First Time - Parking Advice!

Which one of these is going to be faster and/or less stressful? I am struggling to really get the transportation concept.

Route 1) Park in the Transportation Center (I think its $26) and taking the Tram and Monorail to the Magic Kingdom park on Sunday 8/22.

Route 2) Park at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort and take the bus to the park.
This is the day of check-in, but PRE 3:00 check-in. I think parking here is still an option though.

Details: We have a Rental Car, where our luggage will be until we check-in because we’re doing Universal on Saturday. After we go to MK I need to unload the luggage that evening after park closing, take the rental car back to the airport and take the Magical bus back to the hotel. Then we do Epcot Monday and Hollywood on Tuesday. So those days we will take the bus to the parks from what I understand.

Thank you for reading my post. This is our first visit to Disneyworld (20+ times to Disneyland including 3 weeks ago!)

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Probably parking at TTC will be faster. The bus from ASM does go straight to the gate, but that’s a longer bus (and potentially a wait) than the ferry or monorail.

It will save you some steps at the end of the day if you can just take a bus straight back to ASM. However, if you’re not dropping off your luggage at ASM, I’d probably just park at TTC.

Yes you can park at the hotel on your day of check-in (you will be charged). Note that if you are staying onsite, the amount you pay for parking should be valid to all WDW lots so you don’t have to pay twice if you park at TTC. (If you are charged twice, make sure to show the front desk so they can reimburse you).

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Unfortunately the parking trams are not running yet. Maybe by your trip but get to the parking gates at least an hour early. Also make sure you checking online so your free park parking is available to you.

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Parking at the resort is for overnight parking. I would go to the resort, tell the guard you are dropping off your luggage but returning your rental car and not staying overnight (so you won’t be charged automatically).

I would park at the resort, check your bags at bell services, and then go to the park. When you are back at the resort after you have gone to the park and return the car, get your bags from bell services. You are telling DME you are arriving that night?

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Thank you all for the replies. What I had thought of, was parking at the TTC and then after the park closes I can drop my friend and daughter (the trip is for her 20th birthday) off at All Star Movies with the luggage and then leave with the car.
OR just parking at ASM with the luggage in the trunk. Either way it skips having to bother the bell desk.

I wasn’t concerned about the parking cost difference so much as determining which route would be the most convenient. Neither option seems “easy”

I have tried to read up on the transportation options but with Covid I’m having a hard time figuring out what’s accurate and what isn’t. Such as the tram running or not.

The parking trams also aren’t running in Disneyland and it’s ridiculous. My experience with that on July 10th was being told to park in another lot (Toy story) and take the Disney bus for “less walking” only to be told the wait for the bus after park closing was 50 minutes. The Cast Members were just convincing people to walk the 1.5 miles to the lot. I’m fearful of the same thing happening at Disneyworld, since I don’t know what to expect.

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Definitely park at ASM and take the bus. It’s the most direct and least complicated option.

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When are you going? I might leave my luggage in my truck in January. I would never leave my luggage, including deodorant, makeup, and other products that could be destroyed by heat in access of 100 degrees in a trunk most months?

There should not be any cost to park during the day at AS or to park at the TTC. On-site guests get free parking at all parks.

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Good point. Bell services can hold your bags for you and deliver them to your room. You can park in the check-in area and grab a bus to the park. Buses get to the parks before POVs are let into park.

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I had forgotten that the trams still aren’t running. They had previously been rumored to be resuming operation soon but I haven’t heard anything else on that front.

That being the case, parking at ASM and taking a bus is probably the best option. I agree with the others that unloading your luggage with Bell Services would be a good idea, but if you’re ok with leaving it in a steaming hot car all day, that’s fine too.

We left all of our stuff in the rental on 6/28 and it was all just fine.

We parked arrival morning at TTC with a car full of luggage. I used my magic band at the booth to park. We arrived for a PPO breakfast at MK so we had no trouble parking and walking the short distance. Cant speak to how long the walk is later in the day if not taking a tram. The only day I think we used a tram (2019) from he parking lot was the day we did not rope drop at AK. Early into the parking lot allows near vip status parking.

I accounted for this by putting everything sensitive to the heat into my ice chest in the car. Including kids tablets.

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Gosh we even left tablets and my husband’s work computer in the rental

Looking back that probably wasn’t the super smartest move we made, but again everything was 100% a-okay

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I fried a digital camera one summer that way. So that really left an impression on me and I won’t leave electronics in the car intentionally anymore. Trunk is probably not as hot as the main cabin (no luck there in a minivan). Also, if it was overcast and cooler that day, even in summer, the car probably won’t get quite as hot.

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I will say it was not intentional but an oversight that we never even considered.

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I have had to prop my phone in front of an AC vent when I’ve left it in the car. Otherwise it won’t start. This is in Texas, but I’ve always left a little ventilation.
We get foam ice chests with DD’s medicine. I might pack some of them.

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Thanks for all the advice. I hadn’t considered the effects of heat on things inside the trunk. I will have to give that some thought.

I also just realized I can actually change my National Car reservation to drop off at the Car Care Center, it will take the total from $70 to $126, for 2 days but might be worth it in order to not return to the airport.

In that case, I guess we could drive from our first hotel to ASM at 7am and drop the bags at the bell desk, then drop the car at the Car Care Center and then take their shuttle to TTC. It would avoid a parking fee I believe.

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Just an observation, I noticed I get better Car rates booking straight through National rather than through the partner website. But I wasn’t able to select the Car Care Center as a return without entering in the zip code 32830 as the one-way destination and then allowing the system to suggest the location to me.

At that point it gave me a quote. But it looks like I can’t use coupons.

I know I have said it a couple of times but I will say it again. If you have an on-site stay (check in and check out days both count) you do not pay for parking at TTC or any parks. If you park at a resort, you only pay for overnight stays.

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I totally understand doing what you have to do to make your trip work, but that sounds like a less than fun way to roll into your first park day at Disney. We had our own car and not a rental, but it was really nice to roll up to TTC and go that first morning.

Bell services will take time. Dropping off the car will take time, a shuttle service takes time (what times does it leave the car rental drop-off? What other stops does it make?), and you will still end up at TTC and have to get on transportation to MK. You may want to really calculate how much time that will realistically take and think about how that shapes the rest of your day. Consider the costs of having the car for at least that day vs missing rope drop. But maybe returning the car early allows something for the evening that you’d had to cross off before? These are things I’d also weigh. (But personally, if I was getting up that early, I’d want to make rope drop.)

I really do not understand why they are not running. It is about as ideal as you can get from a COVID point of view, so that should not be the reason. Not that it has mattered much for us since we have been rope dropping. The one day that we did not so far we were only 6 rows back any way.

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