Unlock My Top 13 Disney World Parking Tips for a Hassle-Free Experience

If you’re driving to Walt Disney World, parking is your first ride of the day — and it can be a challenge. Between costly parking fees, trams, and traffic, a good parking strategy can save you money, time, and tired feet.

You pay $30 per day for standard parking, $45 to $55 for preferred parking, and $35 to $40 for oversize vehicles such as RVs. A week of theme park visits can easily add up to more than $200 in parking fees before you’ve stepped through the park gates.

Over numerous visits with plenty of trial and error, we’ve learned Disney World parking strategies that can make your day smoother. This guide explains Disney World parking hacks that can make transportation easier, especially if you’re traveling with kids, older adults, or someone with mobility needs.

1. Skip Parking Altogether

The best Disney World parking hack is not to park at all. Bringing a car to Disney World can make sense if you’re on a road trip and not paying to rent a car, staying off-site without a resort shuttle bus, or planning to visit spots in Orlando outside of the Disney World bubble, such as Universal Orlando Resort. Otherwise, we’ve found it’s easier to avoid driving at Disney World.

Disney World has efficient and free transportation. If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you don’t need to drive, because it’s easy and free to get around using resort transportation. Staying off-site, you may have access to resort buses that drop off and pick up at the parks, too.

Renting a car and paying for parking can add up, so we recommend calculating the cost of ride-sharing instead. Many credit cards offer bonus rewards for ride-sharing purchases or provide credits for using Uber or Lyft, so it may be more affordable than you think.

Parking booth lines, walking in parking lots, and riding trams all take time — maybe just as much time as you’d spend on Disney transportation or using a ride-sharing service.

Hot Tip:

Read our guide to Disney World transportation to learn how to get around Disney World via buses, monorail, boats, and the Skyliner.

2. Arrive Early or Strategically Late

Parking very early or very late can pay off, but in different ways. If you get there early, you can avoid back-of-the-lot parking and should have a short tram wait. You might get to park close enough that you can skip the tram. This is a good option if you’re rope dropping.

Arriving late can pay off, too. If you park after peak hours, such as 5 p.m. or later, you may be directed to closer rows as morning guests leave. While park hopping, we’ve noticed that the parking payment booths may be closed if you arrive extremely late (such as the last hour or so before park closing). That means free parking!

3. Use Accessible Parking

Parking areas are available for guests with disabilities, including those with wheelchairs, electric scooters, or other mobility devices. You can enter the accessible parking areas by informing a cast member at the parking booth and displaying your valid disability parking permit. You pay standard parking rates, but the parking spots are close to park entrances.

4. Consider Preferred Parking on Peak Days

Strategic upgrades to preferred parking can be worth it. Preferred parking puts you within the first few rows and can minimize walks and meltdowns. You probably won’t need to ride a tram, and it can be easy to pop back and forth to your vehicle if you want to use it as a locker (except at the Magic Kingdom, where parking is a monorail or ferry ride away).

Families with strollers, guests planning midday breaks, or anyone who wants to minimize walking or use storage space during the day can benefit from preferred parking.

I’ve paid for preferred parking once, and it was worth it. We visited Hollywood Studios on a busy and rainy May the Fourth. I was thankful to have a parking spot in the first few rows when I realized I needed to run back for an umbrella, and later, when we didn’t want to carry around shopping bags. At the end of the day, it was a huge relief when we were just a few steps away from our vehicle rather than walking through the parking lot or riding a tram.

5. Use Resort Parking Privileges

If you’re a guest of a Disney World resort, you can park at the resort for free and also get free parking at the parks. We’ve hacked this benefit with a single-night stay to get 2 days of free parking on check-in and checkout days.

You can also use resort parking privileges to dine at a resort and take free Disney transportation from there. If you make a dining reservation (typically for table-service restaurants), you can park at the resort for free.

Another option is dining at a resort within walking distance of a park, such as Disney’s BoardWalk Inn to get to EPCOT, or Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to visit the Magic Kingdom.

When I wanted to drop my husband and son off near EPCOT’s International Gateway, I used a dining reservation at the Ale & Compass Restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort to park free at the resort. We had a nice breakfast and zero-stress parking.

Hot Tip:

Some resorts limit diners’ parking time to 3 hours, so don’t count on all-day parking.

6. Use the Car Locator

The My Disney Experience app offers a tool called Car Locator that works at all theme parks. Pull up the tool to save the parking area and row so you can easily find your vehicle when leaving the park.

I like using this feature, and I’ve noticed that it usually pops up as a notification as I approach a parking lot tram. Car Locator helps us know which tram to get on, where to get off, and exactly where to get to our vehicle. For backup, you can screenshot the section and row, but we’ve never found it necessary.

7. Ride the Tram

We’ve found that riding parking lot trams is usually the way to go unless we’ve parked very close or there’s a long line to get on the tram. Even if it doesn’t save time, it gets us to the park with fewer steps, which matters when we plan long park days on our feet. Disney World parking lot trams run continuously, and there’s usually a tram waiting for us to board or another coming right after it.

You could walk from the parking lot to the front entrance, but there’s always a chance the tram will get there faster than you. Even if you can walk fast enough to beat the tram, that’s a lot of unnecessary steps on a day when you’ll probably walk plenty. Save your feet and accept the ride unless you want to speedwalk in or out of the park.

8. Pay Once and Park All Day

A single parking payment covers you all day, even if you leave and come back or visit a different park. That’s helpful if you want to take a midday break at your resort or if you’re park hopping. Keep your parking receipt handy, as you need to show it to waive the fee.

9. Outsmart Traffic After the Fireworks

Getting out of the Magic Kingdom after fireworks can be a test of patience. Long walks, tram lines, and parking lot traffic are draining, especially if you’ve had a long day at the park.

Though you may be ready to leave as soon as the show is over, we’ve found it helpful to linger as crowds disperse. Consider spending some time in the shops along Main Street, U.S.A., or hitting a few late-night rides before you head to the parking lot.

10. Save Money With a Car Kit

If you plan to park close or move to a different park during the day, packing a car kit with snacks, cold drinks, chargers, and spare clothes can add convenience and savings.

For example, I like to leave a poncho or umbrella in our vehicle if there’s a chance of rain but don’t want to carry it, and a spare set of clothes is handy if we get drenched by one of Orlando’s summer surprise thunderstorms.

We often use car trips between parks to reset, grab cold drinks and snacks from our vehicle, and recharge mobile phones while driving to our next park.

11. Park Free at Disney Springs and the Water Parks

Parking is plentiful and free at Disney Springs, which is a good option if you’re visiting for dining, shopping, or attractions. It’s also free if you’re visiting Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon or Disney’s Blizzard Beach.

It’s possible to park at Disney Springs for free and take buses to the theme parks, but we don’t recommend it. Disney discourages the practice, and it’s an inefficient use of your vacation time to save just $35 per day.

There are no direct buses from Disney Springs to the theme parks. You’d have to park at Disney Springs, get on a resort bus, then wait at the resort for a park bus to pick you up. Sure, you’d get free parking, but you’d waste a lot of time on transportation. Disney Springs doesn’t open until 10 a.m., so you’d miss prime morning hours trying to get into the parks.

If you want to make it work, you could take a bus from Disney Springs to a walkable resort. For example, you could bus to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and then walk to the Magic Kingdom, or bus to Disney’s Beach Club Resort to walk to EPCOT’s International Gateway entrance.

12. Charge While You Park

Electric vehicles have access to prime parking spots and charge while visiting the parks. Each of the parks, Disney Springs, and a few Disney resorts offer electric vehicle parking with charging.

Electric vehicle parking spots are usually in front of or near preferred parking zones, but you don’t have to pay preferred parking prices to park there. You pay the standard parking fee plus the charging costs of 35 cents per kilowatt hour, with a minimum of $1.50 with ChargePoint.

When you arrive at a parking payment booth, ask the cast member if electric-vehicle parking spaces are available. If they are, they will direct you to the area where you can park and charge.

EV spots are very limited and fill up quickly. While you can charge at Disney World, don’t count on it, and definitely don’t arrive without enough charge to get to a non-Disney charger if you can’t get a charging spot.

These are all of the electric vehicle charging spots at Disney World:

• Magic Kingdom: 4 spaces at the front of the Zurg section and 1 in the front of the medical parking lot
• EPCOT: 4 spaces at the front of the HeiHei section
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 4 spaces at the front of the Mickey section
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 4 spaces in the medical parking lot
• Disney Springs: Orange Garage fifth floor (3 spaces), Lime Garage fifth floor (3 spaces), Grapefruit Garage third floor (3 spaces), Watermelon lot near the Cirque du Soleil theater (4 spaces)
• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort: 6 spaces
• Disney’s Riviera Resort: 2 spaces
• Disney’s Wilderness Lodge: 2 spaces

13. Get an Annual Pass

Annual passholders get free parking at all Disney World resorts. If you want to upgrade to preferred parking, you pay the difference between standard and preferred parking. It might not be worth it to get an annual pass solely to save on parking, but you might consider it along with other annual pass benefits.

Passholder perks include free parking, resort discounts, 20% off merchandise, and admission to the parks (with some blackout dates depending on the pass level). You may find value in getting an annual pass, even if it’s just for 1 person in your family, to take advantage of free parking and discounts on merchandise and resorts that your entire party can use as long as the passholder makes the purchases.

Final Thoughts

Disney World parking is straightforward, but hacks can make it simpler and less stressful. If you’re focused on saving money, skip parking and rely on Disney transportation as much as possible. But if you value convenience, preferred parking or EV charging zones near the entrances can be worth the cost.