I'll be visiting the World for the weekend. Am staying off-site.

I will arrive on Friday and would like to spend the evening touring and having dinner at the Boardwalk and possibly doing Epcot for a while. How long are you allowed to park at the Boardwalk? If you only get three hours, what happens if you stay longer? What if you are having a good time and you are not ready to leave? What happens if you go to Epcot for a while?

Technically, you have a three hour limit.
While I dont think you will get into trouble for staying a little longer than that, I would not try to stay excessively past that, just to be on the safe side.

So what if you are staying off-site, what is the best way to enjoy the Boardwalk area without worrying about staying too long?

I was thinking about arriving at Epcot/Boardwalk area around 5 p.m. Then I'd like to enjoy Epcot a bit (maybe 2 hours), have dinner at the Boardwalk area and possibly remain after dinner on the Boardwalk to have drinks and enjoy the atmosphere. Not really interested in re-admission to Epcot at that point.

It seems like a waste to pay $11.00 to park at Epcot, visit the park for a couple of hours, then go to the Boardwalk for dinner and the evening. Plus when I leave the Boardwalk, I'd have to walk all the way back to the Epcot parking area. I don't even know if I could get re-admission to Epcot if I found myself at the Boardwalk after 9 p.m.

Or should I pay $11.00 to park at Epcot, stay at Epcot for two hours, go back to the car, then drive the Boardwalk for dinner and drinks? Seems like a lot of walking and an unecessary waste of time and money.

There must be some way to spend a couple of hours at Epcot and end up at the Boardwalk, without having to hike all the way back to the Epcot parking lot to get the car afterwards, while paying $11.00 just to spend 2 hours at Epcot.

I guess I could take a taxi, but I really hate waiting. Who knows if there will be a taxi available at the Boardwalk when I'm ready to leave? Plus there would be the initial wait at my hotel for the outbound taxi, which would just waste more time (not to mention the fare to get to Boardwalk).

are u paying full admission to Epcot?

I have a restricted annual pass (blackout dates and does not include parking).

So what if you are staying off-site, what is the best way to enjoy the Boardwalk area without worrying about staying too long?

I was thinking about arriving at Epcot/Boardwalk area around 5 p.m.
Considering that Epcot normally closes at 9PM, you are going to probably be ok if you dont stay too much past that. At the same time, I see how this related to your other post (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=81209) as well regarding paying for parking.

While some people try to get away for parking at a resort for a extended period of time and do try to combine patronizing the nearby restaurants and shops of said resort hotel and visiting the nearest park at the same time, you are really not supposed to do so.

Like what I mentioned in my post in your other thread, they do stop charging for parking a few hours before close. I just dont have a difinitive answer as to when that really is. You can always swap your schedule around to try to get there when they are not charging for parking, then drive over to the BW for dinner and nighttime entertainment.

I understand the rationale behind your question. However, sometimes if you save in one area (like staying off site), you end up having to spend in another. (paying for parking, dealing with this hassle,etc...)

I hope you have a nice trip this weekend. :)

Do you have a DDE card? I thought that included parking after a certain time of day at the parks.

I'm not really trying to get away without paying for parking. It's just that I don't really intend to be at Epcot primarily.

I called and made a reservation for Spoodles tomorrow night. My reservation is at 8:20 pm.

I'll be arriving at about 5 pm. So on the one hand I don't think there is enough to do in the Boardwalk area to amuse me that long. And even if there were, assuming I arrive at 5 pm, I'd be expected to leave by 8 pm. But as you can see, that would mean I would have to leave before I had eaten dinner.

So, I thought it might be nice to visit Epcot for about two hours, head to the Boardwalk around 7 pm, have a couple of drinks or window shop, and then eat dinner at 8:20.

So let's say I go ahead and pay to park at Epcot....okay no problem. So now I've finished my dinner at Boardwalk and it's 9:30 pm. I assume it is too late to be readmitted to the park, but my car is at the other side of Epcot in their parking lot. So, now what?

Or I could pay to park at Epcot, stay for two hours, head back to the car and drive around to the Boardwalk for dinner. Well, paying $11.00 to park for 2 hours seems kind of like a rip-off. Forgive me for not really seeing the value in that. Not to mention the fact that I would be closer to the Boardwalk from World Showcase, than I would be to my car at that point.

I think what would be the easiest would be to park at Epcot (paid or not), enjoy the park, enjoy the Boardwalk, have dinner, and grab a bus from the Boardwalk back to Epcot. Would that be a possibility or am I not allowed to do that either?

They just don't make this easy.

As for the DDE card, I don't have one, but it may be a very good value for me. I searched the DW web site for information about it, but it just kept redirecting me to pages that explained the Disney Dining Program, which is not what interests me. If anyone has a link to that info, that would be greatly appreciated.

I just found another web site that mentions valet parking at the boardwalk resort. Could I pay to valet park the car at 5 pm, and pick it up after dinner - say 10-ish?

I just found another web site that mentions valet parking at the boardwalk resort. Could I pay to valet park the car at 5 pm, and pick it up after dinner - say 10-ish?

I think that's been mentioned at other times as a viable option.

To find any info about the DDE card on the WDW site, I think you have to log into the Florida Residents or AP holders section - and look at the discounts area. But I'm not sure how complete that information is.

However, I think there's also a decent write up about it on Mousesavers - on this page (http://www.mousesavers.com/diningexperience.html)

I think what would be the easiest would be to park at Epcot (paid or not), enjoy the park, enjoy the Boardwalk, have dinner, and grab a bus from the Boardwalk back to Epcot. Would that be a possibility or am I not allowed to do that either?
I do not believe they have buses going from the BW to the main entrance of Epcot.

I would say do the valet thing. It will cost a few bucks, but it sounds like it would be most convenient for you.

Valet sounds like the right thing to do. I'm not worried about spending a few bucks to park...I just couldn't figure out how to get from point A to point B without too much hassle and expense. Thanks to all who answered.

Also, will look into the DDE card as I may often be arriving around 5pm to have dinner. It appears that you have to wait 4-6 weeks for the card to arrive. Sure would be nice if they would sell it on the property somewhere. If anyone knows of a place to purchase one, please let me know.

Re the DDE card - Call them to order it, and let them know when your first trip is, and they can have a temporary card/letter for you at Epcot Guest Services I think the same day or maybe the next day. It still takes a while to get your final card, but the locations will honor it with the temporary one!

20% off Food AND drink at many table service restaurants - it doesn't take many meals to pay for itself!

The valet plan seems to make sense - but I'm surprised no one has mentioned my first reaction to your problem...

Park at the Boardwalk, go to Epcot for a few hours, then go back the car, leave the parking lot and re-enter. Then you'll have a fresh 3 hours for dinner and exploring the Boardwalk. Paying for valet would save you the hassle, but some people see valet as a bigger hassle.

This might be considered cheating, but I think it's in the spirit of what Disney is trying to enforce. They don't want people parking at the Boardwalk to go explore Epcot for 5 hours, and that's not what you're doing. You're parking there to pop into Epcot for an hour or two, and then parking there again to visit the Boardwalk for a few hours. If you did those activities on two different nights, no problem - so I see nothing wrong with doing those two activities consecutively.

valet is a great option. Especially since the walk from self parking is about a half-mile, its quite a hike. It is $10 but saves you the walk. Another option is parking at the swan. Its a short walk over to the boardwalk. I don't know the rules on parking there though.

Just got back and thought I'd share how it went. I took Drince88's advice and bought the DDE card, but it won't arrive for a few weeks. I was told I could pick up a temporary card after 5:30pm at Epcot Guest Relations. So that left another quandry...how to get to guest relations without paying $11.00 to park?

I pulled up to the parking fee collector and explained that I needed to go to guest relations to pickup my temporary DDE card. He waved me through. Once in, I just parked like normal. So I picked up the card and went into Epcot for a couple of hours.

Went back to the car, drove to Boardwalk, and used the valet, which was free with the DDE card ($10.00) savings. Spent $92.00 on dinner which was reduced to $74.00 with the DDE card. Total savings so far...$28.00. Cost of the card...$65.00. So after only one meal, it's almost 1/2 paid for.

Thanks everyone for your help.

We use the DDE card every trip.It doesn't take long for it to pay for itself and save 20% on most all meals.