Valet Parking at Disney Resorts

[dirtnap101]

It's been awhile since my last WDW trip (May 2001), and I know that in the years since they have really cracked down on the parking at Disney deluxe/monorail resorts for people who aren't guests of that resort (PS numbers required, names checked, license plates recorded, 3 hour max dashboard passes, etc). I have no issues with the policy and do not want to circumvent it, but I do have a question about valet parking after I spew some background info on our trip.

We are staying an Emerald Island townhouse and although we will be very close to AK and pretty close to the DS and Epcot, we are far away from the MK. The time it takes to park at the TTC, catch a tram, then catch a monorail/ferry to finally get to the park is a nice experience (it gives it a build up, a bit of mystery I still think about from when I was a kid and went to the MK) and on the other hand it's a time-waster that I don't wish to do more than once during our trip.

So since we are not staying on Disney property I am trying to think of easier ways to get us to the MK. First I thought about parking at the AK lot as it is very close to our complex and typically opens the earlier than the other parks, and then catching a Disney bus from AK to MK. But the Unofficial Guide seems to indicate that will take the same amount of time as driving our car. That seems a bit out of whack, I'd think it would definitely be faster catching the bus from AK as it goes right to the MK entrance, avoiding parking, trams, monorails, etc. Can anyone verify that?

Then I read just about every post on these forums about parking at the resorts that I could find. People kept mentioning valet parking. They seemed to indicate that if you use valet parking at any of the MK resorts that you can park all day, no hassles or questions, and you can show the hang tag at other resorts that day and not have to pay again for valet parking at another resort. Is this true? I suppose if it is it would apply to the Epcot resorts as well, which could come in handy.

I have no problem dropping the extra cash plus tips for valet parking if it saves us time or fits well with our plans (like maybe exiting Epcot via the Intl Gateway after Illuminations), but is this acceptable under Disney's rules?

Any help would be most appreciated, thanks.

 

[Chuck S]

I don't know if it is "against" the rules, but I'm not sure it will save you any time. If the valets happen to be busy, it can take a few minutes for you to receive your claim tag. Then walking to/from MK (if parked at CR), or still having to hop the monorail (which can also take time for loading and unloading), I just don't see the time savings as being more than about 5 minutes. MK parking to tram to monorail doesn't take all that long.

 

[DebbieB]

There are signs at each MK and Epcot resort saying they do not provide theme park parking, so it would be "against the rules" if you don't have business at that resort (PS, shopping, etc). But I think alot depends on how crowded they are. If the lot is not crowded, they would probably not give you a problem. But if it is crowded, they may check PS lists.

 

[DemoBri1]

This past November we had PS at Chef Mickey's on a Saturday evening. Since we didn't get a chance to stay for fireworks earlier in the week, we decided that we wanted to hop over to MK after dinner. I was concerned about the time limit parking at CR (we were staying at BCV). I called the front desk at BCV and they confirmed that there is normally a 3 hour limit, but they then suggested to me that I might think of utilizing Valet. So when I arrived at the CR, I asked the front gate guard and they confirmed once again that there was a 3hr limit if I parked it myself. Since Valet was only $6 I decided to spring for this and we monorailed over to the MK. We stayed until Wishes was over, which was about 10:00. By the time we got back on the monorail and arrived back at the CR, however, it was about 10:35. This was due to the fact that MK was clearing out and we had to wait for 3 monorails before we could get on one.

Now...I'm not trying to condone what you are thinking of doing. If you have a PS at one of the MK resorts or at another resort, then I would say by all means you can probably get away with it, but I wouldn't attempt it if you didn't have other business at the resort that day.

 

[mareed]

We had an experience that was different than all that I'd read here on the DIS involving valet parking at the Contemporary over our XMAS trip. All that I'd read indicated that the 3 hour parking limit didn't apply if you valet parked.

We arrived on Dec. 27 for our 10:50 Chef Mickey's PS at 10:30. First thing was the person at the security gate couldn't find our PS under our name. I provided our PS number, and then they let us through with a 3-hour parking permit. As we were planning to also rent the water mice and take the monorail around to tour the other Deluxe resorts, we knew we'd be longer than the 3 hours, so we planned to valet park. But, the person handling the valet parking told us the same 3 hour limit applied even with valet if we weren't guests of the hotel! I stammered a bit and told him that I'd been told otherwise and that we planned to do other things at the resort besides our breakfast, and he said he'd make an exception for us.

At the time we were arriving, we knew that arriving through the Magic Kingdom toll plaza wouldn't work, so we took a back way into the resort. As we entered behind the toll plaza, we could see traffic built up at the toll plaza as far back as we could see and could tell that the parking lot was full and that they were immediately routing cars back through the exit, so Magic Kingdom must have been closed to off-site guests at that point. I mention this because parking at the Contemporary was our only way of making it to our PS at Chef Mickey's on that date/time, and I'm not sure what we would have done if they'd enforced the 3 hour limit even for valet. I guess we just wouldn't have been able to rent the water mice...

Contrary to this experience, we had a Pirate Cruise for the kids later in the trip, and had no trouble with valet parking at the Grand Floridian. They never mentioned the 3 hour limit there. So, I guess like so many other things Disney, it all depends on who you happen to be dealing with because they aren't consistent with their policies.

 

[Brian Noble]

Disney often seems to employ the "principle of least disappointment" as their consistent policy. The PoLD applies in this case as: when lots are not full, and there is no reason to worry, no one much bothers with three hour time limits and the like, as that would disappoint the guest. When the lots are nearing full, things become much tighter, because a sleeping guest unable to park would be "more disappointed" than the day guest hoping to stretch their three hours to four.

 

[Docsknotinn]

I think that parking at a resort to go to a park when you have no intent of conducting any buisiness at the resort is simply wrong. This is the very thing that has led to parking rules etc. Park in the parking lot where you intend to go along with everyone else. You can not just valet all day for $6 because your time is more valuable than everyone elses. Ok I'll jump off my soap box now.

 

[dirtnap101]

As I said, I have no problem with following Disney's guidelines for parking at the resorts. But it's up to the Walt Disney Company to make, publish and enforce the parking rules at their resorts. I think part of the problem is the only way to really find out the Disney policy on this is to come to an internet message board and see what real people have experienced.

I clearly understand that is it wrong to park for free at a resort and then run off to one of the parks. But from my research it seemed as though Disney had not enforced the rules on the valet parking side of things. It's not free, and with the tipping it is more expensive than parking at the park's lot, etc. I figure if Disney knows they have an issue with people parking where they shouldn't, and they institute a strictly enforced policy against the self-parkers, AND they don't appear to institute the same policy against valet parking, then I figure they did that on purpose and have deemed it okay.

Certainly some of the posts above indicate that, depending on the time of year and attendance, they will enforce the policy on valet parking as well as self-parking. On the flip side, apparently if you ask them at certain times of the year they will even suggest that you valet park in order to spend the evening in the MK. Which gets back to the problem of Disney not effectively communicating the policy and certainly not uniformly enforcing their policy. It creates all sorts of confusion for guests, especially ones that don't have a lot of experience in WDW or don't frequent message boards.

After all, if I drive up to a resort to self-park, with no experience at it on my part, and I am asked why I want to park there, what my PS is, what my license plate is, etc., I get the idea that they take their parking rules seriously. If I drive up to that same resort and go to the valet, and they take my car, no questions asked and no comments made, then in that situation I think I have to believe that it's okay to do. I don't know what their parking capacity is, etc., so if they are letting me do it I have to assume it's okay. Very much like being allowed by a cast member to stay in your ride vehicle and ride again. If they're letting me ride again I sort of assume that I'm not taking up another person's ride time.

So since it isn't clear whether it's okay or not to valet park at a resort and then go to a park, I have crossed off the whole idea completely as I don't know what to expect. Which was the point of my original post - is it okay by Disney?

Having said that, does anyone have any insight on whether parking at AK in the AM and taking a bus from there to the MK will save us any time? Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

[GoldenOldie]

...So since we are not staying on Disney property I am trying to think of easier ways to get us to the MK. First I thought about parking at the AK lot as it is very close to our complex and typically opens the earlier than the other parks, and then catching a Disney bus from AK to MK. But the Unofficial Guide seems to indicate that will take the same amount of time as driving our car. That seems a bit out of whack, I'd think it would definitely be faster catching the bus from AK as it goes right to the MK entrance, avoiding parking, trams, monorails, etc. Can anyone verify that?

The bus from AK to the MK (as well as the MGM to MK bus) does NOT go right to the MK bus depot. Only buses from the resorts go there. It goes to the TTC where you would have to take the monorail or boat over. That's the reason why it would take you just as long as driving.

 

[Docsknotinn]

I am glad that you realize it is simply a issue of -- IF -- they are enforceing the rules. Clearly it is innapropriate to park in valet at a resort for the sole purpose of park admission even if it does cost more. I think it's clear that this year they are stepping up security measures in checking parking, AP's etc.

 

[dirtnap101]

Thanks GoldenOldie, answers that question definitively. I had completely forgotten about buses from other parks going to the MK ending up at the TTC and not at the doorestep of the MK.