Parking at park, day of arrival, before check-in

[wdw&sonny]

Do I have to pay to park at the park on my arrival day if I go straight to the park?

Do I have to have done on-line check-in?
When can I do the on-line check-in?

Do they scan MB at the parking kiosks?
Is my resort reservation already linked to my MB?

I think I read someplace that you have to pay to park, if you haven't gone to the resort, but that seems ridiculous.

 

[MPB82]

When you check in you get a free parking paper, it goes on your dash, nothing linked to Mb for parking, if you don't check in first I believe you have to pay to park or you can park at resort and take disney bus and check in later

 

[bigbabyblues]

I think I read someplace that you have to pay to park, if you haven't gone to the resort, but that seems ridiculous.

The CMs at the parking booths don't scan magic bands. How do they know you are staying onsite if you don't have your parking pass? It doesn't matter if you do online check in or not.

 

[POOHsie]

Do I have to pay to park at the park on my arrival day if I go straight to the park?

Do I have to have done on-line check-in?
When can I do the on-line check-in?

Do they scan MB at the parking kiosks?
Is my resort reservation already linked to my MB?

I think I read someplace that you have to pay to park, if you haven't gone to the resort, but that seems ridiculous.

If you haven't checked-in, you are not a resort guest. Free theme park parking is a perk for those who are resort guests.

If you wish to visit a theme park first, pay the parking booth attendant, then take the receipt to the front desk for reimbursement or credit when you check in.

Checking-in first is best. You can do it as early as 6am. Even if your room isn't ready, you can stow your luggage with Bell Services. You can set up room charging and use it, you can get your dining credits (if applicable), you can get your room number emailed or texted to you during the day. When you get your room number, your MagicBand will now have your door key on it, and you can proceed directly to your room after your park visit.

 

[Traveliz]

The CMs at the parking booths don't scan magic bands. How do they know you are staying onsite if you don't have your parking pass? It doesn't matter if you do online check in or not.

Hmm I have has my band scanned quite a few times while parking. I am an AP holder.

Liz

 

[nessz79]

This is why we check in at the resort first, even if it's 8 in the morning (or even earlier). We usually leave our car and take a bus, but you would also be able to get the car tag and get free parking.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hmm I have has my band scanned quite a few times while parking. I am an AP holder.

Liz

If you arrive before you check in, your MB will not identify you as a resort guest even of they did scan for guests.


You need to physically check in and the desk CM will scan your band to check everyone on your reservation in. They will provide a parking pass and yin can then drive to the parks or just catch a bus or other available transportation the park.

You could just go straight to the parks, but you will have to pay. To my knowledge, you can get this refunded if you check in the same day. But I recall if being more of a hassle than just checking in early.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Hmm I have has my band scanned quite a few times while parking. I am an AP holder.

Liz

Thank you for correcting me. They weren't scanning the last time we were at WDW, I wasn't aware they had started.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Do I have to pay to park at the park on my arrival day if I go straight to the park? Yes you will have to pay if you haven't checked in at your resort.

Do I have to have done on-line check-in? I don't always do online check in but have never gone to a park without checking in first so I don't know the answer to this one.

When can I do the on-line check-in? it is on Mydisneyexperience.com. You will see it when you log in and scan down. Just click on it and answer their questions.

Do they scan MB at the parking kiosks? mine has never been scanned at parking kiosks - but I've been staying onsite and they've always looked at the parking note put on your dashboard from the resort. The guard at the resort gate sometimes asks to scan your magic band when you drive up to check in - twice I've done that and another time they just wanted my drivers license to confirm.

Is my resort reservation already linked to my MB? it should be.

I think I read someplace that you have to pay to park, if you haven't gone to the resort, but that seems ridiculous.

My answers will hopefully show up in red.

 

[ellie05]

If you haven't checked-in, you are not a resort guest. Free theme park parking is a perk for those who are resort guests.

If you wish to visit a theme park first, pay the parking booth attendant, then take the receipt to the front desk for reimbursement or credit when you check in.

I never done this but I don't think they will reimburse you. You just go to the front desk and check in.

 

[vfalkner]

I have gone to the parks first and was reimbursed for the parking (unless this has changed in the last 2 years). You have to have the receipt and I believe you need to go to the concierge or parking coordinator or something. The front desk can tell you where to go. It was a bit of a hassle but not to bad.

 

[POOHsie]

Many have posted here (including the past 2 years), who have been reimbursed after bringing their theme park parking receipt to check-in on the same day.

 

[wdw&sonny]

If you haven't checked-in, you are not a resort guest. Free theme park parking is a perk for those who are resort guests.

If you wish to visit a theme park first, pay the parking booth attendant, then take the receipt to the front desk for reimbursement or credit when you check in.

Checking-in first is best. You can do it as early as 6am. Even if your room isn't ready, you can stow your luggage with Bell Services. You can set up room charging and use it, you can get your dining credits (if applicable), you can get your room number emailed or texted to you during the day. When you get your room number, your MagicBand will now have your door key on it, and you can proceed directly to your room after your park visit.

Thanks for all the info.

I didn't even think about the dining credits. We are (were) planning on going straight to park. Do you mean if I did that, before stopping at resort, my dining credits would not be available?

Having to physically go to the resort seems very inefficient and counter intuitive to all the hype with On-line check-in, MB etc. Shouldn't my package just automatically be activated (parking, dining etc.) since I already paid for those days? What's the purpose of the on-line check-in then? And how long in advance can I do this?

 

[wdw&sonny]

The CMs at the parking booths don't scan magic bands. How do they know you are staying onsite if you don't have your parking pass? It doesn't matter if you do online check in or not.

And on a related note, to my question above (and to bump this thread), if the MB is supposed to replace the need to carry cash and credit card, can't you pay parking with it?

 

[tndisneyfan]

I never done this but I don't think they will reimburse you. You just go to the front desk and check in.

Many have posted here (including the past 2 years), who have been reimbursed after bringing their theme park parking receipt to check-in on the same day.

Do I have to pay to park at the park on my arrival day if I go straight to the park?

Do I have to have done on-line check-in?
When can I do the on-line check-in?

Do they scan MB at the parking kiosks?
Is my resort reservation already linked to my MB?

I think I read someplace that you have to pay to park, if you haven't gone to the resort, but that seems ridiculous.

Is there a reason you want to go straight to the park first? I know they say check in time is 3 or 4, you can check in at any time. Just last week we arrived before 7 am and checked in. Our room wasn't ready, but we were able to get our parking pass (we like to drive) and give them our info so they could text us when our room was ready.

Even if you do have to pay just take your parking receipt to the Front desk and they will reimburse you.

 

[wdwrich]

Thanks for all the info.

I didn't even think about the dining credits. We are (were) planning on going straight to park. Do you mean if I did that, before stopping at resort, my dining credits would not be available?

Having to physically go to the resort seems very inefficient and counter intuitive to all the hype with On-line check-in, MB etc. Shouldn't my package just automatically be activated (parking, dining etc.) since I already paid for those days? What's the purpose of the on-line check-in then? And how long in advance can I do this?

It is correct that your dining credits are not active until you physically check in at your resort. On-line check-in just makes the process quicker when you arrive at your resort. Pretty much all of your package stuff (including parking) is activated when you physically check in at your resort. As mentioned by a PP above, you can check in as early as 6am on your arrival day whether or not your room is ready.

 

[wdwrich]

And on a related note, to my question above (and to bump this thread), if the MB is supposed to replace the need to carry cash and credit card, can't you pay parking with it?

I haven't heard of anyone being able to pay for parking with a MB. AP holders can scan their bands for parking because an AP includes theme park parking. Hence they are not using the MB to actually "pay" for parking.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Is there a reason you want to go straight to the park first? I know they say check in time is 3 or 4, you can check in at any time. Just last week we arrived before 7 am and checked in. Our room wasn't ready, but we were able to get our parking pass (we like to drive) and give them our info so they could text us when our room was ready.

Even if you do have to pay just take your parking receipt to the Front desk and they will reimburse you.

We want to go straight to the park simply to save time. It's a short trip. Seems silly to have to physically appear at the resort (in this electronic era) to get a piece of paper. Detouring to the resort will easily cost us 30 minutes or more. That's valuable park time

 

[wisblue]

Let me ask a more direct question relating to this.

Because I have never tried it (I have always had the paper pass when driving a car into a park parking lot), do the CMs at the parking booths have the RFID readers to scan the magic bands?

If they do, then it seems like they should be able to identify a guest as a resort guest arriving that day and give you free parking. Just as they would scan the band to identify an annual pass holder.

The paper pass still has value from the standpoint of not even having to stop to have your band read, but it seems like it shouldn't be a necessary item.

 

[wdwrich]

We want to go straight to the park simply to save time. It's a short trip. Seems silly to have to physically appear at the resort (in this electronic era) to get a piece of paper. Detouring to the resort will easily cost us 30 minutes or more. That's valuable park time

True, but even if you work around the parking fee, you still need to check in at your resort to activate your dining credits. There's currently no way around that.
BTW- If you get to the resort to check in by 7am, that should still get you to a park for rope drop even on an EMH morning.