Parking at MGM an hour before closing? Possible?

[ilovepluto23]

We will be visiting WDW Jan 1-5th, and planned on visiting Epcot on our first day. We have dinner reservations at 5:20pm at Garden Grill, and would really like to try to get to MGM (aka Hollywood Studios) to see the Osborne Spectacle of Lights before it closes at 8pm.
We unfortunately had to stay off-site until Jan 2 (no open sites at Fort Wildnerness ), and will be parking with our vehicle at Epcot during the day.

So here's my question: How late will they allow vehicles in to park at any park, MGM in particular, in relation to the closing time? I'm estimating arriving there around 7pm...they close at 8pm.

Any other options/suggestions are appreciated!:wave:
Merry Christmas!

 

[jt04]

We will be visiting WDW Jan 1-5th, and planned on visiting Epcot on our first day. We have dinner reservations at 5:20pm at Garden Grill, and would really like to try to get to MGM (aka Hollywood Studios) to see the Osborne Spectacle of Lights before it closes at 8pm.
We unfortunately had to stay off-site until Jan 2 (no open sites at Fort Wildnerness ), and will be parking with our vehicle at Epcot during the day.

So here's my question: How late will they allow vehicles in to park at any park, MGM in particular, in relation to the closing time? I'm estimating arriving there around 7pm...they close at 8pm.

Any other options/suggestions are appreciated!:wave:
Merry Christmas!

I am pretty sure you would have no problems if you arrived before 7:00 but I am not positive as I don't work there. One thing is for sure, DON'T MISS THE LIGHTS. Photos just don't do it justice.

 

[Dwarful]

You could catch a bus from Epcot to MGM directly. THey will let you in before the 8pm closing. We did this 12-14 and had no problems. Then you catch a bus from MGM back to Epcot. Yeah its a bit of a pain, but it ensures you don't run into any parking problems. Plus the buses will still be running to Epcot because they close later than MGM. LIke the above post said, don't miss the lights!

 

[Hawk]

when we went in september, we went late to MGM just for Fantasmic, (well after 7PM) there wasn't anyone in the booth at the entrance to the car park, i guess after a certain time, they just open the gates and let anyone in, there's still the security guys and parking attendants around guiding people into the parking bays, one good thing was - we were able to park in the parking lot closest to the entrance too, as a lot of people had already left.

 

[coasterphil]

You'll be able to park without a problem. The park actually takes dinner reservations for the restaurants inside up to 30 minutes after closing, so its closing is much more fluid than the rest of the parks.

 

[gibsonc]

Have you considered walking?

If you are at Garden Grill it must be maybe' (thinks) a 30 minute walk to MGM via the International Gateway at Epcot. By the time to have gotten back to your Vehicle, driven to MGM and parked I'm sure its as quick. Then you can head back to Epcot for the fireworks. Of course there are always the boats if you don't want to walk the whole way but it doesn't really save any time using them.

 

[sum41914]

When I was on my CP, I went to Fantasmic ALOT! (42 times to be exact:hammer and they let you park for free 2-3 hrs before the park closes and upto 1 hour after the park closes, but you can't get into the park a minute after park closing. The gate stays open so CM's and parents who dropped their kids off can be picked up. Same with EPCOT and MK, I went to see last minute fireworks every night. You can park where ever you see a spot, in DHS's parking lot your best bet is to take a left when you get to lot, you can always try to get that closer parking space by taking a right (Disabbled lot, AAA Diamond lot and the closer parking spots (any DHS parking CM's who know the name of that lot?)) However you can always park anywhere else and take the tram or just heel toe it the main entrance DHS is a small parking lot and doesn't require too much energy to walk through.