Leave Car at DVC Resort?

[nunzia]

We just booked the Oct 1 Wonder Double Dip. We'll probably have a rental car, arrive a day early and stay at WDW and then return to WDW for a few days after the cruise. Is it possible to arrange to leave a car at the resort while on the cruise and take Disney transportaion to the port and back? Or maybe it would be better and cheaper to do a 1 way car rental, drop off in Orlando and then rent another after the cruise and WDW visit?

 

[cleophus12]

I would imagine you could leave the car at a Wdw resort but you should probably do some math on this. Car rental in Orlando can be high so you may be better off taking the car back before the cruise and renting another after. Unless a weeks rental is that much cheaper. Check these boards to see who rents close to the port. We returned a car near the port once and it was very simple.

 

[lilpooh108]

We just booked the Oct 1 Wonder Double Dip. We'll probably have a rental car, arrive a day early and stay at WDW and then return to WDW for a few days after the cruise. Is it possible to arrange to leave a car at the resort while on the cruise and take Disney transportaion to the port and back? Or maybe it would be better and cheaper to do a 1 way car rental, drop off in Orlando and then rent another after the cruise and WDW visit?

I'm gonna say no, based on my past DVC stays your parking permit has the range of dates for your DVC reservation.

Wouldn't you hate to come back and find out your car's been towed? I've seen security driving around and checking. I'm sure they'll notice a car that hasn't moved for a week.

 

[TDC Nala]

No, you can't leave the car unattended at the resort while you are not staying there.

 

[disneybass]

We just booked the Oct 1 Wonder Double Dip. We'll probably have a rental car, arrive a day early and stay at WDW and then return to WDW for a few days after the cruise. Is it possible to arrange to leave a car at the resort while on the cruise and take Disney transportaion to the port and back? Or maybe it would be better and cheaper to do a 1 way car rental, drop off in Orlando and then rent another after the cruise and WDW visit?

We stayed at OKW pre cruise and post cruise and left our car there and used Disney transportation. Probably should do a little figuring to see if that is the best option with a rental car. Disney is $35 per person each way.

 

[nunzia]

Oh..now I'm confused..We will rent the car in New Orleans and then drive to Orlando, then back to New Orleans to get back on the train. Convoluted yes, but hate to fly and taking a train all the way to Orlando is even more convoluted. So it's either a round trip car rental from NO and back, or two 1 way car rentals. Since I have conflicting 'leave car at resort' reports even more confused. I guess we could park at port and pay that fee also..Ugh..wish that flight didn't look so daunting. How far is WDW from Port?

 

[quentina]

I have always found it cheaper and more convenient to rent for the week. I priceline a rental, keep for entire stay and pay to park at port. There is a value to getting of boat and walking to car.

Normally, I pay about 200$ for car rental plus parking at port. Disney transport is much higher as we are a family of 5.

 

[Namsupak]

This is something you should ask the DVC resort about. It has been allowed in the past. But it is going to be up to the resort, since you have a WDW stay before and after they may allow it. Also depending on the number in your party, we have 4-5 people, it is sometimes an advantage to take a private car versus the Disney transportation to the port.

 

[Donna M]

There are off site parking lots at the port which are cheaper than right at the ship.

 

[lilpooh108]

Oh..now I'm confused..We will rent the car in New Orleans and then drive to Orlando, then back to New Orleans to get back on the train. Convoluted yes, but hate to fly and taking a train all the way to Orlando is even more convoluted. So it's either a round trip car rental from NO and back, or two 1 way car rentals. Since I have conflicting 'leave car at resort' reports even more confused. I guess we could park at port and pay that fee also..Ugh..wish that flight didn't look so daunting. How far is WDW from Port?

Sure people may do it, but it's not allowed. As I explained, you will get a parking pass when you check in at the DVC resort. That pass will have your dates of stay on there, which is when you're allowed to park your car. That's it.

Can you imagine if everyone left their car? You can go ahead and call Disney and ask, but I bet the answer you will get is that overnight parking is only allowed for resort guests.

I'm not sure why that's confusing. You risk your car getting towed if you ignore the rule, period.

You should post this question in the DVC forums....where the mods there will also tell you it's not allowed.

 

[kcashner]

We had a resort stay both before and after the cruise and had our own car at the resort. We asked, and were given a parking permit that expired on the last day of the second stay (so it was valid thru the cruise). The only thing they asked of us was that we park in a "remote" area of the resort, not at the parking spaces right near the villas. This was at Saratoga Springs.

 

[disneybass]

All you have to do is ask. In our case there was no problem leaving our car while we cruised. Disney has always tried to accommodate us.

 

[tripletsmama]

We stayed at OKW before our cruise and BCV after our cruise. My brother lives in the Orlando area and cruised with us. We cannot all fit in his car though, so we took FL Tours to the port. We asked if he could leave his car at OKW and they said sure, no problem. They even gave him a parking pass. The front desk CM who helped us did have to get a manager to print the parking pass. When we got off the ship, FL tours dropped us off at BCV and my brother took a cab to his car at OKW, no problems.

 

[WDWLVR]

We had a resort stay both before and after the cruise and had our own car at the resort. We asked, and were given a parking permit that expired on the last day of the second stay (so it was valid thru the cruise). The only thing they asked of us was that we park in a "remote" area of the resort, not at the parking spaces right near the villas. This was at Saratoga Springs.

We did the same thing at Boardwalk a number of years ago. We had driven down in our own car but was with a group who had chartered a bus. We asked when we checked in and they gave us a new parking pass that was good through our 2nd say after the cruise. Asked us to park further out which we did (in fact parked in view of the guard shack near the street).

 

[nunzia]

This sounds very workable. Thanks

 

[disneyholic family]

How far is WDW from Port?

it depends on the traffic, but on sunday morning, when we drove to the Dream, it took us less than an hour from WDW to port canaveral.