Parking, Chef Mickey's, & Magic Kingdom

[kmccartney]

This may be a silly question, but I don't know the answer, so can anyone help?

We will be staying at CBR and I plan to book an early breakfast at Chef Mickey's one day. We are taking our own car, so when we leave CBR for breakfast at CM, can we park at the Contemporary and leave our car there after breakfast when we go to Magic Kingdom for the day? Or do we have to park in the theme park lot and take the shuttle to the TTC and then take a resort monorail to the Contemporary?

 

[TDC Nala]

You will be allowed to park if you have an ADR, although you may be given a parking pass at the resort that is good for 3 hours. It's officially discouraged to leave your car in a resort parking lot to go to the theme park, which limits parking space for actual guests of the resort. Whether or not anything will actually be done to discourage you can't be predicted with any accuracy. If it's a high attendance day, I'd look to be given that parking pass.

 

[BriarRosie]

When you're parking in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, that essentially is the TTC. If you have an early breakfast, chances are you will be close enough for walking distance to the resort monorail without the need for the tram.

I'm speaking from past experience parking at the TTC for an early Magic Kingdom breakfast, but the experience is pretty much the same for any place on the monorail line.

As TDC Nala said, the parking security is pretty strict for the Contemporary. They might even verify that you have a dining reservation there before they allow you to park, if you intend to drive there directly.

I suggest the TTC to avoid potential parking hassles at the Contemporary. Parking space is at a premium now that they've opened Bay Lake Tower.

 

[Tricia1972]

You could always park at Contemporary and then move your car to TTC after breakfast.

Personally, if it were me, I'd park at TTC, hop the resort monorail over to Contemporary and then walk over to the MK after breakfast.

 

[kmccartney]

Thanks everyone , sounds like we will park at the TTC to be safe. I would rather just park once and not have to move the car after breakfast. We will just alot for the extra time for parking and taking the monorail to the Contemporary.

 

[wdwrich]

Just another thought here. Unless you need the car to go somewhere other than Chef Mickey's and MK, it might very well be more efficient to take the bus from your resort to MK, walk to/from Chef Mickey's, and bus back to your resort when you leave MK. This would eliminate the extra tram/monorail/boat trips when parking at the MK/TTC lot.

 

[kmccartney]

Just another thought here. Unless you need the car to go somewhere other than Chef Mickey's and MK, it might very well be more efficient to take the bus from your resort to MK, walk to/from Chef Mickey's, and bus back to your resort when you leave MK. This would eliminate the extra tram/monorail/boat trips when parking at the MK/TTC lot.

Wouldn't that take us longer to wait for the bus to go to Magic Kingdom than to just drive our own car? We have always either driven or rented a car, we have never used the Disney Transportation System before, so I really don't know.

 

[TDC Nala]

Magic Kingdom is considered possibly the only park where riding the bus may actually be more advantageous than driving one's own car, since the buses drop off near the park gates and car traffic is directed to TTC, from which one must use either the ferry or monorail to access the Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary is also the only resort within easy walking distance of MK. Your choice as to whether you wish to park and take the monorail to Contemporary or take the bus to MK and walk to Contemporary. If you park in the MK lot early, chances are you will have an easy walk to TTC itself, rather than having to take a parking tram from your car to TTC.

 

[koolaidmoms]

Just an FYI we parked at the TTC in December and took the resort Monorail to MK for EMH as that is the only one open. We parked at 7:25 thinking we had plenty of time to get the Monorail to MK before rope drop. It took us 48 minutes from the time we left the car until they stopped at the Monorail stop in MK. We weren't even in the gates at almost 8:15 am!

They did not completely fill the cars at any one stop so that the next resort on the line could have room to load people. The line was backed up forever and the ferry did not start running until official opening time. So this was the only way from TTC to MK.

If you are going on an EMH day allow extra time to get to the Contemp. just in case or in my opinion - take the bus.

 

[LAWalz23]

Wouldn't that take us longer to wait for the bus to go to Magic Kingdom than to just drive our own car? We have always either driven or rented a car, we have never used the Disney Transportation System before, so I really don't know.

Taking the bus will put you about a 5 minute walk from the Contemporary and then you can walk back to the MK, which is probably quicker than the monorail in the morning at opening time.

We rented cars our first few trips but quickly found that Disney transportation is just as fast and more convenient to go to the parks and DTD, other resorts are another matter. With Magical Express, it has been 5 years since we have had to rent a car and don't miss having to park the car. My niece and nephew actually prefer the buses especially in the summer when we don't have to get into a hot car.

 

[martinolichfamily]

This may be a silly question, but I don't know the answer, so can anyone help?

We will be staying at CBR and I plan to book an early breakfast at Chef Mickey's one day. We are taking our own car, so when we leave CBR for breakfast at CM, can we park at the Contemporary and leave our car there after breakfast when we go to Magic Kingdom for the day? Or do we have to park in the theme park lot and take the shuttle to the TTC and then take a resort monorail to the Contemporary?

When we went in July, we stayed at Ft.Wilderness...so we drove our car to Contemporary for Breakfast @ Chef Mickeys and then jumped on the monorail to the MK....we left our car @ Contemporary with no problems.

 

[wdwrich]

When we went in July, we stayed at Ft.Wilderness...so we drove our car to Contemporary for Breakfast @ Chef Mickeys and then jumped on the monorail to the MK....we left our car @ Contemporary with no problems.

Yes, it can happen. But as previous posters have stated, it's the exception and not the rule. I'm certainly not going to tell anyone what to do, but I have personally witnessed vehicles being towed from both the Contemporary and Polynesian lots.

 

[rgf207]

Yes, it can happen. But as previous posters have stated, it's the exception and not the rule. I'm certainly not going to tell anyone what to do, but I have personally witnessed vehicles being towed from both the Contemporary and Polynesian lots.

not saying it doesn' happen but I have never seen a car being towed. I have actually never been issued a parking pass. The guards at the gates have just let me through. I have never gone to a park though although the guard at the contemporary asked me if I was going to the MK and even told me about the walking path from the contemporary to the MK which lead me to believe that he didn't care if I was going to park there and go to MK

 

[wdwrich]

not saying it doesn' happen but I have never seen a car being towed. I have actually never been issued a parking pass. The guards at the gates have just let me through. I have never gone to a park though although the guard at the contemporary asked me if I was going to the MK and even told me about the walking path from the contemporary to the MK which lead me to believe that he didn't care if I was going to park there and go to MK

I'm sure there are lots of guests who have done this without any problems. For me, since I've seen the towing take place, I'd rather not risk a monkey wrench being thrown into my WDW vacation by parking at The Poly or CR and going off to a park (while I'm staying at another resort, WDW or otherwise).

 

[Disneylvr]

Last March (during spring break season) we too were staying at CBR and had an early ADR at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. DD has special needs and the buses do not work well for her so we drive everywhere. We drove to the Contemporary expecting to either have to valet park or move our car after 3 hours. The guard at the gate did check the ADR list for our name and then said we could either valet or self park with no time limit. The self parking lot was relatively empty which I imagine is why we were allowed to park there with no limit. After breakfast we went to Epcot via the monorail and returned about 3-4 hours with a total of about 5 hours in the Contemporary lot which was still pretty empty when we returned.

Count me as one of those that has never seen cars being towed for parking issues in the 25 years I have been going to WDW. I have seen AAA towing disabled cars every once in awhile. I am not saying it never happens because I am sure it does especially during times when parking spaces are limited and guests ignore the time limit they were given.

OP just use your best judgment and but be prepared for a 3 hour time limit or use Disney transportation. We are going to take our chances again this March as we are staying at CBR and have an early ADR at Chef Mickey's again.

 

[kmccartney]

Last March (during spring break season) we too were staying at CBR and had an early ADR at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. DD has special needs and the buses do not work well for her so we drive everywhere. We drove to the Contemporary expecting to either have to valet park or move our car after 3 hours. The guard at the gate did check the ADR list for our name and then said we could either valet or self park with no time limit. The self parking lot was relatively empty which I imagine is why we were allowed to park there with no limit. After breakfast we went to Epcot via the monorail and returned about 3-4 hours with a total of about 5 hours in the Contemporary lot which was still pretty empty when we returned.

Count me as one of those that has never seen cars being towed for parking issues in the 25 years I have been going to WDW. I have seen AAA towing disabled cars every once in awhile. I am not saying it never happens because I am sure it does especially during times when parking spaces are limited and guests ignore the time limit they were given.

OP just use your best judgment and but be prepared for a 3 hour time limit or use Disney transportation. We are going to take our chances again this March as we are staying at CBR and have an early ADR at Chef Mickey's again.

You are right, best judgement should be used. I think that since we (DH, DS, DD & I) can all get moving pretty quickly early in the morning , I will lean to the TTC parking lot. We plan to go to MK for the day and end up with dinner at the Poly.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

First thing have a great time OP with your trip.

Having stayed at the CR for 8 days this past week I thank those of you who aren't staying at the resort that choose to valet or move your cars because the self park lot is very small and when there is a convention going on during the day as was happening while we were there the self parking spots fill up and we as resort guests had to go to the valet and then go to the front desk to get the charge removed because we didn't have a place for our car in the self park lot.

Our room faced MK & the parking lot and while waiting for DH I did see the guard walking around looking in all the self park car windows to see if there were passes. I later asked about this at the guard shack and was told they really needed to crack down on people who stay all day who aren't staying at the hotel. I thanked him for that.

The guards are the first line of defense so it would help if there was consistancy in enforcing the parking rules. But as with most things it appears there are no hard and fast rules that are applied.

For a hotel the size of the CR the self parking is far too small. The Poly self park lot is much larger and it seems to absorb people who park for longer then 3 hrs. much better then CR can.

 

[Carswell Family]

What time do the monorails start running in the morning? We have a 7:15 ADR at Chef Mickey's and want to park at the TTC. We are staying off property.

 

[B-Ride]

Wouldn't that take us longer to wait for the bus to go to Magic Kingdom than to just drive our own car? We have always either driven or rented a car, we have never used the Disney Transportation System before, so I really don't know.

I'm with you. We always rent and although everyone says MK was the one place to take the bus we never did. Who wants to cram on a bus after a long day at the park?

Getting to the Contemporary will be more difficult than getting to MK after. If you drive and park at the TTC the Contemporary is the furthest stop on the resort monorail. It is the Poly, GF, and MK before the Contemporary. Your other choice is the express monorail to MK and then either walk or take the resort monorail one stop.

Going to MK afterwards, do not take the monorail as once again it is the furthest stop. Take the walkway which is a pretty quick walk.

 

[kmccartney]

Hi all! OP here, I thought that I would update everyone. Over the weekend DH & I changed our resort from CBR to Wilderness Lodge. I no longer have to be concerned about getting to the TTC and then to CL for breakfast at CM. The upgrade really is something we didn't think we could afford, but it turns out that we have a great AAA TA and we worked out the upgrade from CBR to WL. We are so happy we are doing the happy dance!