chef mickeys where to park?

[Lisa Francis]

i am thinking of going to chef mickeys for a meal with my DH and 2 DD's aged 8 and 6. it seems sensible to arrange this on one of the days we will be in magic kingdom as we are stopping some distance away in a villa.(windsor palms).
i am wanting to make it for dinner. if i coincide this with watching the wishes spectacular (i presume i cant see it from the restaurant) where does anyone suggest we park the car. would it be best to park at magic kingdom and then get bus or monorail to the contemporary or would it make more sense to park at the contemporary and get into the kingdom via monorail...not sure how long you can park at the resorts if you are not a staying guest.

on a totally seperate note i have booked my two DD's on the pirate cruise going from the grand floridian so me and my DH have a couple of hours of total peace together. the only time in a 3 week long stay. will we be able to use ammenities of the hotel or not remembering we are stopping off resort. i presume there wouldnt be anything to stop us having breakfast or something but would we for instance be able to use the swimming pool.

 

[KayleeUK]

If you park at the contemporary for dinner you get a 3 hour pass I think - which should allow you to see Wishes.

You will not be allowed to use the Swimming Pool at the Grand Floridian as this is for Resort Guests only. But you can explore the resorts and use the restaurants etc.

 

[Lisa Francis]

thanks Kaylee that's great. just a sit down and coffee and a walk round the hotel without the kids dashing about will seem like luxury.

 

[maleficent_man]

Somewhat related - I am looking to make a PS for the character breakfast one morning and then head to MK afterwards. I will be staying on Disney property so is it okay for me to park at the Contemporary in the morning and leave the car there for a good part of the day?

 

[allie5]

If you self park at any of the resorts (inparticular, the monorail resorts) you will be given a parking permit which is usually 3 hours. However, if you valet park (cost $6 + tip) you can leave the car all day with no restrictions.

Over Christmas, the security at the GF and Contemporary were only admiting people with priority seatings. There was a big board up saying this and we saw a few cars turned away. This never used to be the case, but maybe its something they enforce in the busy seasons to stop the car parks getting to full for the resort guests to park. I would imagine they are stricter on enforcing the 3 hour parking permits at those times as well. Disney DOES own tow trucks!!

For info, the self park at the GF for non guests is a fairly long (and not a very buggy friendly) walk away from the hotel, so I would strongly suggest the valet park here.

 

[Miffy2003]

I echo the self park at the GF being a long trek!

Lisa, when we (well not us! Our kids) did the Pirate Cruise in December, DH and I took the opportunity to explore the GF and the Poly in absolute peace and quiet (bliss!). We had lots of fun and also had a lovely breakfast at the Kona cafe in the Poly.

 

[Lisa Francis]

great idea..hope the kids liked the cruise.

 

[Camac]

You are right that you can't see Wishes from Chef Mickey's itself but you do get a very good view of the fireworks from the large balcony of the Contemporary which is on the same floor as Chef Mickey's.

Camac

 

[Miffy2003]

Oh they did, Lisa! They were 5 & 8 so similar ages to your's and they had a ball.