions… Ex-Disneyland worker here: I worked there from 2001-2007 and I can say that they don’t seem to take attendance and things into account when they increase prices. We had some slow years and months after 9/11 and right before the 50th anniversary in 2005, but prices steadily increased. They also mentioned that profits came from concessions like food, and that gate prices don’t make nearly as much. > [@hogarth](#): > > I’m more interested in the food. You could easily argue that Disneyland’s attractions have improved over the years, but has there been a quantum leap in frozen banana technology in the interim? Nope, still looks like a crooked penis! 😃 > [@garygnu](#): > > And, as for food, there are many places to get some _really_ good food, both inside the park and nearby in Downtown Disney. > > \*: good for both parks, the $72 single-day pass are not Even the workers don’t like paying the food prices. There’s a McDonalds, IHOP, and Denny’s right across the street from Disneyland. If you’re willing to trek out that far for lunch and dinner, do it. You’ll save like $10 per person. > [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > There was a Doper who worked at Disneyland, who said that it is a little known fact (and something that I had never heard before) that guests are allowed to bring all the food and drink (no alcohol) that they want into the park with them. > > Now this would not be ideal for everyone, but for families on a budget, bringing a few 2 liter bottles of of coke and a bucket of KFC (or some sub sandwiches) in a cooler could potentially save a HUGE amount of $$$, especially if you were there for several days. > > Anyone know if this is still the policy? Obviously Disneyland does not go out of it’s way to tell the public about this… That’s me! Yes, you can bring food into the park. There’s no official rule against it but obviously they may frown on you bringing a whole steak dinner or something, but I’ve brought large bags of snacks, trail mix, large water bottles, etc. into the park with no problems. They only check for weapons and stuff like that. I’ve never seen anyone being denied entrance for food. Of course, that’s not to say a bad manager may not make up some phony excuse to bar food, but if you keep it things like sandwiches nicely wrapped or in tupperware containers, they won’t deny you entrance. And if they do, make a fuss about it and they’ll probably let you through anyway > [@Duckster](#): > > [Help](http://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/dining/#dining-q5) In my 5 years there, I’ve never seen that rule enforced. People go in with snacks and water and juice all the time. I think the best advice I can give is to pack sensibly. Someone may bring up that rule if you have large coolers full of food, but not if you have a backpack with a bag of snacks or a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/29 "2010-07-13T23:22:52Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s would be easy enough to claim that what you have in the cooler is for your specific food allergy or whatever. I guarantee that they don’t want to be in the business of inspecting your cooler’s food and questioning you about your allergy. They’ll do a cursory check for bottles or booze but they won’t go into the details of what’s in your sandwich. Yes, the Disney workers are really good about letting things go in the name of maintaining the “show” of the place. I once got a friend’s rather large toddler in for free after claiming he was big because his dad’s tall. The manager came out, accepted the excuse at face value, and the kid got in for free (he was like 6!) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/30 "2010-07-13T23:29:46Z")
When we went when I was a kid, we all tromped out to the parking lot at lunch and dinner times to eat out of the trunk of the car. We had six kids–even in 1983, the tickets were killer. Buying the food was not to be considered! ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/31 "2010-07-13T23:45:19Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Even the workers don’t like paying the food prices. There’s a McDonalds, IHOP, and Denny’s right across the street from Disneyland. If you’re willing to trek out that far for lunch and dinner, do it. You’ll save like $10 per person. Just out of idle curiousity, dont they give workers some sort of (hopefully huge) discount on the food? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/32 "2010-07-14T01:01:10Z")
My boss at the time got a tour of Disneyworld as part of some management seminar, specifically a tour of the underground tunnels. He said you wouldn’t believe how many people assumed he was an employee and told him he’d have to shave his goatee off quickly. I’ll agree the prices for food are not outlandish, just on the high side. A small bottle of Coke from the refrigerator costs $1.89 at a gas station, so $3 for a big cup of pop is in the ballpark for refreshments. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/33 "2010-07-14T01:22:31Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Just out of idle curiousity, dont they give workers some sort of (hopefully huge) discount on the food? There are employee cafeterias “backstage”, with normally priced food. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/34 "2010-07-14T01:30:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There are employee cafeterias “backstage”, with normally priced food. I guess that makes sense, as I suppose that most workers wouldn’t want to hang out for a couple of hours after their shift in order to get a cheap meal, no matter how good (or inexpensive) the food might be… Do employees get an allotment of free park passes per year to share with friends and family? ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/35 "2010-07-14T01:56:13Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > If you really only want to go for one day, search online for people unloading partially-used multi-day passes for cheap. Against Disneyland’s rules > [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > There was a Doper who worked at Disneyland, who said that it is a little known fact (and something that I had never heard before) that guests are allowed to bring all the food and drink (no alcohol) that they want into the park with them. > > Now this would not be ideal for everyone, but for families on a budget, bringing a few 2 liter bottles of of coke and a bucket of KFC (or some sub sandwiches) in a cooler could potentially save a HUGE amount of $$$, especially if you were there for several days. > > Anyone know if this is still the policy? Obviously Disneyland does not go out of it’s way to tell the public about this… There’s a nice picnic area with lockers just outside the entrance. Better that than lugging around a cooler. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/36 "2010-07-14T02:04:13Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > There’s a nice picnic area with lockers just outside the entrance. Better that than lugging around a cooler. I fully agree, but for a family that will be pushing a stroller anyway, I would get a small cooler that can fit on/under the stroller for snacks, drinks or somesuch… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/37 "2010-07-14T03:58:56Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Do employees get an allotment of free park passes per year to share with friends and family? Yep. Not sure what the rules are for Disneyland, but at Walt Disney World employees can let in at least one person using their employee ID (and as many as 10, depending on their level of seniority), and also get at least 8 comp tickets a year that anyone can use. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/38 "2010-07-14T14:28:46Z")
How about other costs such as their liability insurance and defending themselves against every person who trips on their own shoelaces and suddenly sees dollars? I can’t imagine either of those are cheap, yet, sadly, they do nothing to enhance your day at the park. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/39 "2010-07-14T14:40:03Z")
Liability insurance is built into the cost of everything. It shouldn’t have gone up any more for Disney than for, say, a supermarket. In any case, Disney is self-insured, so its liability insurance cost is actually lower than most businesses’. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542/40 "2010-07-14T15:04:14Z")
I just talked to someone who came back from Disney in Florida and they said that the food and concessions and stuff were cheaper than they had expected (they equated it to airport style pricing) and that the park allowed people to bring in outside food and drinks and even had picnic areas and stuff set up where you could eat your non-Disney food. I was a little surprised. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disneyland-cost/546542.md?page=3)