Do we pay for parking our car at theme park?

[Jessietoystory2]

If we are staying at a disney hotel and deceide to drive to one of the theme parks do we have to pay the parking fee or is it included with our hotel stay?

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

Nope, parking is included in your stay.

You will get the parking pass for your car window when you check in. That will be your pass to anywhere on WDW property.

Have fun! We love having a car on property!

[clausjo]

We used our car the last time we were there an loved it. It saved us quite a bit of time traveling on the busses, especially when we were leaving one resort and trying to get back to our own.

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

We used our car the last time we were there an loved it. It saved us quite a bit of time traveling on the busses, especially when we were leaving one resort and trying to get back to our own.

Totally agree with this point!

and with our kids, it helped to deal with meltdowns in our own car that on a crowded bus! At least only DH and I are inconvenienced by the crying and whining - which we have learned to ignore :D

[Captain_Nemo]

glad you asked, I was just about to ask this as I am driving down from philly for my next trip. Driving to the parks does save some time, but you will still have to wait for the tram in the lot for most cases, they are very frequent though. also having your car gives you access to Mickey D's as well lol in case ya need a big mac fix while you are there.

can you park at other resorts to say go to a restaurant or just to check them out?

[clausjo]

can you park at other resorts to say go to a restaurant or just to check them out?

Yes! We've done this many times. You just let the guard know that you're there for dinner, or whatever, and they tell you which lot to park in. You can use the valet parking also, if the resort you're going to has it. I've only looked around the resorts around the holidays, but it worked the same way. I just told the guard we wanted to look at the decorations. I remember in the past they used to give a short-term parking pass that was good for like 2 hours or something. I haven't gotten one of these in a while.

[kathiep]

We usually drive as well. Works best for us. It's quicker and easier with the little ones. We usually arrive at the parks prior to opening so we've never had to use a tram. We'll stay until early afternoon, head back the resort and are back out again for dinner. By the time we head back to the parks, some spots up front have opened up as other guests leave.

[Jessietoystory2]

Thank you for all your advice. We were debating to rent a car or not. My DH was worried that we would have to pay for parking (another expense).

[MarkC]

The only park I would recommend you bus to is the Magic Kingdom. If you drive, you park your car, then take a tram, then take the monorail. It can take up to 30 minutes in busy times. I know you can wait for a bus as well, but at least there you know you will be dropped off right at the gate. We've done it both ways for all parks but MK is the one we usually bus to.

[Darbylew]

We drive to WDW and when we get to our
resort we park the car and never get back in it
until we leave to come home. We use the bus
all the time. Parking in a parking lot and riding
the tram to and from your car is not for us. It
is fun to ride the bus and we have met so many
nice people as we ride to and from the parks. It
just works best for us. Have FUN! :mickey:
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND GOING BACK IN
MAY!!!!!!! :D

[AXOAlum]

We always drive and we love having the car to get us to the parks. It gives us a lot more freedom but if one of us wants to head back for a nap, there are always the buses. :mickey:

[Tink#64]

I completely agree with Darbylew! We drove to WDW for the first time in 2008, :drive: usually we fly, so we are very used to using WDW transpo exclusively! We had to stay off property for the first couple of days due to last minute trip & there were no rooms whatsoever available on property (Spring Break :crowd:) so we had to drive ourselves around the first couple of days! :drama:

We drove to DTD & to Epcot, there was ALOT of traffic & we thought that the signage was very confusing to follow! Once we got to check in on property we parked the van & didn't get back in it until time to head home! We actually prefer using the WDW transpo systems, more of a vacation feel to us, to sit back & let them drive us around! :vacation:
Not having the hassle of the traffic, a hot car when we leave the parks, that is after the hike out to the car or waiting for the tram!

We're driving again this year & the only time we might drive ourselves around is when we head over to the Contemporary for dinner & some boating fun! :boat: But that's really only if we're short on time! I'd much rather hop on the bus over to MK & then take the Monorail over to the Contemporary! The adventure just seems like a lot more fun! :mickey3: