Want to see resort decorations but staying offsite - questions!

[buckler]

We are staying offsite on our trip from 12/11-12/18. However, we would like to visit some of the Disney hotels to see the holiday decorations. I have 2 children aged 4 and 6. Can you experts answer a few questions for me?

1) Can we park at the resorts? If so, how much is it? Would our parking pass that we paid for earlier in the day to visit the parks cover the resort parking or is it a seperate charge? How much extra is valet vs. regular parking?

2) Which hotels are "must sees" if we only can go to a few (kids may be tired after a day at the parks)?

3) Can any of the best decorated hotels be reached easily using Disney transportation or is driving the best option with young kids?

I greatly appreciate any help. I had to reschedule our vacation twice due to a family illness. I never planned to be at Disney anywhere near Christmas so I'm trying to modify my original plans to take advantage of being there during the holidays. We definitely need a bit of Disney magic to get us into the Christmas mood after everything we have been through lately!

 

[oogieboogie]

1. You can have up to 3 hrs parking at each resort. At the MK resorts (CR, Poly, GF) they're usually pretty strict about the time limit. You will be given a parking pass to put on your dashboard that has the time you came in and the time limit.
Parking is free. If you want to valet at the deluxes, it's $6 per day.

2. The must sees definitely are WL and GF. Very very beautiful. AKL is also very nice and unique. I personally love WL and POR, but WL is my very favorite.

3. If you're at MK, it's easy to go to the GF - just take the monorail. To WL, just take the boat from MK. The other resorts you can easily take the bus from any park. The fastest way would still be driving yourself down to each resort.

Disney is definitely magical with all the decorations. It's just breathtaking.

Have a great time!

 

[kathymc]

we did this last year - parked at the Poly and had breakfast at Kona Cafe - hopped on the monorail to Grand Floridian - hopped on the monorail to MK - hopped on the boat to WL and then back to MK to get monorail back to Poly to our car. It was a great way to spend our last morning.