Parking at Port Canaveral - when do you pay?

[Bonnie1222]

I have always prepaid my parking at Port Canaveral. I loved the convenience.

How do they do it now? Do you pay at one of the kiosk on the way in or did they staff the booths to pay on the way out?

Last year we arrived about 9:30 and handed them our prepaid receipt and were parked and waiting in line for security before 10. Can you still arrive that early? We drive and would rather sit and wait to check instead of chancing Orlando traffic.

 

[abbiep]

You pay when you enter the garage and then just drive away the last day. We got there about 10 and the garage parking was already full on the first 3 floors. So i would assume they were let in well before 10. We did find a spot on the 2nd so we only had to go up one floor to the entrance to waiting area. We just went at Easter.

 

[islandsnoopy]

We thought the garage opened at 9:30 so we were right on time, but when we arrived the security person told us to return at 9:45. No problem finding a spot. We were there on 25 March 2018.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

You pay when you enter the garage and then just drive away the last day. We got there about 10 and the garage parking was already full on the first 3 floors. So i would assume they were let in well before 10. We did find a spot on the 2nd so we only had to go up one floor to the entrance to waiting area. We just went at Easter.

My experience has been that they let people start pulling in to park at 10:00, but maybe they've moved that earlier in the past year or so. The last time we drove there and arrived at port open was in August 2016. We pulled up outside around 9:55 and they started letting the cars in front of us enter at 10:00. With two ships (and sometimes 3) departing from PC, the parking garage could have already had the first 3 floors full from passengers on the other cruise.

 

[scottb8888]

How quick does the garage fill up and where is the alternate parking?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

How quick does the garage fill up and where is the alternate parking?

The garage typically doesn't fill up. I haven't ever heard of someone wanting to park in the garage and being denied because it was full.

 

[Weedy]

My experience has been that they let people start pulling in to park at 10:00, but maybe they've moved that earlier in the past year or so. The last time we drove there and arrived at port open was in August 2016. We pulled up outside around 9:55 and they started letting the cars in front of us enter at 10:00. With two ships (and sometimes 3) departing from PC, the parking garage could have already had the first 3 floors full from passengers on the other cruise.

The garage at Port Canaveral is only for Disney Cruise Line passengers. Plenty of parking. It doesn’t fill up. The terminal is on the left the garage on the right.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The garage at Port Canaveral is only for Disney Cruise Line passengers. Plenty of parking. It doesn’t fill up. The terminal is on the left the garage on the right.
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Sorry. I didn't make that statement clear. With 2 DCL ships ( and sometimes 3) departing from PC, the cruisers on the other DCL cruise can fill up the first 3 floors.

 

[Dug720]

Sorry. I didn't make that statement clear. With 2 DCL ships ( and sometimes 3) departing from PC, the cruisers on the other DCL cruise can fill up the first 3 floors.

BUT the spaces used by the cruisers on the prior cruise on the ship you are boarding should be out or getting out.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

BUT the spaces used by the cruisers on the prior cruise on the ship you are boarding should be out or getting out.

Yes, but depending on the distribution of cars from the departing cruisers, it's still possible that the first few floors won't have a lot of empty spaces. I was just trying to point out that the first few floors being filled didn't necessarily mean they were all filled with cruisers embarking that day.

 

[Bonnie1222]

Thanks for all the information. I wasn't sure about what changed and prefer not to have any surprises.

We arrived about 9:30 last year, and were directed right to the garage. The woman at the entrance said - "Oh, there are porters inside, don't stop just go park and they will help you" Don't believe them if they tell you that. The garage was pretty busy on the first few levels, and there was not a porter to be found. We were in line with about 50 or more others with all our suit cases. We had to car them through the the walkway, then drag them back down to the ground level to find a porter, who apologized and told us in the future just pull around and wait, the all come out about 9:30. The got back in line to go through security. It didn't take long, but was really inconvenient.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We cruised last Friday and they had cones in front of the entrance to the parking lot until 9:45 on the dot. First time for us. We headed to Cape Canaveral, got touristy stuff then had rock star parking on the main floor right across from the walkway at 9:52. The porter came to the van as I was unpacking it.

 

[NCConch]

Parking is free if you have a van that has been altered to accommodate a wheelchair. The wheelchair and the user has to be in the van.