Parking at Downtown Disney

[westfield13]

I know they are doing a lot of construction at Downtown Disney - was wondering about the parking situation? We are going to WDW Oct 20- Oct 29 - we always rent a car, cause we eat a lot of dinners at various resort hotels (we'll be staying at the Boardwalk Inn this time) and it takes so long using Disney transportation when going from resort to resort.

We also like to go to Downtown Disney at least 3 or 4 times during our trip - to shop, browse, eat, drink and just soak up the atmosphere.

I saw on the official Disney site that they are recommending guests use Disney transportation to and from Downtown Disney because of the parking lot construction.

Has anyone been there recently with a car? Is it really that bad?

 

[Lynne M]

Moving to the Theme Parks board.

 

[gunderda]

I know they are doing a lot of construction at Downtown Disney - was wondering about the parking situation? We are going to WDW Oct 20- Oct 29 - we always rent a car, cause we eat a lot of dinners at various resort hotels (we'll be staying at the Boardwalk Inn this time) and it takes so long using Disney transportation when going from resort to resort.

We also like to go to Downtown Disney at least 3 or 4 times during our trip - to shop, browse, eat, drink and just soak up the atmosphere.

I saw on the official Disney site that they are recommending guests use Disney transportation to and from Downtown Disney because of the parking lot construction.

Has anyone been there recently with a car? Is it really that bad?

We went in June and went on Friday late afternoon to DTD and it was easy peasy driving in with a car and parking. We parked in the parking lot that I think is right by Cirque. Valet is there too, just make sure you're in the left side lane so you can bypass the valet lane easily.

Now later at night might be an issue but we got there about 4-4:30 on a Friday

 

[CAS239]

No it's not bad if you can avoid late afternoons on weekends. Traffic can get backed up but for the most part it's easy through there depending on the time of day you go.

Taking Disney transportation to DTD wouldn't matter at all. The buses drive on the same roads as all the cars.

We use the parking garage. It's huge, really nice and easy to navigate, and way better than leaving your car out in the sun. Other than the parking garage you can park behind Cirque Du Soleil/house of blues area (also valet there for $20, but there's plenty of parking spots), or across the street from DTD where they have a few parking lots open.

We've never parked across the street as we don't want to have to deal with waiting for traffic and crossing the street. My recommendation is using the garage

 

[LoveThatMouse!]

Was there in June. New parking garage is swell. Has signs letting you know how many spots are available on each level. When you get to the level, tells you how many spots in each row. Once you enter the row, there is a blue light above empty spots. No need to 'keep on circling' to find a spot. Well Done Disney!

 

[westfield13]

Thank you everyone for the info on the parking - I'm very relieved to discover that we shouldn't have major issues every time we head to Downtown Disney (we usually go sometime in the early afternoon and spend several hours, then have dinner). The new parking garage sounds very well thought out - it can be so frustrating circling endless in a parking garage!

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We were there in May and had no trouble with driving to DTD. Traffic was not out of the ordinary and we easily found a spot on the main level of the parking garage. In fact, just my husband drove back to POR while my daughter and I took the boat. He managed to buy me a Mother's Day gift AND make it back to the hotel room before us! (Although the boat ride was lovely, as well.)

 

[kj2mom]

We went the second week of July and also parked in the garage with no problem. There definitely still is construction but it didn't bother us. We may have had to endure one extra light cycle exiting the garage but really no big deal.

 

[Feralpeg]

The parking situation has greatly improved with the opening of the multi level garage. The worst part is getting to the garage late afternoon and evening. Traffic gets very heavy passing DTD.

 

[epcotty]

There's a new garage? Good, when we were there last year parking totally stunk and then the whole area was a disappointment to us anyway

 

[Sytrace]

The other alternative to the garage is to go past the the garage/valet parking CM and park in the large lot behind HOB.
It is usually not busy and there is a ferry boat dock right there in case you want to go to the Village area.
I have parked in both and I base my decision on how many people are in line to park in the garage/valet.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

As others have already stated, the parking and traffic are not at all bad until you get into the dinner hours and of course weekends. At those times, it does get very busy. We were there last night and it was not busy as it usually is on weekends around dinner time, which for us is typically around 8:00 pm or so.

On weekends, f we see how bad the traffic is, we usually park at the Buena Vista Palace across the street and just walk to DTD. There is a free of charge large surface lot there as well. We tend to stay to the Marketplace side of DTD for the most part and find it easier to get in and out of that area parking at that property.

Just another option for you is all.

 

[Feralpeg]

There's a new garage? Good, when we were there last year parking totally stunk and then the whole area was a disappointment to us anyway.

It's a nice garage. It has sensors that detect empty spaces. Lights, at the end of each row, tell you how many available spots are in the row.

A lot of new shops have opened in recent months as well as the Boathouse restaurant.

 

[SouthernSoprano]

Can't wait to see it in Sept! We've not been to DW in 5 years, so there are lots of new things to see.

 

[DebbieW]

Park in the garage and go at least up to level 2. Then try and find a row with a low number. The lower numbered rows are closest to the escalators that you take to get out of the garage and into Downtown Disney. Maybe it's different now, but the time I parked on level 1, you couldn't just walk out of the garage into Downtown Disney (because of construction, I presume). I had to take one escalator up to then get to a different escalator down out of the garage. I know that sounds confusing...just trust me on this one. Lol.