Parking at The Contemporary / Bay Lake

[Uncleromulus]

Turning valet spots into regular spots is rather like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Sounds as tho they built BLT w/o much regard for the parking situation at the Contemporary. Will have to wait and see I guess for folks like me, who visit the Contemporary to eat dinner.
No parking would likely mean we'd eat dinner elsewhere...

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Turning valet spots into regular spots is rather like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Sounds as tho they built BLT w/o much regard for the parking situation at the Contemporary. Will have to wait and see I guess for folks like me, who visit the Contemporary to eat dinner.
No parking would likely mean we'd eat dinner elsewhere...

I'd take a wait and see attitude. And I think that's what Disney is going to do too. I'd guess historically DVC members are more likely to have cars than the average Disney guest and less likely to lock themselves into staying fully on property. Not that some DVC members don't take ME and totally stay on property but just a guess on my part based on conversations with other members.

At the Contemporary they have the whole area in the front where they have the courtyard with the popsicle topiaries and there is a wooded area like I posted directly north of the tennis courts and east of Space Mountain. I think if it started to seriously become an issue they have the ability to move quickly to make changes to add more parking.

There are about 50 extra rooms in BLT vs. the north wing. How this will all play out when it's full is anybody's guess but I don't see parking there getting better.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Turning valet spots into regular spots is rather like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Sounds as tho they built BLT w/o much regard for the parking situation at the Contemporary. Will have to wait and see I guess for folks like me, who visit the Contemporary to eat dinner.
No parking would likely mean we'd eat dinner elsewhere...

Well they didn't turn all the valet spots into self parking spots, because it was at least two or three rows and they had no choice to do that, because they lost a lot more when the construction of Bay Lake Tower started. So who knows how many of those spots in front of it will be available once it opens.

 

[spiceycat]

i was surprised - looks like BLT has a very nice drive way - since we have to check in at CR - this seems to me like wasted place? WHich could have contained more parking spaces.

the valet parking at CR is BIG! - it is most of the parking lot across from the entrance at CR.

 

[fla4fun]

As for that those parking splaces right next to Space Mountain I believe those are spaces for the Cast Members who work there, so they are not for anyone staying at the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower or those going to the Contemporary because they have an ADR.

I have had to park all the way out at the end of the Space Mountain lot in the past, both when just dining at CR and when staying there. Yes, it's primarily CMs who park there, but it's not restricted to just CMs. I've been wondering if they would make the CMs "Pluto park" backstage on a permanent basis and just open up all the lot parking to guests (kind of like at YC/BC, where there is a CM lot across the street, and the lots at the resort are guest lots). They've used Pluto parking as an overflow for CMs in the past during busy times, so I guess if the parking situation gets too bad, they could make it permanent.

But there's not a lot of difference in the amount of rooms and the amount of parking from when the north wing was there, and at that time ME wasn't the transportation of choice for many of the CR guests. So I expect to maybe have difficulty finding parking during certain times of the day (I used to always have trouble if I arrived before housekeeping left for the day, but after the evening restaurant staff had arrived) but I do expect to get a space.

 

[DebbieB]

I have had to park all the way out at the end of the Space Mountain lot in the past, both when just dining at CR and when staying there. Yes, it's primarily CMs who park there, but it's not restricted to just CMs. I've been wondering if they would make the CMs "Pluto park" backstage on a permanent basis and just open up all the lot parking to guests (kind of like at YC/BC, where there is a CM lot across the street, and the lots at the resort are guest lots). They've used Pluto parking as an overflow for CMs in the past during busy times, so I guess if the parking situation gets too bad, they could make it permanent.

When I was there 2 weeks ago, they had a gate on this area and the lot was full of cars so someone was using it. It used to be you could self park in that section but not anymore. The only section open was directly in front of BLT.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

In the portable perks they give you at check-in, they now list free valet parking at BLT starting Aug. 4, 2009 for DVC members.

 

[Tiger926]

Over the past 2 weeks of our trip, we went to the Contemporary 2x for meals - Chef Mickey's for breakfast, and Contempo Cafe for a late lunch. For Chef Mickey, we were told to self park directly in front of BLT - this is where we normally would self-park when staying at Contemporary.

A few days later, we went to Contempo Cafe, and were told to self-park on the right, in front of Contemporary.

Neither time we were given the normal 3 hour pass that we have had many times when dining at CR. We asked both times, as we are concerned about BLT guests and limited parking, and both times security said it wasn't necessary at that time of day. Not sure what that meant...? We have always been given the 3 hour pass.

Not sure what these means for BLT parking - perhaps it was isolated, but it happened days apart, with 2 different security guards.

HTH, Tiger

 

[puntagordabob]

Absolutely No parking Under the building!

 

[Figment56]

Gee, I hope there is parking at BLT! We will be there in a few weeks and are flying into Sanford, so we do need a car! It looks like we will either park ourselves, if we can find a spot, or valet park and leave the car in it's spot for the week! LOL! If I remember, I will post back and let everyone know!

 

[Inkmahm]

I thought AKL/AKV start on the second or third floor so the animals don't try to enter the rooms and they don't have to block the view for those rooms keeping the animals away.

Exactly.

 

[DenLo]

We were there in June we took some photos from CR's firework viewing balcony and it shows part of the BLT parking lot. It was blocked off from use at the time. We took a lot of pictures of BLT then and none show any underground driveways for parking. Having lived in a high rise condo in the past I would have noticed! So I think this parking lot is all there is to be used by BLT guests.

The driveway to get to the front doors is in the middle with pine trees (?) and shrubs on each side.