Hey Howdy Hey Blise!
Welcome to planDisney! Using the park hopper option on your Walt Disney World Resort vacation is a great way to make the most of your time at the parks. When traveling between the parks you have several choices - let's take a look!
Blise, if you are staying in the
Disney Resorts Collection, you'll enjoy
complimentary standard parking at the theme parks which makes driving to and from the parks even easier. Guests at Disney Resort hotels also enjoy complimentary parking at your hotel and
free transportation to and from the parks so you can leave the driving to Mickey and friends! If you're staying off-property, you will need to pay for parking, but you will only need to
pay that fee once per day. With that in mind, here are a few options as well as some pros and cons with each.
- Park at your FIRST park in the morning - This option could be a bit tricky as Disney's complimentary resort transportation typically stops running about an hour after the park closes. For example, if Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park closes earlier than Disney's Hollywood Studios, you may not be able to get transportation back to Animal Kingdom at the end of your day to retrieve your car. If you choose this option, just pay close attention to the operating hours for each park.
- Park at your LAST park in the morning - You could choose to park your car where you'll be finishing your day and then use Disney's transportation to hop over to where you want to start your day. Similar to above, you'll want to pay close attention to operating hours for the parks and make sure that you're not missing a chance to rope drop or take advantage of early theme park entry (if eligible) by doing this.
- Drive between parks during the day - This would keep your car with you and you won't have to pay for parking multiple times, but may take extra time during your day to drive between parks and manage the parking lots. However, there may also be a wait for whichever Disney transportation you would use to hop, so the time lost may be minimal.
- Utilize a rideshare service - You may want to check pricing for a rideshare from your hotel to the parks. Depending on the time of day and the time of year, it may not cost much more money to have a rideshare service drop you off at your park of choice and then pick you up at another park in the evening. For hopping during the day, you could use Disney transportation. Just keep in mind any little ones who require car seats when considering whether or not to use a rideshare service.
If you are parking at a Walt Disney World Theme Park, you may want to use the
Car Locator feature in the
My Disney Experience Mobile App. Here, you can enter your parking information so you'll always know where to find your car at the end of the day!
Blise, I hope this helps you make a transportation decision that is best for you and your family. If you have any other questions, please stop by and see us again at planDisney!
Cheers,
Kristi