Resort Hopping Questions

[Mountain_Mater]

Hello everyone, me and my family are heading down to Orlando in a few days because I am going to be starting a seven month Disney College Program on June 3rd. We are not staying on property but wanted to visit some of the resorts while we are down there. I have read a few times recently that Disney has sort of been cracking down on people temporarily parking at resorts. My main question is, is it a common thing now to be told you can not park at a resort for a short period so you can look around? And also, I had heard that you can park at Disney Springs and take buses/boats/monorail to most of the resorts. Can anyone use Disney transportation even if you are not staying at a resort or going to a park? Lastly, people who have resort hopped before, what would be some of your overall suggestions on the best way to do it?

 

[Lynne M]

Anyone can use the Disney transportation, but the buses to and from Disney Springs are a really slow way to get around. You’ll burn a lot of time waiting for buses and riding buses.

Most of the time, you’ll have no trouble parking at the resorts. They seem to be a bit more restrictive around major holiday periods, particularly at deluxes that are close to a theme park.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

As Lynne M said, you can park for free at DS and take a bus to the Disney resorts though it will waste time. To guarantee parking at a deluxe resort, you can make an ADR at one of the resort restaurants. If you aren't interested in an ADR, I would suggest valet parking your car. It's $33, but you only have to pay that fee once, so, for instance, if you drive to Poly and valet park to see the MK resorts, when you are done, you can drive to one of the EP resorts and valet park there for free and then drive to AK and valet park there for free as well. Just make sure to keep your receipt to show to the valet each time you drive up to the resort.

I would consider driving and valet parking at the Contemporary. You can then take the monorail to see Poly and Grand Floridian, then head back to the Contemporary and take the boat to Wilderness Lodge and the Ft. Wilderness. After that, I would head to the Boardwalk (I would try to get here in the evening to see the entertainment) and walk around to see Swan/Dolphin, YC and BC. After experiencing the Boardwalk, if you are up for it, you could drive to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Another option would be to park at Disney Springs and take the boat to one of the Port Orleans resorts. You could then explore those properties and take a park bus from there to see the deluxe resorts. If doing this, you could bus to MK to see the monorail resorts plus WL and Ft. W or to DHS to see the EP resorts. That will take more time than driving and valet parking, but it would be free. If you went this route and got tired of waiting for buses during your adventure, you could always get uber/lyft at a fairly small cost to get you back to your car or to the next resort.

 

[_19disnA]

We were recently at Disney and took the bus from Disney Springs back to the Contemporary. Thought it worked out fine. If you are making a day of visiting the various resorts, you can use the monorail to also visit the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. Anyone can board the bus and/or monorail, they don't check or ask where you are staying. Many of the negative comments on various threads about buses seems to relate more to time 'lost' that could have been spent at a park.

 

[Deb & Bill]

As Lynne M said, you can park for free at DS and take a bus to the Disney resorts though it will waste time. To guarantee parking at a deluxe resort, you can make an ADR at one of the resort restaurants. If you aren't interested in an ADR, I would suggest valet parking your car. It's $33, but you only have to pay that fee once, so, for instance, if you drive to Poly and valet park to see the MK resorts, when you are done, you can drive to one of the EP resorts and valet park there for free and then drive to AK and valet park there for free as well. Just make sure to keep your receipt to show to the valet each time you drive up to the resort.

I would consider driving and valet parking at the Contemporary. You can then take the monorail to see Poly and Grand Floridian, then head back to the Contemporary and take the boat to Wilderness Lodge and the Ft. Wilderness. After that, I would head to the Boardwalk (I would try to get here in the evening to see the entertainment) and walk around to see Swan/Dolphin, YC and BC. After experiencing the Boardwalk, if you are up for it, you could drive to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Another option would be to park at Disney Springs and take the boat to one of the Port Orleans resorts. You could then explore those properties and take a park bus from there to see the deluxe resorts. If doing this, you could bus to MK to see the monorail resorts plus WL and Ft. W or to DHS to see the EP resorts. That will take more time than driving and valet parking, but it would be free. If you went this route and got tired of waiting for buses during your adventure, you could always get uber/lyft at a fairly small cost to get you back to your car or to the next resort.

However, plan on tipping the valet parking each time you move your vehicle. That could add up to a bit of money.