Parking.....Avoid it!

[GatorChris]

I usually don't park at the DL parking areas. But we had a hotel with my daughter's drama troop that was way down Harbor. So on our last morning, I decided to do the Toy story parking lot. Got there about 8am. HUGE MISTAKE. From the time I hit the line to get into the lot on Harbor, through the standing in line for a bus, until the time I hit security: 1 hour!!! Wow! Never again.

The hotel had a shuttle, but I wanted to be able to get out faster. Absolutely wrong. ig you're thinking about parking, you may want to consider this.

 

[Jperiod]

This is why we finally just bought DVC points at VGC. 20 years of DLR and I'm so over waiting for buses, shuttles, and trams!

I usually don't park at the DL parking areas. But we had a hotel with my daughter's drama troop that was way down Harbor. So on our last morning, I decided to do the Toy story parking lot. Got there about 8am. HUGE MISTAKE. From the time I hit the line to get into the lot on Harbor, through the standing in line for a bus, until the time I hit security: 1 hour!!! Wow! Never again.

The hotel had a shuttle, but I wanted to be able to get out faster. Absolutely wrong. ig you're thinking about parking, you may want to consider this.

 

[Kender]

I must just time things well since I rarely spend more than 15 minutes getting parked and on a bus in Toy Story.

But I usually arrive later in the day. I only rope drop/get there close to rope drop if I'm staying in walking distance.

 

[onlyoneash]

I know they have completely shut down the parking lots a few times these past 2 weeks. This normally doesn't happen (hardly ever) so you will hopefully never run into that again and enjoy 15ish min parking like usual.

Halloween opening weeks = the new Christmas (except Halloween has shorter hours and is way understaffed compared to Christmas)

 

[pigletliz]

Definitely must have been timing. I drove in twice this week with no wait.

 

[GenGen22]

I've walked over to this parking lot from Red Lion a few days in a row on one of my past trips and never waited more than 15 minutes to board the bus. Must have been a one off situation. I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[StormyCA]

Uber. If you're staying at a hotel that's not walking distance.....Uber is your friend.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Same as PP, must be lucky with TS lot. This is the only place we park and NEVER has it taken us that long to get to the entrance.

 

[nutshell]

Never had a long wait at TS. Even so, now I Uber.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We’ve walked to the TS lots many times over many trips and never waited more than 5-7 mins for a bus. I’m sorry it happened that way for you!

 

[Curlyxz]

Does anyone have an idea of when they usually start redirecting M&F traffic to Toy Story lot? I drove by the area today around 8am, and they were already redirecting traffic to other lots. You only had access to M&F if you went through the overpass. I thought it was a really early hour for them to be sending cars away already.

 

[momof2n2]

Oooo
Planning to stay in townhouses behind the convention center and driving to the TS lot before open each morning. Does this normally work for people?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Oooo
Planning to stay in townhouses behind the convention center and driving to the TS lot before open each morning. Does this normally work for people?

I'm not sure how far the townhouses are, but I'd certainly recommend that you avoid the hassle and $20 parking fee if it's possible to walk or Uber.

But if you have to drive, arriving at the Toy Story Lot at least 30 minutes before opening is usually safe. I use the Toy Story lot about twice a week and like to give myself 45 minutes before rope drop for parking/security/park entrance, personally. We got there yesterday at 7:20 or 25 for an 8:00 am opening and were in the 2nd row, no bus wait. We were in the parks by 7:45.

Sometimes it does take longer than 45 minutes, so if rope drop is important to you, I'd get there earlier.

10:00 openings are way worse and I'd park before 9 if possible.

And as always, YMMV. We do sometimes get sent back to Bambi and did have one time that they were using Buzz for the convention center and it took about an hour to get into the lot. But those are rare occurrences in over 100 visits per year, so the Toy Story lot is pretty consistent overall.

 

[l4dyj8]

Does anyone have an idea of when they usually start redirecting M&F traffic to Toy Story lot? I drove by the area today around 8am, and they were already redirecting traffic to other lots. You only had access to M&F if you went through the overpass. I thought it was a really early hour for them to be sending cars away already.

In my experience it has been on projected busy days. And yesterday it was packed!

I like to check the Disneyland Today twitter account the day we plan to go. It has saved us from redirected routes. Once we ignored it and we spent an hour in line.

 

[momof2n2]

I'm not sure how far the townhouses are, but I'd certainly recommend that you avoid the hassle and $20 parking fee if it's possible to walk or Uber.

But if you have to drive, arriving at the Toy Story Lot at least 30 minutes before opening is usually safe. I use the Toy Story lot about twice a week and like to give myself 45 minutes before rope drop for parking/security/park entrance, personally. We got there yesterday at 7:20 or 25 for an 8:00 am opening and were in the 2nd row, no bus wait. We were in the parks by 7:45.

Sometimes it does take longer than 45 minutes, so if rope drop is important to you, I'd get there earlier.

10:00 openings are way worse and I'd park before 9 if possible.

And as always, YMMV. We do sometimes get sent back to Bambi and did have one time that they were using Buzz for the convention center and it took about an hour to get into the lot. But those are rare occurrences in over 100 visits per year, so the Toy Story lot is pretty consistent overall.

My concern for walking is walking home after closing. And we are a family of 8, so Uber isn't a good option.

We are good at being someplace early and are usually the first van in the lots at WDW. It sounds like you are saying early is a good offense?

 

[philliplc]

It also sucks if you are staying at the Homewood Convention Center and planning to drive elsewhere early Sat morning like we were yesterday. Traffic entering the TS lot was backed up down Harbor well past the Hotel. It took us 15 minutes just to get onto Harbor and past the lot entrance.

 

[HuskyGal]

It also sucks if you are staying at the Homewood Convention Center and planning to drive elsewhere early Sat morning like we were yesterday. Traffic entering the TS lot was backed up down Harbor well past the Hotel. It took us 15 minutes just to get onto Harbor and past the lot entrance.

Great to know. Definitely will reconsider for future trips. Thank you.

 

[ButterflyKisses77]

I usually don't park at the DL parking areas. But we had a hotel with my daughter's drama troop that was way down Harbor. So on our last morning, I decided to do the Toy story parking lot. Got there about 8am. HUGE MISTAKE. From the time I hit the line to get into the lot on Harbor, through the standing in line for a bus, until the time I hit security: 1 hour!!! Wow! Never again.

The hotel had a shuttle, but I wanted to be able to get out faster. Absolutely wrong. ig you're thinking about parking, you may want to consider this.

I agree. We've only parked there twice and both times it was like that. We avoid it now!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

My concern for walking is walking home after closing. And we are a family of 8, so Uber isn't a good option...

Depending on how far your townhouse is from the TS lot, walking at night shouldn't be a problem. The resort area is generally quite safe, especially for a large group like yours. As long as the route is along main streets, you should be fine. Parking at TS should be fine, too. But it is always nice to know that you have another option, just in case.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I'm not sure how far the townhouses are, but I'd certainly recommend that you avoid the hassle and $20 parking fee if it's possible to walk or Uber.

But if you have to drive, arriving at the Toy Story Lot at least 30 minutes before opening is usually safe. I use the Toy Story lot about twice a week and like to give myself 45 minutes before rope drop for parking/security/park entrance, personally. We got there yesterday at 7:20 or 25 for an 8:00 am opening and were in the 2nd row, no bus wait. We were in the parks by 7:45.

Sometimes it does take longer than 45 minutes, so if rope drop is important to you, I'd get there earlier.

10:00 openings are way worse and I'd park before 9 if possible.

And as always, YMMV. We do sometimes get sent back to Bambi and did have one time that they were using Buzz for the convention center and it took about an hour to get into the lot. But those are rare occurrences in over 100 visits per year, so the Toy Story lot is pretty consistent overall.

We are going to DLR in Nov and staying right across the street from the toy story lot- Do you think it's unreasonable to expect to walk from there?