Disney World: 50 free, cheap things to do in Orlando

If you haven’t visited Walt Disney World in a minute, prepare yourself for sticker shock: a single day’s ticket to the Magic Kingdom during February break can set you back a whopping $169, with the other parks not far behind. And stays at resorts are priced at hundreds of dollars per night.

Indeed, the cost of everything at the Happiest Place on Earth has gone up, from food and drink to souvenirs, which is why it’s not uncommon to see visitors sporting T-shirts like "Most Expensive Day Ever" or "Hakuna No Dolla: It Means No Money for the Rest of Your Stay."

Thankfully, however, as Newsday discovered during a recent Orlando jaunt, there are lots of ways to enjoy Disney on the cheap.

1. FLY FROM MACARTUR Flights from Long Island’s best-kept secret start at just $39 in February on Frontier Airlines. 

2. CONSIDER OFF-SITE HOTELS Disney World’s resorts are charming, convenient and (usually) costly, but there are deals aplenty only a few miles from Cinderella’s castle, especially along State Road 535 near I-4, where I paid just $62 a night for a stay at Cypress Pointe Resort (pool with faux volcano included).

3. TIME IT RIGHT Prices on everything from park tickets to hotel stays are lower in the winter, aka the months you’ll most need a Florida vacation.

4. GET A CHEAP CAR RENTAL Orlando’s car rental market is the largest in the world, and one in which fierce competition can often mean compact cars renting for less than $20 a day. Check the agencies themselves or Priceline or Hotwire for the best prices. 

5. TRANSPORTATION IS KEY Luckily, there are lots of ways to get around the kingdom for free. Disney Springs (see below) is the nerve center for a free bus system so extensive, it rivals that of a small city.

6. TAKE THE MONORAIL Ostensibly for those staying at Disney’s dozens of resorts, anyone can hitch a ride, explore the properties, and take advantage of even more free transport. For instance, from three of the resorts — the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary — you can travel by free monorail to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and more, or just ride for the fun of it.

7. TRY THE SKYLINER From others, you can take advantage of Disney’s free Skyliner tram service, which glides between a number of resorts and offers fine aerial views of the parks.

8. CROSS THE LAGOON And then there’s the large network of free water taxis and ferries, offering beautiful trips across Disney World's lakes and lagoons, especially at night.

9. PARK AT DISNEY SPRINGS It’s a sprawling outdoor mall with lots of surprisingly good food and drink options, and, crucially, parking is free. All those rentals have to live somewhere while you’re visiting the Magic Kingdom, but they don’t have to live at the Magic Kingdom, which charges $30 for park visitors not staying at Disney World resorts. Instead, park for free at Disney Springs and take a bus to the Contemporary resort, then transfer to the free Disney monorail. You’ll be at the Magic Kingdom in minutes.

10. GET THERE EARLY Physical exhaustion and sensory overload are an essential part of the Disney experience, but things are quieter at 9 a.m. — an hour before the parks and most of the Springs is open. Enjoy the silence and fortify yourself for the day ahead at Everglazed Donuts, where good cups of coffee go for about $4 and ginormous doughnuts for $4.95.

11. CHECK THE SCHEDULE Much of the Springs’ musical entertainment is both free and freewheeling, like the Strolling Piano, which roams the complex with a pianist in tow, and one with a passion for Dylan and the Beatles, at least on the day we visited.

12. GO DURING HAPPY HOUR Disney might be the last place you’d expect to find a happy hour, much less one with high-quality, low-cost adult beverages, but at Paradiso 37, a Latin-themed restaurant, margaritas made with fresh fruit juice and Corazon tequila go for $9. Oh, and happy hour starts at ... 11 a.m.

13. PLAY AT THE LEGO STORE Its incredible collection of large Disney-themed sculptures is worth a visit all on its own — don’t miss Sorcerer Mickey or a giant dragon in the adjacent lagoon — but the Springs’ Lego store also has free play stations featuring enormous piles of bricks of every color and configuration. Elbow your way past the 5-year-olds and build a car to race on Lego’s makeshift track.

14-15. GRAB A PICK-ME-UP & STAY FOR THE MUSIC Want to turn a cup of joe into a fleeting souvenir? Head to Joffrey’s, where the lattes are $5.39 and for a few pennies extra, a barista will etch your favorite Disney character or even a selfie into the foam. Multiple musical genres + multiple bands, each playing multiple sets + the Springs’ multiple open-air venues = lots of free music whatever your taste. Check the calendar for listings.

16. SEEK OUT A VALUE PIE At Summer House on the Lake, which opened in 2023, California is the stated cuisine, but it’s the good-value pizzas (starting at $19.95) that diners are raving about, thanks to the pies’ fresh ingredients and cracker-thin, leopard-spotted crusts.

17. VISIT THE ART WALK The Springs’ Art Walk is little more than an alleyway, but its walls lined with large-scale works by truly talented muralists are worth a look, if only for the welcome contrast they provide to Disney’s temple of merch.

18. SAVE ROOM FOR TAPAS What’s better than visiting celebrated chef Jose Andres’ Jaleo? Visiting during sangria hour, which thankfully lasts most of the day (11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and features spiced wine that’s frozen and on tap ($7 a glass), along with a selection of wallet-friendly tapas to include patatas bravas ($5) and cups of gazpacho ($5.50).

19. GRAB A FREE SAMPLE Skip the crowds lining up for hot fudge sundaes at the Springs’ Ghirardelli soda fountain and head to the retail shop next door, where you’ll find loads of cute chocolate souvenirs and, most days, an employee handing out free squares of chocolate goodness.

20. WATCH THE WATER Floating around a lake in a flooded car is not much fun, as anyone who’s watched wall-to-wall hurricane coverage on The Weather Channel will readily attest. But you know what is fun? Watching other people pay for the privilege at the Springs’ Boathouse Orlando, the only place in the world where you can see rare amphibious cars in action (word is they can reach speeds of 70 mph on land and 7 knots in the water). Only a few thousand of the vehicles were ever made (in Germany in the ’60s) and captain-led 20-minute rides set patrons back $120 a carload, but landlubbers can take in the weird spectacle without taking the plunge — for free.

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.