Insider Secrets: Parking at Disney World

In some ways, parking at Disney World is simple, and for good reason—Disney employs traffic engineers to create and maintain solutions for parking that are designed to get guests quickly and safely from one location to another.

There are a few things you should know about parking at Disney World, and some specific tips for each theme park that are designed to make your experience a good one. Each parking lot is as unique as the theme park it serves, and insiders know how to get the best parking!

At its most basic, parking at Disney World involves getting from your resort to the theme or water park of your choice. You should know that if you are not staying at a Disney resort, parking will cost you $12.00 per day for a normal passenger vehicle. Guests staying at a Disney resort will receive a special parking pass, and will not be required to pay for parking.

Once you pass through the toll plaza (paying or not), you will follow the cones and the Disney personnel to the first available parking spot. The spot you get first thing in the morning is the luck of the draw. They generally begin loading cars side by side, one row at a time. If you are at the end of the row, you may have a walk in front of you. If you are traveling with someone with special needs, and have a handicap hangtag or emblem, the parking attendants will direct you to the correct location. Each park offers several rows of handicapped parking for guests with disabilities.

Once you park your car, gather all of the belongings you will need for your time in the park, and lock your car securely. Parking at Disney is relatively safe and secure, and patrolled constantly, but it is still a good idea to secure your valuables, just in case. Depending on your location, you can ride a tram or walk to the park entrance. Sometimes it is less trouble, and less of a walk to simply head to the park entrance, even if a tram is available on the way. Each park has a different setup, detailed below:

Parking at the Magic Kingdom: Parking at Disney World’s original theme park is just the first step in your journey to the Magic Kingdom, as you will need to take either a monorail or ferryboat to the theme park entrance. Park as directed by the attendants, and make sure you note the location of your car. If you are in one of the first parking areas, it may be faster to walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) , which will be directly in front of you, and is where the tram is headed. Guests parking further back will need to board the tram, and then exit at the TTC. Once at the TTC, you have the choice of taking a ferry boat or monorail. Hint: Unless you see the ferryboat loading, take the monorail, it is a lot faster!

Parking at Epcot: Park as directed by the attendants—keep an eye out, parking attendants at Epcot often use a unique mode of transportation—Segways! If you are in one of the first two parking lots, use the walkway to reach Epcot. If you are further back, take the tram. Hint: You don’t need to cut over to the middle of the lot where the monorail is. If you approach Epcot from either side of the parking area, you can enter by the taxi/bus area or the kennel area, and avoid walking all the way across the parking lot!

Parking at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Arrive and park as directed by the attendants. If you are in one of the lots on the far right, there is a walkway that leads right to the Studio entrance. If you are on the left, it is better to take the tram, as the park entrance is located on the right hand side of the parking lot. Hint: Arrive early! This parking lot fills very quickly, and the park entrance area is small, so if you are late, you will have a long walk.

Parking at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: If you arrive in the morning, park as directed. If you are in the front two lots, or any of the right hand lots, it is much faster to walk than it is to wait for the tram. There is a walkway on the far right that leads right to the entrance. Hint: If you arrive later in the day, there will be no attendants, so park as closely as you can, and you will have a very short walk!

Parking at Disney will be easier if you have an idea of how the system works, and using the above tips will help you get out of your car and into the park as quickly as possible.