Parking at Downtown Disney

[Cindy'sCastle]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this question in the right place or not, but what I want to know is do they charge you to park your car at Downtown Disney? We are staying at Grosvenor and will probably go eat an early breakfast somewheres off of the property, then I thought we could park at DD and take the bus from there to the parks. They told us we could use the WDW buses but I was curious about parking our car over there. Does anyone know of a parking fee at DD?

 

[LadyLt]

Busses do not run from Downtown Disney to the parks. The reason for this is to prevent just what you suggested. Parking is free at Downtown Disney, but it is intended for guests who are shopping or eating there.

Therfore, they do not run busses to the parks so that people will not park there and take up parking spaces meant for customers.

 

[Cindy'sCastle]

Yes, that makes sense to me. But the employees at the Grosvenor and on their website says that you can walk from the hotel to Downtown Disney and ride the buses to the parks. Or you can use the Grosvenor bus. That's why I was wondering about the parking.

 

[jel0511]

Grosvenor's information is out of date. Disney USED TO run busses from the parks to/from DTD, but they've stopped recently to disuade exactly what you're planning to do. The busses to/from DTD ONLY run to/from resorts. Some of them also stop at Typhoon Lagoon along the way. So, if you want to do this, plan on a VERY long commute to get to/from the parks. Parking at DTD is there for only the use of people shopping/eating at DTD, not to ride the busses back and forth. If you use the transportation wizard from ourlaughingplace, http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.asp?action=rts you'll see that there is no direct bus transportation to/from DTD to the parks.

 

[Cindy'sCastle]

Thanks Lori for the info. I'm trying to get all of my information straight before our trip. I like to be prepared and have my plans made for WDW trips. Well I guess it looks like I'll be taking the Grosvenor bus instead, but hopefully it'll be better than paying to park everywheres we go. It'll be trial and error time for me.

 

[gepetto]

I would try to budget paying for parking at the parks. The transportation from offsite hotels is very unreliable.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Cindy'sCastle
Yes, that makes sense to me. But the employees at the Grosvenor and on their website says that you can walk from the hotel to Downtown Disney and ride the buses to the parks. Or you can use the Grosvenor bus. That's why I was wondering about the parking.

*bangs head on desk*

*pulls hair out*

No WONDER we get tons of people at the Marketplace in the morning looking for theme park buses. *sigh*

In addition to the parking and riding issue, the other main reason service was stopped from theme parks to DTD, was that Hotel Plaza guests were clogging our bus system instead of using the one provided. A long time ago, Disney used to provide the transportation for Hotel Plaza... however, they decided to use outside transportation instead of us. They've gone through a bunch of providers, some with less than stellar service. As such, more people were using our buses than the provided transportation. The current company is okay at best.


Suffice to say... if you have a car, use it to park at the theme park itself. If you'd rather not drive, park the car at the Grosvenor, and take the provided theme park bus.

 

[safetymom]

Cindy'sCastle , you pay once a day to park. It is $7 and they give you a receipt that you can show at the other parks so you don't pay again.

 

[faith]

I second the advice to budget in your parking fees at each park for the day. Our daughter and son in law used off site buses a few years ago and said the wait and dependability was awful. Especially if it rains.

 

[Cindy'sCastle]

Yes, I think I will just budget for parking. I called the Grosvenor yesterday to confirm my reservations and ask questions. I asked about the bus system. The lady I talked to told me that the Disney buses come and pick up from the Grosvenor. I figured I'll just see when we get there. If not, and if not dependable, I'll definitely be driving myself to the parks. It's not like it's a far drive or anything, I guess I'm just spoiled to staying on Disney property and never having to move my vehicle until time to leave.

 

[jk1]

the other main reason service was stopped from theme parks to DTD, was that Hotel Plaza guests were clogging our bus system instead of using the one provided.

Is there any reason why WDW cannot go back to requiring you to show your resort id when you board the resort buses? On our trip just completed, there were a few times that some of the people in our group wanted to go to DTD from a park and it was more trouble and time-consuming than it was worth.

 

[bootc3]

Is there any reason why WDW cannot go back to requiring you to show your resort id when you board the resort buses?

Because if you buy a park hopper it gives you access to the Disney Transportation, even if you are staying off-site.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by Cindy'sCastle
The lady I talked to told me that the Disney buses come and pick up from the Grosvenor.

That's not true... Hotel Plaza uses an outside bus company. Disney Transport does NOT service those hotels.

 

[LadyLt]

There can be a couple of reasons that employees at the hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd give wrong answers to these questions. The number one is that they just want you to stay at their hotels so they tell you whatever will make you decide to stay there. If they claim you use real Disney busses or get free parking, that may sway you to stay there.

The other, nicer explanation is that they don't really understand your question. If you say "Do I get free parking if I stay at your hotel?" , they will answer yes. They mean that you get free parking on their lot, unlike some hotels. But you meant at Disney parks. Likewise, in their minds, the busses are Disney because the outside of the bus has a logo that says "Downtown Disney."

The simple solution is just to not believe everything you are told in a phone call. You need to do a little more research if you are staying in these hotels and want to understand the differences from Disney resorts.

 

[jk1]

Because if you buy a park hopper it gives you access to the Disney Transportation, even if you are staying off-site.

That is true. However, the transportation day guests are entitled to is park transportation to/from the parks' paid parking lots and between parks. Transportation for resort guests is paid out of their room rates, not ticket costs.