Possibility of being turned away from parking for resort dining reservation?

[dosekies]

Not sure if the works better here or in the Dining category. I get one day at Disney next month with no parks as we are 'technically' visiting another part of Florida. We are planning on parking at Disney Springs, shopping, and then having dinner at Ohana.

My original plan was to just take a bus from DS to the Poly and back after dinner. Would it be a better idea to drive to the Poly instead? We have a late reservation so we are leaving after dinner either way. My only concern is that I have read of people getting turned away even with reservations and there is the possibility that we will want to head to the resort early to have a few drinks and explore.

 

[OKW Lover]

Would it be a better idea to drive to the Poly instead? We have a late reservation so we are leaving after dinner either way. My only concern is that I have read of people getting turned away even with reservations and there is the possibility that we will want to head to the resort early to have a few drinks and explore.

Yes, it would be better to drive directly to the Poly yourself. You won't be turned away from parking there with a valid ADR at 'Ohana

 

[Wild4Walt]

I'd recommend driving to Poly for your ADR. Worse case, they valet at the resort.

 

[KayaWildfire]

We went to Ohana on NYE and drove there from our resort. The guard did check to make sure we had a valid ADR and gave us a 3 hour parking pass. The pass seemed more like a suggestion since there wasn't an actual time stamp on it as to when we arrived or had to leave by, but who knows. You should be fine.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

If you have an ADR you will not be turned away.

 

[Firestarlife]

Yikes, we are planning to visit the poly one night and eat at Trader Sam's. Will we have trouble parking at the resort without a dining reservation of some kind?

 

[chalee94]

Some people have been turned away, who were were hoping to eat quick service. Yes.

Do not count on being able to park at the resort.

 

[Firestarlife]

Some people have been turned away, who were were hoping to eat quick service. Yes.

Do not count on being able to park at the resort.

Okay, our plans for that afternoon also include a ride on the monorail just for fun. So what would be the best "plan b" if we are turned away from parking at the poly?

 

[AngiTN]

Park at TTC
Walk over

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Okay, our plans for that afternoon also include a ride on the monorail just for fun. So what would be the best "plan b" if we are turned away from parking at the poly?

Worst case, you can leave enough time to park at the TTC, if it comes to that, and take the monorail (or walk) over. Heck, even if you didn’t leave enough time, if you were turned away, one person could take the car to the TTC while others go ahead inside.

I think you’re pretty safe driving over.

 

[Dean Marino]

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[msjprincess]

Have people really been turned away with an ADR? Then what, they get charged the $10 no show fee?

 

[AngiTN]

Have people really been turned away with an ADR? Then what, they get charged the $10 no show fee?

Not that I've ever heard

 

[tjmw2727]

Have people really been turned away with an ADR? Then what, they get charged the $10 no show fee?

I haven't heard/read of anyone so the OP should be fine. However, some of the later responses were to another poster asking about Trader Sams and they don't take reservations.

 

[karensi]

Re the poster planning to go to Trader Sams...just wondering, do they allow anyone who wants to valet park or could you be denied that also?

 

[dansdad]

Re the poster planning to go to Trader Sams...just wondering, do they allow anyone who wants to valet park or could you be denied that also?

As long as there's room, anyone can valet park.

 

[fla4fun]

Have people really been turned away with an ADR? Then what, they get charged the $10 no show fee?

I was personally turned away from CR with a valid ADR, but it was before the cancellation fee. They tend to be a little pickier at resorts where you can walk to parks and at convention resorts. I hit the perfect storm of both that day, as there was a large convention in house. They weren’t even allowing the choice of parking valet that particular day, because the lot was so full. The only option was to park in the MK lot, and since I would not have had enough time to do that and make it back to the hotel for my ADR time, I just canceled the reservation and went elsewhere.

So long as it isn’t a holiday like July 4th, I don’t believe anyone with a valid ADR would be turned away from Poly, but there is always the very slim chance.

 

[AngiTN]

I was personally turned away from CR with a valid ADR, but it was before the cancellation fee. They tend to be a little pickier at resorts where you can walk to parks and at convention resorts. I hit the perfect storm of both that day, as there was a large convention in house. They weren’t even allowing the choice of parking valet that particular day, because the lot was so full. The only option was to park in the MK lot, and since I would not have had enough time to do that and make it back to the hotel for my ADR time, I just canceled the reservation and went elsewhere.

So long as it isn’t a holiday like July 4th, I don’t believe anyone with a valid ADR would be turned away from Poly, but there is always the very slim chance.

I venture to guess this is so long ago it's not relevant at this point
people used to make so many ADR they made them with no intention of using them.
This is no longer anywhere near the issue it was. I can't see any way they can turn someone away with an ADR that has a credit card hold when there's no way someone can park somewhere else. Turning them away would cause them to miss their ADR and in turn force them to incur a cancellation fee. No way will they do that

 

[fla4fun]

I venture to guess this is so long ago it's not relevant at this point
people used to make so many ADR they made them with no intention of using them.
This is no longer anywhere near the issue it was. I can't see any way they can turn someone away with an ADR that has a credit card hold when there's no way someone can park somewhere else. Turning them away would cause them to miss their ADR and in turn force them to incur a cancellation fee. No way will they do that

I agree that it would have to be extenuating circumstances way out of the norm that would cause them to turn away a guest with a legit ADR. It was on that day. The problem was that there wasn’t anywhere to park at CR that day because of the convention. That part could still happen today, and there would be no way to know until you try to access the parking lot that the lot is full. I knew someone who worked at CR at the time who told me later that this particular convention wasn’t actually staying at CR, just using the convention facilities for their meetings. So most of the attendees were driving to CR from elsewhere and were given priority over people with dining reservations. The only people getting in other than conventioneers were registered guests of CR/BLT.

Of course, this only happened to me once in literally hundreds of meals on property, many of which were at CR. I have eaten at CR on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve with legit ADRs and didn’t have a problem parking.

If the same situation were to arise today, I would not be surprised if they still turned people away. After all, there are only so many parking spaces and when they’re full, they’re full. Personally, I would hope if any guest was charged in this type of situation that Disney would refund the fee when asked. But it would be better to not have to deal with a refund in the first place. Perhaps they are hoping the new(ish) resort parking fees will discourage enough hotel guests from driving cars and parking, that the situation won’t arise, especially at the deluxe resorts which seem to have smaller lots vs. number of rooms.

So while I doubt the OP will have a problem, there is still a very small chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s one of those “never say never” kind of things.

 

[Dean Marino]

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