can we park at a monorail hotel without a ressie?

[sln88]

Long story(skip if you want). My dd is going to work at WDW and has moved here from Wi. I went along for the drive and to say goodbye

we got here on the 29th and have been pretty much skipping all things Disney due to the crowds. Hoping it will die down tomorrow. They are pretty low on funds and can't afford to pay for a disney ticket, and not much sense since she will be able to get in free soon

anyhow, looking for something to do- have been pretty much stuck in an unfurnished apartment all these days!

I thought maybe we could go around and look at the Christmas decorations in the hotels. Will they let us park and look around? I remember once in the past we had lunch at the Wilderness and I think we had to give our name at the guard shack.

I know this is sometimes controversial, but can we park at DTD and take a bus? I am not trying to get out of paying for parking at a theme park so please don't flame me!

 

[maxiesmom]

During the holidays they are usually pretty strict about who parks at the monorail resorts. You can always pay to valet park though, they have no problem with that. Or you can park at the TTC and use the monorail/buses/boats to your heart's content.

 

[sln88]

how much is valet parking?

how about the non monorail hotels? anything fun to see there?

I just figured that starting tomorrow, the crowds would be down- am I wrong there?

thanks

 

[DVC-Don]

It would be difficult parking at a monorail resort. Last few trips we've had dinner reservations at all the monorail resorts and the guard has always consulted a list of ADR's before letting us in.

 

[joelkfla]

You can always pay to valet park though, they have no problem with that.

How does that work? Does the guard just let you through without checking your name if you say you're going to pay for valet parking?

 

[RabbitFood]

We were just there and were able to park at the GF just by telling them we wanted to look at the holiday decorations.

 

[chiamarie]

Christmas Eve my mom and I were on a very similar page to you! We didn't have tickets, but still wanted to see decorations.

We parked at the Boardwalk; and walked around there, as well as the Yacht and Beach Club.

After that, we drove to the Wilderness Lodge; parked there. Looked at their decorations, then took a boat to MK; and the Monorail to the monorail resorts.

We were asked for ID at both Boardwalk and Wilderness. I told them we were just coming to check out all the Christmas Decorations. No one had an issue with it; and it seems to be semi encouraged.

Have fun doing that!

 

[sln88]

thanks for all the replies and suggestions

which hotels have the best decorations?

 

[gigi1313]

you can definitely park at the resorts to visit, shop, walk around, use a salon, eat (TS or CS) or even play in the arcade (my kids' fave is CR!)... just tell the guard booth that is your plan...

our fave resorts for holiday decor are the GF and the WL... AKL is also a fun resort to visit...

as far as crowds, yes, you are correct in that they should subside starting today

 

[safetymom]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/11/27/the-holidays-come-to-the-walt-disney-world-resorts-2/

 

[Cest_la_vie]

They're not supposed to let you park there without a valid reason to park there. But since right now it's post peak time you can. Boardwalk, Beach Club and the Grand Floridian all have gingerbread constructions at them. And the Grand Floridian's general Christmas decorations are gorgeous.

 

[sln88]

we ended up going to WL - just told the guard we were visiting. she asked for a DL, so no problem with that

looked around there, took a boat to MK, monorail to poly, GF and contemporary

the gingerbread house was down already

it was a great way to get some Disney in without having to spend alot

thanks for the help!

 

[jadejazzkayla]

We just came back a few days ago. We parked at beach club, boardwalk and grand Floridian. The guards asked if we were guests (we were not). I showed a DL and we were directed to the self parking lots.

 

[1Jackpot]

My parents were just there last week and parked at the poly. (they weren't staying there). They walked around, had lunch and even took the boat to the MK for a few hours. I think all they had to do was show their license they said.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

A couple of weeks ago before Christmas my family and I parked at the Polynesian without any confirmed ADR's and said we were going to the Kona Island Sushi Bar, which doesn't accept ADR's. We then showed the Cast Member at the guard shack our Key To The World card from the Boardwalk Inn and he also saw our resort parking pass from there, so he then said go and have a good time.