They are STRICT at the gate - the security guards act like freaking secret service at the Contemporary.
We had a mishap at Beaches & Cream and a CM got us a last minute PS at Chef Mickeys the next morning. The security guard almost didn't let us in because we weren't ''on the list" and he pulled up ALL of our PSs for the next 9 days - even telling us the ones that were cancelled!
It was a little "big brother" creepy, to be honest.
Anyway - the parking tags specifically state that you CANNOT park there for longer than, maybe 3 hours? And they are a different color and have the time on them.
I think maybe people have tried to park there during the morning hours and just leave there car there all day when they go to the parks. Since the parking lot is so small, I think they want to optimize the resort parking for the registered guests.
We did valet - and it was free with our DDE card, so I highly recommend that