Parking strategy

[dan4747]

We will be staying outside Disney, and will drive in. Can we park at the Swan, Dolphin or Beach & Yacht Club resorts, and take a boat to MGM or Epcot? Will our car be towed if we are not hotel guests? What if we intend to mini-golf at Fantasia? I'm not trying to save money, just time, and would enjoy a less crowded boat ride to the parking lot trams.

 

[Sean23]

You will get into the parks quicker if you just park in the regular parking lots. How can you save time parking at one of the resorts. I parked at the dolphin once when MGM was totally packed and i did not want to mess with the traffic but it was a good 10- 15 minute walk to the front of the park.

 

[dan4747]

I though that the boats stop in front (or back) of these resorts and near the entrances to either MGM or Epcot. Is this correct?

 

[sgtdisney]

Disney issues 3 hour parking passes when you visit the resort if you are not a guest there. They often times check to see if you have preferred seating in one of the restaurants, etc. I have heard stories of people seeing cars being towed from the hotel parking lots. The hotel parking lots are for guests of the hotel and people using the hotel services. I would seriously recommend parking in one of the theme park's parking lots. They have really cracked down on this misuse of the parking lately as resort guests were often times not able to find parking spaces. You will probably find this is a heated topic here on the DIS, but bottom line, it really isn't a good thing to do.

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with the others that it is not the thing to do.
To answer your other question:

I though that the boats stop in front (or back) of these resorts and near the entrances to
either MGM or Epcot. Is this correct?

There are boats that go from the back of the resorts to MGM and to Epcot, but...
1) It would take you longer (and be farther than going to the tram) to walk from the resort parking lot, thru the resort to where you have to wait for the boats.
2) The boats run about every 15 minutes, so you would have a wait there.
3) The boat ride takes about 12 minutes from boarding until you get to your stop.
4) The boats let you off farther from the park entrance than the parking lot trams would let you off.

So the best option is to park in the lot for the park you want to visit and ride the parking lot trams. Also, Fantasia is a pretty long walk from anywhere.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by dan4747
We will be staying outside Disney, and will drive in. Can we park at the Swan, Dolphin or Beach & Yacht Club resorts, and take a boat to MGM or Epcot? Will our car be towed if we are not hotel guests? What if we intend to mini-golf at Fantasia? I'm not trying to save money, just time, and would enjoy a less crowded boat ride to the parking lot trams.

Well... you'd actually save a LOT of time by simply parking at the theme park parking lot, and then taking the tram in. Very quick. The Friendship Cruisers are notoriously slow moving, and it would take you much longer to ride the boat.

Not to mention, parking at the resorts is reserved strictly for those guests staying at the resort, or going to a meal there, in which case they are issued a 3hr pass.

As for Fantasia Gardens, they have thier own parking lot for mini-golf. It's a short drive from the Studios.