Parking Strategies

[dreiwhit]

We always stay off site and we just budget the money for parking.

And, like ravenclawtrekkie said above, I also HATE to pay $20 a day for parking.

 

[GillianP1301]

Just factor the $20 a day parking into your offsite nightly rate and consider that your total costs and compare that to comparable room onsite to see how much you're actually saving.

There is no real "trick" to avoiding parking charges, it really just is a suck it up and pay it type thing. In the grand scheme of things $100 added to a week long vacation at Disney is pretty inconsequential.

 

[kj2mom]

I always make an envelope for each day and when I have some cash I will stick a $20 in the envelope then months before the trip the envelopes are full and it is kind of out of sight out of mind. For some reason it just doesn't seem to hurt as much when you already have the money set aside for it. You could even put it on a gift card and have a just for parking gift card. One time I did happen to get into the MK parking lot without paying, it just happened to be the route I took. We were heading in on 4th of July, I was a little nervous about traffic and being offsite since the family we were going with was onsite and it was an important day (our twin friends were turning 13 on the 4th) for us so I had studied maps and found a back road in hopes of avoiding any traffic issues. It also happened to be our first day of our trip and my first time ever renting a car so my nervous factor was pretty high. I just wanted to get in there the most painless way possible. Anyway, we never passed any toll booths so that first day we didn't pay. All of the other days we paid at the booths (except our other MK day we had a breakfast at CM so we valeted for the day at the Contemporary, I had put more money and enough money for tips in the envelope for that day).

 

[DisIsForMe]

Thank so for all the great responses- this board is excellent for sharing info. I look forward to being able to contribute useful advice once I'm experienced

 

[DisIsForMe]

The annual pass is in fact a great idea and is close to worth it - especially if I can justify another trip within calendar year..... Alas it does seem the best plan is to simply buck up on a daily basis. Thanks again for the input dis'ers. The wilderness lodge option is worth it for cost savings when including the magic bands. Not enough of a value to create the extra opportunity for confusion however.

 

[msb578]

I always make an envelope for each day and when I have some cash I will stick a $20 in the envelope then months before the trip the envelopes are full and it is kind of out of sight out of mind. For some reason it just doesn't seem to hurt as much when you already have the money set aside for it. You could even put it on a gift card and have a just for parking gift card. One time I did happen to get into the MK parking lot without paying, it just happened to be the route I took. We were heading in on 4th of July, I was a little nervous about traffic and being offsite since the family we were going with was onsite and it was an important day (our twin friends were turning 13 on the 4th) for us so I had studied maps and found a back road in hopes of avoiding any traffic issues. It also happened to be our first day of our trip and my first time ever renting a car so my nervous factor was pretty high. I just wanted to get in there the most painless way possible. Anyway, we never passed any toll booths so that first day we didn't pay. All of the other days we paid at the booths (except our other MK day we had a breakfast at CM so we valeted for the day at the Contemporary, I had put more money and enough money for tips in the envelope for that day).

True, if you're coming in from the east near Fort Wilderness, you end up not paying to park at MK. Not something I'd go out of my way for, but it just kind of "is what it is" if it happens to be my logical route.

 

[BigredNole]

There are no strategies to parking unless you are trying to find a way to bypass the parking fee. Some people may be willing to let you use their AP MB just for parking. I don't know the legality of it, but I have friends that used mine to save ~$150 before.

 

[richmo]

There are no strategies to parking unless you are trying to find a way to bypass the parking fee. Some people may be willing to let you use their AP MB just for parking. I don't know the legality of it, but I have friends that used mine to save ~$150 before.

However, it hasn't happened to me often, but as an AP holder, I have been asked to show an ID at the parking gate.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Paying for parking is just part of the onsite/offsite tradeoff. There is no multi day discount. Staying on site or having an AP is the only way to save on parking. And when they increased the parking fee they have been much more diligent in checking AP ID's.

 

[chartle]

-You could see if your resort has a shuttle service and take that

Besides those staying at Bonnet Creek I don't think I have ever read a post from anyone that was happy with their hotel's free parking shuttle. Most of the time they post after using it 2 days they either start taking taxis or rent a car.

I feel sorry for those coming from overseas that get sold on the free shuttle so stay off site and then find that it maybe does 2 trips in the morning, 2 trips at night and is shared by other hotels. They can't rent a car because either they don't drive at all or didn't make arrangnets to get a

 

[Maistre Gracey]

However, it hasn't happened to me often, but as an AP holder, I have been asked to show an ID at the parking gate.

Yup... most of the time we get waved through, but every now and then we are asked for ID.
One could lose certain privlidges for what has been suggested. Please don't wreck it for everyone.

MG

 

[bonoriffic]

As others mentioned, if you are getting to a park for an early breakfast it is unlikely you are going to pay. If you are coming at night for the first time they seem to stop collecting by sundown many nights. Last trip we had the attendant say she felt bad charging us and waived us through one day. One day at Epcot we were handed a preferred parking pass and waived through. One morning the attendant was there and said was only charging people who were frowning. Of a 6 day trip I think we paid maybe 3 days.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm not thinking of one, someone else may have an idea. You could park at Disney Springs and take a bus, but that's going to take quite a bit of time. Might be best to just pay to park.

You can't do that without going to a hotel in between, precisely so that people don't do it.

OK, I remembered that they started bus service from the parks to DS, wasn't sure about the other way. I'll stand by my suggestion to pay to park. Or just maybe an Uber ride from the off-site hotel would be cheaper than parking?

And buses will not start running to resorts until DS opens which will be 10 am, so by time you arrive at a park, you have lost the most valuable hours and certainly loss way more in value than $20 to park.

 

[David Brent]

The only park where DW was not asked for her ID with AP MB was HStudios.

 

[brandylouwho]

Don't forget to add in the cost/value of Memory Maker too when deciding if an AP is worth it. I think my break even point was around 8 park days (just comparing an 8 day parkhopper, parking fees & the photos. not counting any potential AP discounts on dining or shopping, which there are plenty this year)

 

[DisIsForMe]

Don't forget to add in the cost/value of Memory Maker too when deciding if an AP is worth it. I think my break even point was around 8 park days (just comparing an 8 day parkhopper, parking fees & the photos. not counting any potential AP discounts on dining or shopping, which there are plenty this year)

Great point and exactly why I said it was close for me. I'm able to enjoy the Canadian rate so that makes it more of a challenge to get to that AP but agreed with Memory Maker, magic ands, parking and discount on food it's likely only 6-7 days to make AP a worthy investment.