Question about parking

[tzuhouse]

We were only going to rent a car for two separate days, for Kennedy Space Center and then 4 days later for Canaveral national Seashore. But, for $110 more, we can get an SUV instead of a little car and have it for 5 full days, including the day we are going to tour the resorts and such. I know that parking at the parks is free for resorts guests, but what about parking at the resorts themselves. Is that free? I see it as a positive that we could drive ourselves to AKL for our 8:00 Breakfast ADR and our 8:05 CRT. Is there a problem with private vehicles arriving into the park parking lots much earlier than the park opens? Wasn't sure if you could even get into a parking lot with your own vehicle until a certain time or if you can drive in at any point.

Thanks for any advice you can give. I'm holding 3 separate ressies for rental car at this point.

Mary

 

[WedwayRocks]

I believe if you have reservations at one of the restaurants at the resort in question, you can park for up to 3 hours at the resort.

 

[oogieboogie]

You can park at the resorts up to 3 hours. I'll be frank... the only ones that I've seen really enforce this rule are the MK resorts and one time at BC. The other resorts, lots of times they'll just wave you thru without giving you a pass.

You can go to the resorts at any time of day. There's always a security guard 24/7. Just drive up to the guard station and tell them you're visiting. They'll either wave you thru or give you a parking pass that you'll put on your dashboard.

 

[tzuhouse]

What about the parks, themselves? Can we drive in park and walk to the front of the park at 7:30am when it doesn't open until 9:00am? Just need to get all my ducks in a row before I decide, for sure, to rent this car for several days. And, I understand the thing about parking for 3 hours if we have ressies for food, but what if we are just touring the resort and looking at decorations? Are they going to give us an issue?

Thanks again.
Mary

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

The Swan and Dolphin charge for parking, the Disney resorts do not.

 

[wildernessfamily]

kind of off the subject, but if you are planning on doing Canaveral national seashore there are roads/trails you ride with your car to certain points. There is one place where you can see manatee's in the wild,( not sure if they are there all year long) but when you go in ask a ranger. It has been a while and I can't remember name/point but it is a really nice experience, you can't touch them or anything..but you get close enough to get some good pictures. You will like the beach there too.

 

[kaytieeldr]

"What about the parks, themselves? Can we drive in park and walk to the front of the park at 7:30am when it doesn't open until 9:00am?"

The park parking lots don't open until there are Cast Members in the booths to collect the parking fee, so if that's what you're asking, no, you can't do it.

 

[tzuhouse]

Okay, so how do people that have ADRs at 8:00am and are staying off site get to the park in time, when the park doesn't open until 9:00am? Why would they have ADRs that early if some people that make them can't get there?

Mary

 

[oogieboogie]

If there is a person manning the parking booth, you can get into the parking lot. We've gone to park at TTC around 8am when MK doesn't open until 9am. Most of the time we've parked there, they've been open around 7:30ish. The trams are running, the monorail is running, there are people manning the parks.

Why would you want to park at 7:30am though if your ADR isn't until 8 or 8:05 at the earliest?

 

[tzuhouse]

Well, I'm not sure how long it will take us to walk from the parking lot to the gates, show our ADR info to whomever needs to see it to let us in, then walk to our restaurant and be there by 8:00am or 8:05am, depending on the ADR. I hate being late for anything and with a 6 year old and 4 year old, they may be running or may be walking like turtles looking around. Is the parking lot right next to the gates?

mary

 

[oogieboogie]

The parking lots of AK, MGM, and Epcot are near the entrance, easily walking distance or tram. That early in the morning, you can get a spot fairly close to the entrance, so about 5-10 minute walk, no need for trams.

The only one that is a little iffy is MK because the parking lot is at the TTC. When you park there, you have to walk to the TTC (3-5 minutes) then take a monorail to MK. The express monorail will take about 10 minutes to get to TTC + any wait time (shouldn't be too long).

Each park will have a designated turnstile for early diners, you'll go in thru that turnstile only. Usually there isn't a line there. The whole process should be less than a minute.

At MK, I'd say the walk to CP or CRT should take no more than 5 minutes. It's not that far. At Epcot, maybe 10 minutes, since you have to walk from the front of Epcot all the way to Norway. At AK, same thing... around 10 minutes or so. This is leisurely walking time, not running full sprint.

 

[tzuhouse]

Thanks! I really need that information!!!! I'll make notes and that way we can sleep later on some of the days!

Mary

 

[stschaefer]

We drove because it was our last day and didn't want to chance the busses not getting us there on time. We drove in before 8 and took the monorail. You can then enter by the right side by stating your name and reservation for a character breakfast. They check your name and let you in. I don't know the exact time they start letting people in - but you could probably start parking at or before 7:30.