Parking at Contemporary

[ZZUB]

It has been a couple of years since we've been to WDW and we're trying to decide on some trip strategies. It seems like there are some Disney-savy folks on these boards. So I'm tapping into your wealth of experience.

Now that valet parking is no longer free, are they allowing you to valet park at the Contemporary and leave your car there while you go into the MK? I've read several things on these boards which make me think you can do this. We used to do this all the time with general parking but then a few years ago they started limiting the time you could general park to 2 hours. Is that the case with valet as well?

We're leaving the MK at lunch time to go back to our room at the decidedly less expensive ASMovies for a nap. We are planning to return to the MK in the evening. In the old days (read: 3 years ago), we would do the same thing but park at Contemporary and ride the monorail in. By doing so, we avoided the long bus lines and rode the relatively short monorail ride to pick up our car. It always worked out rather well. But when they nixed that, we just rode the bus.

Can we valet park and leave our car for more than 2 hours? I don't mind paying the $7 if I don't have to put a stroller on the bus at 10:00 at night.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I believe, but am not sure that the time limit for non resort guests is still the policy. You will have to go through the parking gate and let them know why you want to park there. At least we had to stop and get a pass when we went anywhere on our last trip.

 

[beattyfamily]

Parking at the Contemporary (and other monorail resorts and Boardwalk) are for the guests of that resort OR for visitors of the resort BUT not for those visiting nearby parks...

 

[suevee]

Sorry they enforce the 2 hour time limit because there was so much abuse in the past that paying guests at the resort had problems with parking.

 

[Dznefreek]

I believe, but am not sure that the time limit for non resort guests is still the policy.

It may be but no one has ever checked the time we were visiting a resort in 12 years.

Sorry they enforce the 2 hour time limit because there was so much abuse in the past that paying guests at the resort had problems with parking.

Again; I have never had or have seen it enforced in 12 years.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by Dznefreek
It may be but no one has ever checked the time we were visiting a resort in 12 years.

Again; I have never had or have seen it enforced in 12 years.

It may be done by people all the time, and you may have never been checked, and you may have never seen it enforced, but that doesn't mean they haven't tried to enforce this policy on others and it certainly doesn't make what he wants to do right.

I guess this bothers me because I stayed at the Contemporary 2 years ago and could never find a parking place. As an example, one night we saw some people come in and park, get out and walk over to MK with their Santa Mickey hats on for the MVMCP party. It was very frustrating to say the least.

 

[Safari Steve]

Signs at the resort entrances clearly indicate that "we are unable to provide parking for Magic Kingdom park. Please use the TTC lot."
In many instances, you must have a priority seating for a meal or be staying at that resort to gain access to the Contemporary lot. I have seen a tow truck leaving the Contemporary on more than one occasion.

"We haven't been caught" does not = "It's okay." Parking at the resorts is reserved for guests of the resorts, and each park has sufficient parking for its guests.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by Safari Steve
Signs at the resort entrances clearly indicate that "we are unable to provide parking for Magic Kingdom park. Please use the TTC lot."
In many instances, you must have a priority seating for a meal or be staying at that resort to gain access to the Contemporary lot. I have seen a tow truck leaving the Contemporary on more than one occasion.

"We haven't been caught" does not = "It's okay." Parking at the resorts is reserved for guests of the resorts, and each park has sufficient parking for its guests.

Well, said!

I hate to say this but I'm starting to be skeptical that these kinds of posts are 'for real' when a new visitor asks a question that is a touchy subject (like this subject and like "do I need to buy my 3 year old a ticket?" and others like that). They usually do not provide an email for PMing either which makes me wonder. It's been happening a lot lately.

If this is not the case with the OP then I'm truly sorry but it just seems fishy. Either way, you got your answer.

 

[ZZUB]

It never occured to me my question would touch off such a firestorm of a debate.

I assure you this was a genuine question. I have no interest in starting debates with abject strangers over the propriety of parking at the Contemporary.

I confess, it never occured to me that parking at the Contemporary was "wrong." Nor did it occur to me that in doing so I was robbing a Contemporary guest of their rightful parking space. In years past when we have employed this option we never witnessed a full parking lot nor did we have the sense that we were depriving people of parking priviledges. Accordingly, we just never thought that was an issue.

BeattyFamily, you raise a valid point. And regardless of whether they check or whether I think we can "get away with it," now that you have pointed out that someone might be deprived of a space, and indeed you yourself experienced that, I won't exercise this option. We may be ignorant but we're not selfish.

If you re-read my original post you will see manifest evidence that we are not mean or selfish people. Up until a few years ago, we were able to park at Contemporary and go into the MK. However, since they started limiting general parking I wondered whether the same was true with valet parking. I am not trying to bend the rules or break the rules. My original post, I think, is evidence of my intention to find out what the rules are. I have seen several other posts which gave me the impression it was ok to valet at Contemporary or Boardwalk and travel there into the MK and Epcot respectively.

Some of the posts in reply to my question seem antagonistic at best and hostile at worst. Perhaps there are people who post questions on these boards for the sole purpose of instigating arguments. If so, I can't imagine who those people must be. In any event, in my humble opinion, questions should be considered legitimate until proven otherwise, and people should be treated with respect.

 

[Safari Steve]

I hope you don't consider my post antagonistic or mean. I certainly did not intend any such tone. If the search function is working at the moment, feel free to look up my previous posts. I'm a CM at Magic Kingdom and I post on these boards in hopes to help people make the most of their visits. I hope your upcoming trip is as fabulous as possible. If you have any questions about MK or the resort in general, feel free to PM me and I'd be more than happy to offer any help that I can.
-Steve

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by ZZUB
It never occured to me my question would touch off such a firestorm of a debate.

I assure you this was a genuine question. I have no interest in starting debates with abject strangers over the propriety of parking at the Contemporary.

I confess, it never occured to me that parking at the Contemporary was "wrong." Nor did it occur to me that in doing so I was robbing a Contemporary guest of their rightful parking space. In years past when we have employed this option we never witnessed a full parking lot nor did we have the sense that we were depriving people of parking priviledges. Accordingly, we just never thought that was an issue.

BeattyFamily, you raise a valid point. And regardless of whether they check or whether I think we can "get away with it," now that you have pointed out that someone might be deprived of a space, and indeed you yourself experienced that, I won't exercise this option. We may be ignorant but we're not selfish.

If you re-read my original post you will see manifest evidence that we are not mean or selfish people. Up until a few years ago, we were able to park at Contemporary and go into the MK. However, since they started limiting general parking I wondered whether the same was true with valet parking. I am not trying to bend the rules or break the rules. My original post, I think, is evidence of my intention to find out what the rules are. I have seen several other posts which gave me the impression it was ok to valet at Contemporary or Boardwalk and travel there into the MK and Epcot respectively.

Some of the posts in reply to my question seem antagonistic at best and hostile at worst. Perhaps there are people who post questions on these boards for the sole purpose of instigating arguments. If so, I can't imagine who those people must be. In any event, in my humble opinion, questions should be considered legitimate until proven otherwise, and people should be treated with respect.

I hope you are not angry with me.

I was just trying to explain why it would bother me if people not staying there, parked there and then went to MK...

I'm also sorry I mentioned you could be a troll...it's just that we've had a few of them lately!

Again, I am sorry if I upset you.