Magic Kingdom Tips: What Time Does The Parking Lot Open?
Knowing what time the Magic Kingdom parking lot opens is crucial to getting your day off to the right start at Walt Disney World, especially if you're hoping to be one of the first guests into the park!
Our Magic Kingdom Park Guide details parking lot opens, as well as some helpful tips on where to park and how to be one of the first guests into Magic Kingdom based on our experiences at the park!
Questions We'll Answer About Magic Kingdom Parking:
- What Time Does Parking At Magic Kingdom Open?
- How To Be The First In Line At Magic Kingdom
What Time Does Parking At Magic Kingdom Open?
The Magic Kingdom parking lot (the Transportation & Ticket Center) typically opens about 60 to 90 minutes before Magic Kingdom park is scheduled to open.
This means that if the park is set to open at 9:00AM then the parking lot will officially open between 7:30AM and 8:00AM.
Unlike Magic Kingdom itself, the parking lot does not have a definitive opening time and opens when Disney cast members are done setting up for the day.
Cast members of course strive to get the Magic Kingdom parking lot open as early as possible, and typically have an internal goal of getting the parking lot open an hour before Magic Kingdom is scheduled to open by one hour.
If Early Entry is occurring at Magic Kingdom (the perk allowing Disney hotel guests early access to the park) at 8:30AM, the rules will be the same - expect the parking lot to open 60 to 90 minutes in advance.
You do not need to be a Disney hotel guest to access Magic Kingdom parking during Early Entry, you just won't be allowed admission into the actual park until the general guest opening time.
NOTE: These policies are subject to change at any time and are totally dependent on how quickly Disney is able to get the parking lots ready to open each morning. However, our guidelines above have been pretty reliable over the last year.
How To Be First In Line At Magic Kingdom
If you're curious how early the Magic Kingdom parking lot opens then you're probably hoping to be one of the first guests to enter Magic Kingdom.
The biggest thing to plan is where you want to park at Magic Kingdom because there are multiple options to consider.
For the best chances of being one of the first guests at Magic Kingdom then we'd recommend parking at either the Transportation and Ticket Center or a resort hotel.
Monorails, ferryboats and busses will be running to the Magic Kingdom as early as possible.
The monorails and ferryboats are how a huge majority of guests will access Magic Kingdom in the morning, so they're typically the first and easiest way to access Magic Kingdom.
Busses are used from time-to-time on very busy days and are typically faster than the ferryboats, but a bit slower or the same speed than the monorails to get to Magic Kingdom.
While being and the Transportation and Ticket Center bright and early is a great way to get to Magic Kingdom as soon as possible, being a Disney Resort Hotel guests can't be beat.
Many days of the week Disney hotel guests will be able to access Magic Kingdom 30 minutes prior to general guests, so they'll always have priority access to the park.
Guests staying at Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village and the Contemporary Resort have another huge advantage... they can walk to Magic Kingdom!
Being able to walk directly to the gates of Magic Kingdom from your resort hotel allows you to bypass waiting for the Transportation and Ticket Center to open as well as cutting out the additional 10-15 minutes of travel time.
If you're hoping to be one of the first guests in line at Magic Kingdom then staying at Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village and Contemporary Resort is the way to do it!
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