Parking at Boardwalk (Inn) to actually visit the Boardwalk retailers?

[EdmondD]

It's been, oh, 15 years since I've had a car at Disney so I never pay attention to these threads. So, sorry if this has been discussed to death.

If we want to go to the Ample Hills, rent a surrey bike, etc, but don't have a reservation anywhere, will we be allowed to park at the Boardwalk or Yacht Club in order to get to these things? Should I assume they time limit it?

 

[bumbershoot]

Tell them why you’re there. I’d they have room they’ll allow you.

I’ve never been told a time limit by any Disney guard. Ever.

Others say they’ve been given a limit. I never have. And I’ve driven to visit contemporary and boardwalk more than one without a room reservation there.

 

[DCLPrincess]

I've never been given a time limit either and I've done it many times at many resorts since we always have a car. If you want to spend money they'll let you do it.

 

[Marionnette]

It's been, oh, 15 years since I've had a car at Disney so I never pay attention to these threads. So, sorry if this has been discussed to death.

If we want to go to the Ample Hills, rent a surrey bike, etc, but don't have a reservation anywhere, will we be allowed to park at the Boardwalk or Yacht Club in order to get to these things? Should I assume they time limit it?

A lot will depend on the time of year. During the F&W festival, the Epcot area resort parking lots can get pretty full with people wanting to park there and walk to Epcot. It's not unusual for guests without dining reservations to be turned away or to be sent to an overflow lot during that time period. At less busy times, they are not as strict.

 

[OneinThree]

Two weeks ago on a Monday, they weren't allowing any non-guests to park.

 

[Dave006]

The other item that impacts parking availability at the Boardwalk is whether there is a convention or large wedding at the convention facilities in addition to resort guests. This can be an issue on any day vs just during seasonal events (F&G, F&W) or holiday periods.

Parking options: self-parking, valet parking and finally no parking except for guests. You can always try the Swan and then the Dolphin. They both offer self-parking for $23 per day but note they don't allow non-guests to leave and return ( in-out privileges ).

ETA: Removed overflow lot as an option that @lbv7 reports is now Cast only parking.

Dave

 

[lbv7]

You can no longer park by the lot near the Speedway.
It is now for cast members only.
It is gated and will only open if you scan the barcode on your cast member ID.

 

[OKW Lover]

I’ve never been told a time limit by any Disney guard. Ever.

Nor have we. There is a popular view here on the DIS that there is a 3 hour limit, but I've never been told that by any CM, be it a security guard or otherwise.

 

[AngiTN]

I've been told that if you want to visit the Boardwalk and you don't have an ADR and they have tight parking controls in place they will direct you to HS to park, and then walk to the Boardwalk (or boat) or to DS, where you can take a bus.

Nor have we. There is a popular view here on the DIS that there is a 3 hour limit, but I've never been told that by any CM, be it a security guard or otherwise.

We never drive so we've never been told but there was a discussion in the BWI CL lounge last week about this very topic.
It was actually quite confusing to me as I couldn't quite figure out the situation but a family (I'll call them Family 1) was a guest at BWI and on CL. They had other family there to visit, who also had a dining reservation at BWI. The guest of Family 1 was told of a limit when they parked, by the guard. Family 1 was explaining to the CL CM that the entire group, Family 1 and their guests were then going to go to the park together and they were worried about the vehicle of their guest, due to the limit the guard mentioned. The CL CM even quoted back the time limit dilemma and said he knew the perfect solution, he'd just print out a parking pass for the room belonging to Family 1 and let their guest put it in the car window. Problem solved. This was during the Holiday week when parking was very restricted so maybe that's why the time limit was mentioned by both the Guard and the CM