alternates to theme park parking lots?

[slappy magoo]

Hello again, all.

Going to WDW late August/early September. Most likely staying 5 nights at PO-FQ, and 5 nights at the Carribbean. Even though we're staying on-site, we plan on renting a car, mainly so that we can try some restaurants at other resorts. Which is where my question comes in.

Are we allowed to leave a car in other hotel parking lots? For example, if we wanted to have breakfast at the Cape May Cafe, we could walk or ferry to Epcot afterwards without having to go to the Epcot lots. Or if we intend to have dinner at the Contemporary resort one night, it'd be great to park the car there during the day, monorail to the MK, come back, have dinner and leave from the hotel, rather than deal with re-parking the car or going back to the park to pick up the car.

Of course, the paranoaic in me figures they have ways to combat people using the parking lots of resorts near the parks, or else EVERYONE would park at the resorts and use the monorails or ferrys to get over. Is there a system like that? Or does staying at one hotel give you the OK to park your car anywhere on-site?

Thanks in advance,

slappy magoo

 

[ddbutts1]

You can park without having to pay at the parks but I don't think you can go to other resorts with the pass. Another alternative is to drive to a park then ride a resort bus, or just take the bus to a park and ride to the resort from there. We've had cars while staying on property but sometimes it is just easier to use the transportation.

 

[tigsmom]

Your parking pass for the resorts you are staying at allow for free parking on WDW property. Just make sure its displayed on the dash. When you arrive at the Contemporary, say, tell them you are here for (insert meal). That will allow you to park. I've been told that some Resorts have a time limit for "visitor" parking, but we have never had a problem. We eat at other resorts and wander around. :wave:

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Turthfully, I would stick with Disney transportation. It works so much better than using a car. Busses will drop you off at the entrance to each park.

If you plan on eating breakfast at another resort, I don't think it would be a problem to leave your car there. But if you can get there with Disney transport instead, it may just be easier.

 

[wolf29]

I've done the same thing a number of times. The Contemporary is the hardest to park at because of it's proximity to MK. You are issued a temporary pass, usually for 3-4 hours. I've never had any difficulty with doing this. Boardwalk has always been a breeze, as is Polynesian. Just tell the guard that you want to see the place and maybe have lunch/dinner.

 

[JaSnake16]

This is from experience. The only resort that does not allow you to stay parked in its lot is the Contemporary, even if you are staying at another WDW resort. They have the priority seating lists and times at the security gate at the entrance of the PL. They give you a temporary pass that is only good for 3 hours to park their and the guards were very adamant about making sure that you only have 3 hours, not rude but adamant. I would assume they would tow you if you try to abuse it. I guess they had to do this because too many people were trying to get away with parking in the Contemporary lot instead of in the visitors lot for DW.

 

[JBSLJames]

So, if you have a car, it would be your recommendation to use it other than the bus system?

 

[tigsmom]

We will use our car in the evening if we are travelling to the Boardwalk, mini golf, shopping or planning on staying out very late. Its just easier for us. We try to rely on WDW transportation as much as possible.

 

[Laura]

I'm glad I read this thread. I was planning to park at the Contemporary to have dinner at Chef Mickey's and leave the car there while I finished off the night at MK (on an e-ride night).

Now I might just park at TTC and use the monorail.

Wait now I can't think. Is there a monorail from TTC to the Contemporary??

 

[humphrybear]

Originally posted by Laura22
I'm glad I read this thread. I was planning to park at the Contemporary to have dinner at Chef Mickey's and leave the car there while I finished off the night at MK (on an e-ride night).

Now I might just park at TTC and use the monorail.

Wait now I can't think. Is there a monorail from TTC to the Contemporary??

Yes there is! We have breakfast scheduled with Chef Mickey on Monday around 8am. We plan to park at the TTC and take the monorail to the Contemporary and then continue to the park afterwards.

When you park at the TTC there are 3 monorails.
- Magic Kingdom
- EPCOT
- Contemporary

Just watch the signs and you will be fine.

 

[phlydude]

The monorail to the Contemporary is the "Resort Loop" Monorail. It does go to the Contemporary but stops at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom and finally the Contemporary before making it's way back to the TTC. You may want to take the Monorail or Ferry to the Magic Kingdom gate and then hop a water launch over to the Contemporary.

 

[JaSnake16]

You can actually walk over to the Contemprary from the MK, entrance. Its about 10 minutes and would save you the time of waiting for the ferry.

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by JaSnake16
You can actually walk over to the Contemprary from the MK, entrance. Its about 10 minutes and would save you the time of waiting for the ferry.

Security stopped me from doing that. Or at least this one particular bloke did. He said as I did not have Contemporary resort ID that I had to walk back to the place and take the monorail. This was several years ago.

Regarding parking in other resorts, I've never stayed onsite but when I ate at Animal Kingdom Lodge five times. All I had to do was show the guard at the gate a photo ID and they issued me with a slip to go on the dashboard. It said three-hour limit, but without a time from when the limit started, so I doubt they enforce it. The slip also says that you do not have pool privileges.

 

[wolf29]

We have walked a number of times from Contemporary to MK. If you tell the guard that you are going to dine or check out the resort you would obviously not want to be seen then walking to the Park. I've gotten temporary permits many times. Most all have a time written as to when it expires, but I have never been given a hard time by anyone. You can easily park @ the Polynesian and take the monorail to MK. This gives a number of options for returning to your care. It is a quick walk from TTC(ferry or monorail to there from MK) monorail ride, or ferry.

 

[Billy6]

Heres a senario simliar to the original question?

Could you, if you were staying at an outside hotel/resort, off disney property, park at DwnTwn Disney, Marketplace, or WestSide( which is free parking) and take a Bus to a resort, or t-and-t center and transfer to any park and not have to pay for parking at the parks????

this has crossed my mind several times, cause my fam has a condo off property and 7-8 bucks a day can be a little much??

Any thoughts??

 

[phlydude]

Yes you could but is all that time spent on a bus worth saving 7 or 8 bucks?

 

[Billy6]

to answer your question..yeah it probably would...Would I do it..maybe once or twice. But being on a bus doesnt bother me..

And saving 7-8 bucks could get me a few Mickey premium bars....hehehehe

 

[Coree]

Originally posted by wolf29
I've done the same thing a number of times. The Contemporary is the hardest to park at because of it's proximity to MK. You are issued a temporary pass, usually for 3-4 hours. I've never had any difficulty with doing this. Boardwalk has always been a breeze, as is Polynesian. Just tell the guard that you want to see the place and maybe have lunch/dinner.

Strangely enough, our experience has been just the opposite. We usually end up at both the Poly and the Contemporary a couple of time each visit for meals. For the past few years, we've received a three-hour parking pass every trip to the Poly--those guards have been like the Gestapo. On the other hand, we've been able to park at the Contemporary with no problem and even been able to then walk over to MK. I'm sure it just completely depends on which guard you get.

 

[tztowerofterror]

Originally posted by phlydude
Yes you could but is all that time spent on a bus worth saving 7 or 8 bucks?

i think the wdw transportation is half the experience! waiting on a bus, getting crammed in like sardines...i think it's kinda fun! i would definately just take a bus to one of the parks and then transfer to the other hotels. it's the only way to go! :lol:

 

[Laura]

The monorail to the Contemporary is the "Resort Loop" Monorail. It does go to the Contemporary but stops at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom and finally the Contemporary before making it's way back to the TTC.

Ok that's why I couldn't remember a monorail going from TTC to the Contemporary, because it goes the opposite way! I knew I wasn't nuts. :lol:

Could you, if you were staying at an outside hotel/resort, off disney property, park at DwnTwn Disney, Marketplace, or WestSide( which is free parking) and take a Bus to a resort, or t-and-t center and transfer to any park and not have to pay for parking at the parks????

Nope you can't! I don't believe there are busses that go from the parks to DTD and back. We learned this the hard way. In September we spent half a day at MK and wanted to go straight from MK to DTD. We looked all over and there was no bus that went from MK to DTD. So we took the ferry to TTC. Looked all over TTC and again, no bus to DTD. We asked a CM and we were told we'd have to catch a bus from one of the resorts. So we hopped on the monorail and went over to the Polynesian to wait for a DTD bus. I guess that is not a common route in the middle of the day because we ended up waiting about an hour for a bus! It ended up taking us about 3 hours just to get to DTD from MK with all that hassle!

I won't ever try that again!