Where Should I Park for Raglan Road (1/24)?

[dwheaton]

Hello. We have a reservation for Raglan Road at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 24. I'm trying to figure out the easiest place to park given the mess at Downtown Disney with the construction.

We'll have been in the car for much of the day, so we don't mind a little walking. I'd rather find an easier spot with less chaos and be further away than park closer and get stuck in a giant traffic jam. We do have two young girls (5 1/2 and nearly 2), so I don't want it to be too crazy.

I know there is parking in the Team Disney lot, but then it would require a shuttle to get there (right?). Should I go that route? Is it easier to park in the new West Side lot and just walk to Raglan Road?

I'd love to get your thoughts.

 

[smcabee]

What are your plans for the day? Are you coming from a resort or park? Can you take the bus? I personally would not even consider taking a car to DTD right now. I would park in my hotel and bus or if im offsite I would take a cab.

 

[Kimosabe]

We have had surprisingly good luck parking at DTD the last few times we've been there (July, August and October), but I think that was pretty rare, and a little patience also helps as you stalk people potentially leaving. If all else fails, you could drive there, let the family out of the car and then be the sacrificial distant parker that walks....or utilize the valet service, which I'm sure is being used more and more lately until the construction is finished.

As noted above, you could take a bus from a resort (even if not actually staying there), or you could drive over to Port Orleans, park (with whatever reason you want to give to the security guard -- going to eat, check out the resort for future trip, etc.) and take the boat into DTD.

 

[dwheaton]

It's our first day there, and we'll arrive at our off-site condo earlier that afternoon. I'm not going to take a cab since we'll have a stroller and other items for our younger daughter. Given this fact, is there a best approach?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The new parking garage is convenient to the location of RR. If you are hitting prime time busy time, then planning to be there early enough is wise.

I have only been to DTD twice with the new garage and both have been near opening time on a Sunday. But given the time of your reservation, I would arrive to the garage no later than 5pm--but how much earlier than that is dependent upon others experiences with the garage on a Saturday night.

Traffic wise, I would approach DTD from the direction of Typhoon Lagoon as my thought would be that coming from hotel plaza blvd would be a bit more congested.

But that is contingent on where your offsite hotel is and whether you would have to take a round about way to do that. I would personally allow for 2 hours door to door, leaving my hotel no later then 4 to head down to DTD.

(But I am with the others to shy away from driving myself if it can be helped--since it seems it cannot be helped, the above would be my strategy.)

 

[dwheaton]

The new parking garage is convenient to the location of RR. If you are hitting prime time busy time, then planning to be there early enough is wise.

I have only been to DTD twice with the new garage and both have been near opening time on a Sunday. But given the time of your reservation, I would arrive to the garage no later than 5pm--but how much earlier than that is dependent upon others experiences with the garage on a Saturday night.

Traffic wise, I would approach DTD from the direction of Typhoon Lagoon as my thought would be that coming from hotel plaza blvd would be a bit more congested.

But that is contingent on where your offsite hotel is and whether you would have to take a round about way to do that. I would personally allow for 2 hours door to door, leaving my hotel no later then 4 to head down to DTD.

(But I am with the others to shy away from driving myself if it can be helped--since it seems it cannot be helped, the above would be my strategy.)

I appreciate the input. To provide some background, we're staying at the Grand Beach, which we stayed at back in 2012. It's very close to Downtown Disney. Given the time of year, do you think we would still need to leave at 4 p.m. to get there?

 

[dachsie]

Saturday seems to be the worst day to try to get around near DTD. It took me an hour to go 3 miles last March. Go really early and walk around if you have extra time.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I appreciate the input. To provide some background, we're staying at the Grand Beach, which we stayed at back in 2012. It's very close to Downtown Disney. Given the time of year, do you think we would still need to leave at 4 p.m. to get there?

People frequent DTD who aren't even day guests in addition to the folks on vacation.

Because it is a Saturday night--it will be congested. I would just to be safe.

Remember, no admission fee, free parking, lots of restaurants, a bowling venue, and a movie theater. While it may not be as busy as a busier time of year, that is just relative. I am pretty sure it will still be busy--and the construction just adds to the congestion. Also, when I last went the weekend before Christmas, the parking garage was not utilizing all parking spots for parking. Much was roped off for their equipment and materials and because of that--other spots roped off for a temporary traffic pattern. So the garage capacity is not its full capacity.

 

[Grumpy92]

I would suggest going to Pop/AOA/CBR and parking there. Just tell security that you are coming to visit the resort or having dinner. Then take the DTD bus. Give yourself plenty of travel time. Try to avoid driving on Hotel Plaza Blvd and the DTD section of Buena Vista Drive.

Shuttles from Team Disney have been spotty. Sometimes they have them sometimes they dont. I have walked from there and know exactly where I am going. It is a good walk, but with the congestion I would not suggest this with children. Guest seem to be crossing in traffic not using the crosswalks and this gets dangerous.

Parking at the parking garage has been spotty as well. Early in the day it is not too bad, but in the evening it is tough.

 

[dwheaton]

Thanks for the tips. We're just going to drive over there as early as we can that afternoon and just walk around if it isn't that bad. I recognize that going to a resort may be the best move, but taking our stroller and two girls through all the steps is too much. I'd do it if it was just my wife and I, but there are too many other factors.

 

[dwheaton]

Thanks again to everyone who provided advice.

Here's an update on how it went:

We decided to move our Raglan Road reservation to 5:15 so our girls wouldn't be out so late. We arrived at our hotel at 3:40 and quickly checked in. We arrived at Downtown Disney around 4:15 and found a parking spot in the lots on the far end of the West Side. It took a little while to get into the lot, but no more than maybe 10-15 minutes. It took a while to walk to Raglan Road, but we were all set and arrived with time to spare.

What was interesting was leaving and seeing all the empty spots. It would have been even easier if we'd arrived around 7:30 or so. Of course, that would be too late for our girls.

It ended up working out great. A lot of walking, but no major issues. We drove in from 536 and didn't go near Royal Plaza Blvd., which may have helped.