Not Allowed to Go to Resorts Anymore If You Aren't Staying There?

[Yert3]

My mother and I are locals and we go to the parks all the time, annual pass and everything. Sometimes, we like to go to the resorts to eat at some of the restaurants there. Today, we decided we wanted to go eat at the Contempo Café at the Contemporary. Well, when we got there, the guard wouldn't let us it. We explained to him that they have always let us in previously but he said things have changed. Is this correct, or was he just simply mistaking? So we can never eat at the resort restaurants again? Obviously the way around this is to park at the TTC and take the monorail or park at Disney Springs and take the busses to a resort, but man what a pain if that is true.

 

[WDWBigEd]

They will let you in if you have reservations for a table service for sure. I'm not sure about quick service because there is no way to prove your just not parking there to head over to the parks. With limited parking they have cracked down.

 

[Yert3]

They will let you in if you have reservations for a table service for sure. I'm not sure about quick service because there is no way to prove your just not parking there to head over to the parks.

Well we've been getting in for quick service for years. All we had to do was show our IDs and the let us in. I'm guessing it's just a new policy, but it really sucks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well we've been getting in for quick service for years. All we had to do was show our IDs and the let us in. I'm guessing it's just a new policy, but it really sucks.

It’s not a new policy, just one that is implemented on an as-needed basis.

 

[Yert3]

It’s not a new policy, just one that is implemented on an as-needed basis.

So you're saying that I've just been getting lucky then? Because I've never been turned down before.

 

[Monty]

You're still allowed to go to resorts you're not staying at. You have never been guaranteed you could park there if you weren't staying there. There has always been an acceptance that if you have an ADR, you're more likely to be allowed to park, but it was never guaranteed.

Certain times of year, the control over who parks is lax while other times it's more strict. I guess you hit a strict time.

 

[Yert3]

You're still allowed to go to resorts you're not staying at. You have never been guaranteed you could park there if you weren't staying there. There has always been an acceptance that if you have an ADR, you're more likely to be allowed to park, but it was never guaranteed.

Certain times of year, the control over who parks is lax while other times it's more strict. I guess you hit a strict time.

Okay, That makes sense then. Thank you.

 

[note2001]

The Boardwalk has this same policy. My parents will on occasion decide to take a drive over and meander around the resort stores (no park passes) and may dine at one of the restaurants if they are taking walk ins. They tell me that they'll be turned away at the parking area about half the time on normal weekdays, and so don't even consider trying it on weekends or holiday weeks.

 

[UncleMike101]

Apparently that part in the new resort parking rules that says,
"Day Guests
Complimentary standard self-parking is available while enjoying select dining, shopping, entertainment, and recreation experiences at Disney Resort hotels."
is subject to modification or revocation at the drop of a hat.
They could limit dining, entertainment and recreation guests to reservation holders but it's kind of difficult to get a reservations to shop.
However I have no doubt if there's a dollar to be made by requiring reservations to shop on property Disney will pounce on it like a duck on a June bug......

 

[note2001]

I have no doubt if there's a dollar to be made by requiring reservations to shop on property Disney will pounce on it like a duck on a June bug......

They already tried that with the Star Wars toy release at Disney Springs a year or two back. Sold reservations to a number of folk, only to refund all money when the twitter feed, facebook postings and chat boards went insane over it.

 

[drizgirl]

Too many people are saying they are there to shop or eat, and maybe they do, but then they walk over to the MK for the day.

 

[Yert3]

Too many people are saying they are there to shop or eat, and maybe they do, but then they walk over to the MK for the day.

It’s a shame that people break the rules and ruin it for us that are honest.

 

[drizgirl]

It’s a shame that people break the rules and ruin it for us that are honest.

Yes, it is.

 

[Lyman]

With modern technology this can be done. It is used in parking enforcement. You use license plate scanners. When you stop to pay the parking fee and not a resort guest you're plate is scanned and time stamped. A sign at gate would advise anyone exceeding the X hour limit will have a Denver boot attached to the car. There will be X dollar fee to have it removed. A vehicle roams up and down the rows with a scanner. when there is a hit the boot is attached.

They do this in our town however a boot is not attached. A ticket is issued. A scanner equipped car roams up and down scanning plates. If plate is not in data base it is added and time stamped. When there is a hit exceeding time limit. Parking is free and has a time limit. Time starts when scanned. A ticket is issued and mailed to the address shown on the car title.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With modern technology this can be done. It is used in parking enforcement. You use license plate scanners. When you stop to pay the parking fee and not a resort guest you're plate is scanned and time stamped. A sign at gate would advise anyone exceeding the X hour limit will have a Denver boot attached to the car. There will be X dollar fee to have it removed. A vehicle roams up and down the rows with a scanner. when there is a hit the boot is attached.

They do this in our town however a boot is not attached. A ticket is issued. A scanner equipped car roams up and down scanning plates. If plate is not in data base it is added and time stamped. When there is a hit exceeding time limit. Parking is free and has a time limit. Time starts when scanned. A ticket is issued and mailed to the address shown on the car title.

Ummm...Disney doesn’t ticket, boot or tow...generally speaking...

It’s bad for business. If they want to close the resort parking loophole, turning people away at the gate is the right call.

When they did mandatory and integrated reservations...that closed much of the gap. I called that the “beaches and cream” loophole.

But the only way to lock everyone out would be to not do the quickserve and shopping allowance. As others have stated - enforcement is gonna be selective.

The reality is - they have attached a premium to you merely being on property...let alone the hotels. It’s just not going to be non-monetized for much longer. I don’t expect disney springs parking to remain free either longterm. It’s free cash to the stock conglomerate sitting there.

 

[floridagirl57]

My understanding is the guards have ALWAYS been tough on parking at the Contemporary since its an easy walk to MK. I was "resort hopping" to check out Christmas decorations with a friend, and we had a hard time parking at the Grand Floridian without a reservation. The guard eventually let us in, and since its Christmas the parking lots are slammed as is, but its something to keep in mind.

 

[s8film40]

This has been a big issue for a long time and Disney really handles it very poorly. It really all depends on the security guard you get. If they're big into power trips they're going to try real hard to turn you away. The problem is they hassle legitimate guests in the process. Even guests with proper intentions are made to feel like their trying to "get away with something" when they're simply a paying customer. I've acutally seen resort guests with room as well as executives heavily scrutinized at the gate. Many times this has resulted in guests getting nights of their stay comped. The super simple solution for Disney to handle this would be to charge for parking and offer validation for shopping, dining and any services in the resort. They could leave the entrance wide open allowing traffic to flow in rather than backing out onto roads. Simply charge something like $10 an hour at the exit gate and allow shops and restaurants to offer 1-2 hour validation.

Now that being said if you want to know my secret for dealing with this it's simple. Be very polite and ask LOTS of questions. If you do this right you can lead them in a circle where they contradict themselves and eventually they will just let you in. Also you really shouldn't park there if going to the parks. It's really not that much different than just riding the tram. The other way to guarantee parking at the resorts is to use valet. Security is not allowed to turn away guests going to valet. If you want to even take it a step further you can prepay for valet at a different resort. At that point if they really want to turn you away they're going to have to deal with giving you a refund and they're not going to mess with that hassle.

 

[nickys]

This has been a big issue for a long time and Disney really handles it very poorly. It really all depends on the security guard you get. If they're big into power trips they're going to try real hard to turn you away. The problem is they hassle legitimate guests in the process. Even guests with proper intentions are made to feel like their trying to "get away with something" when they're simply a paying customer. I've acutally seen resort guests with room as well as executives heavily scrutinized at the gate. Many times this has resulted in guests getting nights of their stay comped. The super simple solution for Disney to handle this would be to charge for parking and offer validation for shopping, dining and any services in the resort. They could leave the entrance wide open allowing traffic to flow in rather than backing out onto roads. Simply charge something like $10 an hour at the exit gate and allow shops and restaurants to offer 1-2 hour validation.

Now that being said if you want to know my secret for dealing with this it's simple. Be very polite and ask LOTS of questions. If you do this right you can lead them in a circle where they contradict themselves and eventually they will just let you in. Also you really shouldn't park there if going to the parks. It's really not that much different than just riding the tram. The other way to guarantee parking at the resorts is to use valet. Security is not allowed to turn away guests going to valet. If you want to even take it a step further you can prepay for valet at a different resort. At that point if they really want to turn you away they're going to have to deal with giving you a refund and they're not going to mess with that hassle.

They can, and will, turn away guests from valet parking if there isn't room. I doubt they would do that at their own resort, but going to a different resort - yes, absolutely they will if there's no room. They'll simply say "no, there is no more valet parking just now".

 

[s8film40]

They can, and will, turn away guests from valet parking if there isn't room. I doubt they would do that at their own resort, but going to a different resort - yes, absolutely they will if there's no room. They'll simply say "no, there is no more valet parking just now".

That’s actually very rare for valet to be full and usually only happens at Boardwalk. Of course if you prepaid, security will need to let you through anyways so you can get your refund. At that point there’s probably a 90% chance the valet will accept you rather than dealing with a refund or will direct you to self parking.

 

[Lets Respect]

If you want to visit a monorail resort, park at the TTC and take the....monorail