Theme Parks & Car Parks

It’s stating the obvious that most of our visitors to Central Florida will be heading to the theme parks at some stage in their holiday with the intention of utilising their car hire.

But what about the actual mechanism for getting there? What about the theme parks’ car parks?

Okay, that might sound like a peculiar question, especially if you’ve never been to Orlando before. Don’t you just turn up, park and walk into the theme parks?

The answer to that little teaser is a not-so-obvious, ‘No, you don’t.’ There are various ways the theme parks actually get their visitors to the turnstiles, and there is almost an art form to them in some instances.

So, what’s the parking scoop?

Just to start with, each of Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando take a different tack when it comes to parking and getting you into the fun in store.

Disney’s four theme parks are all different and the tactics involved can be quite varied, especially at the Magic Kingdom. Universal goes for a more centralised approach and SeaWorld, well, SeaWorld does things differently still, but is the simplest variation.

The one constant between all three, though, is that you WILL have to pay to park. The theme parks are not within range of anywhere that you can simply park and then walk in. Hotels close to Universal and SeaWorld have got very canny in spotting people trying to dodge the car park fees, and people have returned to find their cars have been towed away in some instances.

With Disney, it’s even tougher, as there is just nowhere within walking distance of any of their four parks – Walt’s World covers a whopping 43 square miles and that includes a lot of natural land that acts as a buffer against the surrounding areas – and their hotels won’t let you in their car parks unless you are a hotel guest or have a reservation for one of the hotel’s restaurants.

This year, standard parking at any of the seven parks is a fairly hefty $30 per car, so you can understand why some people try to beat the system. Our advice is that you’re not likely to, so just budget accordingly.

Parking at Walt Disney World

Most things start with the Magic Kingdom at the House of Mouse, and that is especially true of their parking arrangements, which have grown significantly over the years.

The car park – or “parking lot” in American-speak – covers more than 140 acres of open-air asphalt and can accommodate in excess of 12,000 cars.

It is also divided into 12 sections, which are then split into the “Heroes” half – Wendy, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Simba, Mulan and Rapunzel – and the “Villains,” namely Jafar, Hook, Scar, Zurg, Ursula and Cruella. Like with all the parks, there is a toll plaza where you have to pay the parking fee before you get to the car park itself, and you will be directed to the right parking area by a cast member, as the different sections are filled from front to back as the day goes on.

Pay close attention to which area you park in when you arrive (try taking a photo of the row number, too) as it’s SO easy to forget where you parked when it’s time to go home. In some areas you can also use the Car Locator feature of the My Disney Experience app to save your parking details.

If you’re parked in any of the Wendy, Aladdin, Jafar and Zurg areas, it will probably be quicker to walk to the security check from there, instead of waiting for the tram.

After the checkpoint, you still need to decide on whether to take the ferry or monorail to the park itself. If the line looks long for the monorail, the ferry will probably be slightly quicker.

Happily, each of Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom all have their trams operating again (they didn’t initially re-start after the pandemic). These courtesy trams are basically a regular round-trip service from the car park to the park gates, but for both Epcot and Animal Kingdom it can be quicker to walk, as it may be only a few hundred yards. However, if you arrive late in the morning and they are parking new arrivals way at the back, it will probably be quicker to take the tram.

All Disney car parks also offer Preferred Parking (basically, being slightly closer to the gates) for $45-$55/day, but we don’t think this saves you much time and/or walking, especially for the extra cost.

Parking at Universal Orlando

In many ways, Universal’s parking system is the biggest and most complicated of them all, with one massive multi-storey parking garage that extends for acre after acre. In all, it can accommodate more than 19,000 cars, and it can feel a bit like a rabbit warren for all its offshoots and levels.

There is just one toll entrance plaza ($30 for regular parking; $50-$60 for Prime; and $65-$75 for Valet parking) and it can be VERY busy at 9am, so try to arrive even earlier or wait until late morning. Like Disney’s Preferred Parking, Universal’s Prime alternative will get you closer to the moving walkways, but it might only be 50 to 60 yards closer and, again, it is an expensive upgrade.

Once you are through the toll plaza, all regular parking vehicles will be directed to one of the two main parking areas and to one specific level, as they fill up section by section. Be patient; it can take a while to sort out all that traffic in one small area, especially in the morning rush.

The two parking sections are then split into 3 garages, all named for Universal characters. The North garage is on five levels named for Jaws, King Kong and Jurassic Park, while the South garage has six floors and is named for Spider-Man, E.T. and Cat In The Hat, and it’s vital to make a note (or photo) of both your section and Level number. It’s a miserable job trying to find your car again if you don’t keep track of those basics. If the end of your row says 327, your car is on the 3rd floor in row 27.

Once parked, you then need to walk, or take one of the moving walkways to the parking centre hub, where there is the security checkpoint, and then you continue along the walkways to the heart of CityWalk, from where you head to either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.

Also, be aware the way OUT of the giant car park may be different to the road you came in on, so pay special attention to the directional signs as you exit or you may find yourself going in the opposite direction to the one you want!

Parking at SeaWorld

By comparison with the others, SeaWorld is a doddle to park at (albeit, it still costs $30-$35 a day, or from $45-$55 for Preferred parking in rows closer to the park gates, or $60-$70 right up front). All the local traffic feeds into their main gateway on Central Florida Parkway, and you quickly reach their toll plaza.

Once your parking fee is paid, you follow the traffic cones and in-person directions for the next row, which gets further and further away from the gates as the day progresses and it can be quite a hike from the furthest reaches of the parking lot.

Once parked, it is simply a matter of walking to the security checkpoint and then passing through to the ticket kiosks and electronic turnstiles. There can be quite a queue here from 9-10am, but otherwise it is all straightforward.

Parking at Disney Springs

It is worth pointing out one final, clever variation on the car parking theme, which is also going to be adopted at the Orlando International Airport in future.

When Disney Springs completed its big transformation from Downtown Disney in 2015, it was notable for three major multi-storey car parks that looked pretty formidable to navigate, with the capacity for more than 8,300 cars (a capacity that is often reached at weekend evenings).

However, they were made much easier to deal with thanks to the latest monitoring technology, which was applied to every single space in all three car parks.

This is a system of green lights that highlight when a space is open, and which are linked to LED displays that indicate the number of open spaces on each level. Clever, hey?

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