I love saving money at WDW and get lots of tips on the Disney message boards. There are tips, and then there are TIPS ON ACID. I’m not sure if there is anything some of those folks won’t do to save a few bucks, and in fact, the main thing I’ve learned from them is that if you have no shame, you can do just that in a myriad of ways at WDW.

I’ve compiled the best *cough*  unorthodox ways that I’ve uncovered to stay on that budget, and here they are.  I like to call them  Moneysaving H.E.L.P.S. for WDW

1. 1)Hop - Pool hop, that is. It is against the unevenly enforced rules to use a resort pool if you are not staying at that resort, but those pools are so darned cute and the ones at the deluxe resorts, like the pirate pool at the Yacht and Beach Clubs are just too good to pass up. Bring your own towel, and practice saying (furrowed brow, bottom lip jutted) , “It’s not OK to swim here? Oh dear! I’m so terribly sorry!” if you are caught. And you might be, but it’s not like you’ll go to jail or anything.
   
   

2. 2)Ebay - Isn’t Ebay amazing? You can buy just about everything a scammer needs on ebay, like fast passes (usually counterfeit), (untransferable) park passes, and refillable mugs (which are intended for the length of the stay of the original purchaser, but who would know any different?).
   

3. 3)Lie - about pretty much everything. Put those good habits and values that you’ve been trying to ingrain in your kids on ice for a few weeks and teach the 5 year old to say, “I’m two and a half years old!” Instruct Grandma that there are only 5 people allowed in your room at the Polynesian and she’s going to have to sneak in and out of the balcony door. (Try to get a room on the ground floor, though). Have the surgery on the dog’s vocal chords so that you can avoid paying for a kennel and keep him in the room.
   

4. 4)Park creatively. To avoid paying for parking, you’ll need to refer back to H.E.L.P.S. number 3.  Tell the parking attendant that you are having a meal at the Contemporary and (hopefully, if he believes your story) he’ll let you park there so that you can walk to the Magic Kingdom. You can also park for free at Downtown Disney and use the resort buses to get to the parks.
   

5. 5)Share. Sharing is a good thing; right? So share your ass off. Folks on the message boards like to hook up with each other and use one Photopass for mutiple families, buying one disc ($90) and then make their own copies. If  5 families participate, the disc would only cost $18, plus postage and blank discs. Copyright rules, shmopyright rules! $90 is a lot of money! And personally, I think it would be fun to have a lot of strangers on my Photopass disc. Folks on the boards also trade off strollers, refrigerators, and lots of other things to avoid rental costs. I can’t imagine that any problems could arise from these exchanges between perfect strangers...can you?
   

Unfortunately I didn’t even get to the some of the good tips, like how to cook whole meals in the room, using the coffee maker to make chili (you were wondering why your coffee tastes so funny at WDW; weren’t you?) and making grilled cheese sandwiches with the iron and ironing board. For these and other cooking tips, see the Budget Board at Disney Information Station (disboards.com).

And I hope you have been able to follow along with my tongue firmly embedded in my cheek the way it’s been this whole time. No, I can’t say I’ve used these handy hints - too much of a spendthrift, I guess! And Lauren was always such a bad liar when she was little, it was hard to get her to go along with it. Don’t let my failures deter you though - Hope this H.E.L.P.S !