ORLANDO -- South Florida parents making that end-of-summer dash to the theme parks are in for sticker shock: One-day adult ticket prices have hit $75 -- plus tax.

Good news: Florida residents who book online don't have to pay full price.

Recently introduced ''meal deals,'' online restaurant coupons and falling gas prices are also helping to contain costs. And if you can wait until Aug. 15, lodging discounts and ''get one free'' offers kick in.

The $75 tickets at Disney and Universal parks add up to a 70 percent increase since 2000, says Bob Sehlinger, author of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World series. Tickets for ages 3-9 -- now priced at $63 plus tax -- have risen 80 percent during that period.

Still, ''if you compare Disney World tickets to Broadway shows, concerts and ski resorts, they're a strong value,'' he says. Parkgoers who bypass Disney save even more. ''Universal and SeaWorld run deals all the time'' -- sometimes making those parks half the price of Disney, he says.

At all parks, Florida residents qualify for a variety of price breaks. The $75 one-day Disney ticket costs $67.50 when purchased online in advance, with even better savings on multiday tickets. For $64.99, Florida residents can visit both Universal parks in a single day. For $79.95, they can visit their choice of two of the state's Busch parks -- SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens Tampa or Adventure Island -- for two days.

While ticket prices may still make you pause -- three-day Disney passes for two adults and two children under 10 add up to $474 plus tax, even at the Florida resident rate -- food costs and amenities were less than tourist Marion Lewis expected. In her home of Dublin, Ireland, as in South Florida, paying $8.99 for rotisserie chicken with two sides isn't unusual -- even without the benefit of the strong Euro.

Better yet, say parkgoers: Buy a dining package.

Here in the land of the $2.79 chocolate croissant and the $7.29 dog-with-fries, the ''Meal Deal'' -- offered in both Universal parks -- with unlimited burgers, pasta and chicken sandwiches for $20.99 is a bargain if you're traveling with locust-like teens.

At SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, the price is $27.95 -- but includes sodas or bottled water. On a sweltering day, you could spend that on hydration alone.

Sisters Gretchen and Sabrina Morris of Plattsburgh, N.J., both in their 20s, signed up for the Disney Dining Plan to keep costs for the five-day Disney vacation to $2,500, including airfare. The program, open only to guests at Disney hotels, promises a 30 percent savings over a la carte pricing. ''It was great,'' said Gretchen. ``It was sooo much food.''

More cost-saving tips: Purchase refillable drink cups, stagger park visits with days at the pool and inexpensive attractions, and use discount lodging websites. The Orlando visitors bureau and many local hotels are dropping rates and beefing up ''get-one-free'' offers -- though most kick in Aug. 15, just when South Florida parents are frantically preparing for the start of school.

Booking shared lodgings with a kitchen helps, too. Samantha Shearer of Harrison, Ark., and her three children split a house with six other family members, bringing their lodging cost to $300 for four nights. Karen Rhymer of Marietta, Ga., sat through a 90-minute time-share presentation to qualify for a deeply discounted lodging rate -- bringing the cost of the four-day vacation for herself and two children down to about $800, including gas.

But don't just focus on the money, pay attention to value, suggests Paul diPasquale of Pittsburgh. For his six-night vacation with wife Kelly and children Emily, 7, and Michael, 8, he spent about $5,500, including a stay on the club floor at the upscale Loew's Portofino Bay at Universal. ``The kids loved the pool and the water slide. We got continental breakfast and drinks all day. It costs a little more but in the end I think we saved money.''

And -- music to the ears of park officials -- most parkgoers on two recent 90-degree-plus days said their visits were worth the high price.

The seven members of the Legault family of Windsor, Ontario, spent at least $8,000 on their seven-day Disney vacation. Grandma Jane Jones, who helped foot the bill with husband Barry Jones, had brought their own daughter, Stephanie Legault, on a similar trip when she was a girl and wanted to repeat the experience before the grandchildren got too old.

''Just to see their faces when Tinker Bell arrived [at the Wishes fireworks in the Magic Kingdom], it was all worth it,'' she said. Even the 24-hour drive in the family van.

But sometimes the things children remember most are the experiences that cost the least.

The diPasquale family spent $400 for a day at SeaWorld, including a behind-the-scenes dolphin experience. But one of the highlights for 7-year-old Emily was feeding the zebra sharks in a predator tank accessible to all park visitors. Cost of shark bait: $5.

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