GENE SLOAN
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
Posted: 4/15/2007
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Dan Masters, 48, of Brampton, Ontario, smiles as he takes in the giddy scene unfolding in one of the most overlooked corners of Disney World.
It's sundown at Fort Wilderness, Disney's seldom-promoted, low-cost campground, and dozens of sugar-buzzed kids race around a large campfire. They've already roasted marshmallows for s'mores and sung along to a banjo player belting out "It's a Small World" and other Disney tunes. Now they're scrambling for their autograph books so they can corner Chip and Dale, the furry Disney characters, who have "magically" appeared out of the surrounding trees.
"You just don't see stuff like this anymore," said Masters, a small-business owner who has been bringing his 17-year-old daughter to Chip'n Dale's Campfire Sing-a-long since she was a toddler. "The marshmallows, the singing. It's a bit of nostalgia."
Here's the best part: It's free. Disney is known as an expensive place. Indeed, with a single day's park ticket up another $4 this year to $67 and the best rooms skyrocketing past $500 a night, a week-long stay easily can add up to a small fortune.
But even as the cost of the average visit soars to record levels, there still are ways -- often little-known -- to do it on a pittance. Fort Wilderness, for instance, offers outdoorsy types 784 secluded, 10-person campsites starting at about $40 a night, or just $4 a person. You can't get much cheaper than that. With the peak summer tourist season around the corner, we scout out more ways to save at the nation's most-visited resort:
Lodging
Sure, the fanciest rooms at Disney's top hotels this year "start" at about $500 a night during peak periods, and top suites go as high as $2,685. But don't panic: There are plenty of ways to stay right on Disney property for less than $100, and not just by camping.
Over the past decade, Disney has made a big push into the budget market by building more than 7,500 motel-like rooms that begin at $82 a night and top out around $141. Clean and efficient, if a bit cookie-cutter, they're spread over four sprawling properties: All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, All-Star Sports and the recently completed Pop Century.
You can save even more by staying outside Disney World, where chain motels start at about $50 a night. But before you do, consider: Staying in a Disney hotel qualifies you for "Extra Magic Hours" -- an hour or two of extra time in parks at the beginning or end of the day. Disney also waives the $10 daily parking fee for hotel guests. And, perhaps most significant, staying on the property means easier access, allowing for quick trips to the hotel for afternoon naps or pool time before dinner.
Such benefits accrue even at Fort Wilderness, which, in addition to campsites and free entertainment nightly, is home to 409 cozy cabins that sleep six and have their own money-saving kitchenettes (starting at $249).
"I can do 10 days at Fort Wilderness for the same cost of four days somewhere else. It's as simple as that," said one unabashed fan, Eric Souga, 31, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who is camping at the resort with his wife and three kids.
Chatting outside one of the spiffy "comfort stations," which boast hot showers and other hotel-like amenities, he said he doesn't mind roughing it a bit. "It's clean, quiet and wide open here. I wouldn't stay anywhere else."
Eats
Advance planning is the key to keeping food costs down, particularly when it comes to breakfast. Buy bags of croissants, bagels or other grab-and-go items and have them ready for the morning bus, boat or monorail rides to the parks.
Not only will you save oodles on pricey breakfasts ($5.79 for an egg-and-cheese croissant on the Magic Kingdom's Main Street), you'll avoid wasting a crucial hour dawdling over breakfast at your hotel or in the park. Think about it: With tickets for a family of four costing well more than $200 a day, that hour is worth $20 or more. (Plus, early morning is the least crowded time at rides, making it a travesty to fritter it away on eating.)
Time also is of the essence when it comes to lunch. Avoid the sit-down eateries, which Jason Cochran, author of the upcoming "Pauline Frommer's Walt Disney World & Orlando", said are "unspectacular" and run $20 a person. Instead, breeze into counter-service outlets such as Animal Kingdom's Pizzafari. Portions are large, so under-order. At Pizzafari, two kids can split one cheese pizza ($5.59).
Or do as spring-breaker Christin Lake, 18, of Columbia, S.C., does and grab one of the monstrously large turkey legs peddled in multiple locations, including a covered wagon in the Magic Kingdom's Colonial-themed Liberty Square. At $5.75, it is big enough for two.
"I look like a barbarian," Lake admits, holding aloft one of the glistening mounds of meat between bites. "But it's a good value."
Getting around
Flying to Orlando? You can drop your ground transportation costs to zero with one easy step: Sign up for Disney's Magical Express. The free shuttle between the Orlando airport and Disney World was launched in 2005 but still is unknown to many visitors who continue to rent cars at $200 a week to reach the parks or pay for taxis that run $40 each way. The catch: You have to stay at a Disney property to use the service.
Once at Disney World, ride the free buses, boats and monorails that connect hotels, parks and nightspots.
Disney has an ulterior motive for offering free transportation, of course. Without a rental car, you're trapped at its property. If you're hankering for a look at nearby Universal Orlando or SeaWorld, a rental car is a must. Best bet: Priceline.com, where we snagged an $18-a-day Alamo car last month on two days' notice.
Another reason for a rental car: Getting around Disney by bus can be slow. After a long, hot day in a park, the family may be desperate for a speedy retreat to the hotel, in which case the extra money for a rental car may be well worth it.
"I swear by having a car at Disney," said Cochran, a witness to "countless family meltdowns" at bus stops. "It can save years of therapy bills for your kids."
Tickets
There's no way around it: You'll pay a pile of money for tickets.
But you can keep the total down by thinking through what you really want to do in advance.
Disney sells everything from a one-day park pass ($67) to a 10-day pass ($216), which allows access to its four main theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom. Many people buy a pass equal to the number of days of their trip, but the reality is you probably don't need to include your first and last day. "There's no sense in forking over $60 for a half day at the parks," said Emmanuelle Alspaugh, editor of "Fodor's Walt Disney World With Kids 2007."
Still, keep in mind that each day you extend your ticket, you pay less on a per-day basis (an argument for taking one long trip to Disney instead of two short ones). A four-day park pass costs $202, or $50.50 a day. A seven-day pass is just $8 more at $210, or $30 a day.
Where Disney really gets you is on upgrades to its base ticket prices. Want to visit two or more parks a day? A "park hopper" upgrade costs $45 extra. The option of visiting Disney's two water parks, nightspot Pleasure Island and other areas is a fee of $50 more. If you don't think you'll be doing these things or only doing them occasionally, don't pay to have them added to your ticket. If you're only going to visit a water park once, for instance, it's cheaper to buy water-park tickets separately.
"Willpower is everything," said Cochran. "Too many families get whipped up by the excitement and end up overpurchasing options that they'll never use."
