Empty Parking Garage?

[Naterfan]

Odd question, but we just took a 4-day Dream cruise and when we arrived at the terminal, the parking garage was pretty much empty...but the Fantasy had just recently departed on on a 7-day. Shouldn't the garage be at least a little populated with cars? Is driving your own car kind of a rare thing?

 

[Van Houten]

At the current parking rates for a 7-night cruise, it is cheaper to do two one-way rentals than park at the terminal. Some folks leave their cars at nearby hotels.

 

[ScooterScott44]

For 11 of our 13 cruises we have used the lot and a long time ago they had just a lot. The parking structure didn’t even exist yet, if I am recalling correctly. Since the surface lot could accomadate the classic ships there is probably ample parking with the garage. We too have noticed that at times it is easier than others. So it just may be that you were on a cruise with more travelers that had to fly in.

The other factor is there is more than enough parking. I’ll guess that the ratio of people parking at the DCL port itself may be lower than one might expect. If a Dream class ship holds a maximum 3500 guests it probably works out to be fewer cars. Let’s say DCL averages 3 guest per car. (Likely it is more since there are a number of family and larger groups that might have more people per vehicle, so my estimate is probably on the low side.) That means would they need to park 1167 cars. If everyone brings their own car! So at peak out of state travel seasons the number people flying and taking other transportation is probably greater than 50%. At 50% that leaves only 584 cars to park.

The premium lot has 113 or parking spots and the standard parking garage has at least 1000. Based on the number above, the parking would only be half full if everyone parked at the terminal. That number gets further reduced since there are cheaper off site parking areas with shuttles and hotels that offer stay and park options.

 

[brewcrew]

There are a lot of variables that go into the number of cars at the parking garage:

1. Number of ships that port there (minimum 2 (usually one ship taking 3 or 4 day cruises and one taking 7 day cruises))
2. The number of people taking transportation from the airport (other than cars - buses, uber, taxi, etc)
3. The number of people taking transportation from Disney (other than cars - Disney buses, uber, taxi, etc)
4. Number of people per car (in my case a family of 6 in one car)

Just wait until the three new ships arrive. It might get more crowded depending on which ships port where...

I would rather have a 1/2 full parking garage than a full parking garage.

 

[Trera]

Yes, now that the Wonder has moved over to the West coast, there are typically only 2 ships of cars parked at the port at any given time. Makes for a much easier experience to find parking.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

For 11 of our 13 cruises we have used the lot and a long time ago they had just a lot. The parking structure didn’t even exist yet, if I am recalling correctly. Since the surface lot could accomadate the classic ships there is probably ample parking with the garage. We too have noticed that at times it is easier than others. So it just may be that you were on a cruise with more travelers that had to fly in.

The other factor is there is more than enough parking. I’ll guess that the ratio of people parking at the DCL port itself may be lower than one might expect. If a Dream class ship holds a maximum 3500 guests it probably works out to be fewer cars. Let’s say DCL averages 3 guest per car. (Likely it is more since there are a number of family and larger groups that might have more people per vehicle, so my estimate is probably on the low side.) That means would they need to park 1167 cars. If everyone brings their own car! So at peak out of state travel seasons the number people flying and taking other transportation is probably greater than 50%. At 50% that leaves only 584 cars to park.

The premium lot has 113 or parking spots and the standard parking garage has at least 1000. Based on the number above, the parking would only be half full if everyone parked at the terminal. That number gets further reduced since there are cheaper off site parking areas with shuttles and hotels that offer stay and park options.

In fact, the Dream class ships have 1250 staterooms, so even at one car per stateroom (which is way too high for actual practice), there is sufficient parking to accommodate everyone.

 

[FSU Girl]

I don't think a lot of people park there. Normally we get dropped off for cruises in South Florida, so our cruise on the Dream was the first time in my life that I parked at a port and I've been sailing for twenty years. When we did cruises out of Port Canaveral we parked once and easily got a spot on the first floor and the second time we did a night at the hotel near the port that let us keep our car there for the week, which was way cheaper than parking at the port. A lot of people fly in and don't have a car as well.

 

[su_A_ve]

Nearby hotels would give 40% discounts for parking at the port if you stayed there the night before. Those days are gone so it's cheaper to park off site or even rent a car.