Traveling to California to visit Disneyland? You can have a great vacation at Walt Disney's first theme park and still not break the bank. The best way to save money on your trip is cut back on how much you spend on the hotel. By following my advice you should be able to cut that cost in half.

The biggest savings on your vacation can be found in your accommodation costs. Disneyland resort hotels are very expensive compared to hotels in the surrounding Anaheim area. And with the exception of the Grand Californian Hotel which is beautiful, in my opinion, they are not worth the extra expense.

At Disney World, paying extra to stay on property is often worth it because you can take advantage of the Disney transportation system, which saves money on car rentals. Then there is also early admission and late evening hours that are just for resort guests. It also really contributes to the Disney magic since you are surrounded by all things Disney so you can forget about the world outside.

But at Disneyland, many hotels are within walking distance of the park gates and a good number of them are actually a shorter walk than from either the Paradise Pier Hotel or Disneyland Hotel. Also, since the Disneyland parks aren't as large and don't tend to get as crowded as the parks in Orlando, those extra hours of admission aren't as crucial. In fact, right now you can get early morning admission on one day of your visit just by buying your tickets online anyway, whether you stay on property or not.

So if you want to save money on your trip, consider a hotel that is located on Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim. That's the closest location if you want to walk over to the park from your hotel.