Animal Kingdom Lodge & picking up rental car the night before checkout

storm180

New Member
Original Poster
Has anyone gotten parking fee waived at the Animal Kingdom lodge? I am picking up my rental car the night before we check out at 4pm and probably won't get back to the lodge until 10pm that evening. We are due to checkout the next morning and I thought it would be easier to start our day by already having the rental car but really didn't want to get hit with the $24 fee. I guess in the grand scheme of Disney it isn't too much but during my 9 day stay there I won't have a car at all. Do I have to notify the front desk that I will have car on the last day?

I do have another rental car reservation reserved for the morning I checkout, originally I was planning to take a lyft or uber to the car rental place at the Swan & Dolphin and pick up my car.


Sean
 

Hcalvert

Well-Known Member
Who did you rent from? My brother rented from Alamo and they came and picked him up. They also provided a ride to the resort after dropping it off at the beginning of the vacation.
 

storm180

New Member
Original Poster
I am using alamo. However, my experience with the alamo drivers picking me up on several occasions has been pretty bad. I can't tell you how many times they couldn't find me or were delayed in getting to the resort and really took alot of time out of my day dealing with them. I don't mind paying the lyft or uber to get me to the rental location as it does save time, but since I was already going to have dinner at disney springs and right across the street from alamo on the night before I leave I figure I just pick up the car and just park it in the lime garage, then drive back to the Animal Kingdom lodge.

I read that animal kingdom lodge bills your parking to your room when you check in but since the car is only going to be parking for less than 24 hours I didn't know if I would still get charged $24 or would they waive it since I was leaving in the morning when I checkout. Obviously, I would probably have to go down to the front desk and let them know this in order to get a parking pass before I pick up the car that night to get back through the guard gate. I was hoping a little disney magic of waiving the fee was possible :) but once again $24 in the grand scheme of disney is nothing as I am going to get slammed with parking fees over at universal for the following week.

Sean
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
If you are renting from the Alamo Car Care Center and already have a reservation, the front desk can schedule a time for you to be picked up and take you there. And yes, you will be marked as parking a car for the night even if you don't tell the front desk.
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
That is incorrect. There is absolutely zero guarantee that they will waive. If you get a nice CM, then they may waive it for you, but there is no guarantee. You have a car parked in the parking lot, so the parking charge WILL get posted to your account.
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
You are right there is no guarantee, but It is Disney, they always do the right thing, so I will bet you a Fast Pass for FoP that they do? ;)
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
And the right thing would be to charge for parking as there is no extenuating circumstance that the fee should be waived. You are clearly aware of the parking policy, so it sounds like you are trying to "work the system." You are merely trying to get out of paying for one night of parking for your own benefit, which you even admitted. If that was the case, then any one night reservation should have the parking fee waived.
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
And the right thing would be to charge for parking as there is no extenuating circumstance that the fee should be waived. You are clearly aware of the parking policy, so it sounds like you are trying to "work the system." You are merely trying to get out of paying for one night of parking for your own benefit, which you even admitted. If that was the case, then any one night reservation should have the parking fee waived.
I bet if you ask on a one night, it would be waived as well
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
Try it. I can guarantee that it won't. I've heard that they are much stricter about refunding/waiving fees. As I said before, if they waive for one, then they should waive for it all. So no, it won't get waived unless you have some situation that affected your stay. Otherwise, you are getting charged.
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
I bet if you ask on a one night, it would be waived as well

Try it. I can guarantee that it won't. I've heard that they are much stricter about refunding/waiving fees. As I said before, if they waive for one, then they should waive for it all. So no, it won't get waived unless you have some situation that affected your stay. Otherwise, you are getting charged.
 

Dave B

Well-Known Member
I did last year at the Caribbean and they waived it for me, I said this so many times, it never hurts to ask, the answer is already NO, the worst that happens is it stays NO
 

Commander Buzzy

New Member
Again, I've heard that are much stricter about waiving the fees. Probably because they think they aren't making what they should be or want to. Hence, less waived fees, and a parking price increase.
 
Last edited:

markc

Active Member
If you are renting from the Alamo Car Care Center and already have a reservation, the front desk can schedule a time for you to be picked up and take you there. And yes, you will be marked as parking a car for the night even if you don't tell the front desk.

Not True at all. There currently is no system in place to "mark" anybody with a car if they park towards the end of their stay. It's only if the car is present on the start of the stay.

To the OP - I wouldn't worry. Technically, Disney would make you pay to park because you're parking overnight and their fee is based on overnight parking (had you parked during the day, for example, they really wouldn't care), however because their system is currently based on reporting a car at check-in time only, you'll most likely be exempt from this fee.
 
Last edited:

storm180

New Member
Original Poster
I appreciate all the responses. I guess I will just see what happens. I go to Disney yearly and usually every 3 years or so I rent a car as we extend our vacation to include Universal. I know the last time I rented a car I had to have the parking pass in the window but it was free then. I guess I will just ask guest services the day that I plan on picking up the car and see what they say.

Do they still give out parking passes for guests or do they just scan your magic band at the security gate when you enter the property? (we used lyft alot last year and security scanned our bands to let us in)

Storm180
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom