Resort Hopping - where to park?

[michelle06]

During our stay, we'd like to take our "day off to relax" to resort hop. We are staying OFF property. Mainly we'd like to hit the resorts for some pin trading. I am wondering where the best place to park would be. I am not trying to get away with anything! We thought maybe we'd take the resort monorail to the MK resorts and then maybe over the Poly (or whichever one is on the Epcot monorail). Is our only option to pay $15 and park at MK? I hate to pay that much just to go to the resorts for some pin trading but am unsure what other options there may be other than driving to each one separately. While I am not going to try and circumvent the system, if there is another good place to park that might be cheaper, I would prefer it. Or maybe there is another way that I didn't think of. Thanks for any help.

Yes, I am aware of the threads that say some suggest to park at one of the resorts and walk to MK from there. I know that is wrong and do not plan to do that.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Parking at DTD is free, but may be difficult depending on the day and time.

 

[DOOM1001]

There's no resort on the Epcot monorail.The Epcot monorail is accessed at the TTC where you can also get the resort monorail which stops at the Poly,Contemporary and Grand Floridian and MK.You can park at the hotels for 3 hours to check out the resorts,so what I would do is park at the Wilderness Lodge which is not on the monorail line but has a boat to MK,check it out,take the boat to MK and get on the resort monorail to see the GF,Poly and Contemporary.To see the Epcot resorts which are located between Epcots World Showcase and DHS I would just park at either the Boardwalk or Y&B club to check them out as well as the Swan and Dolphin.The other hotel that's pretty much a must do for me is AKL which is located way out west on it's own so just drive to it to check it out.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I believe you can park at a resort for 3 hours? I am pretty sure pin trading (in terms of the pin boards) only happen during specific hours at the resorts. Perhaps if you park at one of the monorail resorts, grab a bite to eat at one of them, then ride the monorail around to the 3 resorts, you would have enough time?
You could also head over and park at one of the Epcot resorts and hit the YC, BC and Boardwalk.
Last stop could be AKL...tons of fabulous things to see there.

 

[DOOM1001]

Parking at DTD is free, but may be difficult depending on the day and time.

Parking at DTD right now is a pretty big mess with the Disney Springs construction,if you have the time or if you want to visit DTD as well I would consider it but just be mindful of the construction.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving to Resorts

 

[Deb & Bill]

I believe you can park at a resort for 3 hours? I am pretty sure pin trading (in terms of the pin boards) only happen during specific hours at the resorts. Perhaps if you park at one of the monorail resorts, grab a bite to eat at one of them, then ride the monorail around to the 3 resorts, you would have enough time?
You could also head over and park at one of the Epcot resorts and hit the YC, BC and Boardwalk.
Last stop could be AKL...tons of fabulous things to see there.

That is with an ADR at the resort. You could valet park, but that would be more expensive than the TTC parking lot.

 

[michelle06]

There's no resort on the Epcot monorail.

Until our last trip we had never taken the monorail from TTC to Epcot. However, we noticed that it went inside a resort. Which one is this? When taking the resort monorail from TTC to MK we never stopped here.

I believe you can park at a resort for 3 hours? I am pretty sure pin trading (in terms of the pin boards) only happen during specific hours at the resorts.

We only discovered pin trading at resorts on our last trip. (we stay at a timeshare off property) We had only traded in parks prior to our last trip. We were eating at Sanaa and went upstairs to find pin trading. I think a CM at the restaurant mentioned it as we didn't even realize we could do it. We asked as the books were not out and they happily obliged. Are there set times? If so, how do we find what these are?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Until our last trip we had never taken the monorail from TTC to Epcot. However, we noticed that it went inside a resort. Which one is this? When taking the resort monorail from TTC to MK we never stopped here....

The MK resort monorail stops at the Contemporary, the TTC, the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian and the MK. The Epcot monorail goes from the TTC to Epcot so no resorts at all on that monorail. And you would have to have park admission to walk through Epcot to get to the Epcot resorts.

 

[revdon64]

Until our last trip we had never taken the monorail from TTC to Epcot. However, we noticed that it went inside a resort. Which one is this? When taking the resort monorail from TTC to MK we never stopped here.

We only discovered pin trading at resorts on our last trip. (we stay at a timeshare off property) We had only traded in parks prior to our last trip. We were eating at Sanaa and went upstairs to find pin trading. I think a CM at the restaurant mentioned it as we didn't even realize we could do it. We asked as the books were not out and they happily obliged. Are there set times? If so, how do we find what these are?

You're mistaken. The monorail between TTC and EPCOT does not pass through any buildings or resorts. It is simply a loop connecting the two and completely outdoors. The monorail that goes from TTC to MK goes through Poly, GF and Contemporary, the last of which does indeed go through the center of the main building. It's the Contemporary that you're likely thinking of, but again, it's not on the EPCOT line.

 

[michelle06]

You're mistaken. The monorail between TTC and EPCOT does not pass through any buildings or resorts. It is simply a loop connecting the two and completely outdoors. The monorail that goes from TTC to MK goes through Poly, GF and Contemporary, the last of which does indeed go through the center of the main building. It's the Contemporary that you're likely thinking of, but again, it's not on the EPCOT line.

Thank you. I looked it up on youtube and yes, it's the Comtemporary I'm thinking of. We had never seen the Contemporary before. We have taken the resort monorail from TTC to MK. I wonder if this last time we took the resort monorail from MK to TTC? And that's how we saw it this past time? I can't remember as it's now been over a year. We also took the monorail to Epcot for the first time so I must have confused the 2 rides. We usually drive to the parks but had a lot of car trouble on our last trip.

So does anyone know how to know when pin trading occurs at resorts? Thanks!