Free parking at theme parks?

[villavic]

I've planned to go the first week of december, drving from Miami (I liven in Peru).
Been several times in WDW but it's my first time at a Disney resort. I'll stay at the Caribbean.
Are theme parks parkings free for the Disney resort guests? Or do I have to pay the fee anyway?
And I supposed going by myself by my car is faster than waiting for the WDW buses, right?

[ChipNDale79]

parking is free for all guests that stay on property.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Parking at the parks is free for resort guests. Sometimes it can be quicker taking your own car expecially leaving a park. But you also have to take in account the time that it will take you to park, then take the tram etc to actually get to the front of the parks etc as opposed to having a bus drop you off right out front most of the time.

[Melanie]

If we have our car, we take our car. The only place it may not be as fast is at Magic Kingdom where you have to make your way back to the TTC to get to the parking lot as opposed to getting a bus at the park entrance.

[disneyboundagain]

parking is free for all guests that stay on property.

At least for now ....

With the way Disney has been raising prices lately, I'm not sure how much longer it will be free...:mad::mad::mad:

[Mousemates]

Our take on the car is if we are planning on doing one park in a day or ending the day in the park we start at...then we drive, because it tends to be quicker. However, if we are planning on doing some hopping and finishing at a different park, then we use the bus system.

[CAS]

If you're staying at the Caribbean why even waste the gas and mileage on your car? The buses are generally fast (the car can't be too much faster since the bus drops you off right at the entrances). And when you're tired it's just so nice to let someone do the driving. I'm on vacation so someone else is going to cook, clean, entertain, and drive! :cloud9:

In 20 years of going to WDW we've only ever rented a car to go to the beach.

[Darbylew]

If you stay in one of the Disney resorts then
you park free at all the parks. We drive to
WDW but once we park the car that is it until
we leave for home. We take the bus all the
time. We really like riding the bus. :mickey:
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND GOING BACK IN
29 DAYS!!!!!!!! :D

[Polynesian Dweller]

We always get a car and yes you can park free at any of the parks if you are a resort guest and Downtown Disney. A car gives us flexibility you can't get on the buses and yes it is much faster. You usually wait longer in line at your resort waiting for the bus than it takes to drive to a park and get on the tram. Then you wait fora bus to go back. Car all the way for us.

[Live4WDW]

:mickey: It is funny. DW and I were there this past August, we drove down from TN. We used the car to go everywhere because we had always heard how crowded the buses are. We were there in WDW for 5 nights with park hoppers and stayed at the CSR and we had put well over 225 miles on the car just around Disney, nowhere else!!:eyes: How many miles? LOL.. Previous poster from above mentions being on vacation, let someone else drive. I hear ya!! DW and I are commin down in FEB 2010 and are staying at the contemporary, and take the monorail, boats and buses everywhere we go..:D Lesson learned. Hey ya'll it's vacation time. Relax have a good time.:mickey:

[Melanie]

Hey ya'll it's vacation time. Relax have a good time.:mickey:

For some, that's using their own transportation. In our experience, using Disney transportation usually isn't relaxing. Glad we usually have the choice. :thumbsup:

[PETE FROM NYC]

Last month, DW and I drove to WDW, with me being the only driver.We parked the car and used the buses. We are both ECV users so the buses made more sense, and the bus drivers went out of their way to get the ECVs loaded and unloaded.

[kathiep]

We always use our car. We find it much more convenient to come and go without waiting for a bus or cramming in with other riders. It's so easy to find your way around - no matter where you are going. No matter how convenient, we just aren't the type to enjoy waiting for a bus.

[KylesMom]

Driving versus utilizing Disney transportation is truly a personal preference thing. For us, with the exception of MK or CR (where we take the boat), we drive everywhere, including to all of the parks, resorts we're visiting, DTD and grocery shopping. However, that is just us. If we have an ADR at the Polynesian, we don't want to have to leave our resort an hour early for an ADR when it literally takes five minutes to get to the Poly from WL.

It all comes down to what you are most comfortable with. There's really no stock answer on this one. You do, however, need to take into consideration how comfortable you are driving in a foreign environment with a bunch of other people who may (or may not) know where they're going, buses, taxis, wildlife (yep, lots of DEER on property), etcetera. Is taking your car versus Disney transportation faster? While I can't answer that one, I do know that when my family is ready to go, we can usually get to our car within ten minutes of walking out the gates and back to our room within 20. :mickey:

[hokies4life]

W are also ones that if we drive down and have our car there we'll be taking that to the parks unless we'll be hopping back and forth all day. We are normally lucky enough to get in one of the first couple rows and either walk right to the gate or already have the tram there waiting for us. We've always been super lucky with our parking in the past, and until we consistantly end up at the back of the parking lot, we'll probably continue driving ourselves.

:chipdale: