Dinner Reservation at the Polynesian - Parking Questions

[kathy884]

Hello,
In February, we're planning to visit various monorail resorts, have dinner at the Polynesian around 6 p.m. and hang out and watch MK fireworks from there. Can I park at the Polynesian 2 hours before my dinner reservation and do this? Might there be parking time restrictions and would I be better off to park at Disney Springs and take a bus over to the Poly? With this option, would I be able to take a bus back or might I need to get an uber or lyft to get back there? Any other suggestions?

I appreciate your input. I am staying with my nephew who lives in Orlando and we will be using his car to drive over.

 

[scrappinginontario]

An ADR includes 2 hours of parking but not time to visit before or extended time after your ADR. If you are planning to arrive early/stay later I think your choice to park at DS (or TTC) is a good one. You will be able to take a bus back to DS as long as it’s open so with a 6PM ADR you should be fibe to take a bus back when you’re done your ADR and resorts visit.

 

[Mikey15]

Current language from Disney is

• Standard self-parking is complimentary for day Guests while they enjoy select dining, shopping, entertainment and recreation experiences at this Disney Resort hotel.

rather than a hard hour limit. I have been let into resorts approx. 2hrs before ADRs, though that is ultimately at the discretion of the gate attendant. Technically doing a monorail hop would take you away from the “Disney Resort hotel” you have the ADR at, and thus contravene it though. Still, on a random night in February I wouldn’t expect any strict enforcement.

All that said, the Polynesian is right next to TTC. If your nephew happens to have an AP, I’m thinking you could park there for free? (Or worst case pay.)

 

[katallo]

We were there 2 weeks ago. But, at the yacht and beach club with a reservation at Ale and Compass. We arrived 2 hours early and walked around the boardwalk and shopped. I guess it must depend on the guard.

 

[Mikey15]

We were there 2 weeks ago. But, at the yacht and beach club with a reservation at Ale and Compass. We arrived 2 hours early and walked around the boardwalk and shopped. I guess it must depend on the guard.

That’s pretty good , considering Yacht & Beach have fairly limited parking & tend to be a bit stricter probably because of the walking distance to Epcot. They ask to see my driver’s license each time we head to Beaches & Cream.

 

[katallo]

We had to show our license as well as the adr. It was nice having the extra time. We did tons of shopping at the Beach Club gift shop!

 

[kathy884]

I think we'll check with the gate attendant at the Polynesian. We'll get there plenty early. It would me most convenient to park there and I wouldn't mind paying to park there if we have to. If he says, though, that that would be too long we can pay at park at the MK ticket and transportation center or do the longer drive and park at Disney Springs. I think I'd rather pay and be at the MK ticket and transportation center, as we will have already driven back from Tampa that morning (would like to limit our driving and just relax and have fun at the Poly as well as check out the other monorail resorts.

I'll make sure to have a print out of our reservation.

Thank you all for your helpful posts.

I love visiting WDW even when it's just a resort day visit.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I think we'll check with the gate attendant at the Polynesian. We'll get there plenty early. It would me most convenient to park there and I wouldn't mind paying to park there if we have to. If he says, though, that that would be too long we can pay at park at the MK ticket and transportation center or do the longer drive and park at Disney Springs. I think I'd rather pay and be at the MK ticket and transportation center, as we will have already driven back from Tampa that morning (would like to limit our driving and just relax and have fun at the Poly as well as check out the other monorail resorts.

I'll make sure to have a print out of our reservation.

Thank you all for your helpful posts.

I love visiting WDW even when it's just a resort day visit.

Yeah, what you describe is, IMO, very much a YMMV situation based on the guard / conditions on any given day/moment. My guess is you’ll be fine - but you just never know how strict they’re going to be with things like time before your ADR.

One thing to keep in mind, at some point here soon (we don’t know timing exactly) they should be starting up on a big front entrance reconfiguration project that will impact the number of spaces. We don’t know yet if that may impact overall parking availability or change ‘standard’ parking operations.

Have fun!

 

[lanejudy]

I wouldn't mind paying to park there if we have to

If you pay for valet there is no time limit.

 

[seashoreCM]

While standard self service parking to visit a resort is free, sometimes and (quite often) it is full. The reason it is full is because too many guests visiting the resort for a meal or other resort activity arrived early or stayed parked late while they went to Magic Kingdom. "Full" is the guard's or the guard's supervisor's judgment; there may be empty spaces visible and those were allotted (in the guard's mind and not on paper and not contiguous) to guests staying at that resort while the guard tells you, "full".

You could drive and park "at Magic Kingdom" i.e. at the Transportation and Ticket Center and walk (or take the monorail) to Polynesian and still save time over buses and/or Skyliner.