Hello and welcome to
planDisney, Jan! I'm so glad you've stopped by with your question.
Jan, I typically always drive myself to the
Walt Disney World Theme Parks. I like having my own vehicle to get around and being on my own time. Because of this, I am very familiar with how the parking lots work at each of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks.
The
preferred parking spots run anywhere from $45.00 - $50.00 per day and are the first few rows closest to the main entrance gates in each parking lot. For most of the Walt Disney World Theme Parks, especially if you get there mid-late morning, this can be a really nice upgrade to cut down on walking. However, parking for Magic Kingdom Park is actually not as close to the main entrance as the other theme parks. You will actually be parking off-site at the Transportation & Ticket Center. From there, you'll enter the security screening area and then can choose to take the ferry-boat over to Magic Kingdom Park or the monorail. Basically, if you upgrade to the preferred parking for Magic Kingdom Park you are just cutting down some walking before you have to take the next form of transportation over. However, the parking lot at the TTC is really big and we've definitely had to park pretty far back before so if that is something you are hesitant about you may still want to consider upgrading to preferred anyway.
If you are staying at a
Walt Disney World Resort Hotel or are an
Annual Passholder, you actually receive complimentary standard theme park parking for free. If this applies to you and you'd like to upgrade to one of three preferred parking spots, you'll only need to pay the additional cost between the two.
When you pay for parking, be sure to grab a receipt. If you plan on leaving and coming back later in the day or park hopping you don't need to pay for parking again. It's just a once-per-day charge.
I hope this helps break down the parking lots a little bit better for you. If you have any other questions, please feel free to stop back by and
ask me. I'm happy to help.
Have a great week!
Jackie H.