Ritz Carlton-Orlando, anyone???

[Hippoharbor]

We are taking our FIRST trip to WDW with 3 yr old DS in July (Yikes, the hot weather!) and will be staying at the Ritz Carlton b/c of a conference. DS and I will be hitting the parks each day. Has anyone stayed at this hotel before? From what I can gather from their website, no shuttle service is offered from the hotel to WDW and a town-car service is $40 each way, OR if you were going to rent a car, they charge $20 for required Valet service. How much is is to park at WDW?

Any suggestions? Of course, want to minimize cost.

Thanks
Michelle

[beachmoms]

Last time I was there(3/08) it was 10.00 a day to park at any of the 4 parks.

[egoldber]

Its $10 a day to park at a WDW park if you are not staying at a WDW resort. I *think* that if you go to more than one park in a day that you can show the receipt from the other park and park free at the second park.

[Puddy73]

We just got back this week and parking is now $11 per day for all parks. If you park hop, just show your receipt and you won't have to pay again.

[AddiesMom]

I always rent a car, even when I have stayed on Disney property. Off Disney property hotel shuttles are a pain so even if yours had one I wouldn't use it. They typically stop at more than one hotel, only go to Magic Kingdom then you need to transfer to Disney transportation to the other parks. With a young child I have no patience for shuttles, I just want to get in my car and go! It will be a little more expensive in the long run, but with hot weather, a 3 year old and busy parks it may just keep you happier!

When I rent a car, I google for car rental codes, Mousesavers website also lists a bunch of codes. You can also get codes from BJs or Costco website if you are a member (I have BJ's and do best with Alamo.)

PS- I would be really ticked if I HAD to use valet for $20! All other hotels in Orlando that I know of have self park for hotel guests for free.

[Hippoharbor]

We are going to go ahead and rent the car. It is still unbelievable to me that the hotel can force you to pay $20 for valet parking rather than allowing self-park.

Thanks