Advice for eating at Disneyland

CaliMomTeach

Many times I have been on a great streak of eating well, following a calorie plan, only to blow it with a day or two at a theme park. We live in Southern California so go fairly regularly. Does anyone have any advice for lower calorie dinner/snacks at Disneyland? Also, I have a hard time tracking what I eat there because I can't find a listing for calories. We are going this weekend. Thank you!

KevinWH87

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/disneyland

I can't vouch for the accuracy or robustness, but nutrition info for disneyland is apparently in the database. More generally, if I go out to a restaurant, I try to find a reasonably close match to what's in the database. If in doubt, I err conservatively (assume it's got more calories than less).

cdudley628

Theme parks are interesting because they serve a lot of high calorie food, but they're also designed so you walk a lot. I went to a small theme park near me (not even close to the size of Disneyland or even a Six Flags). I was there for about 4 hours and walked over 15,000 steps. Make sure to include a calorie allowance for the extra exercise beyond your normal activity level.

That being said, don't let one or two days at a theme park throw you off track. Maybe you went over your calories a little or maybe a whole lot, but that doesn't affect the next day. Every day is a fresh start, don't think that since you didn't stick to the plan yesterday that you failed and can't stick to the plan today.

Here's a guide to get you started on Disneyland food: https://thehappiestblogonearth.com/healthy-disneyland-dining-guide/

Love the suggestion of eating kid's meals and finding the "Disney Check Meals."

MelanieCN77

For people who have passes and live nearby it's not one or two days though, or the odd days. Once a week isn't uncommon, or two days in a weekend if there's some event or other.

Are you allowed to pack in your own food? If it was a super regular trip I'd probably start doing that. At some point the "treat" factor has to get put aside if you're there so often.

janejellyroll

Like @MelanieCN77 said, if this is a regular thing, you'll have to treat it like a regular thing -- not a treat.

For example, I go to the movies very rarely. When I go, I have no worries about eating a bunch of popcorn or getting some candy. If I went to the movies once a week, I wouldn't do that because I don't want to allocate that many calories to popcorn or candy each week.

So if you go fairly regularly, I'd recommend finding some regular food choices that you enjoy but also easily fit into your calorie budget. Then you can decide how many visits a year you'd like to treat as a real vacation and try some of the foods that are more challenging to fit in regularly.

CaliMomTeach

Thanks for the advice everyone . I ended up eating at Bengal BBQ and estimating the chicken, steak, and veggie skewers. For breakfast I had a banana and yogurt at the hotel. On the way home, I gave into an In-N-Out cheeseburger, but at about 500 calories, it was worth it, and fit in calories as I was so hungry! I added a couple of hours of walking exercise. I still gained half a pound, but guessing it was the cheeseburger and sodium. Yes, we are annual passholders and do go more than a couple of days a year. I think I will pack a lunch like I do for work next time. I did look at some of the kids meals, and may try that next time too.

MelanieCN77

I wish some places weren't so strict about adults buying kids meals - a lot of the time they'd be plenty for an adult lunch too.

shaf238

Bank some calories for your trip, or make up for it after.

Having said that, it's only a day or two and isn't the end of the world - go and enjoy yourself!

ritzvin

I usually have a small protein bar on me (I dance frequently and bar food isn't exactly low-calorie-density or remotely worth the calories). That's an option if you can't find something there to fit your allotment (or be worth the amount) and unlikely to be an issue even if they don't allow outside food/drinks (security is generally looking for larger items).

MelanieCN77

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

I wish some places weren't so strict about adults buying kids meals - a lot of the time they'd be plenty for an adult lunch too.

For my disagree-er, this is more than enough calories for a lunch for someone my weight and size and this is a kids' meal at Universal:

jhanleybrown

Avoid the turkey leg. You'd think it would be moderately healthy but it's got 1,000+ cals plus tons of sodium.