Disney Car Parking - Any Tips?

[Biggs87]

I’m sure this has been discussed before, but here goes

Heading to Disney in August with a 14 day pass.

Just seen that the prices were increased from $30 to $35 per day, so almost an extra $500 on top of already paying over £2000 for the park tickets - it’s a joke in my opinion.

Anyone got any tips or tricks to reduce this unjustified extra cost?

I’m sure there is probably no way of getting around it, but thought I would just see what the community think.

We’re staying at a villa outside of the parks, so will have to drive to Disney everyday we’re visiting.

Thanks All

 

[OKW Lover]

No way around it if you want to park at one of the parks. It's something people should figure into their budget when deciding to stay on or off property.

 

[Biggs87]

Thank you, yeah all factored in, well it was at the $30 a day rate. Not an issue to find the extra, just annoying they get away with charging so much

 

[eticketplease]

There are two ways of avoiding parking fees.

Stay onsite or have 1 person in your party have an annual pass.

Both of these options may be higher than just paying for parking.

As @OKW Lover stated you have to look at everything when comparing if staying offsite is worth it or not.

 

[erinch]

With a 14 day ticket, if the tickets are upgradesble, and if you factor in other discounts, you might be in spitting distance of 1 person getting an AP.

 

[SteveMouse]

There are

There are two ways of avoiding parking fees.

Stay onsite or have 1 person in your party have an annual pass.

Both of these options may be higher than just paying for parking.

As @OKW Lover stated you have to look at everything when comparing if staying offsite is worth it or not.

There are other options, however they all impact time, money, or both:

Rideshare/taxi services
Public bus
Offsite hotel shuttle
Have a friend shuttle you
Arrive at the parks via bus as a member of a group.

 

[eticketplease]

With a 14 day ticket, if the tickets are upgradesble, and if you factor in other discounts, you might be in spitting distance of 1 person getting an AP.

Unfortunately Disney put a stop to having the UK 14 day tickets as eligible to be upgraded to an AP.

 

[eticketplease]

Offsite hotel shuttle

Good point on this one.
Many offsites offer a shuttle as part of their forced resort fees.

@Biggs87 have you checked to see if your villa offers this?

Certainly not as convenient but if you are already paying a resort fee you might as well take advantage of it.

 

[Dave006]

We’re staying at a villa outside of the parks, so will have to drive to Disney everyday we’re visiting.

You could always park at Disney Springs for free, and take a bus to one of the resorts to grab a bus to the park of you choice?

The Buses to DS with a return bus normally start around 9:15 AM. While not convenient it would save you $350 if you only used this option on 10 days of your visit.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Thank you, yeah all factored in, well it was at the $30 a day rate. Not an issue to find the extra, just annoying they get away with charging so much

Give me an example of a large venue where parking is anything less than $30.
Offhand, my 1st thought is MLB parking at the closest ballpark to me and there are tiers. A reg tier game $30, a top tier game $50.

 

[HopperFan]

In 2021 when we were between APs we went for a week staying offsite in a villa. The cost of parking is just part of the cost of staying offsite. The money we saved booking an offsite villa was huge for comparable Disney lodging so it was still a big savings even with the theme park parking. EVERY theme park charges for parking along with many entertainment centers, stadiums, hotels etc.

What we did to make up for that parking cost was eating our breakfast in the villa, packing sandwiches some days for the parks and cutting back on table service dining. We also took in our first bottle of water, asked for free ice water at restaurants and did some dinners offsite.

 

[fbarker]

You could always park at Disney Springs for free, and take a bus to one of the resorts to grab a bus to the park of you choice?

The Buses to DS with a return bus normally start around 9:15 AM. While not convenient it would save you $350 if you only used this option on 10 days of your visit.

Just wondering how much time do you have to budge for if you use this option? It then comes down does the extra time off set the money you are saving.

 

[Dave006]

It then comes down does the extra time off set the money you are saving.

Yes time is money but if you have the time, and want to save the money it is always possible even at Disney. With a 14 day trip, I am not sure there is a real time pressure?

Dave

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Just wondering how much time do you have to budge for if you use this option? It then comes down does the extra time off set the money you are saving.

I'd say 45 minutes to maybe an hour at least. With no direct buses from DS to the Disney theme parks (probably so people don't use it as a free parking lot!), you have to rely on the timing for 2 buses each direction.

 

[eticketplease]

Yes time is money but if you have the time, and want to save the money it is always possible even at Disney. With a 14 day trip, I am not sure there is a real time pressure?

Dave

That was my thinking originally as well as time is money and then I remember they had that 14 day trip so it’s certainly something to consider still a PITA to do though

 

[sam_gordon]

You can check and see if where you're staying offers a shuttle, but get ALL the information:
Do you need to reserve ahead of rime?
What's the schedule?
Where do they go?

It's very possible there's one shuttle TO Wdw and only one FROM. And at times that aren't convenient. They may also only go to TTC and then you need to get on other transportation to get to parks.

I personally don't like the Disney Springs ploy simply because of the time it would take. I'd say budget 90 minutes to get from DS to a park. You need to wait for a bus, go to a resort, wait for a bus, then go to a park. Then do the reverse after being in a park all day.

Want to save money on parking? Don't go to a park every day. Heck, even going 10 days gives you two days in each park and two extra days.

 

[lanejudy]

prices were increased from $30 to $35 per day, so almost an extra $500 on top of already paying over £2000 for the park tickets

Well, presumably you already had budgeted for $30/day so it’s only an extra $70 total. Since you have a villa you can plan meals there, maybe bring sandwiches and/or snacks to the park to save. Restaurants offsite are much less expensive than on property, so that’s another way to save.

Honestly, trying to game the “free parking and transportation to parks” system can work — but it’s really a lot of wasted time. If you have kids in tow that gets real old real fast, especially needing to get back to your car at night.

My recommendation: shave a few dollars off somewhere else and if an extra $5/day breaks the bank maybe plan a shorter trip next time so there is a contingency fund.

 

[zackiedawg]

Just as an FYI - there's only one park that would require TWO busses to get to from Disney Springs...and that's Animal Kingdom. Because that park has no connected resorts.

If you part at Disney Springs, you can get busses to resorts only, rather than direct to theme parks...but the trick would be to bus to resorts that are connected to theme parks. If you took a DS bus to Contemporary, you can walk into MK from there - it's about a 10 minute walk. Take a DS bus to Beach Club, and you can walk into Epcot - about a 5 minute walk. If you take the DS bus to Boardwalk, you can walk to Hollywood Studios in about 15 minutes (or alternately, take the boat transportation if you don't want to walk).

The one downside to parking at Disney Springs would be that you're not likely to be able to make early rope-drop entries to the parks, as the busses don't generally start running until around 9am.

Timing-wise, this would be barely any different from taking a resort bus to a theme park. And considering if you drove to Magic Kingdom, you have to park at Ticket & Transportation Center, then take a ferry or monorail over to the park...you're probably break-even by taking the DS bus to Contemporary and walking into MK directly. For Epcot, the walk from Beach Club to International Gateway is about 5 minutes - the walk from the Epcot bus stop to the front gate is at least that long.