In the past we've stayed at the Doubletree Suites near DL, but for this visit we are staying with relatives in San Diego and driving up for a day visit. If we want to be standing at the gates when the parks open, how early should we plan to arrive at the parking structure (allowing for parking, shuttle, etc.)? We are planning on Friday, Feb. 1. Is it possible to walk from the paking structure to DL? How long would that take? I know there are several parking structures. Is one better than the other or doesn't it matter? Thank you for any advice.
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Parking Question
- Thread starter Wisconsin
- Start date
Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
I'd say just park in the Mickey parking lot. Get there before park opening. You can walk from that parking lot.
Cosmic Commando
Well-Known Member
I'd say just park at Mickey & Friends. It is possible and very pleasant to walk to the parks from Mickey & Friends. I just measured and it's about 3/5 of a mile. You have to cross and then walk next to Disneyland Dr/West St for a bit, but the landscaping is very, very nice. There were lots of bird of paradise flowers all over when I was there in November (then you can look for them in the Tiki Room!). This link should show you the route as I marked it.
Now how early? I'm pretty sure the parking structure opens 1.5 hours before the parks open, so no earlier than that! If you want to be safe without getting there right when the lot opens, I'd say arriving to the outside of Mickey & Friends an hour before opening will cover all your bases without running. There could be a 5-10 minute line just to pay at the booths, a couple minutes to get to your spot, then maybe 10 minutes if you parked on the opposite side of the structure from the tram stop, then 15 minutes to walk, 5 minutes for bag check. Add in a 5-10 minute wait at the turnstiles, and that's about 45-55 minutes from the time you pull up to Mickey & Friends and a lot of those are worst-case scenarios. You could be right next to the escalators down to the tram stop, or there might not be a line for the tram (it's definitely faster to hop on a waiting tram than walk if you're just worried about speed), or you could breeze through bag check.