Can I park at BW for free to eat dinner and watch the performers?

[ErinInCT]

Planning to get to BW around 6pm to order pizza on the boardwalk and watch the "buskers". Is it possible to park for free or do we have to pay to valet?

 

[deedisneydream97]

It depends, in my opinion. If it is a weekend or an extremely busy time, you will be told to valet...you used to be able to park across the street in the overflow lot, but I believe that is now filled with construction vehicles and cast member parking. There are probably a couple of hundred people a night that want to get pizza and watch the shows on the boardwalk. It may be different if you have reservations for the sit down restaurants there....the guard will scan your band to see if you do.

Good luck.

 

[LilyWDW]

Depends on when you will be there. Your sig says September, but not when in September. If Food and Wine is going on, then you most likely will not be allowed to park there unless you valet... and that is even questionable depending how busy it is. I have seen then turning everyone but those staying at the resort away at the gate.

 

[ErinInCT]

Going next week. 1st week of September. Expecting it to be pretty quiet. (Hopefully)

 

[wilkeliza]

Depends. We were allowed to park 1 time at BW with out having to pay. They told us it was 3 hours max and we came out and noticed 2 chalk lines on the tires. Looked like they were counting how many times your car was there during their rounds. Every other time we were told we could valet or park at HS and walk back/take the boat.

 

[LilyWDW]

Yea. Boardwalk is one of the strictest hotels when it comes to parking. Even during slow times of the year there is no way to know what they will be doing. You may have no trouble. You may get a 3 hours pass. You may get turned away...

 

[JACKNAG]

Wow, I didnt know this, Thought you can always visit any resort

 

[wilkeliza]

Wow, I didnt know this, Thought you can always visit any resort

It is bad at the MK resorts and the Epcot area resorts as people use them to get out of paying for parking and then resort guests have no where to park. We had friends be refused parking at Yacht Club during food and wine even though there was a dinning reservation because their name wasn't on it. She had to pay for valet and get it refunded after dinner.

 

[n2mm]

I agree, Epcot resorts are hard to park at without a dining reservation. In the spring we wanted to get a walk up at the counter at beaches and cream and was told No! Told to go to Epcot or studios to park. The guard said only resort guest or folks holding a dining reservation only. We were staying at okw.

 

[deedisneydream97]

Wow, I didnt know this, Thought you can always visit any resort

Back when we were newer DVC members, DVC members were allowed to park at any other DVC resort. Issues arose when droves of DVCers staying at SSR, OKW and AKL wanted to park at BLT to walk to MK and at BWV and BCV to walk thru the back entrance of Epcot. Now it is no longer the policy. However, if it isn't busy (food & Wine, Flower & Garden, holidays), you may be allowed to park, depending on what may be going on at the resort (wedding, big convention, etc.).

I've been having some correspondence with DVC regarding a number of things, and I am going to bring up the issue of DVC resort parking. I think it would be great to have some kind of "exchange" parking program between the DVC resorts that are considered "theme park resorts".

For example, DVCers staying on their own points at BWV should be able to park at BLT...and BLT should be able to park at BWV. BCV should be able to exchange with VGF...and Poly at BWV....well, you get the idea. Depending on the number of rooms at each resort and how large the parking lot is.

I see people mention all the time that they never have a problem entering SSR or AKL....and that is mainly because they are not adjacent to a theme park. Although I do know about the annoyance of people parking at DTD and then walking over to the end of SSR to get a bus to a theme park in order to not pay for parking or not go thru the trauma of parking at MK.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been a DVC member since '03. Technically, anyone can park at any resort, as long as they are at that resort vs heading to a park. We never had the 'perk' of being able to park at any other dvc resort for park access....not to my knowledge any way.
With BW, parking is limited because of construction. We have all seen the notice on the Member Website alerting us to limited parking at BWVs. I would probably park at DHS and walk or boat to BW vs trying to park at BW.

 

[deedisneydream97]

I've been a DVC member since '03. Technically, anyone can park at any resort, as long as they are at that resort vs heading to a park. We never had the 'perk' of being able to park at any other dvc resort for park access....not to my knowledge any way.
With BW, parking is limited because of construction. We have all seen the notice on the Member Website alerting us to limited parking at BWVs. I would probably park at DHS and walk or boat to BW vs trying to park at BW.

Members since 97 and yes, it was permitted. Granted, back then there was only OKW and BWV, but soon after was VWL, BCV and SSR. And we were allowed to park at BLT no questions asked for a couple of years after it was built. That is no longer the case, unless you have a dining reservation at the resort. Or if it is not a busy time.....but it seems as if there is never a NOT busy time any more.

 

[goofy4tink]

Members since 97 and yes, it was permitted. Granted, back then there was only OKW and BWV, but soon after was VWL, BCV and SSR. And we were allowed to park at BLT no questions asked for a couple of years after it was built. That is no longer the case, unless you have a dining reservation at the resort. Or if it is not a busy time.....but it seems as if there is never a NOT busy time any more.

Learn something new every day. The odd thing? The few times we drove while staying at a DVC resort, if we drove to another DVC resort, we were always asked what we were going to do...and almost every single time, we were advised that we shouldn't just leave our car parked there after we were done eating or shopping. I own at both BLT and BWV...and both have asked me, upon driving in, if we were checking in or just parking. One time, while checking in at BLT, I asked the guard CM if I had been going to eat, could I just leave my car there and go to the MK after eating breakfast. His answer? Nope, you will have to move the car after breakfast...have a nice day. These answers, from guards, are the reason I steadfastly advise people to not plan on leaving their cars at a resort they are not staying at...DVC or not. That BLT experience was shortly after they opened.