Parking at Resorts for the Parks

[Eeyore2003]

FIRST, I will say before anyone gets all in a tither, WE don't do this, but the question comes up allot. Personally, it gets annoying when we are staying at a resort and there are no parking places because people are abusing the system. BUT.....

For anyone thinking of doing this I would be very aware that they are tougher than we've ever seen them with this right now. We usually have our car and drive pretty much everywhere we want to go and they were checking room keys everywhere!!!

We stayed at BWV and each time we drove into BWV, even though we had our car sticker, we still had to show our room key. There were also people driving around the lots asking for room keys to make sure you were staying at the resort. When we ate at Artist Point at WL, we had to show our room key from BWV to park there. We also saw them directing alot of people to "turn around" in the Boardwalk lot.

SO, before you think of parking at the Boardwalk or any resort and then going to a park for something beware that for some reason, they are really checking things out alot more than even in April when we were there and it might be better to do it the right way and park at the parks or take Disney transportation to the parks.

 

[antmaril]

Good.

 

[TheWog]

Why would someone do this? Park at a resort and then go to the Parks?

 

[WillCAD]

Why would someone do this? Park at a resort and then go to the Parks?

Dunno if youre joking or not, so I'll explain it for the bennefit of any newbies who might read this:

Because parking in the parks costs $10 a day, while parking at Downtown Disney and the resorts is free.

Also, the lot at MK is pretty far away from the park gates, on the other side of the Seven Seas Lagoon, necessitating a ride on a monorail or boat to get from the lot to the gates. But parking at Contemporary or Polynesian puts you a lot closer to the gates, which can save time, as well as that $10 parking fee, but also takes away parking from the Guests who pay a lot of money to stay at those resorts.

 

[debster812]

Why would someone do this? Park at a resort and then go to the Parks?

Because they are staying offsite and do not want to pay for parking?

Because they do not want to deal with Disney Transportation if they are staying on site, and park at a resort that is within walking distance to a park, so no crowds to deal with at park closing.

 

[CarolMN]

Good. Double good & triple good! I stay at the BWV and am tired of not fidning a place to park if we return in the late afternoon or evening. Very frustrating to see the parking lot empty out after IllumiNations.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Good. Double good & triple good! I stay at the BWV and am tired of not fidning a place to park if we return in the late afternoon or evening. Very frustrating to see the parking lot empty out after IllumiNations.

I know, DH usually drops me off, but I know he had no trouble parking close most of the time. It was VERY nice. They were especially tight on Sundays with the ESPN crowd. I was wondering if they were directing them to the parking lot across the street. That would make sense.

 

[JC Butterfly]

Wow, I am so naive. I never even thought of parking at a resort to save money, guess since I've always stayed onsite it is a moot point.

But, I had thought of doing this scenerio for convenience sake:

7:30 a.m ressie at 'Ohana. Planned on parking at Poly
9:00-11:00 Mickey's Milestones tour at MK
had planned to return to the Poly after that and go to another park.

So, does that mean that I should park at TTC at like 7:00 and then take monorail to Poly? Is it running that early?

Or, if I park valet at Poly, will that give me a little extra time to park there without worries?

 

[Topper]

Let the attendant at the TTC know you need to get to the Poly and they will direct you as to where you should park. You can walk to the Poly from the TTC. Using the valet service will allow you to leave your car at the Poly all day.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Let the attendant at the TTC know you need to get to the Poly and they will direct you as to where you should park. You can walk to the Poly from the TTC. Using the valet service will allow you to leave your car at the Poly all day.

And the reason valet parking allows you to stay all day is because you are paying to park(or to have them park for you)so it isn't any cheaper, after tipping it can cost more, than parking in a park lot.

 

[paults]

it's about time

 

[DebbieB]

I was at BWV last week and noticed the self parking was much improved. When I arrived on Sunday, the right turn into the self park was blocked off by cones even though there were plenty of spaces. When I returned from grocery shopping, I made the right turn by the bus stop and entered the self park across from the convention center. The rest of the week the cones were gone but I was able to find a space without a problem. On Friday when I checked out, I noticed the cones were there again and when I left by the convention center entrance there was a guard sitting in a golf cart making sure people didn't "sneak around".

 

[Eeyore2003]

I was at BWV last week and noticed the self parking was much improved. When I arrived on Sunday, the right turn into the self park was blocked off by cones even though there were plenty of spaces. When I returned from grocery shopping, I made the right turn by the bus stop and entered the self park across from the convention center. The rest of the week the cones were gone but I was able to find a space without a problem. On Friday when I checked out, I noticed the cones were there again and when I left by the convention center entrance there was a guard sitting in a golf cart making sure people didn't "sneak around".

Yep, that's exactly what happened to us too. I think they put the cones up when they expect extra Boardwalk business maybe. You could still get in that parking lot by going down to the extra gate and it was nice to have a place to park. But that's also where they were really checking room keys too like you said.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

I think they put the cones up when they expect extra Boardwalk business maybe.

Where is the correct place to park if you're visiting the boardwalk but not staying there?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

FIRST, I will say before anyone gets all in a tither, WE don't do this, but the question comes up allot. Personally, it gets annoying when we are staying at a resort and there are no parking places because people are abusing the system. BUT.....

For anyone thinking of doing this I would be very aware that they are tougher than we've ever seen them with this right now. We usually have our car and drive pretty much everywhere we want to go and they were checking room keys everywhere!!!

We stayed at BWV and each time we drove into BWV, even though we had our car sticker, we still had to show our room key. There were also people driving around the lots asking for room keys to make sure you were staying at the resort. When we ate at Artist Point at WL, we had to show our room key from BWV to park there. We also saw them directing alot of people to "turn around" in the Boardwalk lot.

SO, before you think of parking at the Boardwalk or any resort and then going to a park for something beware that for some reason, they are really checking things out alot more than even in April when we were there and it might be better to do it the right way and park at the parks or take Disney transportation to the parks.

Very well stated & 100% correct. In August when my family & I were staying at the Contemporary, everytime we had arrived back the CM working security would ask to see our Resort ID card, so it's just not at the Board Walk where they are asking for it upon your return. In fact on some days & nights there were cars that were told to turn around leave. We asked what was going on & we were told there was 2 big conventions going on with a lot of people, so they wanted to save the regular parking spaces for all Contemporary guests & guests with ADR's at Chef Mickey's, Concourse Steakhouse the California Grill, so basically they said the Resort was in lockdown mode. So if you were not a guest, or did not have a confirmed ADR (which they now check upon your arrival) you were not allowed to park & told to turn around & leave. It sucks they can't do that everyday of the year with the other year, with the expection being the major holiday's like Easter, 4th of July, Christams & New Years. No of course nothing stops a guest with a confirmed ADR to walk to the Magic Kingdom & leave their car parked at the Contemporary, but as we all know by now that is not allowed & those guests should just park at the TTC if they wish to visit the Magic Kingdom. Yes I know it sounds very un fair to them, but I don't care because why should my family & I who are paying $300 + per night have to park way in the back, or drive around for a bit until a spot opens up, while these people might have one right towards the front.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Let the attendant at the TTC know you need to get to the Poly and they will direct you as to where you should park. You can walk to the Poly from the TTC. Using the valet service will allow you to leave your car at the Poly all day.

Plus by parking your car at the TTC, if you wanted you could leave it there until the Magic Kingdom closes. When you want to leave just take the Express Monorail to the TTC & then get back to your car. Eventhough some people say you valet park your car all day the Polynesian, you never know how busy they are going to be & what if there are so many guests even more people valet park & they are running low on spaces? I am just saying there is always a chance of that happening.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I did not know you could do this. Whenever I had breakfast reservations at the Poly or CR, I would tell the attendant and he would give me a parking pass that is good for a couple hours. I did not know you could leave it there all day. It is good that they are cracking down, sounds unfair to Deluxe guests.

 

[paults]

I did not know you could do this. Whenever I had breakfast reservations at the Poly or CR, I would tell the attendant and he would give me a parking pass that is good for a couple hours. I did not know you could leave it there all day. It is good that they are cracking down, sounds unfair to Deluxe guests.

you can't leave it there all day (poly/cr), it's a 2 or 3 hr pass, unless something has changed

 

[poohbear7]

Back in May when we had dinner at the Poly we were given a three hour parking pass at valet parking. We had a confirmed reservation at Ohana's.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Where is the correct place to park if you're visiting the boardwalk but not staying there?

I'm actually not sure and you would have to ask. I think you could valet park but we never do that. There are spaces in a "back lot" and they may send you there or there is also a lot across the street from the Boardwalk a little down from the Hess gas station nearest the ESPN Club. They just might be more strict with the front guest parking lots and they'll just direct you to the back lots, which I really think is only fair.