Valerie, hello and welcome to
planDisney! I always love seeing a fellow North Carolinian stop by to ask a question. It always brings a smile to my face. I see that your vacation to the
Most Magical Place on Earth is right around the corner, I bet you are getting so excited!
I think you'll be happy to know that you can absolutely use your
Disney Gift Card to pay for parking at the Walt Disney World Theme Parks. I oftentimes stay off property so I am very familiar with driving and parking around the Walt Disney World Resort. When you arrive at the theme park you are visiting, you'll stop at the parking lot attendant booths. This is where you'll pay for parking. You'll just give them your Disney Gift Card as you would a normal credit card, they'll swipe it and you'll practically be on your way to your parking spot. It's easy peasy.
I'm excited that you'll be
park hopping during your vacation, Valerie. Park hopping is my favorite way to spend a Disney day and I always recommend it to all of my friends! You have a great plan in place. I love visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park in the morning and then Epcot is my go-to park for the afternoon and evening hours. As for upgrading to the
preferred parking, this is kind of a personal preference. To be honest with you, I don't do it but I visit the Walt Disney World Theme Parks at least one weekend a month and that would get pretty pricey. I'd rather spend the extra money on a snack or a cocktail inside of the theme parks but preferred parking does have its benefits - especially when you park hop. Because you'll only need to pay for parking once per day, as long as you save your receipt, when you hop over to Epcot you'll also be able to park in their preferred spaces as well. The preferred parking lot is really close to the front entrance of each park and arriving at Epcot later in the day you will most certainly be pretty far back in the parking lot. Both Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Epcot are parks that are pretty spread out and you will be walking quite a bit that day. I think if there was going to be a day to upgrade, this would be a great one to do it.
I hope this helps, Valerie. If you have any other questions before your trip, please feel free to stop back by and
ask me. I am happy to help. If I don't hear from you again I hope you have fun and enjoy!