Is Preferred Parking at Walt Disney World Theme Parks Worth the Cost?
Guests visiting one of the four Walt Disney World theme parks have a number of transportation options available to them. For those staying at a Disney hotel, there are complimentary options that vary depending on the hotel’s location. These include buses, ferry boats and the Monorail. For other guests, they have the option of driving their car, motorcycle or oversized vehicle (RV) and parking themselves in one of the designated lots outside of the theme park. If you plan on driving yourself, please be aware that there is a daily parking fee that must be paid. In this post, we’ll explore how Walt Disney World parking works in a little more detail, and share our thoughts on if preferred parking is worth the additional cost.
Parking Rates
There is a daily parking fee that is due upon arrival at any of the Walt Disney World theme parks that is determined by your vehicle type. The good news: each vehicle only needs to pay this fee once per day, even if you’re visiting more than one theme park that day. Rates are subject to change, but current prices are listed below:
Car or Motorcycle
Standard Parking: $30/day
For Disney Resort guests and certain Annual Passholders, standard parking is included. You will need to show proof of your stay, or proof of your annual pass upon arrival in either the form of a Magic Band or your hotel room key.
Preferred Parking: $40, $50 or $55/day
The preferred rate is seasonal and can change throughout the year. Signs will designate what the cost of preferred parking is on the day of your arrival to one of the theme parks.
Disney Resort guests and applicable Annual Passholders will only need to pay the difference in price between standard and preferred parking.
Oversized Vehicles (RV, Shuttle, Limo, Bus, etc.)
Standard Parking: $35/day
Preferred Parking
For an additional fee, guests can choose to park in one of Disney’s preferred parking lots that are located much closer to the entrance than the standard parking lots. The preferred parking rate is subject to change, but its availability and current cost will be displayed on signage visible upon your arrival. As previously mentioned, Disney Resort guests and certain Annual Passholders will only need to pay the difference in standard and preferred parking. For example, as an Annual Passholder, if preferred parking is $55 on the date of visit, I would only need to pay $25 for preferred parking. The other great news, just like standard parking, you only need to pay for preferred parking once and it is good for all theme parks on that day. Be sure to hold on to your receipt and/or the colored parking placard given to you by the cast member as proof of purchase if you choose to visit another theme park the same day.
The Pros
Walt Disney World parking lots are very large, and even if you plan on rope dropping and arrive well before park opening, it’s likely that you will be parked far from the entrance. Preferred parking lots are located much closer to the entrance and will guarantee a closer parking spot, regardless of your arrival time. After spending a full day and walking several miles in the theme parks, you will definitely appreciate the close proximity of your parking spot.
For our family, we discovered the biggest benefit of preferred parking was that we didn’t need to use the parking lot tram in order to get to and from our car. Each Walt Disney World theme park offers a complimentary tram that will bring guests who are parked farther out in the lot up to the entrance of the park. The trams run constantly throughout the day and hold a lot of guests at one time, so the wait is never very long. However, if you have a stroller, you will need to collapse your stroller in order to board the tram. Although we typically pack light for our park days, it is still a bit of a hassle to collapse the strollers, then usher our two small toddlers, all of the bags and the strollers on and off the shuttle. We found this especially true if we have a later park day, and the kids have fallen asleep in the stroller, they have to be transferred out of the stroller, onto the tram, and then back into the stroller to make it to the car.
The Cons
Truly, the only con of preferred parking is the additional cost. Trips to Walt Disney World can be expensive and the costs add up quickly. I completely understand how the additional expense of parking can seem too much. However, if you can find places in your trip budget to save, perhaps by bringing your own snacks or using a refillable drink cup, I believe the cost is worth it, especially if you have little ones in strollers.
Final Thoughts
For our family, the additional cost of preferred parking is worth it. With two young toddlers, two strollers, and all our other bags, the logistics of getting everything and everyone on and off a tram was too much of a hassle. As Annual Passholders, the cost of standard parking is included, so we only pay the difference for preferred. This would also be the case for any guests staying in a Walt Disney World Resort hotel. We tend to arrive at the parks in the afternoons, once my youngest has woken up from his nap. Knowing that we won’t need to worry about how far out we’ll be parked is worth it to us. Lastly, keep in mind if you plan on park hopping on the same day, you only need to pay for parking once! I hope you found this post to be informative. Stay tuned for a separate post that takes a more in depth look at all the different Disney Transportation that is available!