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How Long To Get From Magic Kingdom Parking to Entrance?

In comparison to the other three Disney theme parks, Magic Kingdom is a bit farther from its parking lot.

It can take you anywhere between 20-30 minutes to reach the Magic Kingdom Park entrance from the parking lot. To ensure you have enough time, I’d suggest you give yourself at least half an hour for travel time between the two points.  

How do You Get to the Magic Kingdom Park Entrance From the Parking Lot?

The Disney World Monorail passing over a body of water with floating flowers

If you’ve chosen to drive to Magic Kingdom Park, you’ll have to park your vehicle at the Transportation and Ticket Center.

From there, you’ll need to reach the Transportation and Ticket Center gate.

Now, how soon you reach the gate will depend on how early you arrive to park your car. 

In other words—when you arrive late to the parking lot, the duration of your walk will be longer as you’ll be parked farther from the gate.

Fortunately, you can also take a tram from the parking lot to the gate. 

If you’re lucky, you may not need to wait a long while to ride the tram. If you aren’t, consider 5 minutes spent waiting.

Once you’re at the Transportation and Ticket Center gate, you’ll have to choose between taking a ferry boat or the monorail to the Magic Kingdom entrance.

Since both modes of transportation have a similar estimated time of arrival (10-15 minutes), it doesn’t matter which mode you choose.

All in all, bearing in mind the time to park, duration of walk or tram time to the Transportation and Ticket Center gate, and then the ferry or monorail ride to the entrance of Magic Kingdom Park, you should allow at least 30 minutes for travel time.

What Can You Expect When Parking?

Aerial view of Disney World's parking area with a shuttle during sunset

When you arrive at the Magic Kingdom parking lot, you will find many booths at the entrance. 

Once there, you’ll need to pay the parking fees for the day if you’re staying offsite. You can either pay via cash or credit/debit cards.

Offsite guests will have to pay $25 per day for normal parking, $50 per day for preferred parking in peak season, and $45 per day for preferred parking in the regular season.

Those with oversized vehicles such as RVs and buses have to pay $30 per day.

If you’re staying onsite, you can park for free after showing/scanning your reservations via your Magic Band, Annual Passholder card, or phone.

Those who use their Annual Pass for free parking may be asked to produce their driver’s license as well. So, make sure you have the proper documents in advance.

When do the Parking Lots Open?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s always beneficial for you to reach the parking lot well ahead of time; in doing so, you’ll be able to park at your preferred spot i.e., nearer to the Transportation and Ticket Center gate.

Additionally, by beating the rush crowd, you’ll also have a smoother morning and the peace of mind to enjoy the Disney experience to the fullest.

More often than not, parking lots usually open about an hour before the Early Theme Park Entry is scheduled to start.

With the typical opening time for Magic Kingdom scheduled at 9 am and the Early Theme Park Entry guests granted access 30 minutes before that time, you can expect the Magic Kingdom parking lot to open at around 7:30 am.

What Are Some Parking Tips that Can Help You?

Multiple cars parked in an area with many trees

The parking lots at Magic Kingdom are huge. As such, it can get quite difficult for you to locate your parked car after a long day at Magic Kingdom.

To locate your parked car without problems, I’d recommend you to ask Siri to remember where you parked. 

You can also try a more manual approach by taking a picture of your parking space and the nearest lot sign.

It certainly helps that the parking lots at Magic Kingdom all have themed names and labels (lot signs) to help you locate your car.

Throughout the article, we’ve discussed the advantages of going to the parking lot early.

However, arriving later in the day (after 3 or 4 pm) can also be equally beneficial. How so? 

Well, parking lot attendants usually stop filling row-by-row towards the end of the day. 

During that time, they allow visitors to snag any available space. And, if you’re lucky—you may be allowed to park close to the front or at a space near to the gate.

Conclusion

When determining the time it takes you to get from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the entrance, you’d have to factor in the time it takes you to park, the time it takes you to walk towards the gate, and the time it takes you to reach the entrance via the monorail or ferry ride.

Taking everything into consideration, I think it would be wise for you to allot 20-30 minutes for travel time between the two points i.e., the parking lot and entrance.