Parking the car at resort restaurants

[musicmom3]

We are almost ready to make our reservations for the Concourse and Yachtsman Steakhouses. Does anybody know if we would be permitted to park our rental car in the hotel parking lots? We woud of course have the priority seating (or advanced seating, whatever it is now called--haven't been to DW since '05!) numbers to prove that we had legitimate business. We usually try to plan our sit-down dining for non-park days, and it seems like a hassle to have to take the bus from CSR, where we will be staying, to a park and then switch to another bus to get to the restaurant and then do the same thing in reverse.

 

[seashoreCM]

You may always park at the location of the restaurant if you have a reservation. If you are not staying at the resort in question you may be limited to three hours.

Without a restaurant reservation or room stay at the specific resort you will usually be given a 3 hour pass to park but occasionally you may be unrestricted (if things are not crowded) or denied altogether (if things are very crowded). The Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary rarely let you in unrestricted. The Boardwalk often lets you in unrestricted but generally tells you which lot to use, which lot may be across the street.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Deb & Bill]

Even if you do have an ADR for dining at a deluxe resort (since they are closer to the theme parks), you may still be required to move your car if you will be gone from the car longer than 3 hours.

 

[musicmom3]

I imagine that three hours would be more than plenty of time to be seated and to eat! Thanks for giving us the info I need! Off to dial for reservations!

 

[teacher31]

We had dinner at Cape May on July 4. We thought we'd be limited to 3 hours due to the fact it is so easy to walk to Epcot from there. Nope. No pass, parked where we wanted to, etc.

 

[Eeyore11081]

We had dinner at Cape May on July 4. We thought we'd be limited to 3 hours due to the fact it is so easy to walk to Epcot from there. Nope. No pass, parked where we wanted to, etc.

Same thing for me at Cape May last month. We parked there twice all day on meal days. Reservations were in hand, but they didn't ask for verification. Lot was fairly empty though and the parks weren't terribly crowded.

On a Wilderness Lodge morning (Whispering Canyon) we were able to park all day unrestricted.

At Contemporary we were issued a three hour pass.

We got all day parking at the GF (surprisingly). The lot was a CM lot across the street but it was still convenient. The guard didn't speak very good English and I doubt a more savvy guard would be so lax.

 

[auntsue]

That's good to know. We added a day this Friday and were unable to get into the BWV, so we will be at OKW for the one night. I made ADR's at Flying Fish specifically so we could park at the Boardwalk and not have to walk all the way through Epcot that evening. I am planning on using valet parking so hopefully that will not be a problem.

 

[mickaholic4077]

When you valet park at any of the deluxe resorts,there is no time limit at all.

 

[Sammie]

Same thing for me at Cape May last month. We parked there twice all day on meal days. Reservations were in hand, but they didn't ask for verification. Lot was fairly empty though and the parks weren't terribly crowded.

On a Wilderness Lodge morning (Whispering Canyon) we were able to park all day unrestricted.

At Contemporary we were issued a three hour pass.

We got all day parking at the GF (surprisingly). The lot was a CM lot across the street but it was still convenient. The guard didn't speak very good English and I doubt a more savvy guard would be so lax.

Please do not park in the CM lot, they need these places to get to work on time. Please use self parking or valet park.

 

[pcgmom]

We had a breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey's, and I was impressed when the parking attendants had the reservation list and a parking pass ready for us. We were told we could park there for 3 hours, and we used that time to ride around on the monorail after our meal.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

When you valet park at any of the deluxe resorts,there is no time limit at all.

At the MK resorts and/or during the busy holiday season, this isn't always true. I valet park and have been given 3 hours passes at GF and Polynesian several times.

 

[BriarRosie]

Please do not park in the CM lot, they need these places to get to work on time. Please use self parking or valet park.

When you self-park at the GF, guests and CMs park pretty much in the same
lot. There isn't any other place to self-park at the GF. I once realized how
much of a pain it was to self-park there after I drove there for afternoon tea.

I try to avoid driving to the GF (when I've had rentals) if I had to go there.
I would try to use a park or the DTD bus from my resort instead, just giving
myself more travel time.

 

[lovethattink]

I'm sure it was due to crowds this last weekend, but we were told the Contemporary lot was filled and we had to park at TTC. This was the 3rd time this happened to us. This happened when there was some type of democratic convention there and something for the president last year. This certainly isn't the norm, but can happen.

Usually they will give out a 3 hour parking permit.

 

[erikthewise]

We got all day parking at the GF (surprisingly). The lot was a CM lot across the street but it was still convenient. The guard didn't speak very good English and I doubt a more savvy guard would be so lax.

That IS the GF's self-parking lot! I think it's their little way of encouraging you to valet park. We experienced it for the first time when taking our boys to the Pirate Cruise, and almost ended up being late. Now as a matter of principle I refuse to valet park at GF.

My favorite is the sign inside the lot that says "unattended cars may be towed at owners expense". Not completely sure about wording but it definitely says "unattended".

 

[mommy*RN]

Our last trip in October we received a parking pass for CR only (it was for Chef Mickey's). We parked our rental car at AKL, and Poly without any problems. They did check our name against a roster at most places though but we told them we had ADR's...