Disney World Tips: How to Avoid Parking Fees – $11 a Day Adds Up!

Parking at Disney can simply get ridiculous. Let’s face it, $11 to park your car for a day is just exorbitant. It may not seem like much the first day, but if you’re like most out-of-state vacationers and stay for, say, a week, that’s $77 right up front…plus food, resorts, souvenirs, ice cream, and all that jazz. It can be a bit befuddling, and it adds up fast. Yet, take the advice from someone who goes to Disney monthly…using simple strategies regarding transportation can really reduce both cost and hassle, and make your stay at Disney World much more magical after all.

To begin with, there’s the obvious answer of staying on Disney property to combat the parking rates. Anyone who chooses one of Disney’s many resorts to spend their vacation days gets the benefit of free parking to all the parks for the duration of your visit, plain and simple. But while there the “value” resorts which, depending on the season and the promotions, start from about $79 night, the more resort you go for, the more expensive. Disney’s flagship resort, the Grand Floridian, is upwards of roughly $450 a night. Regardless, at least parking is free.

For others who are staying off property or for those who simply don’t want to drive though they are staying on property, there’s always the alternative of Downtown Disney. Though on Disney property, it is open to the public and requires no admission fee and thus charges no parking fee either. Furthermore, with shops and restaurants and live entertainment galore, it is an attraction, relatively speaking, unto itself. Parking at Downtown Disney gives you access to Disney transportation, those lovely buses you see everywhere on property. I would highly recommend using it, especially if you are staying off property.

While most hotels do have shuttles to the parks they are not nearly as convenient as the Disney bus system nor do they circulate as frequently. The most you will ever wait for a Disney bus to arrive is 15 minutes. I have waited alone in a parking lot for a shuttle to an off-property yet upscale resort for 45 minutes. Disney buses are reliable, safe, and hardly confusing. Consider it this way…when paying for park admission, you’re paying also to maintain the transportation system…so use it. The buses at any Disney resort, park, or Downtown Disney take you everywhere, and best of all, it’s free.

Another alternative is to simply go to Disney after dark. A little known fact is that, for the most part, Disney stops collecting parking fees once dusk is past and gone. It may be slightly inconvenient, but for the adults who want to spend the day at the hotel soaking up the sun and taking catnaps, it’s a great alternative. And consider this, Magic Kingdom often stays open until 11 p.m. By 7 p.m., it’s dark and you still have four hours in the park.

Finally, another option to avoid parking at the parks is to park at the resorts. And yes, you can do it legitimately. While every resort, of course, has a security gate, all one needs to do is show a valid driver’s license and tell the gatekeeper that your family is looking into staying at the resort on a future visit. The gatekeeper will then hand you a temporary parking pass, allowing you to catch the bus from the resort directly to the parks. For those of you with qualms…it’s not lying…it’s true. One of the best parts about visiting Disney resorts is that after you see them, you really do want to stay there, and what you’ve heard is true. That is, staying on-property is an entirely unique experience.

It’s true, $11 a day for parking at Disney adds up. Be smart, and save your wallet, and know that there are, indeed, many ways to get where you’re going and for free.