Even though I'm currently mad at Disneyland, I will forever praise them for allowing people to bring their own food into the parks. Hopefully they continue to do this for years to come (but someday they'll probably start charging a fee for it because that's just how it is. I don't think they can ever ban it at this point because there are too many food allergies and dietary needs they'd have to make exceptions for).
Last week I promised to write a post about taking food to Disneyland. Just a note that most of my “advice” hinges on being able to go to a store. We usually drive to California so we have a car with us. We can drive to a store and/or bring stuff from home. When we have flown with the whole family, we have had a rental car (so, again, an easy way to get to a store). However, when we went without kids for our anniversary last year, we didn’t have a car; and we just lived it up - buying any park foods our hearts desired! And we didn’t even have to share with our kids!
A few things to know about bringing food to the park:
-No alcohol
-No glass containers
-No hard coolers (use canvas)
(Here is some information on their outside food policy).
Your bags are checked at security before you can enter the parks, so if you are in violation of any rules, they will let you know there, but as long as you follow the guidelines above, you shouldn't have any problems... unless you're doing something really weird. My brother-in-law claims that they wouldn't let him take stuff in to make PB&J sandwiches. So I guess the lesson to learn there is: make your sandwiches before you go (I kind of wonder if the issue was a glass jam jar. You never know with this guy. He also tried to lock his stroller to a fence in Disneyland, and that didn't work out for him, either. They cut his lock).
Just a note - I've never had an issue with taking nut products into the parks. We take PB&J all the time. Pre-assembled.
What to pack your food in
As mentioned above, you cannot take a hard cooler into Disneyland, so any food you bring needs to go in a bag of some sort. We use insulated backpacks to carry our food.
The big one is a bag I got from Costco several years ago, and the smaller Mickey Mouse one I found at Ross prior to our most recent Disneyland trip.
This only matters if you have stuff you need to keep cold, which we usually do.
Where to keep your food
There are a few options for where to keep your food while you're in the park:
Option 1 is in a stroller. This is one great thing about having a stroller in Disneyland - it's like a mobile storage unit. Disneyland is very stroller friendly. You can park your stroller in a designated area and leave it there for hours. There is always some risk with leaving your stuff unattended, but I have never had a problem. If my food gets stolen... the world will not end. Keep your most valuable things with you, but go ahead and leave jackets and food and things like that in your stroller while you are doing other things.
Option 2 is to get a locker. We have talked about using a locker, but we've never done it. Ultimately, we are too lazy to go back and forth from a locker to get our stuff, so this isn't what we do, but it is an option.
Option 3 is to just carry it with you. This is what we do now that we have outgrown strollers. Scotty carries the bigger backpack, I carry the smaller backpack, and the kids usually each have a small backpack. We put stuff that needs to stay cold in Scotty's and my backpacks and other snacks in everyone else's. The rides are all very bag-friendly, so there is never an issue with taking a backpack on a ride. If you are concerned about what to do with your backpack on a ride, ask the cast members what to do, but you pretty much just put it by your feet, even on the roller coasters. There are a few rides, like the Silly Symphony Swings in California Adventure, where you set your bag off to the side while you ride.
(Note: the employees of Disneyland are called "cast members." It's silly, but when you use the right words, you look smart at Disneyland).
Common foods we take to Disneyland:
-Sandwiches of all kinds. We change up the bread - traditional loaves, rolls, croissants, bagels, etc. and we alternate between PB&J and meat and cheese.
-Pringles. This is our travel chip of choice because the canisters keep the chips from getting smashed.
-Veggies and dip. I'm picky and only like homemade veggie dip. My recipe is:
2/3 C sour cream
2/3 C mayo
1 tsp of each: parsley, garlic salt, dill, and dried minced onion
Or if you want to make enough dip for 100 people, you can follow the directions I posted here (but I don't recommend taking that much dip into Disneyland).
-Gummi treats.
-String cheese.
-Lunchables. We have taken actual Lunchables, but usually we just pack pepperoni, sliced cheese, and crackers.
-Drinks. Bottled water (frozen and used to keep our food cool), Gatorade, soda, whatever. Note that Disneyland uses paper straws, so if you plan to get drinks in Disneyland and hate paper straws (like I do), you may want to BYOS.
-Pretzels. We love pretzels of all varieties so we take a few different kinds - Dot's honey mustard, Reese's dipped pretzels, peanut butter filled, and of course the good, old, normal pretzels. We take a different kind to the park each day.
-Fruit. Clementines, apples, and grapes.
-Gogurt. We freeze them if that's an option (some hotel fridges don't have a freezer, and when they do, they don't work very well, but we freeze them if we can so they help keep the other food cold).
-Beef jerky. This last trip we took a bunch of homemade jerky, and it was a great snack.
-Snacks of all kinds.
On our last trip we took some chicken pasta salad, and some of us really enjoyed it. It gave us a break from sandwiches. We also took some spaghetti noodles and parmesan, which was a hit for a few of us. We ate both of those items out of ziploc bags. It wasn't classy, but it was sure convenient!
Other things to consider:
-Condiments. You can find some around the park, but it never hurts to be prepared just in case you are in desperate need of a pack of mayo.
-Utensils. Again, you can find some around the park, but it helps if you watch for them before you need them, and snag them for later rather than try to find them when it's time to eat. Or take your own.
-Zipper bags. To pack your food in.
-Keeping your food from getting smashed. Does it need to go in a special container? Can you stick it in a cracker box or something to help keep it safe?
-Will you have access to a freezer? Keeping the food cold is easy when you have a freezer, but you never know what you're going to get with a hotel freezer. Frozen water bottles are my favorite method for keeping our food cold in the parks (then we also have something to drink). There's also the option of using ice packs or ice. In desperate moments I will triple bag some ice from the hotel ice machine in ziploc bags (to prevent a leak). I've found that freezing water bottles in a hotel fridge can sometimes take a few days, so get that thing stocked the second you check in, and don't pack it too full because your water will freeze better if there is a little bit of air space around it. If I'm traveling with a cooler of food from home, I will usually freeze several water bottles at home and pack them to A) help keep the food cold while we drive and B) have a head start on frozen water.
Where to eat
So far, Disneyland has always allowed its guests to eat almost anywhere. Even with outside food and drink, you can sit at the tables outside of the restaurants. Sit on the ground, sit on a bench, or sit at the tables. Heck, eat in line while you wait! There are a lot of options. We do all of the above.
Some of our favorite park foods
We bring most of our own food to the parks just to keep expenses low, but we eat our share of park food, too! We don't usually do full meals, but we have lots of snacks, and we share a lot.
To be honest, its my personal opinion that a lot of the food in the Disney parks isn't that good. A lot of it looks better than it is. The food is "fun" but not always "delicious."
Here are some of our favorites:
In Disneyland:
-Breakfast chimichangas. They only have a limited amount at the beginning of the day. They can be purchased from the stand in front of the Mark Twain River Boat (right across from the entrance of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Ask for the green sauce. They won't offer it to you. You have to ask for it. Later in the day you can buy regular chimichangas here as well. Scotty and Nicky are all about the chimis!
-Dole Whips. I like the floats which are pineapple Dole whip in pineapple juice.
-Corn dogs. We are divided on the corn dogs. Some of us are sick of them. I still love them, but I haven't' had one for several years. Get them from the Little Red Wagon on Main Street.
-Beignets. (Pronounced like "ben-yays"). You can find Mickey Mouse shaped beignets in New Orleans Square at Disneyland or you can get beignets (without mouse ears) at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. Prepare to be covered in powdered sugar! Don't forget to shake up the bag before you eat them!
-Mickey pretzels. I have one kid in particular who LOVES soft pretzels. She’s also my popcorn junkie.
In California Adventure (DCA):
-Sourdough bread. We love getting a loaf at DCA because it holds everyone over for a while. You can get sourdough bread from Aunt Cass Cafe in San Fransokyo Square (formerly the Pacific Wharf Cafe). If you get there in the first half of the day, there is a bread cart outside of the restaurant where you can buy a loaf. If the bread cart is out, you can see if they still have some at the counter inside. There is butter inside the restaurant at the counter (just walk in and grab some).
And that's pretty much it for DCA. There's a lot of food there I haven't tried. My kids love to get Jack Jack Cookie Num Nums by the Incredicoaster. Scotty loves the chimichangas (available at both parks).
Disney is always changing out foods and doing special things for the different seasons. I'm not really an expert on park food, but Scotty follows all the Disney food blogs, so I just let him buy me food. There's always something he wants to try!
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So that’s a little rundown of how we take care of meals in Disneyland (and Disney World - although some of the park foods aren’t the same).
Happy fooding!
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