Disneyland Question - DLP and DCA

[jamescorey]

I read on the official Disneyland website that they discourage the bringing in of outside food and drink, except in circumstances of special diet, medicinal, etc...
We are making our first trip to DLP in June, and wanted to take crackers, water, peanuts, etc.. into the park to have for snacks rather than paying $15 for a churro... I kind of got the impression that it was geared more toward people bringing a picnic lunch versus those who just wanted a pack of crackers while waiting in line for a ride. Can anyone tell me how strict they are with this policy? TIA!

 

[auralia]

It has been a while since we went to that coast but we had no problem bringing in snacks/water, but I never bring peanuts anywhere.... I would hate to be in line with a child with a severe allergy to peanuts. Perhaps I worry too much though!

 

[Chevy]

We had no problem bringing nuts, fruit snacks, and water to DLP summer 2015. DH and I both wore small back packs.

 

[avalon451]

It's unofficial, but they don't care what you bring as long as it's not in glass containers or in a rolling hard side cooler. You can straight up pack an entire picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, fruit and soda and they won't fuss at security. We usually have water, power bars, nuts or trail mix.

 

[jamescorey]

Just curious for those who had no trouble: were the rules the same, or is this something that has been put into place since your visit? I know at WDW we have never had an issue, but they do not have an express policy against it.

 

[jamescorey]

It's unofficial, but they don't care what you bring as long as it's not in glass containers or in a rolling hard side cooler. You can straight up pack an entire picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips, fruit and soda and they won't fuss at security. We usually have water, power bars, nuts or trail mix.

Perfect! I just didn't want to spend the money, only to be forced to leave the stuff in the room. This is our first trip to DL, and we are super excited!

 

[ashley0139]

You will not have a problem at all bringing in outside food.

 

[avalon451]

Just curious for those who had no trouble: were the rules the same, or is this something that has been put into place since your visit? I know at WDW we have never had an issue, but they do not have an express policy against it.

Yes, the rules have been the same for awhile; officially, it's "no outside food or drink" but unofficially, they only balk if you're like, bringing in a rolling cooler. I read somewhere a while ago that a family tried to bring in sandwich fixings-- i.e., loaf of bread, jars of mayo and mustard. They were told that they really needed to have their food prepped, like the sandwiches made already. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's what I read here several years ago.

 

[jamescorey]

Thanks so much!!!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

It's true that you can bring in food in reasonable amounts (e.g. food for you vs. food for 12). They don't like the unreasonably large amounts of food to prevent people from selling food in the parks (it's happened). No glass containers. And sandwiches do have to be pre-made, so no loaves of bread and fixings all separate. If for some reason, you do need to bring in a larger cooler and more food, there are large lockers by the picnic area (next to the M&F tram drop off) just for this purpose.

 

[taniahappy]

There is no problem at all. Zero. Nada. Just no glass containers and no coolers... we ALWAYS bring in sandwiches, nuts, waters, sodas/juices, chips, etc for both of us in our backpacks.
We were just there last sunday and will be back tomorrow. Trust me.

 

[jamescorey]

Thanks so much to all who've replied! June can't get here fast enough!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

The only times we've ever gotten questions about this from security are when the CMs ask us where we bought our food so they can go there, too!

 

[Skiton]

My mom and I went with my kids 2.5 years ago. She's frugal and no way was she going to pay theme park prices for lunch. We brought a small soft-side cooler with PBJ sandwiches, fruit, chips, and snack every day we went and no one said a word. (Good thing, she'd have given the them a piece of her mind if they had!)

 

[hanna-nana]

We were there in March. I loaded up the basket of the stroller with boxes of applesauce pouches, KIND bars, granola bars, Capri suns. They just peek and send you on your way. If you have them in bags, like grocery bags, or the reusable bags, you'll have to open them up for security to check.