Eating ON property..staying Off property and Parking

[funfamx6]

Due the large number of people in our group (family reunion) we will be staying in a villa, but want to see decorations at the resorts (GF, Beach and Yacht Club) so we are combining touring with eating..can we park on property(for a fee) and leave car during the day and park hop?

Or will we need to move our car after Character Breakfasts/Lunch?

TIA!!

We are so excited about our Christmas trip! (We are going the first week of December)

 

[Grumpy92]

THe resorts closest to the parks usually give you a time limited parking pass (3 hours). So leaving your car it at a resort such as the Poly or YC for the day will not work.

 

[Aimeedyan]

You can park your car when you dine for a certain amount of time. 3 hours, I think. Now, when we went in May, we could not even find parking at several resorts for guests, so we valeted it instead. But we still had to tell them we were dining there.

You could always park at the Transportation center and ride the monorail to the places you want to go instead...

And there IS parking for Boardwalk guests (that want to shop and eat on the Boardwalk) that doesn't have a time limit, I don't think, but I think it's often hard to snag a spot there. You could try parking there and visiting all those resorts. Then transfer over to the transportation lot and hop the monorail for the MK resorts =)

 

[MikeWazowski]

When dining at a resort that you are not staying at, they will give a three hour parking pass (three or so). I have heard about cars getting towed, but have never seen anyone even looking around the parking lots.

I would park at the park that you will be starting off at or the park that is closest to the restaurant you will be dining at. Then just pay the parking and leave your car there all day. You can just use the resort transportation to get around.

I've actually heard about people parking at DTD and jumping on a resort bus, then going to that resort to get on a park bus, just so they could save the money on parking.

 

[luvdisney14]

If we park our car at DTD, we can take a bus to the boardwalk area, walk around there, eat, take a boat ride to POR and then catch a bus back to DTD. Could someone tell me if this is correct?

 

[*Flower*]

You wouldn't be able to catch a bus from the Boardwalk to POR. You would need to take transportation to a park, and once the Boardwalk bus lets you off there- you'd need to find the POR bus stop to take that bus to the hotel.

From there you could take the boat from POR to DTD and reclaim your car. Or you could catch the DTD bus from POR.

I hope that this isn't too confusing..........

 

[Deb & Bill]

At busier times, they occasionally check for resort IDs to board the DTD buses at DTD. If you are going at Christmas time, you may have this problem. Pay your $8 and park at the TTC and go from there.

 

[beattyfamily]

It depends on what you are doing.

If you want to park hop, then park at TTC and go from there.

If you want to only eat and see decorations at resorts then park at the resort.

They will give you a 3 hour parking pass as parking at the resorts is meant for people going into the resort, not for park hopping.

 

[tinkerbell13]

We are going to B&C our travel day for lunch, just wondered if we need to pay to park there?

 

[sha_lyn]

Or will we need to move our car after Character Breakfasts/Lunch?

Thought I would point out that there are no character lunches at the resorts. All the Characer lunches are inside the parks.

 

[LisaRay]

Ok, I will add a question to yours. Hope you don't mind.

We will be driving over from Tampa with my parents to spend a day at the water park and then eat dinner at O'hana's. Will they let you go to the Poly to eat without paying the $8.00 parking fee?. We will not be doing the parks on this day at all. We will be coming back to do the main parks after my parents are gone.
Do they maybe validate parking for something like this or do we just have to pay up?

 

[sha_lyn]

there is no fee to self park the the resorts, but if you are not staying there, you will be given a 3 hr pass. Valet does cost, but I'm not certain how much. The restaurants do not vaildate parking.

 

[Longsx3]

Originally posted by LisaRay
Ok, I will add a question to yours. Hope you don't mind.

We will be driving over from Tampa with my parents to spend a day at the water park and then eat dinner at O'hana's. Will they let you go to the Poly to eat without paying the $8.00 parking fee?. We will not be doing the parks on this day at all. We will be coming back to do the main parks after my parents are gone.
Do they maybe validate parking for something like this or do we just have to pay up?

Since you are driving over from Tampa I assume you are a Florida Resident. If so it may be worth purchasing a Disney Dinning Experience Card, if you eat at the Resorts/Parks a lot. It will not only save you 20% on most sit down meals but you are also entitiled to free Valet Parking at the Resorts when Dinning.

 

[LisaRay]

Thanks for the info on the dining card but no we are not florida residents. My DH has a class in tampa for a week and my parents are joining us for that week. Since the kids and I would be on our own from 8-5 everyday they wanted to tag along and do things in the area. However they can only be gone 1 week and are not into disney at all. I am only getting them over there because i have so many plus's left on so many park hoppers because we are usually there in Jan. and don't use them. So I am getting them into the water park for free but I also thought they would really like O'hana's so I am adding that in to.