parking at parcs

[janischa]

hi, I'm still debating if we should get a car or not. We're staying at OKW and a little bit scared about long bus times to get anywhere.
So now we still have a few questions on parking:

1. The first question I have is, how far is it & how long does it take to get from the parking at MK, Epcot, HS, AK, TL and BB to the entrance of the park ?
We will generally be going very early to the parcs (we're booking breakfast ADR in parcs before parc opening), so I'm hoping we should be able to find a relatively close spot. Assuming this, how long would it still take to get to the entrance ?

2. Does anyone have any parking tips ? Like best places to park ?

3. Our dinner ADR are often in the resorts, but we're quite slow eaters. Are they very strict on the 2 hour rule, or are you allowed to stay longer than that ?

thanks for all the help !!

 

[laughinplace199]

I'd definitely rent a car. OKW is a very big resort. Unless you've booked a room near the Hospitality House, your room could be very far away from HH. If this is the case, you may have to hop on a bus (or take a very long walk) to get to the main pool, gift shop, Olivia's, etc.

Also, if you are dining at a lot of other resorts, having a car is the easiest and most efficient way to travel between resorts.

If you get to the parks early, you should be able to park so that you only have a short walk to the entrance (worst case, you can hop on the tram to take you from your parking row to the entrance). For MK, if you get there early, you should be able to get a spot close enough to walk to TTC. From there, you take the monorail or ferry to MK.

 

[goofy4tink]

You will have different walk lengths depending on which park and where you park. When parking at MK, you have to take a tram from the parking lot over to the TTC. At DHS, if you park further out than the first few rows, again, a tram is involved. Same thing with AKL. So, you may not have to far to walk to the trams. But then you do have to ride those over to the park entrances.
I have been in a car several times when heading to the parks. I figure it took between 8-15 mins to get from the car to the park entrances.

I'm one of those who doesn't feel the need for a car though. Just too much hassle for me. There are so many people driving around the area that have no clue as to where they are going and they make bad choices when changing lanes or looking for exits. I use the buses for the most part and have yet to have many bad experiences...but that's merely my own opinion.

If you park at a resort for a meal, you are most likely going to be fine for a few hours. Many will tell you that you an leave the car there and head to a park. Many will tell you that you are not allowed to do that. But I have yet to see anyone need more than 2 or so hours to eat. So parking for the period when you are actually eating is not going to be an issue.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We're staying at OKW and a little bit scared about long bus times to get anywhere.

Not necessarily. OKW is very close to Epcot - I think it's a seven minute ride one way and nine minutes the other from/to Hospitality House - and only a little further from DHS. Yeah, it might be nice to have a car... but the last time I stayed there, I had one and only used it twice.

 

[janischa]

about 7 minutes only ? really ? what mainly got me freaking out were the times i saw in the unofficial guide, quoting an average commuting time from okw to epcot of 25 minutes on average (with a max of 36 minutes) and to MK of 30 minutes (with a max of 42 minutes); with the latter actually being longer then coming from all stars resort....

from OKW, is it the best to try to stay near HH in order to minimise bus times ?

thanks so much guys

 

[disneychic2]

When we stayed at OKW last year we had a terrible time with the buses! We had to wait pretty long for one to come for the park we wanted to get to, while three buses for another park came one right after the other. (this happened several times) Then, when the bus got there, we stopped at four other bus stops in the resort before actually heading to the park. We had long waits from the park back to OKW also. I would say a car would be a good choice for your trip. (We've stayed at other resorts and had wonderful bus experiences, so maybe ours was an unusual circumstance?)