Can You Bring Food Into Disneyland? (2024)

One of the most common questions I get asked is can you bring food into Disneyland?

There is a lot of confusion about this, so here I am going to show you what you can bring to Disneyland and what you must leave at home.

Disneyland Food Policy

Bringing your own food into Disneyland is one of the easiest ways to save money on your visit. There are some excellent dining choices in the parks including Disneyland Character Dining, but these can be expensive.

Even if you just bring snacks into the park or enough so that you don’t have to buy lunch, you can save a lot of money.

If you know the Disneyland food policy it is easy to bring food and drinks into the park.

You can bring food into Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure park if you stick to these rules:

• Food and beverages cannot be stored in glass containers. The only exception is baby food in glass containers.
• The food or drink cannot need heating, reheating, processing, refrigeration or temperature control
• You can’t bring food or drink which has a pungent odor.
• You cannot bring alcohol into any Disney park.
• Knives are prohibited in Disneyland.
• Loose or dry ice is not permitted.

Your bag will be checked at security and you should mention to the Cast Member that you have food and drinks in your bag. This will help speed up the security check process.

Remember that you can’t bring food that needs heating up or reprocessing in any way. Disney Cast Members are prohibited from being able to heat up any food items for you.

However, microwaves are provided at the Baby Care Center which you can use to heat up baby food.

How Much Food Can I Bring Into Disneyland?

The rules don’t restrict how much food you can bring into Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

However, the restriction that you will have is being able to carry it around the park! Make sure that you pack light so that you are not weighed down too much.

It’s a good idea to have a good lightweight Disneyland backpack

to carry essentials including food.

Things are easier when you have a stroller in the park. You can easily put food and drinks in a stroller and happily push that around the parks. You can make use of all those cupholders1

Remember that wagons are now prohibited in Disneyland parks so that is no longer an option for carrying food.

In fact, anything which has to be pulled behind you is not allowed in the park. So no wheeled bags or coolers either.

Can I Bring a Cooler into Disneyland?

You can bring a cooler into Disneyland, but there are restrictions on the size. Coolers larger than 6-pack sized are not permitted to be brought into Disneyland.

This definition isn’t really that helpful on its own. What exactly is a 6 pack size cooler? There is no standard definition here, but in another rule, you are told that:

“suitcases, backpacks or similar bags larger than 24″ long x 15″ wide x 18″ high (61 cm x 38 cm x 46 cm)” are not permitted inside Disneyland.

There also aren’t any restrictions about whether or not the cooler has a soft side or a hard shell. Therefore either option seems to be fine, just as long as it is the right size.

If you want to bring a larger cooler into Disneyland, you can get it past security only if you leave it in one of the lockers which are located close to the picnic area.

You can store coolers up to 19″ wide x 24″ high x 31″ deep in these lockers.

If you want to bring a larger cooler you can put more food in it., but then you have to walk back outside the park to get access to your food. This can waste quite a bit of time.

Therefore, I always like to bring a cooler which is of a size which is allowed in the park.

A great option is this Leakproof Insulated Cooler Backpack . It is larger than a 6 pack cooler, but still within the size guidelines for what you are allowed to bring into the park.

This lightweight backpack is easy to carry and has a lot of different compartments so you can organize things. There are side pockets that are great for carrying water bottles.

If you are looking for a small cooler that you can put in a backpack or carry in your stroller this Insulated Lunch Bag

is a good size and comes in a great choice of colors.

Disneyland does not allow loose or dry ice into the park. I think it’s pretty rare that someone is going to try to bring dry ice into Disneyland, but many people make the mistake of putting ice in their coolers.

A simple solution to this is to bring ice packs for your cooler. These Cooler Freeze Packs are a good size for small lunch boxes and will keep food cold throughout the day.

Snacks to Bring to Disneyland

Even if you do not have time or don’t want to pack a whole meal for Disneyland, it is always a good idea to pack some snacks.

Even a pickle costs $4 in the park so if your family needs a light snack the costs can easily add up to $20 or $30.

I like to take some Energy Bars to the parks. They are easy to just put into your backpack and make a great snack. These Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks

are also really welcome when you just need a boost of energy.

Just packing an apple or other pieces of fruit can save money when the “I’m Hungry” calls start!

Can You Bring Water into Disneyland?

Another question I get asked a lot is can I bring bottled water into Disneyland? It is perfectly fine to bring water into the Disneyland parks.

I prefer to take a reusable bottle with me everywhere I go. We all know how damaging plastic bottles are to the environment so they really should be avoided. Also, bottled water is ridiculously expensive.

These HYDRO CELL Stainless Steel Water Bottles

are ideal. They come in a variety of sizes and are double insulated to keep cold and hot beverages at just the right temperature for long periods of time.

It is really important to keep hydrated when you are in Disneyland and taking your own water bottle means that you aren’t going to need to spend money on drinks.

You can refill your bottle from a water fountain or ask for cups of water and ice from any quick-service restaurant location.

Do you bring food into Disneyland? Let me know in the comments below if you have any tips!