Hello! We are going to Universal in March and having dinner at Chef Mickeys one evening before heading to MK for DAH. I know this has been discussed before, but I can’t find a definitive answer. Can we park at CR for our 5:00 meal and then walk over to MK for DAH? DAH goes until 1am can we leave our car there that long? What about valet parking? Since we aren’t a guest at the Contemporary, I’m not sure it is allowable for us to stay parked there that long. Has anyone actually done this-either regular parking or valet?
Yes, many times. We usually have a reservation at The Wave. You can easily get in to park with an ADR and stay as long as you like.
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Official rules are 3 hours parking at resorts.
I’m not sure how much this is enforced - if it is, the Contemporary would be one of the main resorts for enforcement.
Self parking is never close. Valet parking is approximately the cost of one meal, and it’s right at the door. No hike in from a remote location in, usually, humid heat or pouring rain.
Valet parking is good for 24 hours. This information is from supervisors of the folks that answer your questions when you call Disney and WDW website.
When eating at a restaurant at another resort we valet park.
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I’m wondering if would just be better to park at the transportation center and then use monorails to get to CR? Don’t really want to pay for valet and if there’s any risk of us being towed for being parked there for 7+ hours, then I don’t think we want to take that risk.
If valet parking is good for 24 hours, does that mean it is staffed 24/7? We plan on staying at DAH until close at 1:00am, and if we do valet park, we want to make sure someone will be there to bring us our car. Debating if it’s worth the cost or if we should just park at transportation center and monorail over…
There’s not really any risk at all of you being towed.
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Valet is only $8 more than parking at the TTC. And way more convenient.
It is not enforced.
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You can never say 100% that a time limit won’t be enforced in some way, but there are lots of people who park there and go to MK. Most have an ADR since the gate won’t typically let you in if you don’t. We had a 6pm ADR at The Wave and went to DAH until 12:30 in November. I pulled into the BLT lot to the left which was only about 1/2 full when I parked and much less full when I came back at 12:30. It is the closest to the walkway from MK.
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Valet is $33 and staffed 24/7.
If you let them know when you drop it off you’re paying for valet (since you only get 3 hours free with your dining reservation), and let them know you’re going to DAH, they will be very polite and have your car close when you come back to pick it up.
I valet there always and walk over. It’s just easier and convenience is worth the extra cost. The staff is wonderful!
Have fun!
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Thank you for letting me know! 
. This is exactly what we are hoping to do.
I would not bother to pay extra for valet. We did exactly this on 10/26 last year. We had a 5pm CM reservation and arrived at 1:30pm. My husband said to the gate attendant, “Where do we park for CM?” and handed him his band. The attendant waved us through. We parked pretty much right next to the gate and then walked over to MK. (This is the far end of the parking lot and was WIDE open. It’s not close to the Contemporary entrance.) We returned for dinner and then walked back to MK for HEA and stayed a short while after. I would guess we were back to our car at around 10:15pm? It was great to just walk past the lines to the buses.
They have next to zero way to know who is there for what reason so I would echo was has been said here that the chance of your car being towed is as close to zero as you can get in this world. I would guess than any cars that folks have seen being towed have been in a spot for days with most likely posted windshield notices and/or have an actual mechanical issue. We’ve also parked at the Poly and Yacht club in the past for full park days, just not this year.
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It seems there are two different conversations going on here.
For an extra eight bucks somebody much younger (and probably better looking) than me will park my car. And then bring it back.
Oh wait - tip. Ten bucks.
I love the convenience, too!
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