How To Identify Rental Car in Parking Lot?

[lotus14]

We are renting a car for the first time and I am paranoid about losing it in the parking lot! I know people take pictures of locator signs in the lots to remember where the car is, but ho ar spaced out are they? Would we still be hunting in a large area? And I hear people us antenna toppers, but if we buy one at WDW (as we are planning to do anyway) wouldn't every other car do the same thing? Yes, I am paranoid, but the last thing I want to do is be dragging 2 tired, cranky kids through a parking lot while searching in vain for the car!

 

[jseuss]

i usually take a picture of my parking spot but another way of finding your car is to use the panic button on the back of the key fob. This is a good way of finding your car at night

 

[kat3668]

I always rent a car now in Disney so much more convenient.... The parking lots are divided up by areas like at DS its stage and a couple others.... you can buy an antenna topper I've never really seen a ton of these but the best thing to do is take a picture of the area sign and the row number... (the trams will call out the row numbers) then when you are near that area click the alarm to notify you of where the car is. I would also consider looking into a AAA diamond parking pass so that you may park closer in the parks. If you do not have a membership I know they sell them on ebay.

 

[francie57]

Just remember the area of the parking lot and then put something on the dashboard so you can see it and know its your car. We leave an extra baseball cap on the dashboard when we use the car - which is only once after we check-in. We only use the car to get to animal kingdom and then we use the AAA parking pass so its easy to find the car.

 

[JenLanDisney]

I pick up some seasonal window clings before we go.

Then we can stick them to the rear seat windows and it helps us identify the car.

 

[delilah]

This reminds of something we did several years ago. We were at Magic Kingdom with my brother and his family, and somehow, we had all forgotten where we had parked one the cars. It was in the days when lots were named after the 7 dwarfs, and we had remembered our lot as named for one that didn't exist, like Goofy instead of Dopey, for example. So, we left the park at the end of extra Magic hours, about 2 am, rode totally around the entire parking lot, were the only people left on the tram, with almost empty parking lots. When we came around to the park entrance, we had to talk to the driver, who took us around again, when we finally recognized our rental car in the lot. We discovered that both cars were actually in the same lot, and about two rows apart. It gives us a laugh every time we go now.

 

[jjjmranch]

A lot of the newer cars don't have antennaes for the toppers, we just draped a towel over the steering wheel (very hot in the summer) and pressed the panic button. This was after we took a picture of what section we were in! Good luck with all the silver rental cars!

 

[MariDisney]

In the Disney parks lots you'll be in a certain section (e.g., Journey at Epcot). Each section has numbered rows. When you walk to the end of the row make a note in your cell phone (or somewhere) of your section/row (e.g., Journey 34). When you come back after visiting the park you'll know right where to get off the tram and which row to walk down.

 

[Marshel]

If you have a favorite athletic team, just buy one of their car flags and take it with you. Makes it easy to spot your car.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

When renting cars we always looked on the keys what the license plate number is because they are written down on them and I would think that's the easiest way to remember which car is yours.

 

[bumbershoot]

i usually take a picture of my parking spot but another way of finding your car is to use the panic button on the back of the key fob. This is a good way of finding your car at night

And you'll crack up at how many other people are doing it while you are doing it.

When renting cars we always looked on the keys what the license plate number is because they are written down on them and I would think that's the easiest way to remember which car is yours.

Same experience.

 

[Chip_Dale]

When renting cars we always looked on the keys what the license plate number is because they are written down on them and I would think that's the easiest way to remember which car is yours.

but make sure the licence # match. First time renting a car I had stopped at a store before going to the resort. Thought I found the car but the licence did not match. Looked arround for a few minutes and went back to the original car and checked to see if the keys worked. I noted the correct plate #. Do not know what I would have done if I was in a park?

 

[LWQuestie]

The Undercover Tourist app for iPhone has a parking spot locator section. You can save your car's GPS location!

 

[goofy4tink]

I pick up some seasonal window clings before we go.

Then we can stick them to the rear seat windows and it helps us identify the car.

That's what we do...we find something distinctive and put it in the windows. So much easier than searching for an unfamilier car!!!

The Undercover Tourist app for iPhone has a parking spot locator section. You can save your car's GPS location!

Seriously??? That is beyond cool.

I try to take a photo of the signage close to my car, in the larger lots. Then, I start looking for that distinctive 'something' in my windows. It's easier at night...I can hit the unlock button and the lights come on...makes it a lot easier to find that way.

 

[LWQuestie]

Seriously??? That is beyond cool.

Yeah, and I can tell you it came in handy this holiday season when I went shopping at a mall that I was not familiar with!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We always take a photo of the car's license plate using my iPhone, and then of the car. We also take a photo of the closest lot location sign. This has saved us a lot of searching time.

Using the panic button for the car is a good idea, but I have found that you have to be very close to the car for this to work.

 

[jseuss]

And you'll crack up at how many other people are doing it while you are doing it.


ROTFL
that is so true
everyone walking around to any car that is making a noise
we got in someone elses van one time. I thought i hit the automatic door open but i obviously didn't, when someone else did , we got in their van and they didn't know any different and thought that it wasn't their van and proceeded to keep looking. I couldn't figure out why the key fit in ignition but wouldn't start. You never seen two families laughing so hard in disney parking lot. Our van was a couple of spaces down

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

Honking with the key fob works for me.

 

[Disney Ella]

If we can pick our own car in the garage and some of them don't have Florida license plates, we pick a car with an out-of-state plate. So many rental cars are the same colors, but the out-of-state license plate helps us spot our car faster.

 

[lotus14]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I won't be the only weirdo taking pictures of parking lot signs! We have a hot pink tye dye bandana we used to put on the stroller to mark it. Sounds like it will be making a comeback as a rental car marker!