Orlando: The time is right for splashy fun

— -- Fall is value season in Orlando, what with the kids back in school and the theme-park throngs thinning. But the city is more than the sum of its amusement parks, as USA TODAY's Jayne Clark discovered. There's life beyond all the choreographed cheer — and the action isn't just kids' stuff, either.

Lodging:

Deals can be had in lodgings along busy International Drive (near the theme parks and 20 minutes or so from the city center) almost any time of year. But rates are in free fall now. I saw Internet prices for as low as $36 for a three-star lodging at SeaWorld, for instance. However, life is too short to hole up in a spot with a view of a strip mall. So I opted for the downtown Eo Inn, possibly Orlando's only boutique hotel.

I'd already booked the hotel's $109 corporate rate, but while perusing its mixed online reviews ("a rare find"; "disappointing"), I came across an Orbitz rate for only $77.50, which the hotel honored. (At checkout, the clerk said the rate was the lowest she'd ever seen, thanks to a particularly slow month.) Rooms are smallish and spare — in that black-and-white-photo-décor kind of way — yet they're well designed and pleasant. There's no one on duty after 7 p.m., which may be off-putting to some travelers. Its location on the eastern edge of downtown across from Lake Eola Park, an attractive urban hub of activity, is ideal, however.

• Eo Inn, 407-481-8485, eoinn.com

Getting around:

Again, timing is everything when it comes to paying less.

An economy-car rental through Sunshine Rent A Car cost a paltry $34.14 for two days, including taxes and fees. Daily base rates sometimes drop as low as $9.99. Conversely, they can soar to $99 a day during major events, the clerk said.

• Sunshine Rent A Car, 888-786-7446, sunshinerentacar.com

Dining:

I consulted the Orlando Sentinel's annual "best of" list (as chosen by readers and the restaurant critic), with mixed results. Lunch at an Indian place (a readers' favorite) tucked in an aging strip mall next to America's Golf Clearance Outlet on International Drive was overpriced and over-perfumed with incense. A lunch of spicy chicken vindaloo (not bad) and homemade pistachio ice cream (inedible) came to $28 and change.

I had better luck heeding the newspaper critic's suggestions. The Vietnamese neighborhood just north of downtown centered along East Colonial Drive is crammed with good, inexpensive ethnic eateries. Entrees at the no-frills Anh Hong (tops among both the critic and readers) run about $8. I also took advantage of an Orlando "Magical Dining Month" offer (another low-season perk good through September), in which participating restaurants serve a three-course meal for $19 or $29. I sampled the $19 menu at Fifi's Patisserie, an artsy bistro down the street from my hotel, where a fresh caprese salad, generous portion of chicken piccata and a chocolate cupcake, with glass of crisp Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, was under $35 with tax and tip.

Entertainment:

Decades before Walt Disney began secretly buying up land in central Florida, Orlando already had a leg up in the attraction game. There was Midget City (long gone) and Gatorland (still kicking), among other mom-and-pop emporiums. These days, Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld rule the kingdom, each with multiple parks. All three recently raised admission prices (a single-day adult ticket to Universal and Disney is $79.88). SeaWorld, at $74.50, is only slightly less, but, unlike Disney, it offers discounts (AARP and AAA) and, through December, a generous 20% off for Southwest Airlines frequent fliers, lowering my cost to $59.60. Plus, visitors can reuse their single-day ticket for a second day if they return within a week. It takes some navigating through the park's commercial flotsam to get to the good stuff, but the shows (particularly the dolphin-centric Blue Horizons) and sea life exhibits are excellent.

Because a trip to Orlando would seem incomplete without at least one shriek-inducing thrill ride, I dropped by SkyVenture, a vertical wind tunnel that simulates the sensation of free-fall parachuting. At $39.95 (with an $8 online discount coupon) for a scant two minutes, it isn't cheap. But it is thrilling.

Away from the brassy carnival atmosphere of International Drive, Orlando's downtown heart seems positively refined. Don't miss Harry P. Leu Gardens just north of downtown. Its 50 acres (from lakeside palmettos to camellia gardens) are exceedingly pleasant. On the first Friday of the month, when I visited, the usual $7 admission buys an evening movie on the lawn and an invitation to bring your own picnic.

Less G-rated are the boisterous weekend drag shows at Parliament House, west of downtown. The $10 cover buys a seat for the main performance; go early and watch the queens channeling Lucille Ball in a separate show.

Also worthwhile: The Orange County Regional History Center ($9) in the stately former courthouse. It traces the evolution of central Florida life from the pre-Hispanic Timucuan Indians to orange farming to the arrival of Disney.

• SeaWorld, 800-327-2424, seaworld.com

• SkyVenture, 800-759-3861, skyventureorlando.com

• Leu Gardens, 407-246-2620, leugardens.org

• Parliament House, 407-425-7571, parliamenthouse.com

• Regional History Center, 800-965-2030, thehistorycenter.org

Lessons learned:

Time spent in advance searching online for deals pays off. I learned about the 20% SeaWorld discount on mousesavers.com, a non-commercial theme-park-centric site. The local tourist bureau website (orlandoinfo.com) lists current promotions such as the "Endless Summer" program running through Nov. 15, with get-one-free discounts at 80 lodgings and attractions. And I saved more than $30 a night on accommodations by comparing online rates before bargaining directly with the hotel.

What are your Orlando savings strategies? Share your best budget tips below.