ART or parking garage?

[mom2tinkandmickey]

Based on a recommendation from a friend, we will be staying at the Ayres Hotel on Katella the first week in December. It has been over 7 years since we stayed somewhere that was not on property, or across the street. We will have a car, and parking is included in our APs, but I'm wondering if it might be more convenient to use ART? We will be taking afternoon breaks back at our hotel. Do you think it would be easier to park in the parking structure, drive back to the hotel, then drive back and park again...or just get on the bus back and forth? There is no fee for parking at the Ayres, so the ART passes wouldn't be much more than we would have paid for parking. Thanks for any advise.

 

[DanT]

we used ART when we were there last and had no problems....buses were on time and we always had a seat.
Much easier than parking, riding a tram to and from, and then finding a parking space at the hotel again...

 

[PinkBudgie]

I'm the opposite. I refuse to ride a bus. I want to be on my time and not have to wait for a bus, crowd on with a bunch of people, and hope for a seat. If you get to DLR before opening, parking is very easy and the tram has plenty of room. We now stay walking distance which I prefer. This summer, my friend and her family stayed further away and took ART. She said if they stayed too far to walk again, they would drive. Guess it comes down to personal preference. Either way, I just wouldn't go back for an afternoon nap. Too much trouble with car or bus. When we drove and parked we would just leave the parks early- around 9 or 10pm, instead of a nap.

 

[thewritegirl]

We stayed at a nearby campground last time and used the ART and I HATED it. It was soo frustrating to have to go on their schedule. I would drive, even though I know realistically it's probably not any quicker.

 

[dadzgirl70]

We definitely use the parking structure vs. ART. In and out privileges makes it easy and much faster. Plus, I hold my time in my own hands not ART's.

 

[eduk8r26]

If you are on Katella, you might be closer to the Toy Story lot. I think that's quicker than the Mickey and Friends lot, and you don't have to walk as far.

 

[HollyL]

What we do is go right around opening time, park at Down Town Disney, and it's free for the first 3 hours, but we usually have lunch at DTD which I think gets you up to 5 hours validated. Then we go back to the hotel for a break in the afternoon, and then we return to the park in the late afternoon and park at DTD again. The first 3 hours are free, and then $6 an hour after that. We might end up paying $18 total for parking, but that ends up being right around what it would have cost for us all to ride the ART or to park at the Toy Story lot, which still would have you riding a bus to the entrance. We bring a large double stroller with us, which I do not want to lug onto a shuttle, for my sake, and the sake of everyone else on board.
I had reservations at the Ayres Hotel too- it looks really nice, but then we realized we had a bunch of Marriott points, and we could stay for free at the Residence Inn and still have points left over, and you can't beat FREE!
Without the double stroller, and if my kids were older, I would probably opt for the ART, but for now, it's too much of a hassle. I have used the ART in the past, before I had kids, and it was convenient, but I do prefer to be on my own time and not have to wait for a bus.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Man, not sure why everyone hates the garage and tram...I ALWAYS park in the garage and take the tram, even if within walking distance....like having change of clothes in car near by. Both me and other friends have has HORRIBLE experiences with the buses and shuttles...waiting for another cuz one was filled, making tons of stops before your stop...hurrying to make the bus...no thanks! I am one to drive and be in control of my own schedule!

 

[Butterfly123]

We used ART on our first family trip. Then we realized the convenience of staying walking distance on Harbor, and have done that ever since. To be honest, the bus isn't horrible if it is just adults or teens, but it's not very fun with young ones. And we like to take a break during the day, too, which makes a lot of bus catching. Plus a lot of time out of your day. Unless it was a hotel with its own bus, like CCI, I would drive if I had kids with me.

 

[pixiewings71]

We don't use ART anymore, we drive our car and park. We always get parking on an AP, whether we have to pay extra to add it to a Deluxe or we get 1 Premium. For us, driving and parking is easier, we rarely have long waits for trams or the bus at the TS lot and it's just easier. At night we've had to wait for the TS bus but so does everyone else.
When we rode ART we always had to stand (even the kids) and we always had to wait, plus we have to pay for ART so for us it isn't a good choice.

 

[BusyB15]

I think the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure is the way to go. The Trams come often and the parking garage opens early.

 

[Mr Snappy]

We definitely use the parking structure vs. ART. In and out privileges makes it easy and much faster. Plus, I hold my time in my own hands not ART's.

This +100

We used the ART for several years and two years ago decided to do the parking garage....Much better for us (2 adults, 2 older boys)

This decision is also greatly determined by what property you are staying at. If you have to walk ANY distance to the bus stop or are at a property that is at the end of a long list of previous stops, you will hate it more and more.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

What we do is go right around opening time, park at Down Town Disney, and it's free for the first 3 hours, but we usually have lunch at DTD which I think gets you up to 5 hours validated. Then we go back to the hotel for a break in the afternoon, and then we return to the park in the late afternoon and park at DTD again. The first 3 hours are free, and then $6 an hour after that. We might end up paying $18 total for parking, but that ends up being right around what it would have cost for us all to ride the ART or to park at the Toy Story lot, which still would have you riding a bus to the entrance. We bring a large double stroller with us, which I do not want to lug onto a shuttle, for my sake, and the sake of everyone else on board.
I had reservations at the Ayres Hotel too- it looks really nice, but then we realized we had a bunch of Marriott points, and we could stay for free at the Residence Inn and still have points left over, and you can't beat FREE!
Without the double stroller, and if my kids were older, I would probably opt for the ART, but for now, it's too much of a hassle. I have used the ART in the past, before I had kids, and it was convenient, but I do prefer to be on my own time and not have to wait for a bus.

That sounds like a nice way to not have to pay for parking, unfortunately though, you really aren't supposed to do this. It actually says when you enter into the DTD parking that you cannot park there for theme parks. I know because we actually pondered doing this same thing one of the days we were there, (we had WOD shopping to do anyway) but then we saw that signs and so we parked in M&F instead.

As far as our opinion on ART or Parking, we've done both and like both. If you are staying further away, ART generally comes only once an hour, we've found that parking is MUCH better in this situation, however, if you are staying close, ART will pickup about every 15 minutes. In this case, we feel ART is the better choice because it's cheaper and there is no hassle with dealing with traffic and parking when you return to the hotel. The best we've found so far though, is staying directly across the street! This wins hands down for us! SO convenient! You really cannot beat a 5 minute walk out the gates to your bed! Even with the convenience of ART or the parking garage, it still will take much longer than the walk across the street does to get back to your hotel if you are further away. At least when we have our kids with us, from now on, we will always try to stay directly across the street!!

 

[mom2tinkandmickey]

Thanks for all the input. I can't believe how much not staying across the street is stressing me out! We had to change our dates, and now there is nothing available across the street. I think we will go ahead and just drive and park. Now I need to decide between Mickey & Friends or the Toy Story lot.

 

[dlrmw]

If you are on Katella, you might be closer to the Toy Story lot. I think that's quicker than the Mickey and Friends lot, and you don't have to walk as far.

This...last time we parked in the garge we waited OVER an hour to get on a tram back to the garage(after a long day of walking we were NOT walking back...LOL). I've never had to wait more than a few minutes to get a bus back to the Toy Story lot.

 

[Bungle]

Let us know how how getting to the parks works for you, we are staying at the Ayres in June so insight would be helpful. For now we plan on taking art, although I can see the advantages of taking the car so we can leave changes of clothes and a cooler in it.

 

[HollyL]

That sounds like a nice way to not have to pay for parking, unfortunately though, you really aren't supposed to do this. It actually says when you enter into the DTD parking that you cannot park there for theme parks. I know because we actually pondered doing this same thing one of the days we were there, (we had WOD shopping to do anyway) but then we saw that signs and so we parked in M&F instead.

As far as our opinion on ART or Parking, we've done both and like both. If you are staying further away, ART generally comes only once an hour, we've found that parking is MUCH better in this situation, however, if you are staying close, ART will pickup about every 15 minutes. In this case, we feel ART is the better choice because it's cheaper and there is no hassle with dealing with traffic and parking when you return to the hotel. The best we've found so far though, is staying directly across the street! This wins hands down for us! SO convenient! You really cannot beat a 5 minute walk out the gates to your bed! Even with the convenience of ART or the parking garage, it still will take much longer than the walk across the street does to get back to your hotel if you are further away. At least when we have our kids with us, from now on, we will always try to stay directly across the street!!

Oh...oops. I guess we will park at Mickey and Friends next time instead. I just hate the idea of lugging a large stroller, as well as my 2 young kiddos all at the same time onto a tram or shuttle. We don't want to be rule breakers!

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

Oh...oops. I guess we will park at Mickey and Friends next time instead. I just hate the idea of lugging a large stroller, as well as my 2 young kiddos all at the same time onto a tram or shuttle. We don't want to be rule breakers!

Yea, i hear ya! I've got three little ones myself, all 6 and younger!! Schlepping all the kid crap around gets really tiring, i totally get it! Lol we did art a year and a half ago when our littlest was only 8 months, and holy moly! What a chore to gather all our junk in our arms each time and fold up the stroller too! Oiy!! I do really wish they did have a closer option for parking for those if us with young children...then again, it is Disneyland, and young ones are everywhere, I'm sure there is no way there would be enough space anywhere to have a special families with little kids parking lot anywhere. Boo. Well it was a good idea anyway, huh?

 

[Jperiod]

As far as our opinion on ART or Parking, we've done both and like both. If you are staying further away, ART generally comes only once an hour, we've found that parking is MUCH better in this situation, however, if you are staying close, ART will pickup about every 15 minutes.

This. We've done both with strollers and folding it for the tram vs the ART isn't much different. But if we're staying somewhere with a good ART route, it's much faster than waiting in line for the parking booth, parking at the top of Mickey &Friends, walking forever to get to the tram, waiting for the tram and fighting the crowds, then walking to the gates from the drop off. I really don't feel like the car gives me "my time line" because I'm at the mercy of the lines and traffic in/out of the garage, which can be very unpredictable. ART might take a while too, but it's more consistent so far.

 

[michelleh1]

We just got back from our trip and used ART the entire time (route 8). We rode it 20 times and usually waited 10 min or less for the bus. I figured it would take at least 10 min for us to get in our van, drive to parking (with traffic), then walk to the tram to board. Only 3 times did we wait longer, and it was close to 20 minutes. Those 3 times I was really frustrated, but that was a chance we took. Other times we didn't wait at all which actually saved time over driving and parking. There was one time where we saw our bus leaving the parking lot, so we took a bus that had a stop nearby. The driver was really nice and actually stopped as close as she could to our normal stop for us so we wouldn't have to walk as far. I really felt like the drivers were accommodating (within reason) for all of the guests. We did take mid-day breaks on most of the days and didn't feel like the bus ate up too much time. We decided that we do prefer staying within walking distance, but we would take the bus again if we don't.