Visiting resorts without tickets

[Vols1977]

Can the general public visit a Disney resort for lunch if they aren't going to the Parks or staying onsite?

 

[Gorechick]

Yes, you can visit any of the resorts without having a park ticket or a resort reservation. However, if you are driving your own car there may be restrictions on parking at the resort as parking is meant for resort guests. If you are dining at a resort restaurant that takes ADR's, it would be a good idea to book a reservation in advance.

 

[Lynne M]

Yes, all Disney resorts are open to the public, and you're welcome to dine, shop, or just explore the resort. The pools are for use by hotel guests only, but you can use other recreational offerings like boat and bike rentals.

Parking usually isn't a problem, unless you're visiting during a holiday period, and then it's usually just the resorts closest to a theme park that restrict their parking. If you run into this, you can use valet parking.

If you're staying at an offsite hotel that has a shuttle to the Disney parks, you can use that to go to a theme park and use Disney's transportation system to get to the resorts.

 

[Vols1977]

We are going to be close by and just can't stand to be that close and not get a small taste of Disney while we're there. We just want to do a quick service meal at the Poly and look around the resort. Maybe even take a loop on the monorail . I was just worried about getting through the gate at the resort. We will be driving.

 

[luvdisney14]

Is it possible to take a boat ride from Disney springs to a resort?

 

[bitty246]

We are going to be close by and just can't stand to be that close and not get a small taste of Disney while we're there. We just want to do a quick service meal at the Poly and look around the resort. Maybe even take a loop on the monorail . I was just worried about getting through the gate at the resort. We will be driving.

We plan on doing the same next week. Last minute trip and no park tickets. I booked Dinner at Kona Café and plan to stay and have a drink at Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace to catch some MK fireworks.

 

[dansdad]

Is it possible to take a boat ride from Disney springs to a resort?

Definitely!

 

[Vols1977]

We plan on doing the same next week. Last minute trip and no park tickets. I booked Dinner at Kona Café and plan to stay and have a drink at Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace to catch some MK fireworks.

We finally decided to do Kona Cafe as well. Fireworks, the electrical boat pageant , etc. Maybe that will hold us over until our trip to Disney in November.

 

[Clare Voince]

We are going to be close by and just can't stand to be that close and not get a small taste of Disney while we're there. We just want to do a quick service meal at the Poly and look around the resort. Maybe even take a loop on the monorail . I was just worried about getting through the gate at the resort. We will be driving.

My last two trips, I stayed in the Epcot resort area, and I had time to kill between check out and when I had to leave for the airport. I didn't want to do a park, so both times I went to the Poly. First time I told the guard I was there to shop, the second time I had a Kona ADR, but they didn't check. I parked, explored the resort and took the monorail to both the CR and GF. I had no problems parking there, they never warned me about a time limit or anything.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Is it possible to take a boat ride from Disney springs to a resort?

Boats from Disney Springs go to the two Port Orleans resorts, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West. Get off at Port Orleans French Quarter and have some beignets at the food court for a taste of New Orleans.

 

[luvdisney14]

Where does the boat at boardwalk area go?

 

[Clare Voince]

Where does the boat at boardwalk area go?

The Crescent Lake loop goes from Epcot International gateway -> Boardwalk -> YC & BC -> Swan & Dolphin -> DHS then back again in reverse order.

 

[Surgie2]

Can the general public visit a Disney resort for lunch if they aren't going to the Parks or staying onsite?

We did this earlier this year with no dining reservations and visited Poly, GF, Contemporary and WL. We were asked for an ID at the gate of each parking lot (I'm not sure what good that actually does for security? Maybe it just gives the guard a moment to check you out if they are looking for something suspicious?) We asked for a tour at the Poly since we were planning to reserve for 2018 and a very nice CM showed us around, took us to the Hawaii Bldg at our request and even showed us a room. We stayed for a drink at Sam's on the patio, then took the monorail to GF for a walk on the grounds and a snack and drink in the lounge. It was no problem at all. We left our car at Poly for under 3 hours so it wasn't a problem to take the monorail to GF and back. Not sure the 3 hours is actually enforced but I wouldn't want to clog up parking for guests of the resort.