For our Disney(land) trip, we stayed at a motel ~ 1.5 miles from the park (Canadian walking distance) and the thing my kids LOVED was we walked by a 7-11 every day and I would buy them a slurpee on the morning walk to the gates. Probably $20 for the week (and likely not much worse for you than a typical vacation breakfast).
The "make your own waffle" station at the included breakfast was also a huge hit. The park and rides were satisfactory.
I've taken my older daughter to Disney (World) twice now (at ages 7 and 9). Her absolute favorite part: riding the Skyliner to EPCOT. On our second trip we went an hour out of our way to go ride it because we weren't at a served hotel that time.
When pressed for a favorite activity within the park, it was "that time we ran all the way from Japan to Soarin', dodging people".
The "make your own waffle" station at the included breakfast was also a huge hit. The park and rides were satisfactory.