If we are just going to the Boardwalk area to explore/eat, but have no table service reservation and will be staying offsite by this time, where can we park? I don’t assume they would allow us to park at the resorts there, and I really don’t want to pay for parking at Epcot. What options do we have?
If you don’t want to pay for parking, i think you’re out of luck unless you uber/lyft
Edit: never mind, if you say you want to check out the resort i think you can park acouple hours free at the resorts.
One option (that might take extra time) is to park at Disney Springs and then take a resort bus to Boardwalk. Parking at Disney Springs is free.
I’m really a grind about this, but: if you’re not a registered guest or if you don’t have a dining reservation, it’s entirely up to the gate guard’s discretion to let you in or not. Offering to pay for valet is no guarantee. During peak times you’re all but certain to be turned away from the monorail and Crescent Lake resorts.
Having said that, if you’re honest and say that you want to check out the resort, and maybe name a specific place you plan to eat, your chances of getting in go up. Just be prepared if you’re turned away.
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I like this option, thanks! We plan to go on one of our rest days once we’ve moved over to the Universal part of our trip, and keep seeing all the high recommendations for Ample Hills. I don’t expect to get extra pixie dust or anything…just wasn’t sure if we had an option outside of paying for parking at Epcot and walking over. Thanks!
Be advised that you’ll add in quite a bit of time doing it that way, so you have to have decide whether it is worth saving the $20 (or whatever it is) to park at Epcot, etc.
I’d assume roughly 30 minutes each way for the time to take the bus to/from Disney Springs. But if you wanted to spend time at Disney Springs already anyhow, then perhaps it would be worth it.
ETA: Oh, I just realized that parking at Epcot probably isn’t terribly helpful, since to get to Boardwalk, you use the International Gateway rather than the main entrance. I’m not sure you can get from the Epcot parking lot to the International Gateway without going THROUGH Epcot itself.
Ah, thanks! I didn’t even think about the fact that it’s near the international gateway and not the main entrance. Maybe our backup plan would be to walk from HS, if we feel we don’t have the additional time from DS. But you are right, we will already be at DS, so this may be our best bet.
I wonder - could you also consider parking at the Swan or Dolphin and take the short walk to the BW? Or even try YC/BC parking and walk over? (That CM might let you in if the BW CM won’t 
)
Yacht and Beach Club are, in my experience anyway, even harder to enter than the Boardwalk, as the lots are smaller and the hotels are marginally closer to EPCOT.
You can park at the Swan and Dolphin. I’ve done that myself and exactly no one asked why I was visiting either property (there’s no entry guard). Unless there’s an event, there’s generally little chance of either lot being full. Neither lot is all that close, though.
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Is there a fee to park at Swan/Dolphin?
Yes. I think $20 for self park and $30 for valet, but don’t hold me to those specific amounts.
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Thanks, I am thinking about a resort tour for my sister and niece in December.