Suggestions on Parking at Disney Resorts

[arnoldvb]

My wife and I are going to be at Walt Disney World during the height of the Christmas holidays (December 21-27) but, for the first time in 25 years, we'll be staying off-site. Our focus for this trip will be to visit as many of the Disney resorts as possible, and we have ADRs at some of the more popular places (Jiko, Whispering Canyon, etc.). What we're planning is to visit the parks for a few hours each morning and then head over to a nearby resort to look around and have a leisurely dinner before heading back to our off-site hotel. We'll have a rental car while in Orlando.

The problem I'm having is: what's the best strategy for getting to the parks each day and then commuting in the afternoon to the resort where we'll be having dinner? Right now I'm thinking of driving to each day's park and parking the car there, taking Disney transportation to the resort for dinner (for example, the monorail from MK to the Polynesian or Contemporary, or the bus from AK to Animal Kingdom Lodge) and then take that same transportation back to the theme park after dinner to pick up the car.

Another alternative would be to simply drive each day from the theme park to the resort for dinner. Yet another option would be to park the rental car at Downtown Disney, use Disney transportation during the day, and then pick up the car at DTD at the end of each day.

I know this would probably be a non-issue for those of you who routinely drive within Disney World, but as we've always used Disney transportation over the past 25 years of visits, this is new territory for us. Any suggestions?

Arnold

[Drince88]

I wouldn't park at DTD - you can't get a direct bus from DTD to the theme parks, so it would be a major pain to have to transfer first thing in the morning.

Personally, I'd be inclined to park at the park, and take Disney transport to/from the resort of the day. I'd probably move my car, though, if I was going to be finished with dinner after that park had closed for the day, just to make life easier.

But I'm a 'let Disney do the driving for me' person too - so aside from the DTD part, I really don't have any more experience then you do.

[SuefromRI]

Parking at the lot at MK would work for going to the MK resorts. I would not leave my car at AK though, since that park closes early, leaving no way to get back for it. Drive it to the AKL from AK instead, then return to your hotel.

[danyoung]

Another factor to consider - if you park at the Park of the day, you can always go back to that park after dinner and enjoy the nightly fireworks or show, and then drive back to your resort. You don't have to do this every night, but I'd never do a WDW trip without seeing IllumiNations in Epcot at least once!

[arnoldvb]

Cathy, Sue, and Dan,

Thanks for your comments. It seems like my original idea of parking at the theme parks and using Disney transportation to the resorts would be the best option -- with the exception of AK because of the early closing time. Dan's suggestion that we return to the theme parks after dinner is also a good idea -- as long as the parks aren't closed to new entries because of the holiday crowds. We're trying to be realistic about the mad-house it's probably going to be, especially on Christmas Day, and that's the main reason why we plan to leave the parks around mid-day and go visit the resorts. Of course, I'll post a trip report once we get back home.

Arnold

[SuefromRI]

Have a good trip! Are you stopping to see the family while in FL? Will look forward to a trip report since your's are always so enjoyable.

[arnoldvb]

Sue,

I'm glad that you enjoy the trip reports. We're actually going to be in Florida four weeks -- one in Deerfield Beach (where my sister lives) for annual medicals, one in Orlando, and two in Port St. Lucie with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. I'll write up the trip report while there and try to get it posted ASAP.

We're also planning a return trip to Disney World in April 2009 to see The Ventures at the Flower Power concerts. But I still have to do some fine-tuning on the exact dates to avoid as much of the spring break crush as possible.

Arnold