I actually was down in Disneyworld a year ago and was thinking about this. I think so few people actually pay the parking fee that they can charge whatever they want. I imagine that almost everyone parks for free
1) If you are staying on property, you park for free
2) If you are an annual passholder, as I imagine the majority of the local day trippers form florida are, you park for free
3) If you are staying offsite, most likely they have some sort of shuttle service.

I imagine the only people who are paying to park are the ones who rent a condo off-site and drive in. Whereas if they really wanted to, they could park at downtown disney and hop on a bus there for free too.

superfitz said:I actually was down in Disneyworld a year ago and was thinking about this. I think so few people actually pay the parking fee that they can charge whatever they want. I imagine that almost everyone parks for free
1) If you are staying on property, you park for free
2) If you are an annual passholder, as I imagine the majority of the local day trippers form florida are, you park for free
3) If you are staying offsite, most likely they have some sort of shuttle service.

I imagine the only people who are paying to park are the ones who rent a condo off-site and drive in. Whereas if they really wanted to, they could park at downtown disney and hop on a bus there for free too.Although, I have no specific numbers, I doubt "the majority" of locals in the park have annual passes. Personally, I don't know anyone with an annual pass; most people take advantage of the occasional FL Residents single day/weekend deals to get their Disney fix once every year or two. We have lived in Orlando for over 20 years and the only time we had passes was when Disney used to offer the "Four Seasons" pass that was good for about 150 days a year for $99. Most residents that do have a pass, probably take advantage of one of the discounted FL deals, which don't include parking generally.

Technically, you can't park at Downtown Disney and ride the busses unless you are staying on property. Many times you will have no trouble, but during peak periods, the drivers do ask to see your resort/transportation card. It would be a b*tch to ride the bus to the park and then not be allowed back on at the end of the night.

superfitz said:I imagine the only people who are paying to park are the ones who rent a condo off-site and drive in. Whereas if they really wanted to, they could park at downtown disney and hop on a bus there for free too.

Disney kind of closed this loophole a few years ago. You can no longer go from DTD to one of the parks directly. You have to return to a resort then take a bus from the resort back to DTD, which will take in excess of 1 hour in each direction to accomplish.

I was at Disneyland last night (picking up an annual pass using my birthday discount ) and parked in Downtown Disney and they weren't even charging people for parking when you exited even though it said $14/day. There were parking attendants in the booth area, but the arm was up and no one was collecting money, I thought it was strange. This was around 8 or 8:30pm.

green14 said:I was at Disneyland last night (picking up an annual pass using my birthday discount ) and parked in Downtown Disney and they weren't even charging people for parking when you exited even though it said $14/day. There were parking attendants in the booth area, but the arm was up and no one was collecting money, I thought it was strange. This was around 8 or 8:30pm.

That happens when the parking structure is full, you were placed in the "overflow" parking for free...

Anyone have parking suggestions for an out-of-towner?

wanabath said:They are having to compensate for their property taxes going up. Blame in on the government....won't point at anyone in particular.
You may not be thinking of anyone in particular, but others are, so remember that the federal government does not control state taxes.

wanabath said:They are having to compensate for their property taxes going up. Blame in on the government....won't point at anyone in particular.Disney's property taxes have probably gone down lately, since, property value has dropped and it is very hard in FL to raise P. taxes mil rates. The parking rate is going up to make up for lost revenue in other areas - nothing more.

For years after we moved here (in 1988), you used to be able to go the MK parking entrance and say you were going to meet friends staying at the Grand Floridian or say you were going to eat there. The attendents would guide you over to the right lane entrance that wrapped around to the hotel. You could park there for free and take the monorail to the park, but that loophole got closed, now you pay and can get reimbursed at the hotel.

I had gone out there a couple of times for a Technet event and didn't pay to park, but I'm not sure about how they are doing conference at the hotel now, you may need to have some validation form to show at the parking gate.

owenscott said:Unfortunately i am calling this ..... VERIFIED ... i paid $14 @ Magic Kingdom the other day .......Not quite sure why you thought that this was just a rumor

Here's a little missive some Disney followers might enjoy.

It's from a friend of mine here in Orlando, who writes a weekly blog/e-newsletter about events (mainly theatrical and GLBT) here in the Orlando area. The weekly, called the WanzieGram, is from a local playwright/actor/radio personality/activist named Michael Wanzie (hence the name of the weekly). Michael worked at Disney for many years and is still a big fan, but is also not one to shy away from criticizing them when they deserve it. He had a couple of comments last week, specifically on the Parking Rate at WDW, as well as the Direction of WDW over the last twenty years.

Worth a read, if you have a few minutes. (and as an extra bonus, jaimelobo and Ms. jaimelobo are pictured elsewhere in the newsletter)