Camping at Disney World on a Budget!

The Most Miserly Mom offers tons of tips on saving money while visiting Disney, Orlando, and the other theme parks, and normally it behooves you to stay off property at a clean, economical hotel or motel and save hundreds of dollars (see past posts or buy my book).

However, if you should definitely desire to stay within the confines of the Disney World Resort Area, one of my favorite recommendations is Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. You can actually tent there or rent a "cabin." Some of the cabins are older and some are newer, but all have bunk beds, kitchens, grills for cooking out, and plenty of space for the kids to run around. The rates vary. Camping in a tent of course is the most economical, but if you choose to rent a cabin the least expensive rate is normally about $169 plus taxes (and they definitely go up from there depending on the season). Don't immediately disregard this option, however, based on that rate, because staying in these cabins can save tons of money in other ways - specifically food!

You can eat all of your meals at your "home base." In fact, you can set up a crock pot in the morning and have a $10 meal ready to feed the whole family when you return from your day at the parks. You can't get much more economical than that!

And Fort Wilderness has a petting zoo and sing alongs and camp fires and a huge pool - and all kinds of stuff to entertain the kids for hours on end. (Just bring your own drinks so you don't have to pay the ghastly prices in the Disney vending machines!)

The Most Miserly Mom loves Fort Wilderness - and You will too if you choose it.