Travel Guides Family Friendly Disney
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort
Joshua Meyer
At some Disney theme parks around the world, you can press pennies in coin press machines or even play games in an old-fashioned Penny Arcade. Yet, you also may need to pinch a few pennies if you’re visiting the parks on a budget. The price of snacks and meals at Disney can really add up and make the overall cost of your trip more expensive than you thought it would be. This is as true at the original Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, as anywhere else.
When you’re walking down Main Street in the summer sun at Disneyland, the sight of Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor might register like a desert oasis. Once you get inside, you could be more focused on the “By the Scoop” part of the menu unless you just happen to be in a sundae frame of mind. This is where it pays to read the full menu—or know the prices beforehand.
At Gibson Girl, the price of a single ice cream scoop in a dipped waffle cone is currently $6.29. That’s about par for the course in a Disney quick service joint that charges almost five dollars just for a bottled Coke or Sprite. Add a topping like chocolate chips, hot fudge, peanuts, or sprinkles, and you’re looking at an additional $1.49 for each one. However, as mouse-eared TikToker Megan the Magical Millennial notes, the price of some Gibson Girl sundaes, which come with two scoops of ice cream and toppings, is only $6.99.
Know your menu options at Disney
Disneyland Resort
The moral of the story is: it pays to know your menu options and sometimes eat more at Disney. At Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor in Disneyland, even just a single scoop in a dipped waffle cone with one topping would set you back $7.78, whereas $6.99 sundaes like the Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae or Strawberry Street Car Sundae will give you a waffle cup and two scoops topped with fudge or strawberry, whipped cream, and a cherry.
While this specific advice is rather niche in that it only applies to a single ice cream shop in one Disney park, it might hold broader applications if you test it out elsewhere. At the Disney California Adventure park, Clarabelle’s Hand-Scooped Ice Cream has similar prices and menu selections: $6.29 for a single scoop in a dipped waffle cone or cup, versus $6.99 for a Mint Chocolate Chip or Strawberry Sundae, with two scoops in a waffle cup and all the fixings.
At Florida’s Disney World, there’s no Gibson Girl, but the Magic Kingdom does have the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on its Main Street. Here, a Double-Scooped Ice Cream Cone runs $6.79, with toppings priced at $0.69 each. Yet, the All-American Sundae, which includes two different flavors and multiple toppings, is only $7.29.
And hey, if all you want is a single scoop of ice cream to cool off before hitting the pavement again? There’s no law against sharing your sundae with someone at Disney.
