Hello Danielle!
Welcome to planDisney! September is just around the corner, so I hope you are getting excited about your visit to the happiest place on earth, the
Disneyland Resort! The parking situation at the Disneyland Resort is indeed different than at Walt Disney World. Guests of Disneyland Resort Hotels are charged a
standard overnight parking fee to park at their hotel, but do not receive included theme park parking. But Hakuna Matata, Danielle, it means no worries! Because of way the resorts and theme parks are laid out at the Disneyland Resort, you won’t need to park in standard theme park parking!
While at Walt Disney World, many Disney Resort Collection Hotels are quite far from the theme parks, this is not the case at Disneyland. I remember I was shocked on my first visit to the Disneyland Resort at how you could walk from your hotel, through the Downtown Disney District and right into one of the theme parks! If you have a Park Hopper Ticket, you can walk out of one theme park, across a plaza and directly into the other theme park!
If you will be staying at the Disneyland Hotel, you should park there upon arrival. If you
check out this map at the bottom of the parking information page, you’ll see that the parking lot for the Disneyland Hotel is
slightly closer to the theme park entrances than standard theme park parking! So it would not make sense to park further away in the parking structure, when you are allowed to park at the hotel. Even if your room is not ready at the Disneyland Hotel, you can still check-in and utilize the Guest self parking. This way you won’t need to park twice (or pay twice) that day!
I hope this alleviates any concerns, and helps you with your arrival and parking plan. Please let us know what additional questions you have before your trip!
Have a Magical Day!
- Kate