Orlando can feel like a pretty expensive city to have fun in, especially with the price of date night going up AND with it being a tourist town. Luckliy, you don’t have to break the bank to have a great date in Orlando. There are plenty of low-cost (cheap) or free date ideas in Orlando that feel just as fun as shelling out cash.
Some of these are on our main list of date ideas in Orlando (some with modifications), but many are making a special appearance here.
If you’re ready, here are our some of the best options in the city to consider.
1. Go for a stroll around Lake Eola. (Free)
Lake Eola is at the heart of Orlando and is a beautiful place to go for a walk, a picnic, or just to hang out for a date. If you are okay spending some money, you could always rent a swan boat and paddle around, or head over to one of the coffee shops close by to grab something to enjoy on your stroll.
Remember, great Orlando dates don’t have to be expensive or complex.
2. Check out Rollins Museum of Art. (Free)
Art museums tend to be fairly expensive, but that’s not the case with the Rollings Museum of Art. Thanks to their generous donors, this free date idea is…well…free! You can go enjoy the museum, see some great art, and build a solid connection without breaking the bank.
As you might expect, it’s located in Orlando on the campus of Rollins College.
3. Look for free outdoor movie nights around town. (Free or up to $10)
Catching a movie can be a nice date, but what makes it even more exciting? Watching the movie outside! While you could always set this up yourself (if you have a projector), there are plenty of places around Orlando that host movie nights for free or a small fee.
One of the most popular (and beautiful) is movie nights at Leu Gardens. It’s $10 a person and happens on the first Friday night of sporadic months (we can’t figure out the rhyme or reason of which months but you can look at the schedule to see).
There are plenty of other hyperlocal spots offering free movie date nights in Orlando like Enzian Theater and Lake Eola, so definitely search in your area.
4. Plan a creative Orlando date with LoveTrack.
Want to get creative? Dates like scavenger hunts, people watching Bingo, unique picnics, and so much more are a great way to have an inexpensive Orlando date that is still incredibly memorable.
The best news? You don’t have to think up these ideas on your own. The LoveTrack app is a free date night planner with hundreds of preplanned date night ideas that are inexpensive, creative, and will help you connect on a deeper level with your special someone.
And yes, it’s literally free. Use the link below to download the app now, and find even more amazing Orlando date ideas.
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5. Visit Orlando’s Morse Museum of American Art. (Free or $3-$8)
More free art? You betcha’. The Morse Museum of American Art offers free entry on Friday nights from 4pm to 8pm from November through April. Expect it to be a little busy on certain nights, but always manageable. If you’d rather go a different time or it’s “off season” for the free night, pricing is only $8 a ticket or $3 for students, making this a great cheap date night in Orlando year-round.
6. Go to the Winter Garden Farmers Market (or any farmer’s market). (Free)
We picked out the Winter Garden Farmers Market for this date idea, but remember there are tons of farmers markets all over town that work just the same. These are almost always 100% free and you can use them for a cheap date in so many cool ways. You can just walk around and “window shop”, you can get a coffee or lemonade at a stand and stroll, you can work together to pick out things for a picnic you have right after, and so on.
This date can be free or whatever it costs for a coffee or lunch, totally up to you.
7. Visit Lakeridge Winery for Weekends at the Winery even if you don’t drink alcohol. (Free)
While this is certainly a good date idea if you drink alcohol, drinks anywhere can get expensive. The reason we’re sharing the Lakeridge Winery as a cheap date idea in Orlando is because they have a weekend event with live music that is completely free to get into. You can set up a blanket or lawn chairs and relax and enjoy the tunes. They even have grape stomping from time to time!
Keep in mind that you can’t bring in outside food or drink, but there are plenty of things for purchase if you get hungry or thirsty.
8. Pick strawberries together. (Small cost)
Picking strawberries is a really unique date that you can only do in certain parts of the country, like Florida! All around Orlando, there are farms you can go to and pick your own strawberries together as a couple. Typically, these farms are free to go to, and you just pay for the strawberries that you pick.
You can’t pick strawberries all year round, but it’s typically available February – March/April. Some farms, like Southern Hills Farm in Clermont have different crops available to pick most of the year (so always something fun to do).
9. Go for a bike ride on the West Orange Trail. (Free)
Who doesn’t like working out on a date? Kidding, kidding. Going for a bike ride is actually an incredibly relaxing and fun date, and there is no better place in Orlando to do it than the West Orange Trail. It’s 22 miles of great paved trails where you can stroll together, talk, and connect.
Our one big tip here is remember, it’s Florida. It gets hot here. Be careful if your date or significant other isn’t down to get sweaty.
10. Walk around Disney Springs together. (Free)
Disney and inexpensive usually don’t fit in the same sentence, but there is a way to enjoy the magic without spending any money! We’re talking about walking around Disney Springs. Parking is free, there is plenty to see, and if you do feel like spending a few bucks, there are plenty of options there.
The food trucks are a great place to get a reasonably affordable meal $10-$15 a person, and you don’t have to worry about a reservation.
11. Catch a concert with a local band. (Free or low cost)
Orlando has long been hailed as a hub for great local music and we think that is still alive and well. Often, you can find free or low cost (like $5 or $10) tickets that make a great inexpensive date night even if you’ve never heard of the band. Some example spots to check out are The Social and The Plaza Live (Milk District).
Additional Ways to Save on Date Ideas in Orlando
Now that we’ve shared a bunch of free and cheap date ideas in Orlando, we want to take it one step further. We want to look at some additional ways you can enjoy great date nights in Mickey’s backyard without breaking the bank.
- Look for local’s discounts. – A lot of places, especially when you get close to the resort corridor offer Florida Resident discounts that you can take advantage of. But! You can’t use these unless you know about them. Before you go anywhere, do a quick search to see if they have anything “company/establishment + Florida resident discount”.
- Seriously, get the LoveTrack app. – It’s 100% free. It’s a date night planner. It is focused on Orlando. It is filled with low and no-cost ideas. Not sure how much more perfect it could be for this situation!
- Look for special discount periods. – Often, restaurants and other establishments run specials during their slower times to get people in the door. If your schedule is flexible, take advantage of this! An added bonus is that not only will you save money during these periods, but most places are way less busy so fewer crowds!
- Leverage nature. – Orlando is filled with so many great parks, lakes, and other wonders of nature that are perfect for dates. Often, these are free or charge a small fee for entry. Things like tubing, hiking, swimming, etc.