Some Flamingo Crossing hotels now charge for parking

[MIChessGuy]

This is a regrettable, if not totally unexpected development. I stayed a few years ago at the Springhill Suites when most of the adjacent retail area was still under development. (The Domino's in particular was a nice respite from paying $12 for a slice of theme park pizza.) To my recollection, the Springhill was not charging any resort or parking or other rubbish fees at that time. The good old days never last forever.

 

[traveler9]

I stayed at Home2 last year and just used the digital key and never stopped by the front desk, but I was still charged for parking. Since I never checked in at the desk I didn't have a parking pass and never had a problem. In theory I could have just gone to the desk and told them I didn't have a car and probably wouldn't have been charged, but oh well. With them upping the fee I wonder if they will start enforcing it.

This means there are probably people who use rideshare and don't have a car for their stay and get unknowingly charged. A real slimeball move by these hotels.

 

[rdaky]

Home2, Homewood, Fairfield, and Residence Inn hotels are all charging $20/day now for parking with no limit on the number of days you're charged- you will be charged per day for your entire length of stay.

I could maybe understand charging to park in the parking structure that is shared between three of these hotels, but otherwise this seems outrageous. Especially with the abundance of available parking in that area (even the mid to upper levels of the parking structure are typically empty). We've stayed there dozens of times over the past few years and have enjoyed our time there, but sadly this is a deal breaker for us and our extended stays as it just adds up to too much.

That really is outrageous. There is plenty of parking there. I can see it being an issue far into the future as they continue adding more restaurants and shops, and I've heard at least one more hotel. But right now? That entire parking lot between the Homewood/Home2 and Target are almost always completely empty.

 

[traveler9]

That really is outrageous. There is plenty of parking there. I can see it being an issue far into the future as they continue adding more restaurants and shops, and I've heard at least one more hotel. But right now? That entire parking lot between the Homewood/Home2 and Target are almost always completely empty.

True, and there are even parking lots where they haven’t added buildings yet.

 

[Tony Toon]

We ended up staying at All Star Music. Worked out cheaper even once we’d taken the ‘free’ breakfast at Homewood Suites into account. We were a bit sceptical as we’d never stayed at one of the value resorts but ended up having a fantastic time without the extended travel times to and from Disney property. The room is much smaller and we didn’t have the kitchen facilities but given how little time we spend in the room it wasn’t a problem. It’s 2 years since we’ve visited and we were quite surprised at just how busy the roads surrounding Disney have become. We always used to split our time on and offsite with hotels/villas but with just the two of us now would be more inclined to stay onsite for the whole time next time.

 

[traveler9]

We ended up staying at All Star Music. Worked out cheaper even once we’d taken the ‘free’ breakfast at Homewood Suites into account. We were a bit sceptical as we’d never stayed at one of the value resorts but ended up having a fantastic time without the extended travel times to and from Disney property. The room is much smaller and we didn’t have the kitchen facilities but given how little time we spend in the room it wasn’t a problem. It’s 2 years since we’ve visited and we were quite surprised at just how busy the roads surrounding Disney have become. We always used to split our time on and offsite with hotels/villas but with just the two of us now would be more inclined to stay onsite for the whole time next time.

Western Way leaving WDW at rush hour is awful. I frequently went back about that time after a midday break at the hotel and it was bumper to bumper all the way from 429 almost to Coronado.

 

[rdaky]

Western Way leaving WDW at rush hour is awful. I frequently went back about that time after a midday break at the hotel and it was bumper to bumper all the way from 429 almost to Coronado.

Yes, it really is. It's completely fine at any other time, but rush hour is terrible. It has taken me an hour to get from Disney Springs area to Flamingo if I go at the wrong time.