Disney on a budget

No magic is needed to control the costs of visiting the great mouse kingdom

Author: By David Swanson, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, November 15, 1998

Page: M15

Section: Travel

In April, Disney World unveiled its fourth theme park, Animal Kingdom, a richly detailed, 500-acre complex devoted to the animal world. The signature attraction is a 20-minute safari ride through a crisply realistic environment that mimics a sprawling African veldt, complete with live -- not audio-animatronic -- elephants, lions, hippos, and many more animals.

In addition to the theme parks, 30,50-acre Disney World now has three lavish water parks, two nighttime entertainment centers, 25 resorts with more than 25,000 rooms, more than 60 full-service restaurants, 80 swimming pools, and six golf courses.

And that's just a tally of some of what's available inside Disney World. Beyond the resort, development of Orlando hotels, restaurants, and amusement parks has been equally feverish. In 1999, the curtain rises on a $2 billion dollar expansion at Universal Studios (about nine miles north of Disney borders) that includes a 30-acre shopping and dining complex and a major new theme park, Islands of Adventure.

With all of the new lures, fans from a variety of income levels are planning their cherished pilgrimage to check it out first-hand. For some carefree types, the trip is a happy opportunity to make yet another big cash donation to the Head Mouseketeer's estate.

Then there's the rest of us.

Though a terrific vacation package is proffered, Disney World deserves its reputation as a costly playground. The mouse house provides plenty of short-cuts along the path to maxing out your credit cards. On the other hand, too many visitors consign themselves to spend a wad of dough on their theme park vacation without looking into alternatives.

No, there's no magic bullet that will cut the price of your trip in half. But there are plenty of ways to control costs without sacrificing your enjoyment of a well-earned Florida vacation.

Once you've arrived in Orlando, excluding gift and souvenir purchases (sorry -- no budgeting tips here), there are three primary areas of expense visitors encounter: lodging, food, and theme park tickets. Here are a few suggestions to save money on each of these fronts.

The skinny on discounts:

Though coupons for meals, hotels and attractions are common in Orlando, Disney does its best to obtain full fare for its wares. Still, several plans can save you money, including the Magic Kingdom Club, a Disney-fostered program extended to businesses (check with your employer), credit unions, and other associations, nationwide. The card is free through one of these affiliations, and earns an approximately 5 percent discount on Disney park tickets, 10 percent off selected restaurants, and 10-20 percent off rooms at Disney Resorts.

If you can't secure the card for free, you may purchase a two-year membership for $65 ($50 for seniors 55 and up). If you will definitely be staying at a Disney Resort and can plan your trip several months in advance, you may come out ahead after springing for the sign-up fee. But note that discounted room availability at Disney's resorts is tightly controlled and may be solidly booked several months in advance. Be sure to obtain a list of the restaurants featured in the program -- note that neither the least-expensive nor the very best venues are included. More information: 714-781-1550.

The Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau provides a free Official Visitor's Guide that contains discount offers for non-Disney hotels, restaurants, car rentals, and attractions; call 800-255-5786. Kissimmee, the town immediately south of Orlando where a number of budget hotels are located, provides a guide filled with similar discount offers; call 800-327-9159.

AAA is another good resource for discounts, particularly for theme park admissions. AAA is one of the few organizations that sell discounted Disney admissions (buy them before you leave), and can also help with hotel and other arrangements.

The pros and cons of staying in the World:

First-time visitors are usually a bit foggy when it comes to understanding the proximity of various hotels to Disney World. Everyone wants to stay on Disney property, but they soon learn that Mickey's resorts are generally expensive.

If you're on a budget, the question boils down to two basic choices: Stay at the cheapest Disney-owned hotels, or overnight off-property in one of the many budget digs available nearby. Both options deserve serious consideration and affect two important resources: No single decision you make regarding your vacation will have more impact on the price of your trip and how you spend your touring time.

The best hotel bargains are found in Kissimmee along US 192, a neon-lit corridor of fast-food restaurants, miniature golf courses, and dinner theaters, that runs east-west, less than five miles south of Disney's parks. Other than peak travel periods (Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July), rooms under $50 a night can be found. There's even a youth hostel positioned on a scenic lake for those who don't mind sharing small, dorm-style units; call 407-396-8282. Another possibility is hotels in the Crossroads Mall area, where rooms are a few dollars more, but the surroundings are a little less glitzy.

In either location, it's a 10-15 minute drive to the Disney parks, a little farther to Sea World and Universal Studios. Lowest rates will be found in the off-season: mid-September through mid-December (except Thanksgiving) and early January through mid-March (except Presidents' Day weekend). It doesn't hurt that these periods correspond to the Orlando area's best weather and school vacations.

Before booking a room, check carefully with hotels to find out what kind of transportation they provide to the parks. Is there a charge for it? Is there just one scheduled trip each way, which may create logistical hassles? Off-property hotel rooms are usually less expensive, but you may end up spending some of your savings on a rental car, or have less time in the parks.

Indeed, a big advantage of the Disney Resorts is a frequent and comprehensive transportation system that eliminates the need for a rental car (to the point that it effectively discourages an escape to Universal or other out-of-the-World activities).

But an even more-favored perk is the ``Surprise Morning'' policy. Every day, one of the main parks throws open its gates 60-90 minutes early -- but only for Disney Resort guests. During this period, lines for popular rides like Space Mountain or the Tower of Terror are slim to none. What you can visit in an hour before 9 a.m. on a Surprise Morning will occupy at least two or three hours once the lines build.

The good news is that, in 1994-95, Disney opened two reasonably-priced hotels: the All-Star Resorts. The pair of side-by-side, 1,920-room resorts are garish tributes to music and sports -- the design is quite loud. But you'll probably spend few waking hours at your hotel and, when the Disney perks are factored in, the well-run All-Stars provide good value.

All-Star room rates range $74-$94 depending on season and view, but book early -- the rooms can fill up months in advance, particularly around holidays (a third All-Star will open in January). And don't forget that Disney World has its own campground, Fort Wilderness, where sites start at $35 a night. The next price level Disney offers starts at $119 a night, and includes the attractive new Coronado Springs, and three other resorts. For Disney Resort reservations, call 407-W-DISNEY.

Note that although the so-called ``Official Hotels of Walt Disney World'' are located on property near Downtown Disney, they are not Disney-owned, do not participate in the Surprise Morning program, and are generally overpriced when compared to other non-Disney lodgings less than a mile away, just off property.

Plan a day-by-day itinerary:

Here's a sobering thought: Depending on the length of your visit, a family of four can shell out anywhere from $110 to more than $200 per day on Disney theme park admissions. The ticket package you select will determine which end of that spectrum your expenditures reach.

Disney makes a beguiling array of one-day, multi-day, park hopper, unlimited admission and annual passes available, all of which underwent a whopping 6 percent increase in April. Considering the variety of options, you are forgiven for being a bit overwhelmed at the ticket booth -- which is why it pays to arrive prepared. The single most important thing to know is that what really differentiates the ticket choices is flexibility, and it comes with a price.

For instance, an appealing ticket option for many visitors is the Length of Stay pass, sold only to Disney Resort guests. This ticket provides unlimited theme park admission from the morning of your check-in to the night of your checkout. Pretty nifty, yes? Yet you pay for this convenience by shelling out a higher average per-day price than other, less-flexible options.

The solution? At the risk of reducing the element of spontaneity, plan out a day-by-day theme park itinerary before you buy your tickets. Be realistic as to how much time it will take for you to cover each park, then pull out your calculator and cipher which ticket option is least expensive for your plans (it won't be the Length of Stay pass). And if the non-Disney parks will be a big part of your itinerary, note that Universal Studios, Sea World, and Wet 'n Wild now offer their own version of a multi-day pass (for information about the FlexTicket, call Universal at 800-224-3838).

As a rule, first-time visitors will find that the two biggest parks -- the Magic Kingdom and Epcot -- require at least 12 hours to tour properly. The Disney-MGM Studios and Universal take 10 to 12 hours, Animal Kingdom and Sea World can be seen in eight to 10 hours, while the water parks and Pleasure Island can be experienced in about three or four hours.

If you're making your first trip to the Orlando area, don't overwhelm the schedule by trying to tackle all of Disney in a single gulp. With the debut of Animal Kingdom, it now takes a hectic week to navigate all of Disney's major attractions, not including other worthwhile experiences in the area. Be sure to allow for down-time between the parks -- youngsters particularly value their hours at the hotel pool, and duffers will find Disney's 99 holes of golf are challenging and beautifully maintained. Remember, it's a vacation, not an incursion on foreign soil.

Let's hear it for fanny packs:

Repeat after me: Theme park restaurants are overpriced, and much of what is offered at the fast food outlets is fair-to-poor at any cost.

Possibly the single biggest complaint at Disney's parks is regarding food. It's easy to see why. Once you enter the gates to the Magic Kingdom, you're a captive audience. Still, you gotta eat.

Although Disney does not officially allow outside food and drinks into their main parks, the discreet can get away with a fanny pack loaded with juice cartons and snacks for the children. If you let them participate in picking the selection of goodies they'll carry, you'll reduce the incentive to stop at every soda, popcorn, and ice cream stand (at $2 to $3 a pop).

When it comes to theme park meal time, I vote for cheap and fast over high-falutin' and upscale. There are a few decent eateries within Epcot -- the San Angel Inn and Restaurant Akershus are my favorites. But considering what you've already paid to enter the hallowed gates, you fork over a stiff premium for the privilege of waiter-service dining inside the parks. Dinner entrees are generally in the $20-$25 range (though the Norwegian Akershus tenders a full dinner buffet for $18.50).

And I was impressed with the flavorful rotisserie chicken and grilled veggie sandwiches at Animal Kingdom's counter-service Tusker House restaurant.

To be fair, Disney is making real progress on the food front, but most of the improvements are taking place outside the theme parks, at the resorts. And there are several moderately-priced gems to recommend. Spoodles at the BoardWalk Resort offers a vibrant meld of Mediterranean flavors including paella and flatbread pizzas, while Seasons at the Disney Institute tenders lighter, spa-style meals, including catfish served on udon noodles and mustard- crusted rack of lamb. Most entrees are under $20 at both restaurants.

But my best food advice is to investigate the pickings at Mickey-less Crossroads Mall, where a broad selection of venues beckon, just a stone's throw from the Downtown Disney entrance to the World. Here you'll find Taco Bell and Burger King alongside inexpensive chains like Numero Uno's, and even a casual gourmet location, Pebbles, that is quite popular among locals (entrees: $6-$20). The upscale Goodings supermarket here has a tasty selection of deli items to stock your fanny packs with.

On the same front, don't limit yourself to touring just Walt's world. Central Florida has plenty of decoys beyond the big mouse machine. Universal Studios has proved itself every bit an equal to the Disney-MGM Studios, and Sea World tenders an excellent mix of entertainment and education. The tony suburb of Winter Park, just four miles north of downtown Orlando, is a quaint hub for shopping and art museums. The beaches on either coast -- the one attraction Walt himself knew he couldn't compete with -- are a shimmering dream.

Finally, visitors on any budget should consider a day trip to Kennedy Space Center, the only departure gate in the Western Hemisphere for manned space flights, and perhaps the best tourist value in the state. The facility recently completed the first phase of a two-year, $70 million expansion and now looks better than ever. Kennedy is a one-hour drive from Orlando, and the bus tour of the Space Shuttle launch area is $14 ($10 for children). For launch and other information, call 407-452-2121.