Penny-pinchers guide to Disney on a dime

One of my favorite moments at the Magic Kingdom was lunch on a picnic table under a shade tree on Tom Sawyer Island.

At dinner time, there are plenty of offsite restaurants to explore — and by then you may well be ready for a theme-park break anyway.

And if you're paying the $12 a day to park at Disney World, you can leave for dinner and come back without an additional parking fee.

For people flying in to Orlando and debating whether to rent a car, says Sehlinger, "the savings that you'll obtain by eating outside of Walt Disney World will probably more than pay for the rental car."

If you do opt to eat at the theme parks, there are a range of restaurants that run the pricing gamut. And Sehlinger says the portions are generous enough that in some cases two people can share an entree and not go away hungry.

Admissions: This is the toughest nut to crack: Nominal discounts are typically the best you can hope for on admission fees at Disney World.

You can score a coup if you time your visit to coincide with someone's birthday: You get in free on your birthday throughout 2009.

There also is a generous deal running for current and retired members of the U.S. military and their families and friends. Check out disneyworld.com/military for details.

If you're planning to hit some non-Disney attractions in the area, such as SeaWorld or Universal Orlando studios, discounts may be more plentiful.

The independent Web site compiles one of the best lists around for reputable deals — at Disney and elsewhere.

Because Disney offers all sorts of ticket options — 1- to 10-day passes, no-expiration upgrades, annual passes, etc. — it's best to plot out how you plan to spend your time so you don't buy more than you need. In general, the longer you stay, the cheaper the tickets.

The Web site, affiliated with Sehlinger's guide book, has a free "least expensive ticket calculator" that will help you figure out the cheapest route.

Not-so-little extras: You can make all the right moves on the big-ticket items and still spend a small fortune at Disney World if you don't watch the extras.

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Rides tend to dump you out in the middle of shops overflowing with tantalizing souvenirs. There's that pricey stroller rental fee. The refrigerator rental fee at Disney resorts. The locker fee at the water parks. Think it all through in advance, and you can hold down the add-ons.

At http://www.DisneyWorldMoms.com, a panel of Disney-wise parents offer tips about budgeting and other matters.

FirstPerson Theme park vacations Your best theme park photos.

The unofficial Disney online guide has good discussion boards for planning every aspect of your trip, including a "budget board" where you can get tips on everything from where to buy Disney souvenirs to deals on air fare. You can even orchestrate a "stroller swap" with other families — a stroller is donated and passed from one vacation family to the next.

The bottom line: How did my family do with the Midas challenge?

Even Sehlinger was impressed: We spent $200 on gas to drive from Virginia, about $510 on accommodations, and not much more on food than we would have spent at home. We'd paid for our no-expiration theme-park tickets five years earlier (and gotten a AAA discount, of course), so that was no hit at all. And the kids both stuck within their $20 budgets for souvenirs.

Ah, but there was that impulsive $8.25 binge on ice cream. Next time, I promise we'll do better.

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