Parking at Disney World: 5 Quick and Easy Tips for Your Trip
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JUST AS A DISCLAIMER – cuz I know how you Disney folk like to tussle – I am not the expert on anything Disney related. And yanno, I probably never will be either. So if you’re looking for some 18-page dissertation on the industrial engineering behind the calculations of one of the most organized parking systems in the world, this is not it. What you will find here, however, is a quick and easy guide of what to expect for parking at Disney World.
Seriously, only the basics.
Put your tridents down, I am but a casual fan.
I’ve been to Disneyland a few times, mostly in high school when I was in band and we were able to visit for free in exchange for child labor…I mean…the opportunity to play in the Disney parade. In those cases, we arrived in crowded school buses and changed into our band uniforms in front of each other as if we were puberty-stricken teenagers.
But I digress.
When I decided to visit Disney World for the first time, it was also my very first time in Florida (aside from a short drive through the panhandle as a child)! I went with a group of friends, one of whom is…obsessed with Disney and even visited Disney World himself a few months prior. But even he had never had much experience parking at Disney since he usually relied on the Disney Springs shuttle or the Disney hotel monorail. So it was a learning process for all of us hahah. For this post on parking at Disney World, I’m going to assume a few things:
- You will have a car (either your own or a rental car) during your time visiting Disney World
- You’re planning to spend the whole day/most of the day at a Disney park
- You’re planning on getting to the park early/at opening
- You are looking for the basics to parking at Disney World
- You did not book a VIP experience
If you fall under those categories, then this will be a great guide for you! If you don’t plan on arriving at the opening of the park, then honestly just show up whenever you want. I also have no idea how parking at Disney World works when you book a VIP experience, cuz I’m not ballin’ at that level yet, but let me know how it goes for you. If you’re curious, check out Global Munchkin’s perspective on the Disney VIP experience.
Otherwise – keep reading for my must-know tips for parking at Disney World!
Table of Contents
#1: Read the Hotel’s Fine Print
Funny story, we weren’t even supposed to NEED parking at Disney World because our hotel specifically listed that they had shuttle service to the Disney parks.
It…was not what it seemed.
You’ll see phrasing like this often for hotels around the Disney/Orlando/Kissimmee area. They’ll either say shuttle service to specific parks, or a more general “Disney parks.” When deciding between two hotels, we ultimately went with our hotel because they had shuttle service to the Disney parks, vs the other hotel that had shuttle service to only Disney Springs and Hollywood Studios.
As it turned out, “shuttle service to Disney parks” did not mean all of the parks. In fact, it also only meant Disney Springs and Hollywood Studios.
The hotel we picked was ultimately cheaper so whatever – BUT STILL. If you are planning on not parking at Disney World because your hotel offers a shuttle service, make sure it actually services the park you want to go to. In fact, if it’s vague, you should 100% call to make sure where the shuttle goes.
And – if you indeed need parking at Disney World, then at LEAST try to pick a hotel that has free parking so you aren’t paying for parking at Disney World AND at your hotel. If you’re new to Orlando, yes, there are more hotels than you would expect that have a nightly fee for parking. Including Disney World hotels. DOUBLE-CHECK YALL.
#2: Know What You’re Paying For
When you’re parking at Disney World, you may notice that there are a few different tiers to choose from. I’ll quickly list them and their prices, then we’ll go through what the different tiers mean. All prices are in USD, per vehicle, and are good for the entire day at any of the parks.
- Standard Parking: $25 a day
- Preferred Parking: $40-$45 a day
- Oversized Parking: $30 a day
For the large majority of folks, you’ll probably be using the standard parking at Disney World. What does that entail? Standard parking are at lots that are farthest from the entrance. That said, if you get to the park at opening or earlier, you will be “closer” than those showing up later in the day. Standard theme park parking is included for registered guests of Disney Resort hotels and select annual passholders.
Preferred parking at Disney World, for an extra $20-$25 bucks, will get you parked in a lot much closer to the entrance. The price difference depends on the day – aka how busy the parks are. If you are a guest at one of the Disney Resort hotels, you can pay the difference ($20-$25) for preferred parking.
And last but not least, oversized parking at Disney World includes the following vehicles: shuttles, limos, camper trailers, RVs, buses or tractor trailers.
If you have a disability parking permit, you pay the standard parking and can park in the Disability Parking Lots, which are close to the theme park entrances, however do not have access to the courtesy trams. Alternatively, and if you are able to step onto the trams, you can park in the main parking lot and ask for a space at the end of a row closest to the courtesy tram pick-up/drop-off location. If you arrive early, there should hopefully be a spot and it will shorten your walking distance and make things more accessible to you.
#3: Fifteen Minutes Can Make or Break You
Now this is the tip you’ve probably been waiting for.
HOW EARLY do you need to show up to get good parking at Disney World and beat the crowds?!??
Long answer – you can show up at the butt crack of dawn and there will probably still be someone there waiting to be let into the parking lot. You might’ve seen videos of people lining up at the PARKING GATE at 4am with lines 20 cars deep across the road. Seriously, lines like that will make you feel like you’re at Coachella or something…
Yeahh…unless you’re coming on the PEAK days, you probably won’t experience that. And on the off-chance that you do, pack a book, take a nap, or load up some trivia to play in the car. Or yanno, just show up later when the parking gates are open.
In my opinion, “beating the crowds” at Disney World is a moot point. There are always going to be crowds. It’s just something you have to accept to a certain degree. Unless you pay for the VIP experience, but again, I cannot speak on that. So, once you accept that you’re more likely to stab yourself in the eye putting on your Mickey ears than be the absolute first person in line at Disney – what time should you realistically plan to arrive for the relative “best” parking at Disney World?
Short answer – a little before an hour before the park opening.
You see, if you’ve never driven to a Disney park before its opening, you may not realize that there are actually two gates that limit crowd flow. The most obvious one is the theme park’s opening gate, which opens at the park’s opening (between 8:00am-9:30am), though sometimes they may open fifteen minutes or so before their posted hours.
If you’re lucky.
However, there is also a PARKING gate. The parking gate will open about an hour before the park opens. So if the Magic Kingdom’s opening time (for example) is 9:00am, then the parking gate will open around 8:00am. Roughly. Similarly to the theme park gate, the parking gate usuallyyyyy opens a little early as well.
THAT SAID – in my experience, the sweet spot for parking at Disney World is to show up about an hour and fifteen minutes early. When I did this, there was no line at the parking gate since it already opened/in the process of opening, I got a decently close parking space in the standard lot, and I was relatively “close” to the first batches of standard guests let into the park (not including Disney Resort guests who are let in an hour early).
Coupled with a lightening pass, parking at Disney World about an hour before the park opening allowed me to get to every ride (and restaurant!) I wanted in the park! Fifteen minutes later, and there would have been a LOT more people trying to park and even more that were already in the park.
I value my sleep (especially since we got back to our hotel around 10pm or later every night, and then stayed up to chat), so arriving earlier just to wait in the parking line was not necessary for me.
#4: Photographic Memory
Another KEY tip for parking at Disney World is to REMEMBER WHERE YOU PARK. At first glance, it may just seem like a vast maze of automotive vehicles, but it is in fact one of the most organized schemes since the plot of Money Heist.
Once you pay the parking fee, you follow a route that will lead you into your designated lot. From there, you will have parking attendants directing you to a specific parking spot. Each area has a specific name, and each row is numbered. If you don’t naturally have a photographic memory or directional memory, I highly HIGHLY recommend taking a picture of your row number – at the very least.
I was fine navigating with just the row number, but I’m surprisingly apt with directional memory.
At least in parking lots.
But even if you aren’t, upon leaving the theme park, you can find any parking attendant and they’ll point you in the right direction of your row number. In fact, even if you ignore this tip, a parking attendant can give you directions based on THE TIME YOU ARRIVED.
Parking at Disney World is THAT organized.
#5: Lower Your Expectations on Distance
And finally, if you park in a standard parking lot, expect a little bit of a walk. Especially during COVID-19 procedures, many of the courtesy trams are not operational so you have to walk to the front entrance. It wasn’t toooooo bad for my crew (usually about 10-15 minutes of walking), and surprisingly the longest walk was actually at Magic Kingdom where the tram WAS operational (15 minutes from parking lot to tram).
So keep that in mind.
If you are unable to walk for that long, either let a parking attendant know upon arrival, or I also saw motorized wheelchairs in the parking lot. I am unsure if you need to officially “rent” them, but it does seem like an option to use them. Definitely contact Disney World’s Disability Services (call (407) 560-2547 or email disability.services@disneyparks.com ) for more information on that.
If you plan on parking at Disney World, wear comfortable shoes! I mean…you probably should anyway…but the point I’m making is that there’s EXTRA walking.
Do you HAVE to Pay?
Yeah yeah, I had the same thoughts. Are there any loopholes or work arounds to do that allow you to “park” for free? I meannnn, you could technicallyyyy park off-site (like at the free parking at Disney Springs) and shuttle in for free.
But honestly, in my opinion, it isn’t worth it.
You have to wake up earlier, you add time to your commute, and you lose convenience. Plus, if you’re going to Disney World, it’s not a very budget trip anyway. Might as well make your trip smoother and pay $25.
Parking at Disney World: Conclusion
And there you have it, my quick and easy tips for parking at the most magical place on Earth – Disney World. It really is pretty straightforward, but I understand the hesitation around it. Hopefully this short guide has helped you make your decision on whether or not to park on-sight, and if so, alleviated some anxiety around it.
Have you ever tried parking at Disney World? Did I leave any of your tried-and-true tips out? Drop them in the comments below!
