Free evening parking at Disneyworld parks?

[GrillMouster]

My wife and I are seasonal passholders. Unlike annual passholders, we do not get free parking at the Disneyworld parks. We only live about an hour from Disneyworld, so we make frequent daytrips to the parks. In the past month we made two evening trips to two Disney parks, and on both visits we were allowed to park for free. At MGM the parking cashier's booth was unattended when we arrived at 5:45 PM one Saturday. There was a printed sign on the door telling us to go ahead and park. On a different Saturday, the Magic Kingdom's parking cashier booths were manned when we arrived at 8 PM, but they just asked if we were visiting the park, then wished us a magical evening. On both these nights there were several other cars enting the park at the same time.

I know that Disney does, indeed, charge for parking on evenings when there are special events, such as Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, even for annual passholders. However, I couldn't find anything on the internet about free evening parking at Disney on non-event nights. Is this a regular/official thing at the Disneyworld? Is there a certain time of day that they stop charging for parking? Does this time vary by park?

 

[seashoreCM]

I have sometimes observed the toll booths unmanned in the evening and then just drove right by slowly, I would guess that booth closing time is unpredictable.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[TSR6]

I beleive parking shuts down about 2 hours before park close.

 

[GrillMouster]

I guess it's hit or miss. I had to pay for parking at Epcot this past Saturday when I arrived at 5:45 PM.

I was hoping for an ethical way to avoid paying for parking. Although I think $9 is a ridiculous parking fee, I refuse to use unethical means to "steal" parking.

Living only 1 hour away, DW and I frequent the parks, but don't often stay at Disney resorts, thereby ruling out that option to get "free" parking. DW and I considered upgrading just one of our Seasonal Passes to an AP for the "free" parking alone, but we would have to visit at least 13 times a year to justify the extra expense. I don't anticipate thirteen visits in the fewer-than-12-months our Seasonal Passes allow us. If we both had APs, we might be able to make 13 visits, because there would be no blockout dates, but, in truth, we would be making those extra visits only to justify the purchase of those APs. Savings would only be an illusion.