Leaving car at DIS Resort while Cruisin'

[tstobb]

We will be staying at the Contemporary before & after our cruise & are trying to get a straight answer about leaving our car in their parking lot in-between (while we're cruisn' with Mickey!).

Our TA got word from DCL that our car would be towed so I e-mailed Guest Relations from the link on the DisneyWorld web site & got an e-mail that it would be ok so I replied for verification (& asked for a phone number in case I had a problem) & got the reply with the phone number for the cruise lines guest relations & reservations! So no I'm waiting for the correct response as I've e-mailed AGAIN!

We just received our letter from the concierge dept. at the Contemporary (couldn't pass up the rate we got) so I faxed that in with our requests as well.

Anybody ever leave their car at the hotel while cruising?

 

[Goin2CtheMouse]

It will be interesting to see their responses. I was thinking of doing the same thing in June from the Grand Floridian.

 

[markey]

This may seem like a dumb question, but why don't you drive the car to the port? It seems like the parking fee would be less than transfers and the drive is very simple.

 

[tstobb]

Not a dumb question at all (my TA asked it too) - we're making this a big splash of a vacation that we've been planning for almost 4 years & the limo ride is MY special part - I want to see the looks on my childrens faces when we catch 1st sight of the ship that I wouldn't be able to do if I'm driving.

Just got a response from Disney & from concierge that it won't be a problem leaving the car at the resort !


(Can you tell that I'm happy?!):

 

[castawayfan]

We left our car at the resort while cruising last fall. We originally had called DCL and they told us it would be no problem. We also called the hotel and confirmed with them that they would not have a problem.

When we checked into the hotel we again confirmed that it would not be a problem and they made a HUGE deal about us leaving our car for the 4 days. It was such a mess that they brought the manager over and they just finally said no we could not leave it. We went over to the cruise desk and talked to the staff there. They acted like no one had ever done this before - I was surprised. The staff at the cruise desk finally took care of it. They wrote a note on the sheet of paper you put in your windshield. They also suggested we talk to the guards at the gate to the resort just to let them know what was happening. We also had to move our car to a different place in the lot.

All in all, I would not do it again. We have found in our 3 cruises since then that it was just much easier to drive to the port, taking the DCL bus got us there so much later and we have enjoyed the freedom to get there early and leave to go back to WDW or the airport on our schedule.

 

[tstobb]

I now have, in writing, confirmation from the concierge at the Contemporary as well as 2 members of guest services that leaving the car will not be a problem. I made sure to get names of contacts as well, anticipating possible problems.
We will not be taking the DCL bus as it is about the same cost for my family to get a limo (5 people X $46 for the bus) and therefore will be able to set my own schedule.

 

[Michelle]

You are smart to get it in writing, tstobb. The "official" line from Disney is that you can NOT leave your car at a resort while you are on the cruise, as castaway fan discovered. I'm glad you got it worked out.

I also almost always drive to the port as well, it just seems simpler for us.