How do you remember where you park?

[nhpooh]

We take my DD(18) with us. She can tell you to this day where we parked in 1998.

 

[Del]

We do what Mari Disney does...tie into a cute saying. Del

 

[bazzanoid]

I just email myself our parking spot on my Blackberry.

Gone are the days when you used to write it down on a spare napkin and hope you don't use/lose it.....

I normally do the picture thing, but i also tend to just try to remember - as long as i know the row i can walk it...

(that said, a couple of times in downtown disney i forgot where i left it, having come out of a different 'entrance' to the one we went in...)

 

[bazzanoid]

We take my DD(18) with us. She can tell you to this day where we parked in 1998.

Good plan - I'll take her with me next time i go.

 

[AJKMOM]

You do need to do what ever works best for you, because, speaking from experience, it is NO fun looking for your car. We thought it was row 21, but no, it was row 24. That 30 minutes we spent walking up and down, pushing the panic button on the rental car remote seemed like an eternity. After that, I wrote the info down on the ripped-off corner of the parking pass, and stuck it in my wallet.

When we left the MK the next night, we heard at least 10 car alarms go off as others tried to find their cars.

 

[seashoreCM]

Park near a light pole. Some of them if not all have a row # or somthing. 2

Many poles look alike (sign and all).

Now where have I see those words, okay, similar words not pertaining to parking, okay, the unparenthesized words, before?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[beansmom]

i'm with ajkmom...we lost our car in AK lot for a good 30 mins...30 mins that we were tired, sore and wanted to leave. We finally found our car in time to help a mom with a little one and dad drive around til we found their car, too.

This time...Disney transport. Not my favorite thing but my date insists.

3 days!!!

 

[Kimberly815]

We always take a photo with the digital camera of the ground at the end of the row we parked in- like where it would say Minnie 32 or whatever. . .then at the end of the night, all you have to do is flip back in the camera to the beginning of the photos. . .and there it is!

We also try to put a fun antenna topper on the rental car. . .helps to pick it out from all the others that look exactly the same!!

 

[KimR]

If you do forget where you park, if you remember the time you arrived a CM can tell you where you parked based on that. Not that we've ever actually had to do this...

 

[Sandy51]

I write it on a post-it-note. I've never had to refer to the post-it, though. Just the act of writing it down makes me remember.



Sandy

 

[DawnMarie]

We tell our ds(11). He has a memory like an elephant.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

We also try to put a fun antenna topper on the rental car. . .helps to pick it out from all the others that look exactly the same!!

That helps us! How about one of these??

See my sig if you're interested!

 

[Mystry62]

No doubt it does work at the mall because no one at the mall is directing you to the "next" parking place like they do at Disney. This system is very organized and works well until some body decides that the rules apply only to others and they just boldly park in a random spot.

Nothing will get me in the mood for a confrontation quicker than that type of behavior. I am not a personality that enjoys being herded like cattle but when I see that in the interest of everyone, it sometimes is necessary, I absolutely go ballistic when individuals feel they are "above" it all.

They tell you about forty billion times where you are parked, what area, what row. Good grief, we are adults aren't we? Seems like we could jot a note or do as some have suggested with their cells.

I just wanted to chime in here for a second. I used to have the same attitude as you do, until recently. Granted, although most people who don't "follow the flow" are just being jerks, sometimes there is a legitimate reason for not "following the flow". My DH recently had back surgery and as a result has trouble with his feet and legs. This is a temporary situation that will get better in a few months, so there is no legitimate reason for us to get a handicapped parking tag. However, long hikes to the car after spending a day (or half day as the case has been recently) in the park is not an option for us. After being cooped up in a hospital room for a month and not being able to do anything with our kids, we recently took a short jaunt to Busch Gardens. The parking attendant was directing cars to the far side of the lot, which is quite a hike from the tram station. Instead of following the flow and parking in the spot, we turned early and parked next to the tram station.

Even though we know we probably looked like giant jerks to all of the cars, all he wanted to do was enjoy an afternoon out with his kids that he had not been able to do in so long. We certainly did not feel like we were "above" anyone, we just knew he would not make it walking to the car from the tram station. The parking attendant had the nerve to all the way across the lot yell at us. He said that if my DH couldn't walk from the tram station to the car, he had no business being at Busch Gardens to begin with since it required walking through the park. That's what they rent for......

The funny thing is, we went to Epcot two weeks later, rolled our window down and explained our situation to CM's parking cars there and he was more than happy to park us closer to the tram station.

Anyway, my point is before you make a snap judgement about the "jerks" that think they are "above" everyone else, stop and think that there just *might* be a good reason for their actions. (Although, I will concede that most are just too lazy to walk that far)

 

[chrisn]

And thank you for all the great ideas. We have tried it all except the picture thing. Fabulous . Seems simple, don't know why I never thought of it. We've said the number over and over and over trying to memorize it and periodically throughout the day I would ask where we parked. At first we were good at remembering but the more the day wore on, the more we had to think on it until finally we forgot altogether! Wrote it on a little piece of paper and left it in the car! Tried again and misplaced it! This year I'm taking a picture! No more "was that Dopey 39 or Grumpy 34!"

 

[goofyernmost]

I just wanted to chime in here for a second. I used to have the same attitude as you do, until recently. Granted, although most people who don't "follow the flow" are just being jerks, sometimes there is a legitimate reason for not "following the flow". My DH recently had back surgery and as a result has trouble with his feet and legs. This is a temporary situation that will get better in a few months, so there is no legitimate reason for us to get a handicapped parking tag. However, long hikes to the car after spending a day (or half day as the case has been recently) in the park is not an option for us. After being cooped up in a hospital room for a month and not being able to do anything with our kids, we recently took a short jaunt to Busch Gardens. The parking attendant was directing cars to the far side of the lot, which is quite a hike from the tram station. Instead of following the flow and parking in the spot, we turned early and parked next to the tram station.

Even though we know we probably looked like giant jerks to all of the cars, all he wanted to do was enjoy an afternoon out with his kids that he had not been able to do in so long. We certainly did not feel like we were "above" anyone, we just knew he would not make it walking to the car from the tram station. The parking attendant had the nerve to all the way across the lot yell at us. He said that if my DH couldn't walk from the tram station to the car, he had no business being at Busch Gardens to begin with since it required walking through the park. That's what they rent for......

The funny thing is, we went to Epcot two weeks later, rolled our window down and explained our situation to CM's parking cars there and he was more than happy to park us closer to the tram station.

Anyway, my point is before you make a snap judgement about the "jerks" that think they are "above" everyone else, stop and think that there just *might* be a good reason for their actions. (Although, I will concede that most are just too lazy to walk that far)

I was not referring to those people that have legitimate reasons but even then there are designated parking areas for those with problems. That's where they need to go then I won't falsely accuse them of wrong doing. Just follow the rules set up to have a smooth running society. It makes life so much easier for everyone involved.

 

[makinorlando]

We tell our ds(11). He has a memory like an elephant.

Same here.... Tara is responsible for remembering where we park. In all the times we go to the parks, only once did we forget to pay attention - we were too busy talking about something when we got there, and of course that was the night of MVMCP last year, and it was dark and late and we were tired when we left!!!!!

I have taken a pictures of the number at the end of the row as well, but have not needed to refer to it!

 

[tink576]

I take a picture of the row with the digital camera, because then I don't loose the slip of paper I wrote down the parking spot on and I don't get confused when I write down all the parking spots randomly across stuff throughout the trip.

 

[trypnotic]

I usually take a photo however that method has backfired on me once before. I was running out of space on my digicam so I started deleting unnecessary photos. I saw the one I took of our parking area and thought, huh... what an odd photo. OK delete. er whoops. Fortunately we were able to remember some details of where we were and eventually found the car

 

[Yzerbear19]

Usually just think of the player on one of our favorite sports teams that corresponds with it. For example, 19 would be Yzerman. If there is no player that we can think of, just repeat it over and over and over again. And if worst comes to worst, just set off the panic button.

 

[lborne]

Easy. You don't have to remember. Just be the last person out of the park, and yours will be the only car left.

Seriously, we have one person remember the name and another the number, and then just use a mental hook like others have suggested.