Handicap parking at parks?

[LisaR]

Do the theme parks have handicap parking? I never paid attention before but this year, my mom will need it. Or, can we get close enough to drop her and her scooter near the gate and then loop around to the regular parking? Thanks!

Lisa

 

[Cheshire Figment]

All the parks have handicap parking.

The two best are MGM and Epcot. MGM has a few rows right up near where the trams let off and very close to the Disney Bus dropoff area. Epcot has the first few rows on both sides of the monorail, which is very close to the tram area and gates.

Animal Kingdom is as close in as possible, but it is still quite a distance to the gates. I don't know if the buses/trams are closer. With a rental ECV it is no problem.

Magic Kingdom is almost the worst. There are two choices. One is a drop-off area at the edge of TTC (almost at the Polynesian) where you could drop off your mother but then you would have to go all the way out and back through the toll plaza to park. There is handicap parking, which is the first few rows of the lot. It is then necessary to go through the same underpass as the trams use and go past the Kennel to TTC.

My recommendation is if you are staying at a Disney resort, drive to all the parks EXCEPT the Magic Kingdom. For MK use a bus from your resort so you skip the TTC and ferry or monorail. If staying at a monorail resort of course you should then use the monorail.

If you are not at a Disney Resort then I would recommend for MK use the handicap parking and take the ferry (loading and unloading is much easier than the monorail).

Important Note: Be sure you have a handicap hang tag or plate. Often if handicap parking gets crowded Orange County Police will be invited in and they will ticket anyone who does not have a proper tag displayed. This can get expensive, and even if you have a rental car and do not pay the ticket you will find the car company will pay it and charge your credit card.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't have much to add to what Cheshire Figment has said. We have been at WDW the last few years over Easter when it is very busy and there seems to be something going on when we've been there at Epcot that involves them putting up a big tent covering half of Epcot's handicapped parking. As a result, we've found the handicapped parking there is often full. There is a drop off area at Epcot at the front of the handicapped parking area which you could use.
At AK, all the parking (and the buses) are quite a ways from the park entrance. The drop off area is at the front of the handicapped parking area. If the handicapped parking is pretty full, you may want to drop her off there, then park.

If she doesn't have a handicapped parking permit, let each CM that you see going into parking know that you have an ecv, but not a parking permit. They do save some spots on the ends of rows toward the front of lots for situations like this.

 

[LisaR]

Thanks to both of you for the great info. My mom does have a handicap parking permit that we will be taking. I wanted to know what our options were at all the parks. Ideally, I would want to pull up as close as possible for my mom, get her ECV put together and then go find a non-handicap space to park. I can't imagine parking in a handicap space when there are 4 out of 5 of us that are capable of walking. I will assess the parking when we get there and see what will work best. It sounds like MK will be the only real pain. None of us like the busses so we try to avoid those. This is the first trip my mom has been on where she will rent an ECV for the entire trip. Up until now, she has been able to walk to the gate and just rent the ECV in the parks. So, this will be a bit new for all of us. Thanks again for all of your help. One week to go!!

Lisa

 

[SueM in MN]

At Epcot and the Studios, you can't really get back to the non-handicapped parking without going out and coming back into the parking area again. So there, I would just suggest you choose one of the farthest from the entrance handicapped parking spots and park there.
At AK, the handicapped parking is much more open to the other parking, so you could pull up to the unload area, get her out and then go back and find a spot.
Where ever you end up parking, if you choose a far away from the entrance handicapped parking spot and don't use of of the few van spots (the wider ones with a large cross-hatched area next to them), you will be OK. You have a permit and a valid reason to be there. It will also be easier to pick her up later (or maybe she can just drive the ecv to the car) if you are closer.

 

[LisaR]

Thanks, Sue. I would have never known about the spots for large vans. Maybe I would have figured it out once I saw the spot but it is good to know ahead of time.

Lisa

 

[Michigan]

Lisa the spots for vans look just like the van accessible spots you see at the stores. Most people that don't have side lift vans don't realize how important it is that people don't park on the cross-hatched area. I just got in a argument with a man on Saturday when we went out for lunch. He pulled into the cross-hatched area so I told him it wasn't a parking space and he argued it was if he wanted it to be and there was nothing I could do about it. So I opened the door and explained to him if he was still parked there when we were ready to leave that the drivers side of his car wouldn't look the same as it did when he went in. He then moved his car. Fortunatally for me I just purchased a new van and it's in the shop having a rear lift put on it so that won't be a problem for us anymore.