The Weird Parking RULE That Only Applies When It's SUPER BUSY in Disney World

We talk a LOT about Disney food here at DFB — we are Disney Food Blog, after all.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

And, as much as we love eating our way around the Disney World parks, some of our favorite meals and restaurants can be found around the hotels instead! Whether you’re looking for something to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, chances are you’ll be able to get it at a Disney World hotel. But, before you go make a reservation — we have a bit of a warning for you!

We love stopping by the Disney World hotels to check out all the latest happenings, but we especially love stopping by for a meal! When you book an Advance Dining Reservation (a sit-down meal booked in advance) at one of the hotels, parking is free — meaning you don’t have to pay to park just to eat your meal. Instead, you just pull up to the gate and let the guard know you have a reservation, and they’ll direct you where to go from there.

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

But sometimes, there’s an extra step in the process — a parking pass. We recently stopped by the Grand Floridian hotel to check out the reopened 1900 Park Fare for breakfast, and when we checked in with the guard we were given this Resort Dining paper parking pass. Note that it shows the date and also mentions there is a three-hour time limit. We were instructed to display it on our windshield.

Parking pass

Now, Disney hotels don’t always do this with dining reservations. But — we think we know why they did in this case. Since 1900 Park Fare is at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, which puts it on the monorail loop and close to Magic Kingdom. In some cases, we’ve heard of folks booking breakfast reservations at monorail resorts in hopes of subverting the Transportation and Ticket Center — thus making their morning trek to Magic Kingdom much more leisurely. Disney could be hoping to discourage this behavior.

Monorail at the Grand Floridian

The Cast Member at the gate didn’t say whether or not that was the case here, but it’s something to be on the lookout for during certain times of the day and especially during busier times of the year. We think the combination of the reopened restaurant, time of day, and proximity of the hotel to Magic Kingdom made for the perfect recipe that necessitated this parking pass.

Grand Floridian and Monorail

Speaking of 1900 Park Fare, we had the chance to check it out for breakfast on reopening day! You can check out our full FIRST LOOK at the changes, characters, and food here. We’ll also be bringing you our full reviews of both breakfast and dinner, so make sure you’re on the lookout for those soon!

YUM

Stay tuned to DFB as we bring you the latest updates, tips, news, and more from Disney World!

Parking at Magic Kingdom Is Complicated — Here’s What You Need To Know

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Have you run into this at a Disney World hotel restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.