Parking Pitfalls to Avoid at Disney World Parks & Hotels
This guide to parking at Walt Disney World covers the late 2025 price increases, parking policies, where you cannot park your car, info & tips for the theme parks and resort hotels, rental cars, driving vs. rideshare, why parking might dictate where you stay, downsides to driving, compounding costs of parking, and more.
If you’re thinking that parking is a simple topic not deserving of a fully-fledged guide, since it’s just a matter of driving in between the lines, you’re in for a surprise. Parking can determine a lot about your trip, cause you various headaches, increase costs, waste time, etc.
Due to the high prices of parking at the Walt Disney World theme parks and various hotels, you might actually want to base your decision about where to stay on parking fees. This applies to both choosing a specific resort, and whether to stay on-site vs. on-site in the first place. Due to the time cost, parking might likewise decide whether (or when) you drive or rely upon Walt Disney World transportation. Oh, and we even cover the best gas stations and a ‘red flag’ one to avoid at all costs!
Parking at Theme Parks Prices
Let’s start at the theme parks, as a lot of our follow-up advice flows from this. Guests coming from off-site or staying at non-Disney resort hotels pay one fee for a parking pass that is good all day at all 4 theme parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. All parking fees include applicable sales tax.
Here are current prices for parking, which increased in late 2025:
- Standard parking: car or motorcycle – $35 per day
- Preferred parking: car or motorcycle – $50, $55 or $60 per day
- Oversized Vehicle Parking: Shuttle, Limo, Camper Trailer, RV, Bus or Tractor Trailer – $40 per day
Preferred parking prices vary by season, costing $50 in the off-season, $55 during standard season, and $60 during peak season travel dates. Preferred parking lots are located conveniently close to the theme park entrances. You may need to use a parking lot tram from standard parking, whereas preferred is an easy walk.
Parking fees are nonrefundable, including preferred parking fees. Parking is limited and subject to availability. Paying a parking fee does not guarantee parking availability if a guest leaves and returns to the same theme park later in the day or if a guest visits a different theme park.
Although this is the official policy, we’ve never encountered a full parking lot–not even on New Year’s Eve at EPCOT. (We have encountered very long walks and parking on grassy areas that aren’t normally parking spots!)
Overnight Parking at Resort Hotels
Overnight self-parking is complimentary to Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels at Walt Disney World Resort.
Complimentary standard parking is available to Guests staying at The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Each campsite provides parking space for one (1) motorized vehicle.
Disney Vacation Club Members will not be charged for standard overnight self-parking when staying at a Disney Vacation Club Deluxe Villa or a Disney Resort hotel, regardless of whether they use DVC Points or another form of payment.
You might find some resources indicating that there is a parking fee for overnight guests of Walt Disney World resort hotels. This information is outdated. Back in 2018, Disney did introduce Overnight Parking Fees for Walt Disney World Hotel Guests. That was met with massive backlash, and our post garnered over 300 impassioned comments. (Spoiler alert: they weren’t praising the added cost.)
At the time, that was the most controversial change we had seen from Walt Disney World. It has probably since been surpassed by reactions to the end of Disney’s Magical Express and replacing free FastPass with the paid Lightning Lanes. Back in 2018, the backlash was relatively unprecedented. I was honestly surprised that Disney didn’t roll back the decision right away.
In any case, Walt Disney World did eliminate the overnight parking fee in early 2023, so it’s been gone for a while now. This is one of the biggest ways that Disney-owned resorts distinguish themselves from their real world counterparts, including the majority of those that are technically on Walt Disney World property.
Valet Parking & Other Fees
Valet service is offered at Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts, as well as at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. Upon your arrival, pull forward to the porte cochere for valet. Unlike standard self-parking, valet service is $42 per night (plus tax & tip).
Note that despite having “Walt Disney World” in their name, the Swan & Dolphin (and Swan Reserve) charge overnight parking fees:
- Self-Parking: $38 per night, plus tax
- Valet Parking: $46 to $56 per night, plus tax
It’s also worth noting that virtually all other hotels around Walt Disney World charge for parking. This includes the Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels, Bonnet Creek Resorts, Universal Orlando Resorts, and pretty much everywhere in between. There are some hotels that do not charge for parking, but they are exceedingly rare.
The prices above are fairly representative of overnight parking at higher end luxury hotels, whereas budget motels might charge $15 to $25 per night. Expect to find prices at mid-tier hotels in the range of $20 to $30 per night. Again, there are some exceptions, including unicorns that offer free parking.
Free Parking
Standard parking at the theme parks is included for registered guests of Walt Disney World Resort hotels (including the Swan & Dolphin Resorts) and Annual Passholders. Just show your valid Annual Pass (in the Tickets & Passes section of the My Disney Experience app) and photo ID at the parking entrance.
Guests of on-site Disney resort hotels and Annual Passholders can also choose to enjoy preferred parking by paying the difference in cost between their included standard parking and preferred parking. (That’s currently $15 to $25 per day based on season.)
Standard parking at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach is free for all guests. Both of these water parks have surface lots and offer relatively easy access. The arrival process is simple and quaint by comparison to the theme parks or even Disney Springs.
Standard parking is complimentary for all guests at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.
Standard self-parking is also free at Disney Springs. Parking is available in surface parking lots and in 3 parking garages with direct access to Disney Springs. Follow directional signage to available parking, which may be located just a short walk away from Disney Springs.
Compounding Costs
From all of the above, it should become clear that parking fees add up if you’re staying off-site versus on-site. Guests of an on-property Disney-owned hotel are not paying for parking at the resort or the theme parks.
If you’re off-property, you’re getting hit with an overnight parking fee that’s probably $15 or more. I recently stayed at the Conrad Orlando, and the overnight parking was $50 per night! There’s no consistent parking cost in Central Florida–you really need to look up this info yourself (and make sure it’s current, as these prices have been increasing annually).
Then on top of that, you’re hit with a parking fee at the theme parks, which is now $35 per day. We’re going to assume you’ll opt for standard parking because preferred is a waste. But at minimum, you’re already up to $50 per day just in aggregate parking fees!
But wait, there’s more! If you’re staying at an off-site hotel, you’re going to find that many of them charge mandatory resort fees. These are non-optional and are on top of parking costs. And these are also all over the place.
I’ve stayed at shady budget hotels in Orlando that were barely above motel-grade (definitely not a “resort”) that have had the temerity to charge $40 per night in a resort fee…on top of their $20/night parking!
Oh, and if you’re thinking about trying to sidestep the parking fees at the theme parks by using free transportation from your off-site hotel, you might want to reconsider. Most of these have infrequent and inefficient shuttles, to the point that we always recommend Uber or Lyft from getting to an off-site hotel to the parks.
The aggregate of all of this is one big reason why we have a hard time justifying an off-site stay in budget or mid-tier accommodations. Sure, the base price might be lower–maybe–but all of the unavoidable nickel & diming fees at the off-site hotels typically bridge the gap.
In many cases, you’re going to be hard-pressed to do better than the discounted rates Walt Disney World is offering. For instance, there have been many recent special offers on the Value Resorts that put them around $100 to $200 per night (the latter is usually Pop Century).
Let’s say the average discounted rate at All Star Sports is $150 per night, which is actually more than we’ve paid on most recent stays. This includes overnight parking, theme park parking, new rooms, and on-site perks such as Early Entry and free resort-to-park transportation that’s actually (reasonably) efficient.
There are unquestionably cheaper hotels in Orlando. You can find shady options for under $50 per night if you’ve got a sense of adventure, or decent mid-tier ones for $75 to $100 if you value safety and sanity. That’s around a $75/night difference from the All Stars, which is a big spread!
Parking fees alone reduce that to a $25 difference, so it becomes a question of whether everything else–location, transportation, perks, and whatever the “Disney” name means to you–is worth the difference. From our perspective, the answer to that is absolutely.
Even if you ignore Early Entry and the bonus booking windows, it’s worth it for flexibility, convenience and comfort alone. Staying on-site makes a big difference that it’s difficult to fully quantify. This doesn’t even get into the rental car vs. rideshare or Disney transportation debate, which is a whole different can of worms. Suffice to say, there’s a reason why the answer to Are Walt Disney World’s Cheapest Hotels Actually Good? is a resounding YES!
Note that this analysis applies mostly to the lower end of the spectrum. Once you start comparing Deluxe Resorts to off-site luxury resorts, vacation homes, or higher-end hotels, the numbers are dramatically different due to the wide range of costs. The salient point is that you really need to do the math on all-in costs, while also being reasonable about the actual convenience in staying on-site versus off-site.
Day Guest Parking at Resort Hotels
Here’s the official policy according to Walt Disney World: “Standard self-parking is complimentary for day Guests while they enjoy select dining, shopping, entertainment and recreation experiences at Disney Resort hotels.”
This is a gross oversimplification of the actual policy in practice. In reality, parking for day guests of resorts has become strict over the last several years. Now, if you do not have confirmed Advance Dining Reservations, you will not be allowed past the security checkpoint for the vast majority of resort hotels.
This means no Walk-Up Waitlist or Mobile Order, and no “I’m just here to shop and look around.” Sometimes it can even mean no Uber or Lyft drop-offs for non-registered guests, either.
This is a trend that first started several years ago with busier resorts in close proximity to the parks (e.g. Skyliner, Magic Kingdom & EPCOT Area Resorts) and other resorts during peak season (e.g. Christmas, Spring Break). Contemporary has long been the most ‘locked-down’ since it’s the closest hotel within walking distance of Magic Kingdom.
Resorts being more restrictive has now spread to almost all on-property hotels, except a handful of options that you probably don’t want to visit, anyway (e.g. All Star Sports, Coronado Springs). You can still arrive via Disney transportation or by walking–just not by car without an ADR!
With that said, this policy is subject to the discretion of the security Cast Members at each resort parking booth. Some do not care, and will wave you through with ease! Others act like they’re guarding Fort Knox! Those are the two extremes, with a lot in between. It is very whim-driven and inconsistent.
From what I’ve gathered over the years of doing this, it helps if you’re an attractive female who is friendly and likeable. It hurts if you’re, uh, me. I know this because our success rate differs dramatically when Sarah drives versus when I do. I also know that anyone can be declined or accepted, and past success does not guarantee future success. So to anyone planning to proudly boast in the comments, “I’ve been parking at the resorts for a decade and have never had an issue!” Your time will come.
Gas Stations at Disney World
There are a trio of on-site gas stations at Walt Disney World:
- Magic Kingdom Speedway – Right by the Transportation & Ticket Center, easily via World Drive, Seven Seas Drive, and Floridian Way.
- EPCOT Resorts Speedway – Located off Buena Vista Drive at Epcot Resorts Blvd, right across from Disney’s BoardWalk Inn.
- Disney Springs Speedway – Directly across from the Lime Garage.
This might surprise you to learn, but the Speedway gas stations at Walt Disney World do not have inflated prices. No Disney premium here! In fact, when we lived in Florida, we routinely stopped at the Speedway by BoardWalk; at the time, it was one of the gas stations closest to our house (the area is built-up more now, so that’s changed).
One thing we do want to warn you about is the US Petrol gas station en route to the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets. This is infamous for price gouging, with their prices routinely being double or triple what nearby gas stations are charging. It’s not like they’re off in the desert or the only gas station in a one-mile radius, so how does this even work?
Well, there are a lot of international guests who drive along this stretch and may not be able to easily ascertain the cost difference. Most people are not going to fall victim to this, so it might seem like overkill to even mention it, but we see people getting gas here every single time we pass this station!
Other WDW Parking Info
Courtesy trams have returned to all 4 theme parks. This convenient mode of transportation takes Guests from the theme park’s parking lot to its Main Entrance (or to the Ticket and Transportation Center when visiting Magic Kingdom park) and back.
For guests with electric vehicles, a number of ChargePoint charging stations are now available in parking lots at various locations throughout Walt Disney World Resort. Guests may ask a Cast Member for directions to these charge ports, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis. These spots are very limited (4-5 per park) and tend to fill up fast.
Designated parking areas are available throughout Walt Disney World Resort for Guests with disabilities. A valid disability parking permit is required, and standard parking rates apply.
Guests with mobility disabilities—including those traveling with personal wheelchairs, electric scooters or other mobility devices—should park in Disability Parking Lots, located a short distance from the main entrance to each of the 4 theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort.
Parking Tips & Tricks
There are not a ton of tips & tricks for parking, per se. After all, it is simply a matter of pulling forward between two lines (still a tough task for some drivers, as evidenced in parking lots everywhere). And we have a fully-fledged Time-Saving Walt Disney World Transportation Tips & Tricks for more comprehensive advice. With that said, we do have a couple of quick tips.
There is no parking at the Magic Kingdom. Instead, you park in the lot at the Ticket & Transportation Center lot, catch a tram to the TTC, and then take a monorail or ferry to the Magic Kingdom. This was done, among other reasons, so the Magic Kingdom has a “magical” introduction to guests.
Because of this, even guests who rent their own cars are usually better off taking transportation to the Magic Kingdom, as the Disney buses drop-off guests directly at the front entrance at Magic Kingdom, bypassing all of the intermediate steps that involve the TTC.
Conversely, traveling from resort to resort will usually be faster via a car. If you rely on Disney bus transportation, this adds an intermediate stop (usually at one of the theme parks) as resort-to-resort transportation usually is not offered. “Usually” doing the heavy lifting here because going from a monorail resort to another monorail resort is simple. Ditto traveling within the Crescent Lake area, Skyliner resorts, etc. It’s bus-to-bus that’s cumbersome.
Walt Disney World advises that you allow at least 60 minutes of travel time for arrival to your destination when visiting Disney Springs (as well as resort-to-resort, for that matter). This is because there are times when entry into the parking garages gets backed up and the process is time consuming.
However, this typically only happens on weekends and evenings. If you’re visiting Disney Springs at 1 pm on a Tuesday in June, it absolutely will not take you 60 minutes. However, it might take that long–or longer–on the Saturday night before Christmas!
Rental Car vs. Rideshare vs. Disney Transportation
Even though we’re discussing it last, the threshold question is whether you even need a car in the first place. If you’re driving from home to Walt Disney World, the answer is obviously yes. Not like you can stash your car somewhere upon arrival.
But if you’re flying to Florida, you have a choice between renting a car and relying on third party ground transportation. For some visitors, this is a no-brainer. The want to be the masters of their domain, having the freedom and flexibility that a rental car offers. We’ve encountered plenty of these people over the years, and all we’ll say to this is fair enough.
There are absolutely compelling reasons to rent a car and drive where you want to go. There is not robust public transportation infrastructure in Central Florida, so you’ll be reliant on rideshare, shuttle buses, and Disney’s various novel forms of transportation. Renting a car, driving and parking is the easiest and straightforward solution.
However, I would argue that the convenience of driving is often over-indexed. Planners make favorable assumptions about driving and parking, and unfavorable ones about alternative transportation. People hear horror stories about waits for Disney’s buses and give outliers a lot of weight, while ignoring the daily realities of parking, walking to a tram, riding a tram, etc.
A lot of people also give way too much weight to the value of venturing off-site to “save money” on meals, groceries, souvenirs and so forth. Time has value, too. With the exception of going to the outlets to buy deely-discounted souvenirs from Disney Character Warehouse (and even that can be feast or famine, and an unpleasant parking experience), the amount you’ll actually save by going off-site can be peanuts–especially when you account for the time and hassle.
Realistically, I’m probably not going to change any minds about renting a car versus relying on third party transportation, so I will just implore you to: 1) have reasonable expectations, 2) be cognizant that Disney transportation horror stories are the exception as opposed to the rule, and 3) place a value on your limited vacation time and convenience.
We’ve alternated between being tourists and locals in Central Florida since 2006. We’ve logged hundreds (if not thousands) of theme park visits during that time, with more multi-day trips and overnight hotel stays (again, hundreds) than I can count. During that time, we’ve rented cars on countless occasions, driven our own vehicle, and relied on Disney transportation.
If given the choice, I would simply rely on Disney transportation and supplement that in a pinch with rideshare (e.g. long bus lines, we’re in a time crunch, have a dining reservation at a resort, etc). On balance and over the course of an entire trip, “letting Disney do the driving” is going to net out to be about the same in terms of time, but with fewer hassles and headaches. Your mileage may vary on that, though.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your deep thoughts on parking at Walt Disney World? Do you drive and park, use Disney transportation & rideshare, or do a mix? Do parking prices influence your decision to stay on-site or off-site? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment that the All Stars are actually good hotel options when considering all-in costs and convenience? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
We are with a family of nine (three kids from 4 and 1 years old). We are staying in a house, because we are flying from the Netherlands to Florida. So no on-site Disney hotels. We have a 2 weeks Disney pass and want to enjoy Disney as much as possible.
The problem is if we want to go to one of the parks in the evening for a couple of hours we have to pay 35 dollars for our car. For a day in the park we don’t mind paying that, but for a few hours and if we to that every day it will be a bit pricy.
So I’m looking for a good solution. Is there a two week ticket for example what we can use? Or is it possible that you can be dropped of somewhere so you still can go into the park for a couple of hours but not paying so much money? Or any other idea will be welcome.
Hope you can help.
@Dionne I don’t know how much you’re paying to rent a house and I don’t know what free dining or room discount options are available to European visitors but I personally would stay in a 2 br villa at Saratoga Springs (will sleep 9 might be tighter than a house so it depends on how your group is together). You very likely can get a good discount, and even if you can’t there are huge benefits -free parking of course but even more than that the flexibility for your group to split up easily if a little one (or s big one lol) needs a break, still has kitchen for some cheaper meal planning esp breakfast, sprawling resort with multiple great pools, early entry…heck you might not even need to rent a car. If you can’t get free dining at a 2 br villa that’s an amazing deal bc all 9 stay without extra adult charges but all get free dining too
@Erin, that sounds amazing, but we are flying this Thursday and we already booked the Airbnb. The house was around €2.000,- for 8 bedrooms and there is no refund possible. Don’t know the prices of Saratoga Springs but if we check from here it all looks very pricey if you book on park.
And because we are European we also want to enjoy other American things. Eating some food a Panda Express and going to a wallmart for example. These things are probably just daily stuff for you guys but we don’t have that here so it’s fun for us to do that as well.
That is why I’m looking for a solution to not have to park the car in the parking lot if we go there for a few hours.
Thanks for the tip anyway. Maybe if we go another time we will check this out.
Dionne
Sorry I meant Liz!
They need to add more EV charging at the parks. For a company that tries to say they care about the environment, only having a few EV chargers casts doubt on their claims. In 2025, it’s not nearly enough. If they aren’t going to add more, they at least need to enforce time limits. Nobody should be able to park there all day just to get a close parking spot.
Hi Tom! I wish the value resorts offered 5th sleeper options. We are big fans of Pop and All Stars and for the first time ever, we will be staying off-site. Crazy as it sounds, every budget we have created places an off-site (with all extra costs) as a better alternative than Caribbean or Port Orleans. I agree 100% with all your comments, but magically when you have 3 kids (or your youngest one turns 3) it cannot compete anymore.
Thanks, Tom, as always for informative content. Though you have likely been in the parks hundreds of days more than I, we have experienced something you have not: our family was met with a full lot at Blizzard Beach the first week of August 2025. (“…we’ve never encountered a full parking lot–not even on New Year’s Eve at EPCOT.”) Staff were turning cars around on the short entrance road before the parking lot and directing cars to Animal Kingdom with a shuttle bus back to Blizzard Beach. It seemed like this was not unprecedented, as there was a digital sign board flashing instructions along the entrance road before the turnaround location. Perhaps the free water park on arrival day promo overwhelmed parking capacity.
Yes! Good call on this. You’re right that I’ve never experienced it, and also, that I totally forgot about it happening.
From what I recall, this started being an issue around Spring Break when only one of the water parks was open. I didn’t hear about it happening again once both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach were operational this summer, but just because I didn’t hear about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen–obviously, it did!
Not only do the parking lots fill but there were times in the early 2000s when the entire park was at capacity by noon and no entry to park at all was allowed (in August 2004 for example and both parks were indeed open and opened before 10 am).
Since then we always arrive at park opening in our car when doing a water park.
One thing I tried a few weeks ago was ride share. It was well worth it.
The uber arrived in less than 5 minutes and I paid $7 for a ride from EPCOT to Hollywood studios. (We were in the very front of EPCOT and it saved a lot of walking and boats or a bus ride.) We will definitely use ride share for inter-park transit based on price, speed and saved steps. (We did on day 3 after two 25,000 step days.)
This is a great and overlooked point!
Rideshare prices were much more expensive during the height of pent-up demand a couple years ago. I’ve been shocked at just how inexpensive Uber and Lyft have gotten–it’s honestly a bit sad, as drivers have to be barely getting by if riders aren’t tipping generously. There’s no way my nearly 15 minute rides, for example, should’ve cost $7.
Off site time shares don’t usually have parking fees right?
That’s been our experience. We regularly stay at Silver Lake. I think this article is spot on for smaller families. We are a family of seven, and even factoring in paying for parking at the parks, rooms at the resorts are usually at least double what we pay for a nice 2BR villa off site. We would love to stay on site again, but just can’t make the finances work at those price points.
If I’m not mistaken, guests staying at Shades of Green DO have to pay for overnight parking at the hotel, as well as for daily parking at the theme parks.
During early Covid we brought a car so as to minimize exposure…and back then it was pretty nice since even the regular parking was so close to the entrance due to no one being in the parks. I’ve driven a few times since, but after that first stay? I just rely on Disney Transportation and leave my car at the hotel.
One bonus that you did not mention to having a car on-site? Is when your hotel room is at the back of the resort. We stayed in the new Little Mermaid rooms at Caribbean Beach (which were lovely and large) but the walk to the Skyliner or to Sebastian’s from our room was just annoying enough…that having my car available to drive us to a closer parkinglot saved our feet for more important adventures! That was weirdly worth a lot.
But yes, Disney Transportation is pretty much superior – since driving around Disney World also means you have to deal with a ton of tourists who have no idea what they’re doing (and also you’re probably one of them.) It’s stressful!
By contrast, my adult partner who is incapable of driving loves visiting Disney World because it’s the only place where THEY have the freedom to go where they want, when they want, because the transportation network is so strong. It’s an independence they can’t really get anywhere else!
It’s worth knowing some of the really quirky parking policies of various hotels. The one that sticks out in my mind is the Rosen LBV which charges a parking fee, but (bizarrely) caps it at 5 nights, making it far cheaper for longer visits.
The Speedway gas stations do not have inflated prices, but they do quite often have broken “basic fuel type” dispenser buttons. I am in two minds as to whether this is a conspiracy.
Wish I knew that Coronado Springs was a little more lenient in allowing non resort guests in; wish I had known before our trip as this was the number one reason we didn’t try Three Bridges- next time!
It’s a gamble everywhere—we’ve heard about people being turned away from even the All Stars of all places. Never had a problem ourselves at CSR, though!
We have been going to DisneyWorld almost every year since it opened. The constant price gouging has taken away the magic and turns us off. We used to rent a car every trip but with car rental costs and hotel and parking costs so high, we no longer rent. We now use ride sharing and Disney transportation. It works out best. Disney has become a company that tries to squeeze out every penny they can.
I take your bigger-picture point, but this seems like an odd place to make it given that on-site Walt Disney World guests get free parking at both the resorts and theme parks, as well as free transportation within Walt Disney World.