best way GF to Boardwalk?

[crazywig]

hi, we would like to stroll around the boardwalk one night to check it out , what is the best way to get there from the grand floridian? we will have a car, is there parking at the boardwalk?

 

[CarolMN]

Yes, there is parking at the Boardwalk. Self-parking is free to all. The lot does tend to fill up (with people who park there and go to EPCOT), so you may find that it is full. (Wish the EPCOT guests would use the main EPCOT lot so the hotel guests and those visiting the BW could find a place. End of soap-box ). If self parking is full, you can use the valet service. This costs $6 plus tip.

Driving is the quickest way to get from the GF to the BW. If MGM is still open when you go, you could take the bus to MGM and then either walk (about 15 minutes) or take the boat (also about 15 minutes) to the BW. If you stay later than the MGM is open, you will either have to take a bus to DD/PI and transfer there to the GF bus (over an hour) or take a taxi. Taxis are easy to get at the BW and will cost about $15, including tip.

I'd drive and valet park if it were me.

Enjoy the trip!

 

[drusba]

New system at BW as of June--sign out front says you cannot park in main lot if going to Epcot or MGM and they stop people particularly in the morning and early afternoon to assure they are not just trying to use the lot for Epcot or MGM parking. There is also a second lot across the street from main lot that is unrestricted. Comparing old to new system--in old main lot used to fill almost to capacity by noon because of all the people going to Epcot or MGM and secondary lot had lots of parking available; under new, just the opposite, secondary lot almost fills by noon and main lot still has lots of available space.

If you are actually going to visit BW, they will let you park in main lot;if the main lot is full (as it can become in the evening with many who are legitimately parking to go to the boardwalk), you will simply be directed to secondary lot. You can also valet park for $6.

Highly recommend you drive as it is much faster (by 30 minutes or more) than taking any Disney transportation route.

 

[ducklite]

I still saw lots of people in the main lot a couple weeks ago who had obviously parked there to go to Epcot. They would come out of the lot with kids and strollers loaded for bear--a lot more than anyone would need for breakfast at Spoodles. Then after Illuminations the main lot would be moe than half empty. We counted 85 cars leaving in the 45 minutes after Illuminations on 8/24/01.

Thanks to all those wonderful people who caused me, a DVC member and paying guest at the BW to not be able to park in the main lot one night...that is until after Illuminations when DH went across the street and moved the car.

Anne

 

[Alice in Cleveland]

When we stayed at the GF we took the monorail to MK and the Boardwalk bus to the BWI. Then we did the reverse on the way home. After park closing, you would need to go to DD and then transfer to a GF bus.

 

[TXDeb]

Just wanted to throw my two cents in.

When we were there this past December, staying at WL, we went to the BW a few afternoons/evenings to eat, bike, pin buy/trade, and stroll around the resorts. Most of the time, we were allowed to park there with no problem. One night, however, we were very surprised to be told that we had to have the three hour parking pass. Since we planned to eat and then hang around the area for awhile, we were afraid that we might go over the three hour limit, so we used valet parking. We had no problems, even though we stayed around 3 1/2 hours or a little more. I was really surprised by the parking pass requirement at BW, since it is suppose to be an 'attraction', as well as a resort. I do understand the policy for the monorail resorts. I can also understand the problem of people parking at one of the Epcot resorts and walking to the park, especially later in the evenings just to view Illuminations. However, how can they distinguish between guests who are legitimately visiting the BW, and those who plan to 'cheat' to walk to Epcot? It does sound like our experience was not the norm on that one night. It wasn't even the norm the rest of the times we visited BW during that trip, since that was the only time we were issued the parking pass. In fact, a night or two later, we decided to make the rounds of the monorail resorts to take pictures of the holiday decorations. On that evening we were allowed to park at the Poly with no restrictions. Go figure!

I will miss the friendly valet service. One of the CMs who worked valet at WL became one of our favorites. It seemed like he was almost always there to help us. I started teasing him about working around the clock since we saw him everyday at different hours. When we booked our trip we were originally going to attend two MVMCP evenings and I had purchased advance tickets for both. Right before the trip, we had to change our plans to leave WDW two days earlier than originally planned, so we were not going to be able to attend the second MVMCP. Our wonderful valet CM had already told us that he had never been to MVMCP before. We found out that he was off the night that we couldn't attend and had no plans, so we surprised him with our extra tickets. He was so thrilled, and so were we. He had brought a lot of Disney magic to our stay with his big smile and excellent, friendly service so we were happy to be able to pass a little back to him!