Downtown Disney & parking in January

[Slowjack]

Hey all. Going to WDW in January...I've been to WDW a lot, but this is the first trip in a long while when I'll be offsite with a car, and I'm wondering what the right idea is now for parking when going to Downtown Disney. With all the closed lots, is there any way to get close to the Marketplace end? My main concern is having to park down by Cirque and hoofing it. Is it less crowded during the week versus the weekends?

 

[jlsHouston]

I don't know about January, but I can tell you the week of Thanksgiving, driving to DTD was my one insane act. Bus is much better. I valet parked for 15 bucks and it was a hoof from the marketplace.

 

[luv]

You could park at any hotel and take a bus. The Port Orleans resorts have a boat. I think SSR has the boat option, too. I know you can walk from SSR, but if walking from Cirque is a problem, then walking from SSR is, too.

I don't know if Typhoon Lagoon runs a bus over there. If they do, that's not a bad idea. Typhoon is across the street and the lot shouldn't be too full in January. They probably don't run a bus between the two, though.

 

[DisneyDad0056]

Just came back yesterday. The lot closures are a nightmare for the traffic. Friday night they had hordes of guests crossing from the cast member parking lots to DTD. The lane closures and lot closures were really bad. We left and returned the next morning. Buses seemed like they were working well though. We drove and could not even get in the lot.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You could park at any hotel and take a bus. The Port Orleans resorts have a boat. I think SSR has the boat option, too. I know you can walk from SSR, but if walking from Cirque is a problem, then walking from SSR is, too.

I don't know if Typhoon Lagoon runs a bus over there. If they do, that's not a bad idea. Typhoon is across the street and the lot shouldn't be too full in January. They probably don't run a bus between the two, though.

TL is closed. Will the resorts allow a non-resort guest to park in their parking lots for this purpose? I thought you had to be a guest or have a resort dining reservation.

 

[luv]

TL is closed. Will the resorts allow a non-resort guest to park in their parking lots for this purpose? I thought you had to be a guest or have a resort dining reservation.

Typhoon Lagoon is not closed! It is very much open. Or did you mean it is closed at night? That's true enough. They probably don't run a bus, anyway, though.

You don't need to be a guest or have a dining reservation. Anyone can visit a hotel. I do it all the time. Just say you're there to check the place out and in you go.

 

[Rob562]

FYI, if you do park on the Cirque end there is a water taxi from House of Blues to Rainforest Cafe...

That being said, it does seem like traffic is quite crappy in DD right now.

-Rob

 

[SMS55]

January tends to be one of the slower times at Disney. We were there Dec. 12-16 and made a stop at DTD on one evening and it wasn't a problem. We parked over by World of Disney and we found a spot relatively easy. During holidays or peak times, I can imagine parking will be a pain because of the closures.

 

[Slowjack]

January tends to be one of the slower times at Disney. We were there Dec. 12-16 and made a stop at DTD on one evening and it wasn't a problem. We parked over by World of Disney and we found a spot relatively easy. During holidays or peak times, I can imagine parking will be a pain because of the closures.

That's good to know. I assume the crowds won't be too bad but I've been there during on-peak times at night and lots on the east end looked busy, so I figured with the closure of some lots things were even worse.

I think I'd rather hoof it from the Cirque end than park at a resort and ride the bus, unless I actually wanted to visit the resort in question anyway, which might be a thought.

Rob, thanks for the water taxi info. I'd either forgotten that or didn't know.

Didn't I read something here at WDWMagic about using Team Disney as an overflow lot? Are they still doing that?