Does preferred parking convey if you park hop?
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Yes
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Thank you!!!
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I’m confirming the “Yes” 
I did it many times in the past
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Can someone tell me more about what preferred parking is and how/if it is included or an upgrade for resort guests? I’ve not heard about this before and a web search wasn’t very helpful. Any other parking-related recommendations or warnings for driving to parks (except MK)? I’ve been meaning to follow up with @QwertySC about this 
We will have a car for the first time during our upcoming trip (less than 2 weeks). I need to spend a part of several days offsite and we are staying at ASSp so I was planning to drive to the parks on most days.
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It is not an upgrade.
Preferred parking is a paid-for option that (usually) gets you a space significantly closer to the entrance (or at TTC, to the monorail station and ferry launch) than you might otherwise be. I say usually because someone has to be in that last row of Preferred Parking which is right next to the first row of general (free, for onsite guests and AP) and that sucks. Had it happen once and felt like I paid $25 for nothing 
It is, I think, typically $15-$25/day (for offsite guest that would be $15- $25 in addition to the cost of general parking) and as mentioned can be used at all parks in the same day once purchased.
I found it helpful when I needed to be closer to the entrances before the trams returned to operation after Covid. I don’t usually opt for it otherwise.
Of note, general parking is included with your stay for onsite guests.
Here’s a screenshot from the WDW site
In terms of other parking related info, I would say the only thing is that I would take WDW transport to MK and drive to all of the rest.
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I remember paying the difference between standard and preferred parking b/c my AP has complimentary parking. But once the parking trams started running again paying for preferred parking wasn’t really that helpful to me anymore, just a personal preference. (responding to the parking info you shared from WDW)
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I do like grabbing a Lyft to AK b/c it drops you right at security 
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Historically, our family has always had rental homes, so we always drove to the parks. Since 2022, we had shorter visits with fewer people and I’ve been staying on property (All Stars and OKW). On each of my visits, I’ve experimented with using buses and I have come away as #teamcar as @melcort10 calls it. 
I’ve never done preferred parking, but I’m considering it on a day we may hop/leave more than once, because it’s frustrating to me that when you hop to a park or return to a park in the afternoon you are directed to slots WAY out there, yet as you walk or drive to the gates you pass umpteen vacant spots. I understand the parking lot safety goals. But it’s irksome.
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I am team car and I also pay the $25 upcharge (it has always been $25 for me) at every park, including MK. I think there is a “sweet spot” to hop. If you hop early afternoon I have found the lot attendants are no longer directing traffic and you can search up close for the empty spaces where people have left.
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I remember hitting a “sweet spot” once in 2022 and was allowed to look on my own. I wonder if it has something to do with measuring incoming flow: if a lot of folks are coming in, do they direct; and if the pace has slowed down, do they allow you to hunt and peck?
I’m sure they just don’t want accidents in the lots.
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#teamcar forever! Except at Universal where they charge you to park at the resort AND the parks. WTH.
We have had success with getting to the front when hopping with just either asking nicely to see if we could check closer or maybe sometimes there weren’t attendants anymore.
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This 100%
Similarly the NON-sweet spot, particularly for preferred parking, is mid-late morning. Arrive then and you’ll get that “last row before general parking” situation that I had that one time.
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so as a resort guest you pay to park and then you drive to the park and you pay there a second time???
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Yes, I am almost 90% certain that is the case! Ridiculous.
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That is abhorrent. What crap!
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I also thought that you had to park at CityWalk and take a bus to Epic, but DH swears he saw an Epic parking lot. But it was still $32 a day and something like $25 a night at the hotel.
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Thanks for all the replies and advice! I am feeling woefully underprepared for our upcoming trip. I haven’t even purchased our tickets yet. I would probably be the most annoying poster of questions over the next 10 days, except that I leave tomorrow for a week-long retreat where the use of devices is highly discouraged. We will see how compliant I can be. 
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