Have a stress-free Disney World vacation

Suprisingly free stuff

Make a race car
Outside the Lego Imagination Center in Downtown Disney is a 3,000-square-foot area with bins and bins of Legos. Kids can build whatever they want—like race cars that speed along a sloping track. Huge Lego sculptures, including a dinosaur, a robot, and a dragon emerging from a lake, are the work of professionals.

Learn to use the force
At Hollywood Studios, there's a stage that several times a day hosts a Jedi Training Academy, in which two dozen or so kids are picked to learn the Jedi arts from a full-fledged master. It's worth showing up early to make sure your child gets picked.

Gather 'round the campfire
Be sure to catch the nightly sing-along and outdoor movies at Fort Wilderness Resort. Bring marshmallows for toasting or purchase a s'mores kit at the nearby Meadow Trading Post.

Captain the monorail
Before boarding, ask a cast member (a.k.a. a Disney employee) if your child can ride with the driver. Four people are allowed per trip.

Walk right in
Throughout 2009, get in free on your birthday. Register in advance at disneyparks.com and bring ID.

Resources

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Our favorite Disney guidebook is "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009" (Wiley, $20). The 850-page tome is loaded with practical advice and info you won't find anywhere else, plus quotes from real Disney visitors who weigh in with their opinions and tips.

The following independent Web sites are also obsessively detailed and helpful: wdwinfo.com , mousesavers.com , allears.net , themeparkinsider.com , and wdwplanner.com .

Princess time!

Get up close and personal with your kids' heroes at "character meals" around the parks. What you pay varies based on whom you dine with, and when. (Starting prices for all characters based on kids 10 and up.)

• Goofy $14, breakfast at Vero Beach Resort
• Mickey Mouse $19, breakfast at Animal Kingdom
• Jasmine $29, breakfast at Epcot Norway Pavilion
• Ariel $31, lunch at Epcot Norway Pavilion
• Cinderella $32, dinner at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

More tips

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Especially sunny day? Go to Animal Kingdom, which was designed to have more shade than any other park.

Psst! There's a black market for rental strollers from families leaving early. Don't pay more than $5.

Buy tickets through AAA and you can park right by the front gate in a AAA Diamond Lot.

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