There’s a new book out there about Walt Disney World called Disney on a Dime, and the usual questions rise to the top. Is this one worthwhile? Will it find a unique audience?

Promotional materials tout that this "is not a guidebook in the traditional sense but a detailed how-to for people who want to save money on their next Disney vacation or who want to make their Disney dream vacation come true." True enough. Your usual guidebooks spend all their time telling you what to do when you’re in the parks so as to maximize your "fun"—which I think really means they tell you how to get on all the rides in a limited time. On occasion, they throw a bone your way about saving money, but these tend to be asides and sidebars rather than the main point, and the information about getting the best deals is always sketchy.

In fact, at least one book goes the other route: Cara Goldsbury’s Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World tells you how to buy the very best, and sparing little cost while doing so. Her book certainly targets a niche audience. But what of the much, much larger other market of folks trying to save as much as possible? Until now, they only got scraps from other books, but this new one is aimed squarely at them.

What’s it got? Tons of tips and tricks at saving money. I’d venture to say that would be an honest title for the book: tips and tricks to save at Disney World. There are chapters on planning ahead, saving on travel, saving on food, saving on tickets, souvenirs, lodging (on- and off-site), and a pretty long list of things to do for free while there on vacation.

I know what you’re thinking. There are websites for this kind of planning. You’re right; there are. MouseSavers.com, for instance, has built a living out of this kind of stuff. And they keep up with the bleeding-edge-current deals out there, which a book cannot possibly hope to do, so the book suffers from that lack of timeliness. But you know what? You can’t take MouseSavers with you on vacation. I suppose you could take a laptop (assuming you can find an Internet connection at Disney World), but you couldn’t or wouldn’t do that while in the parks themselves. The book is more portable. Besides, there’s something about having actual pages to turn that I think will render this an attractive choice.

That said, the book does deal with specifics and actual prices, so it won’t have a huge shelf-life, at least not with accurate prices. Presumably they intend to update the prices on a regular basis, this being the era of "print on demand," but that will be little comfort if you want exact prices. Still, it’s not the exact pennies which count, but the wisdom. And the wisdom is generally pretty good in this book. Some of it is pretty generic and applicable to life outside of Disney vacations, such as suggestions on saving money as a game or ordering a second bun with a double cheeseburger to generate two single burgers at a low cost. But others are insightful and oriented only for a Disney vacation, such as the complex juggling of variables in choosing offsite or onsite hotels, factoring in such things as gas costs, spotty shuttle service, Disney parking charges, and the relative differences between cheap Disney hotels and nearby ones in the community.

The book promises to save you hundreds of dollars, especially when compared head to head with Disney package deals. That’s probably true, though I suspect the kind of person who chooses the package deal usually wants to pay extra to avoid the details. If you’re the kind who pays for the package thinking you’re saving money, this is the book for you, because you aren’t. The book doesn’t shy away from using real dollar values in providing sample budgets and menus, and that makes it invaluable as a planning tool for folks considering a first WDW trip.

In fact, I’ll go a step farther: this is a BETTER book to buy than one of the many guidebooks about WDW if you’re a first-time visitor. Why? Because the Disney parks can be enjoyed just as well without squeezing in all the rides. In fact, your day may be the better for it if you HAVEN’T planned out all the rides and shows; nothing creates Disney fun like simply exploring and discovering. The same, meanwhile, cannot be said for budgeting and costs. You’d ruin your vacation if you didn’t expect high prices or didn’t know how to spend within your budget. This book will inoculate you against unpleasant fiscal surprises and still allow you to discover Disney’s themed surprises on your own. In my book, that’s a double win.