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MaxPower
11-04-2009, 05:29 PM
A friend of mine will be in the Magic Kingdom in December and was asking me if she wants to go to the resorts to see the Christmas Decorations, will she have any problem since she will not be staying on property- she will simply be a day guest at the Magic Kingdom.

So will she be able to board resort monorails and buses with no room key to show from any Disney hotel? Do they even care fi you are a resort guest or not? Has anyone been faced with this situation before?

She's mainly interested in going to the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge and Boardwalk.

WDWdriver
11-04-2009, 05:46 PM
Your friend will not be asked to show a room key or other identification. Disney welcomes visitors to check out the resorts.

DizneyFreak2002
11-04-2009, 06:03 PM
Disney pass up a chance for free advertising of their resorts?? LOL... She will be just fine...

faline
11-04-2009, 06:05 PM
I remember a time, many years ago when what you describe was the reality. That stopped long ago. Your friend will have no dificulty visiting any of the resorts regardless of where she is staying!

MaxPower
11-04-2009, 06:29 PM
Thanks for the replies- as a footnote, here is an additional question. Will she be able to drive her own car to The Boardwalk or Animal Kingdom Lodge and just tell the person at the guard shack that she'd like to come in and look around? Do they let people do that if they just drive up on their own?

seanyred
11-04-2009, 07:54 PM
Thanks for the replies- as a footnote, here is an additional question. Will she be able to drive her own car to The Boardwalk or Animal Kingdom Lodge and just tell the person at the guard shack that she'd like to come in and look around? Do they let people do that if they just drive up on their own?

Yes, she can drive her own car to each resort. She just has to tell them she would like to visit the resort. They will take down her info from her drivers licencse and her licence plate on the car. She will then be given a guest pass that I believe is good for 2 hours. Its not realy a big deal..have fun resort hoping

CaptainSad
11-05-2009, 09:10 AM
When I went in December of 2007 I drove to every Resort to see the decorations. Like someone said above they will give you a pass. The pass is good for 3 hours. I highly recommend doing this self tour. The different themed trees and unique decorations at each resort is very nice. I like the Grand Floridian the best with the Gingerbread house and all. Followed by Wilderness lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge. While there you should get a picture of them all. Including the ones at MK on Main Street, EPCOT in between the Gateway, AK & DHS at the entrances.

KylesMom
11-05-2009, 10:09 AM
I think the only restriction on this is if you are going in December right around (or just after) the holidays. If, for any reason the MK were to close due to crowds, you would not be able to park at the resorts which have access to the MK. I remember another moderator posted a few years ago that when parking access to the TTC (for MK) was closed due to capacity crowds, park guests tried to get into WL's parking lot. They were not allowed access, and it created a chaos situation for those who were staying at the resort.

One other thing that we found out from trying to get our son to the Pirate Cruise at the GF - they have very limited general parking facilities!

LauraleeH
11-05-2009, 12:25 PM
We go to different resorts all the time and we've never had a pass. We just drive up, flash our drivers license (Sometimes they look, sometimes they don't) and tell them we are having lunch at the resort and they direct us to guest parking. I've never even heard of a pass???

KylesMom
11-05-2009, 12:34 PM
I've never even heard of a pass??? That's pretty wild that the experiences are so different. For CR, Poly & WL, we've never been able to enter without showing a minimum of our license, and we're usually issued a 3-hour parking pass (unless we're doing valet) for these three resorts - or I should say the CR & Poly. Since we stay at WL, we usually just have to show our license prior to check-in, then it's the room key.

11290
11-05-2009, 12:52 PM
I've never even heard of a pass???

Even if you are a CM and show your ID you get a car pass if you are just visiting.

Car passes have been that way for a LONG time.

MaxPower
11-05-2009, 03:19 PM
Thanks for the input. This has become an interesting thread to me--because now that you have all mentioned the 3 hour passes - I am wondering - are there really CM's whose job it is to check to make sure some visiting cars are not staying more than three hours? Is it just a scare tactic? Do cars actually get towed? It seems to me that it would be very difficult to keep track of - checking hundreds of cars on big guest lots each hour and weeding out the ones there on passes and deciphering which are stil in their 3 hour alotted limits. Any thoughts?

Polynesian Dweller
11-05-2009, 05:07 PM
Yes there are security CMs who check cars. The parking lots are for guests of that resort first and foremost. They have to be able to park there and courtesy says you should park only up to the 3 hour limit and not potentially block a resort guest.

brownie
11-07-2009, 11:14 AM
She won't have any problems. Not only would it keep her from checking out the resorts, she wouldn't be able to eat any of the restaurants, either. It's great to see all the decorations in the resorts; I hope she enjoys it.

badkitty
11-08-2009, 02:33 AM
Even if you are a CM and show your ID you get a car pass if you are just visiting.

Car passes have been that way for a LONG time.

I have been to Poly and WL for breakfast/lunch many times in the last few years and have never been issued a car pass. I know of others who have received passes but I haven't so it doesn't seem that the resort security is consistent. All I had to do was show my driver's license and was told to "have fun!" I have nevered stayed longer than a couple of hours, though (never needed to).

CaptainSad
11-08-2009, 07:57 PM
I have been to Poly and WL for breakfast/lunch many times in the last few years and have never been issued a car pass. I know of others who have received passes but I haven't so it doesn't seem that the resort security is consistent. All I had to do was show my driver's license and was told to "have fun!" I have nevered stayed longer than a couple of hours, though (never needed to).


Well if that is the case. These CM's should be reprimanded. At the gates they are supposed to ask you are checking in, visiting resort guests or just to look around. With the way the world is now. They aren't supposed to just let you though.

badkitty
11-09-2009, 01:29 AM
Well if that is the case. These CM's should be reprimanded. At the gates they are supposed to ask you are checking in, visiting resort guests or just to look around. With the way the world is now. They aren't supposed to just let you though.

They did ask if I was checking in and I said "no" and that I had reservations. They asked for when and where, checked my license and then sent me on. I was not issued a pass. I was a bit surprised that I didn't receive one.

Joannelet
11-09-2009, 07:13 AM
I have been to Poly and WL for breakfast/lunch many times in the last few years and have never been issued a car pass. I know of others who have received passes but I haven't so it doesn't seem that the resort security is consistent. All I had to do was show my driver's license and was told to "have fun!" I have nevered stayed longer than a couple of hours, though (never needed to).

Were you staying on property elsewhere though?
I was there in July for a Disney wedding and the bridal shower was at the GF & we were staying in BC. I had to show my parking pass for BC when entering into GF and did not get a pass for GF...just kept my BC resort pass in the window. I also had to show my room key (but I didn't see the point in all this) because the dates on my stay were valid on my parking pass in my windshield. (plus I had a very UPSET 7 month old in the backseat and had to get out of the car to find my bag with my room key to BC in it.
Then she also led me to the guest parking lot in GF and if you know where that is I was so upset. The lady did not tell me how far away it was...it was 100 degrees, I had a 7 month old baby and bridal stuff to bring into the resort. I was so upset when I got there to find that other guests were told by security to park in the convention center. Nothing like an unhelpful CM. I was beyond upset.