Apr 04, 2023

Want to go to Disneyland? Here’s What it Cost Our Family in 2023!

Planning a trip to Disneyland from Australia? It can be a pricey affair, but with a bit of savvy planning and good budgeting, it’s possible to do the trip for under $10K.

We did the trip for $7054 in January 2023 as a family of 2 adults and 1 child.

Got more kids? I’ll talk about that at the end of the post, so you can work out roughly how much more it might cost per extra child.

Short on time? Read this:

Flights: $1300. We used Qantas points, so we only had to pay the taxes.
If you are paying cash for flights, keep an eye out for cheap flights on Skyscanner. In my experience, $1200 per passenger (or less) is a great price.
Insurance, ESTAs and SIM cards: $907 ( SCTI for insurance, Airalo eSIMs).
Disneyland tickets (3 days, 1 park per day): $2152. Check KLOOK for discounted Disneyland tickets.
Accommodation: $1300. We stayed at Hotel Peppertree & Suites, and I think it’s the best off-site Disneyland hotel.
Rental car and taxis: $485 (car hire through Turo)
Food: $660
Souvenirs: $250

Try KLOOK for Discounted Disneyland Tickets

How much does a trip to Disneyland from Australia cost?

Flights: $1300

We used Qantas Frequent Flyer points to fly the three of us from Melbourne to LA return in economy for $1300 AUD, which saved us $7700.

We accumulated the points in less than a year, so it’s definitely doable if you’re willing to put in the effort! I knew nothing about points hacking before this trip, but if I can do it, you can too. Plus, once it’s set up, it really is a largely automated process.

If you’re curious about how we earned our points so quickly, read my intro guide HERE.

You’ll also find a link in that post to score bonus points so you can kickstart your own points hacking journey (and get to Disneyland faster)!

Cheap flights to the USA from Australia (without points):

If you’re not interested in using or acquiring frequent flyer points, major airlines often have sales on flights to the USA.

It’s worth signing up for alerts for cheap flights on Skyscanner. In my experience, $900 to $1200 per passenger is a great price.

USA Pre-travel costs: $907

We never travel without fully comprehensive travel insurance. This, combined with our USA travel authorisations (known as an ESTA) and two SIM cards, cost us $907 in total.

We used SCTI for our travel insurance and King Sims for our mobile data. We were very happy with both, but we’ve since discovered eSIMs and now exclusively use Airalo when we travel.

eSIMs are super convenient. Because the SIM is digital, there’s no need to swap a physical SIM card in and out (and risk losing your everyday SIM).

SCTI: The Best Travel Insurance for Families: Kids Insured FREE

Disneyland Anaheim cheap tickets: $2152

We bought our theme park tickets directly from Disneyland and chose a 3-Day Ticket with admission to 1 park per day (Disneyland and Disney California Adventure). It was cheaper to do it this way instead of park-hopping.

It cost $2152 in total. This also included car parking for the three days and Genie passes.

Genie passes let you reserve a time slot for some rides, so you can skip the queues. They helped us get through most of the rides and attractions in our three days.

It is important to note, though, that you can only use them a few times per day, and they aren’t valid for every ride.

Where to buy discounted Disneyland tickets from Australia?

We booked directly, but it’s worth checking KLOOK first, as they sometimes have discounted Disneyland tickets. Especially if you can stack ShopBack on top of KLOOK discounts.

ShopBack often has travel promotions (or extra cash back available) on Tuesdays.

Accommodation: $1300

Saving money in Anaheim: the best family hotel near Disneyland

While it was tempting to stay at Disneyland, we chose to save the cash and stay off-site, at a hotel very close to Disneyland.

Hotel Peppertree & Suites was the best hotel I found for our family, a boutique hotel with Spanish charm in Anaheim. It saved us BIG, and having a kitchen helped with our food budget too.

In total, our accommodation for the Disneyland part of our trip cost $1300.

At the time of travel, staying on-site at the park would have cost upwards of $5200, and staying within walking distance would have cost upwards of $2500.

I acknowledge that you get extra benefits by staying on-site, like early access to the park before the public, but to me it wasn’t worth the high extra cost.

We couldn’t fault Hotel Peppertree and would happily stay there again.

It’s an easy 7-minute drive from the parks; there’s secure parking and BBQ facilities, and each room has a fully equipped kitchen, which helps save on eating out.

To top it off, there’s a supermarket right across the street, and most nights there’s a taco truck out the front where you can grab a yummy authentic taco for $3.00 USD.

Check prices at Hotel Peppertree

The hotel I suggest for families wanting to save at Disneyland.

Car hire and taxis: $485

Being off-site meant we needed a car. The $485 included transport from LAX to Anaheim, rides to and from the hire car pick-up, the hire car itself, extra insurance and fuel.

We used Lyft instead of Uber, as it was about half the cost, and rented a car through Turo, which is basically like Airbnb for cars.

We were a little nervous about renting someone else’s personal car at first, but the experience was incredibly positive, and we used Turo for the rest of our trip.

Check Turo car hire prices.

Food: $660

Like any theme park, food inside Disneyland is expensive. You can expect to pay $8 to $12 for a snack item, $8.00 for a drink and $20 for a meal.

We kept costs down by bringing our own drinks into the park (you’re allowed to bring your own food and drinks) and eating two out of three meals a day outside the park.

Breakfast at Hotel Peppertree was included, and we cooked in our room because we had a full kitchen. We ate tacos from the taco truck, or grabbed a meal from fast food chains like Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A.

Amazing tacos opposite Hotel Peppertree in Anaheim

The Best Snacks at Disneyland:

If I had to pick three favourite things inside the park that were good value, they’d be the churros ($7.49), the Mickey pretzels ($11.95) and the mac and cheese hot dog ($19.41).

Disney Souvenirs: $250

You can’t go to Disneyland and not buy Minnie Mouse ears, right? We spent around $250 and brought home a few small things we’ll treasure.

The World of Color show at California Adventure

How many days do you need at Disneyland California?

Three days was enough for our family to do both parks in Anaheim. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

How many hours do you need at Disneyland each day?

We spent 9+ hours in the parks and clocked 26K steps a day.

Would I take kids under 10 to Disneyland?

Because of the big days we did, no. I don’t think our son would have had the stamina at an earlier age.

If you do want to go and your kids are under 10, factor an extra day or two into your costs so you can leave the park, have a nap and come back. Or go knowing you won’t get to do everything. The parks are huge!

What if I have more than one child?

I’d add about $2500 per extra child to our total. We took a family member with us, and that’s roughly how much extra it cost them.

The flights won’t be much more if you use frequent flyer points, nor will the hotel.

Rooms at Hotel Peppertree fit 5 people, and car hire will be the same.

The extra cost comes from the park tickets, travel insurance and food.

Get Cheaper Disney Tickets

Was Disneyland and California Adventure worth it?

Yes. Both parks were amazing.

Disneyland is one of those special once-in-a-lifetime trips for a family. I’m so glad we did it, and that some good planning made it happen.

I preferred the original Disneyland for the nostalgia. The family preferred California Adventure as they were more familiar with newer Disney characters from Cars and The Incredibles.

Disneyland prices now:

The prices in this blog are from our January 2023 trip, so they have gone up (like everything).

That said, I hope this article has shown you that it’s possible to do such a magical trip on a tighter budget, and serves as a guide if you’re planning a trip to Disneyland California from Australia.