Tips for your first Road Trip to Disneyland

Disneyland really is the most magical place on earth. If this is a destination you think you may never make it to because it’s too far, or too expensive, just know, we drove all the way to Disneyland from Canada, and back home in just under 4 days, and it cost us around $350. That includes our experience in the park.

I’m of the philosophy that if I can drive there, I will most likely do so, and Disneyland was no exception. Also, if I can find road trip friends crazy enough to road trip with me, I’ll make it happen.

There is a common misconception that Disneyland is this big elaborate destination that is uber expensive, and really out of reach for many people. In today’s blog, I want to share with you how we road tripped to Disneyland on a budget, how we got there, and a few learning experiences we had along the way. 

Driving from Vancouver, Canada to Disneyland in California takes just over 21 hours to get to. This doesn’t include any bathroom breaks, dinner stops, or random road side adventures along the way. We’ve driven down to California several times now, so stops like the Oregon coast, and exploring Northern California have already been checked off the road trip bucket list. During this specific road trip, it was all business, get to Disneyland, have a magical experience, and drive home. We only had a long weekend to make this trip happen, and we did. Hopefully you have a bit more time on your road trip adventure to enjoy the sites, and get a little more sleep than we did.

Our road trip began on a Thursday after work was over, we loaded up our car and hit the road.

Road trip tip: we always travel with food. This is first for safety reasons, if we ever get stranded or have car troubles (which we have), we have food and water on hand. Second, this is done of course to save money. Imagine eating fast food for several days. As delicious as this sounds, we generally feel terrible afterwords. Also consider a stop at a gas station for a bottle of water and a somewhat healthy snack. You’re looking at around $6-8 just for a snack. You can pick up a case of water for around the same price, and that should last you the whole trip.

I’m a big fan of driving at nighttime, there is less traffic, little to no construction, and things like crossing the Canada US border goes quicker with less people crossing. You can also make great time on the highway, since there is no after work congestion, or accidents slowing down traffic.

After several stops, changing of drivers, we made it to Disneyland late Friday night. Our initial plan was to save money, and have a quick sleep in the car before exploring the park Saturday morning. However, as we are getting older, the idea of sleeping in the car is less appealing than it once was. Thankfully apps like Orbits and Expedia lets us quickly book cheap hotel rooms when needed. I don’t remember the specific name of the hotel we booked last minute, but what I will say is it definitely left a road trip memory for me. It cost around $35 for the night, and with 3 road trippers, we split the cost of $12/each. Not a bad price, but you get what you pay for. I do remember the hotel was very close to the entrance to Disneyland, which is a bonus, there was a questionable looking gas station across the street, and the hotel was as clean as one would expect for $35/night.

Travel expenses so far: since there was 3 of us, and we chose to split the cost of our trip, getting to Disneyland cost us roughly $100 in gas each, and $12 for the hotel. We each pitched in food for the cooler that we travel with, so our food expenses were minimal.

If you’ve ever researched a trip to Disneyland, you probably have seen the beautiful Disney hotels they have right inside the park. You’ve probably also seen the price of those beautiful hotels, which most-likely put Disneyland out of your budget. Staying is not so nice hotels not only saves on costs, but also allows for making trips to Disneyland possible. We also weren’t planning on being in our hotel any longer than needed, just sleeping and showering.

Disneyland opens at 8am, and thankfully our hotel was near the entrance to Disneyland, so we were able to be there bright and early. We spent the day exploring the park. Unsure of whether we were able to bring in water and snacks, we left it all in our cooler and spent the day exploring the park. I did notice a ton of parents with strollers that were filled with cooler backpacks for snacks and water. So, we learned after the fact, that we could in fact bring in snacks and water. This also helps save on the cost of traveling.  

Travel tip: September and October are great months to visit Disneyland. Kids are back in school, and the park is less busy. The weather is nice, not too hot, which makes for an enjoyable experience.

Travel tip #2: wear comfortable walking shoes. This may be common sense to many, but I road trip in flip flops. They’re easy to wear, and store well in the car. I arrived to Disneyland in flip flips, which was a really bad idea. My feet hurt.

Travel expense: our Disneyland one day pass cost us $110/each. We chose the one-day pass, for one park only, since we were there for such a limited amount of time, but we made it happen. The pricing for passes varies by day, season, and how many parks you want to visit. Again, on a budget, we did the one park, one day, in and out. One day is almost not enough time to see the entire park, but we made it happen.

Bonus tip: If you are traveling there as an adult, and this is your first time going, you can get a pin from almost any shop in the park that says “first visit.” This is a great pin to have, as many of the characters in Disneyland made comments to me about “welcome” “yay, this is your first time here.” Even as an adult, this really made me feel special. It was also very close to my birthday, so I was given another pin that said “it’s my birthday.” I had princesses during the parade come up to me wishing me a happy birthday. It was amazing, and magical all at the same time.

Disneyland closes at Midnight, and after the amazing and magical evening parade, the park starts to wind down for the night, making lineups shorter, and you’re able to move around the park easier. The Starbucks in Disneyland closes at midnight as well, so our last stop in the park as to Starbucks before hitting the road back to Canada.

The 21-hour drive home after a full day in Disneyland was brutal, but I’m so happy we made this trip happen. I was even more thankful that we had 3 drivers in our car, and were able to switch between napping and driving.

Total cost for our trip to Disneyland was around $350, including food at Disneyland.  Flights from Vancouver to LAX or even Seattle to LAX would be more than that, and that wouldn’t include the cost of getting to and from Disneyland to the airport, or the cost of food and a hotel. Hence why we prefer to road trip to destinations.