Offsite and parking at parks

[orangevw99]

I am looking into staying off-site for my next trip to Disney and was wondering how the parking goes at the parks. Do I have to pay to park my car every day or does the parking pass for one day roll over to another day?

I Know some off-site hotels offer shuttles..but am not sure if the one I will stay at will offer one.

Also...I was thinking of parking at downtown disney and getting onto the Disney busses there. I don't mind paying a small fee for a bus ride but I think if I go to multiple parks a day and the parking is $15.00 or so that can add up quick!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Once you pay the parking fee for a day, take your receipt with you when you switch parks and you won't need to pay again for that day.

You do need to pay the fee each day though.

 

[Monty]

If you have an Annual Pass, parking is free. Depending how many days you'll be there, the parking savings and the shopping discounts might add up to enough to make it worth getting an AP for one person.

 

[orangevw99]

If you have an Annual Pass, parking is free. Depending how many days you'll be there, the parking savings and the shopping discounts might add up to enough to make it worth getting an AP for one person.

Oh, I will only be there for a week this time. I would love to go there more often, though. Are there any reputable sites that have discounted tickets? Is Undercover tourist reputable?

 

[linn9431]

This will be our first year staying off site as well. We are AAA members and the tickets are about $10 cheaper depending on how long you are there. They also give you what is called a diamond parking pass, you still have to pay the $14 a day for parking but they have there own special parking lot near the front that you can use. Let me know if you find out any other tip for parking.

 

[fireworkz]

There are a couple of "cheats" for parking, but I'll tell you now the Downtown Disney one isn't worth it. I'd happily pay the $14 than waste the time it takes for a bus from DtD.

The only one I use is the day we go to Chef Mickey's - we park at Contemporary for the day and take the monorail. Never have had any issues with it, and they always send us to the furthest parking lot away from the hotel, so it doesn't effect resort guests.

I've also parked at The Boardwalk when eating at France or Japan, but this was only for a few hours. Again they park you in the lot furthest from the resort, walk up, take the boat to the International gate and go to dinner. On the way back we usually stop at a few places on the Boardwalk, so I don't really consider this one a "cheat" as I do go to the Boardwalk, but I also use it to save walking through Future World and around the lagoon.

 

[Monty]

Oh, I will only be there for a week this time. I would love to go there more often, though. Are there any reputable sites that have discounted tickets? Is Undercover tourist reputable?

Annual Pass costs $553
7-day Hopper costs $343
7 days parking cost $105

All you would need to break even is to get around $100 in AP discounts during the week. Depending how many in your party, between meal discounts and souvenir discounts, $1,000 in expenditures in the week is certainly not out of this world spending. :shrug:

 

[nepalostparks]

Oh, I will only be there for a week this time. I would love to go there more often, though. Are there any reputable sites that have discounted tickets? Is Undercover tourist reputable?

I have used Undercover Tourist before for Universal tickets and found them to be very good. The prices they post include taxes and shipping - so no surprises when checking out with any weird "extra fees" or anything like some sites do.

 

[wdwmomof3]

Annual Pass costs $553
7-day Hopper costs $343
7 days parking cost $105

All you would need to break even is to get around $100 in AP discounts during the week. Depending how many in your party, between meal discounts and souvenir discounts, $1,000 in expenditures in the week is certainly not out of this world spending. :shrug:

We are more than likely going to be staying off site this time too ( Bonnet Creek), and I am seriously considering buying one AP for this very reason. Plus, I Hope to make back down there before the year is up so it would help with the cost of that trip too. Plus, I may slip down for a girls only trip.:ROFLOL:

 

[Monty]

We are more than likely going to be staying off site this time too ( Bonnet Creek), and I am seriously considering buying one AP for this very reason. Plus, I Hope to make back down there before the year is up so it would help with the cost of that trip too. Plus, I may slip down for a girls only trip.:ROFLOL:

That is the downside to getting an AP... The temptation to use it more! :lol:

My first time buying an AP was with the intent of doing one trip in late February and a second in earlier February the following year with a view to "saving money"... Ended up doing two extra trips from Canada just because I could. :shrug: So much for the savings.

 

[slappy magoo]

Annual Pass costs $553
7-day Hopper costs $343
7 days parking cost $105

All you would need to break even is to get around $100 in AP discounts during the week. Depending how many in your party, between meal discounts and souvenir discounts, $1,000 in expenditures in the week is certainly not out of this world spending. :shrug:

And of course, by getting even one annual pass, you may be able to get deeper discounted rates for on-site rooms. It will probably still be cheaper to stay off-site (depending on which resort you'd prefer to stay) but the difference in price may be something you don't mind paying for the convenience of staying onsite. For the back half of April and most of May, for example, you can get 20 bucks a day off of Values, with deeper discounts for higher-end resorts.

 

[fireworkz]

Thanks for the tip Monty, I forgot about the discount angle of the AP. I keep thinking I should get one, because it seems every follow-up trip always comes just a bit less than year from the one before. I end up kicking myself for not getting one, but shrug it off because things were not planned and how would I know? The discounts will help justify it even if this time it doesn't get used twice.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

I am looking into staying off-site for my next trip to Disney and was wondering how the parking goes at the parks. Do I have to pay to park my car every day or does the parking pass for one day roll over to another day?

I Know some off-site hotels offer shuttles..but am not sure if the one I will stay at will offer one.

Also...I was thinking of parking at downtown disney and getting onto the Disney busses there. I don't mind paying a small fee for a bus ride but I think if I go to multiple parks a day and the parking is $15.00 or so that can add up quick!

Even if they offer shuttles you should definitely check out the schedule BEFORE arrival! The dump we stayed at during our last offsite visit, Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista; had the most guest-unfriendly schedule I ever experienced and they used a single bus that was worn down, smelly and filthy. They didn't even service all parks but instead e.g. threw you out at EPCOT and told you to take the monorail to MK.
After that disappointing experience we returned to WDW again after only a few days at the gulf coast and this time we had booked WILDERNESS LODGE and experienced our first true WDW-vacation.
Since then we never again stayed off property and we never will again!

 

[rellinge]

UndercoverTourist is definitely reputable. I've used them for my tickets probably half a dozen times now.

 

[Disney05]

UndercoverTourist is definitely reputable. I've used them for my tickets probably half a dozen times now.

I can also attest to that. We use them almost every trip. Just used them again before the price increase.