Looking at other resorts

[mmouse50]

Can you still go resort looking by driving to the resort? If I want to just look and maybe shop at the gift shop can I just go and tell the guard thats what I want to do? I am talking about Coronado and AkL not any resort that is connected to a park or boat to DS.

 

[slo]

Honestly….it depends on the guard at the gate.

If you go at night, it’ll definitely be a no all the time, because they want to make sure there’s enough parking for those that have dinner reservations.

If it’s the late morning or early afternoon, just kindly ask the guard if you can go visit and hopefully they’ll say yes. I honestly never had an issue anywhere except AKL - the guard there kinda gave me a hard time about it. I kindly explained that my DD wanted to see the animals before we head to the airport to go home and they finally let us pass.

 

[leebee]

The only place I've ever been turned away from was Riviera, but I've been told it can be dicey getting into any of the Magic Kingdom resorts and AKL. At AKL parking is almost always at a premium, and at the MK resorts, people are trying to park there to avoid paying the parking prices for MK. I've never been turned away from AKL and the one time I tried to park at the Poly the guard was hesitant but let me in. We've never had an issue at CSR. I think that's because there are so many restaurants and bars, it's a conference center, and really there is plenty of available parking.

 

[fla4fun]

Honestly….it depends on the guard at the gate.

This. You won’t know until you try and they say yes or no.

I had a dinner ADR at the Contemporary once and was denied parking because they had a big convention in house and the lot was restricted to overnight guests and convention attendees only. I was told to park in MK parking and take the monorail instead.

A group of us had a fireworks cruise leaving from the Yacht Club. I was nervous about parking because the Crescent Lake resorts can be very strict, so I made a reservation at Beaches and Cream for dinner before the cruise. I timed my arrival to thirty minutes prior to my reservation and they were still reluctant to let me park, although they ultimately did. Some of the rest of the fireworks cruise group were turned away from the YC and sent over to the BW to park, and nearly were turned away from there.

So even having a legitimate reason for needing to park at a resort isn’t a 100% guarantee you will be allowed to if you aren’t staying there.

Coronado can be difficult if they have a convention in house. AKL can be difficult because the lot is small. There have been times I was let in, and times I was turned away. Have a Plan B in mind if they say no. Most of the time for those resorts, they are going to suggest parking at Disney Springs and taking a bus to the resort. When my mom and I wanted a resort visiting day, we would start at a theme park or DS, take a bus to a resort, then later another bus to a theme park, and then switch to a different resort bus. We could visit three or four of the more remote resorts in a day doing that and didn’t have to worry about whether we would be turned away.