Re: Where to stay in Yosemite this weekend?

I have a newbie question. Where to stay in the Yosemite Valley this weekend?
I am temporary in California and do not have any campsite/hotel reserved.
I would like to come there on Friday night, hike something like Cloud Rest, Half Dome, Diving Board of Glacier Point on Saturday (I do not have a carved in stone plan yet) and leave on Sunday.

Am I correct that I am not allowed to sleep in my car at a visitors’ parking lot in the Yosemite Valley?
What are my other budget options?
Paying $300/night seems too expensive for me.

You might be able to find a room in Mariposa or Oakhurst. It's not going to be cheap though. About $150 a night is the going rate, although a lot of the places are already fully booked.

Another budget option is camping, but you'll need to have the supplies. Camp 4 is just $5 per **person**, although it's first come first served. I'm thinking that it might not be too full with the weather right now, but that's only a guess. There seems to be a forecast for snow this weekend.

If you sleep in your car overnight, you might be fined or at least waken up and told to leave. It might actually be legal to sleep in you car on National Forest land outside of Yosemite, but check the regulations.

You won't be able to do Half Dome on weekends without a day use permit, and I don't think the cables are up yet

Glacier Point Road is closed. Half Dome cables are down. But there is plenty to do walking around the valley - ride a shuttle to Mariposa Grove, walk trails to the falls, walk to Vernal/Nevada falls...

There is a hostel called Yosemite Bug on the 140 route into the park, you can have a bed for about 25 - yosemitebug.com to see if you can make a reservation.

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AlmostThere
... ride a shuttle to Mariposa Grove...

I prefer hiking instead of riding a shuttle.

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AlmostThere
Glacier Point Road is closed. Half Dome cables are down. But there is plenty to do walking around the valley - ... walk trails to the falls, walk to Vernal/Nevada falls...

How much snow should I expect on a trail to Diving Board?
How much snow should I expect on a JMT trail beyond Vernal/Nevada falls?

You ride the shuttle so you can hike IN Mariposa Grove. It's not a hike, it's a backpack or a hitchhike, if you're going to walk from the valley....

I'm not sure what you mean by Diving Board - you mentioned it being on Glacier Point in your first post. You can't get to Glacier Point yet. The road is closed. Might get there up the Panorama Trail from the top of Nevada Falls.

You'll hit snow at higher elevations for sure... there's still a lot on Tioga Pass. But not likely in Little Yosemite Valley.