Disneyland Food Policy: Can You Bring Food into Disneyland? - Tripelle (2024)

November 3, 2019September 3, 2019

One of the most asked questions about Disneyland is, “Can you bring food into Disneyland?”. Thankfully, the answer to that question is yes! However, there are a few Disneyland food rules that you need to abide by in orderto get everything inside the gates.

First off, it is important to note that all bags will be checked upon entering the park, so do not think thatyou can easily sneak a few things that are prohibited inside. They are quitecareful when they are checking bags, so nothing is going to get past them too easily.

Therefore, it is important that you are aware that alcoholic beverages and glass containers are prohibited within the Disneyland food policy. That means that you should never pack any of those items within your Disneyland backpack or another bag, as they will either be confiscated, or you will be asked to return them to your vehicle or hotel room.

Now that we have that out of the way, we can continue on with the rest of the Disneyland food policy. It is best to pack items that are already prepared, since it will make your life much easier if you do not need to take out all the ingredients to make sandwiches in the middle of the park. A few of my favorite Disneyland food items include:

• Apple slices
• Oranges
• Grapes
• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Sandwiches
• Crackers
• Cookies
• Dried fruit
• Pretzels
• Chips
• Small bags of cereal
• String cheese
• Cut up veggies like carrots, cucumbers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and whole cherry tomatoes

I especially love the prepackaged bags of chips, cookies, and cereal, because I do not need to pour anything into bags and containers as I am getting ready for a day of fun and excitement! While you can pack bottles of water, soda, and juice, I prefer to take one refillable water bottle per person and simplyrefill it throughout the day as needed. It keeps my Disneyland backpack lighter and I do not need to worry about what I am going to do with all the empty bottles during the day!

You do not really need to worry about straws from juice boxes when you are visiting Disneyland, because there are no animals around. However, it is best to leave those straws behind, because they can become a hazard in so many ways, even to regular animals, like birds, that spend part of their days and nights in the park.

Any food that needs to be prepared or warmed up should never be taken into Disneyland, because there is no place for you to warm things up or doing any major prep work. Of course, there are exceptions for those with dietary restrictions and medical issues. Those foods must fit into a small collapsible cooler and you should still be able to easily prepare them without too much fuss inside the park.

While you should try to squeeze everything into a Disneyland backpack, I can definitely understand why you don’t want to lug it all around on your back all day long. You are allowed to take food into Disneyland in a cooler, but it is necessary to use smaller soft-sided coolers. In fact, Disneyland will not allow large, hard-shell coolers thatare more than twenty-four inches by fifteen inches. They also will not allow you to bring in any coolers that need to be pulled behind you, so be prepared to lug your cooler around in your hands all day long.

Since you know you are going to need to have your Disneyland food bags checked upon entering the park, I recommend that you make sure everything can be seen without too much trouble. Therefore, use clear containers and pack things so that everything doesn’t need to be moved around or unpacked to see what is at the bottom.

You should also understand that loose ice is not allowed inside Disneyland. If you want to keep your food items cold, you must either freeze water bottles or use ice packs. If you do not like those options, you can place loose ice inside large Ziploc bags and then place those bags inside your cooler. This may seem silly, but since security needs to go through everything in your cooler, they must be able to rummage around and they cannot do that with all the loose ice.

If you know that you are staying at Disneyland all day long, you may want to consider renting a locker to store some of your food inside. This way you can carry what you need and then restock every time you are near your locker.

You can also leave some of the food that you need into your car and simplyenjoy your major meals at the picnic area right outside the Disneyland front gates. This picnic space is the perfect area for those massive picnic lunches and dinners that you need to make yourself. You can make that huge potato salad, pasta salad, and macaroni salad to serve with cold fried chicken or sandwiches and store them in a cooler in your car until it is time to eat.

Credits: Wikimedia Commons

Then all you need to do is gather all your Disneyland food up, take it to the picnic area, eat until you are stuffed, and then put it all away before returning to the park for some fun. There are even large lockers in this space, so you can store all your Disneyland food inside them instead of making the trip back to your vehicle.

Now that you know that you can take food into Disneyland, you can stop worrying about how much money you are going to spend on food when you are there. Instead, just make sure you know the Disneyland food policy and pack your Disneyland backpack wisely and you won’t have any issues staying well-fed and hydrated during your time inside the park.