Hi all! We have been to WDW many times but have never rented a car. I have been to the TTC when staying at the Poly. But, I’ve never parked in the TTC lot. For our upcoming trip in July, we are renting a car. I am working on our ADR choices, since I only have about 2 months before needing to book, and I need some advice. If we were to get an 8:30 a.m. reservation at Chef Mickey, would we be able to park at the TTC and make it in time, assuming MK opens at 9? I know there is a resort monorail. But, can we enter the TTC parking lot before they allow MK guests to enter? And, if so, how? BTW, our plan is to head to MK after breakfast. Thanks in advance! I’m glad we’re renting a car. But, it does bring up a lot of new questions that I don’t normally have about our trips to WDW!
If you have an ADR, you can park at the Contemporary. After your meal, move the car to the main parking lot and monorail over. (Some say you can keep the car at the Contemporary and just walk to MK, but I think that is risky.)
I thought about doing that. But, am I risking us having to park so far back that we’ll have walked our days steps just getting to MK? Again…I don’t know much about the TTC! I was hoping to minimize our time in the car and just do our driving in the morning. So, is it all all possible to park there before our dining reservation and make it? The other option, I guess, would be to make our dining reservation later. If so, what time would be safe to be able to park at the TTC first thing and be able to make it to Chef Mickey? It’ll be our first day in MK, for this trip. So, I’d like to get there as early as we can (although we DO have a 2nd day reserved at MK). My kids insist on Chef Mickey every trip!
Yes, you can park at TTC up to an hour before the scheduled opening of MK, and you can remain parked there all day!
It only makes sense to park at Contemporary if you are going to “risk” leaving your car there all day. Note that many people do this, @ryan1 is extra cautious. 
Lot opens about an hour before park. So it would be pushing it to get from the lot to the TTC, and then monorail over the Chef Mickey’s on time.
If resorts are full then they might be monitoring the parking more carefully?
Yeah. That is a concern. As you know full well!
So, assuming that MK doesn’t open till 9…you’re saying that they don’t even start letting people into the parking lot for TTC until 8? Are the lines for the TTC parking lot generally pretty long? What time would you recommend that we get in line to park? Would a 9:00 Chef Mickey reservation be better? Or is that still risky? Also, I thought I had read that the resort monorail starts running before the MK monorail line. Is that only from the resorts and not the TTC?
ya’ I wasn’t going to bring that up again 
Still a little sore about it and NOT looking forward to being on hold for hours tomorrow to try and fix it 
Not even a possibility for me…I am a rule follower and wouldn’t park there all day if we’re not supposed to. Just need to figure out what time to get to TTC and what time to make my ADR.
Yes. Resort monorail starts earlier, but you have to account for time to park, walk to TTC, and then time for monorail to hit GF, MK, and the Contemporary. 9:00 seems much more reasonable.
they open up the parking lots approximately 45 min before the park opens. If you are there in line at the start you’ll be fine.
No offense to anyone who is not 
! I’m just not a risk taker 
.
OK…sounds like I’ll make our Chef Mickey reservation for 9 (if possible), unless they release park hours and the opening time for MK is earlier! Thanks for the suggestions!
I think you’d be fine at 8:30am if you arrive by at least 8:00am at the TTC entrance. But 8:45 might be safer if you’re worried.
So, once we park at the TTC, and walk to the monorail station, what is the line like for the resort monorail? I’d assume the MK monorail line might be pretty long right before park opening. But, is the resort monorail line just as long or shorter?
Trying to weigh my “not a risk taker” thoughts with my “I want to get to MK as early as possible” thoughts to see what time I’m comfortable making our Chef Mickey reservation!
You have a 15 minute grace period before and after your reservation, so if you make it for 8:45 you will be covered. I wouldn’t do it for 9 assuming you want to make it to the park as early as possible.
If I recall correctly, the resort monorail goes TTC - Poly(closed now) - GF- MK - CR (so clockwise), and is slower than molasses when you are in a hurry (long waits at each stop). At least that was our experience using it to get to a BOG early breakfast. Really, if at all possible I would recommend you just take an Uber/Lyft/taxi to breakfast that day and save yourself a lot of stress and hassle. Or take the chance and park at CR.
You could also take the Express monorail, ferry, or bus (if available) to MK and walk to contemporary.
You could always valet park at CR, then you’ve paid to stay all day. Save the transportation hassles.