Parking in orlando

[LeeBarlow]

Hi all,

going to disney first 2 weeks in december and hoping to have a great
time.

We have a 9 year old boy with autism and as such we have disabled parking
permit.

Has anyone got any tips for us about general parking in orlando
i.e how easy is it to get parked ?
Do they have parking meters for parking on the road like uk ?
Do they allow parking on non parking areas when you have disability parking pass ?
Do you have to pay parking at Disney if you have Disability parking badge ?

Thanks for any advice

Lee and Mel

 

[freckles and boo]

Hello.
I am not at all familiar with parking in the UK, but I can assure you that there are "handicapped" spots in nearly every parking lot (car park?) in America. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act - ADA - is responsible for wider, well-marked parking spaces, curb cuts, ramps, elevators, etc. Obviously most of those accommodations are for people with physical disabilities including wheelchair users and others with limited mobility due to a variety of causes including respiratory illness. I am a mom to a daughter with high-functioning autism and I have never suspected that we would qualify for a disabled parking permit because she is not physically or neurologically impaired enough to keep us from walking longer distances. My concern for you is whether the state of Florida will recognize your permit. Most states have reciprocal agreements and recognize the permits of other states but I have no idea whether they would recognize the permit of another country. I would e-mail someone at the Florida department of transportation, or at the very least check with your car rental company. It would be awful to get a ticket, or worse, get towed, because of an innocent mistake!!!

Because I haven't spent much time in Orlando outside of visiting Disney, I can only offer educated guesses to your other questions. So, Dissers, correct me if I am wrong...

Most attractions, malls, and hotels have parking lots, which will have handicapped parking. Just remember that Florida is chock full of senior citizens, many of whom have either permanent or temporary disabled parking permits. You may find all those special spots taken by seniors if you must make a trip to the grocery store.

I would not park anywhere that is not a real parking spot even if the handicapped spots are full. Again, you will probably get ticketed or towed even with a permit.

I sincerely doubt Disney or anyone else will cut you a break on parking fees because of a permit. My mother-in-law had MS, hand-controls, and permanent disabled license plates, yet we were never offered free parking. Then again, we never inquired! Maybe we should have!

Have a great vacation!!!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

We have an Autistic son too and also have a disabled badge.

Parking is very easy indeed, wherever you go.

I have never seen a parking meter in Orlando so everywhere is free , apart from when you visit the Theme Parks where it is generally $10 to park your car for the day.
You do have to pay, but there are special disabled spaces at all the parks which provide easier access to the entrance.
When you arrive , you pay your parking fee and if you show your blue badge you will be directed to the disabled areas - at Disney it's generally a blue line that you just follow.
Parking at the likes of MGM is perfect as you are literally right outside the front gate at the park.
Universal is similar but has the advantage of a multi-storey car park.

Generally it is not like the UK, where you can park on certain double-yellow lines etc...everywhere you go there will be ample parking and it's rare that you would need to park in a restricted area or on a main road for example.
It's sort of difficult to explain but once you have driven around for a couple of days you will see what I mean.

The shopping malls all have free parking, and generally ample disabled spaces, similar to what you would get in the UK at the major malls etc

In addition providing the date on your blue badge is current there is no need to contact anyone regarding using it - we have never had any problems, just ensure it is on display whenever you park.
All countries have slightly different types of disabled badge, but there is no reason why you cannot use it freely and without concern - we have used ours for a few years now and it has been displayed numerous times without issue.
We actually checked with the authorities in the UK and also the 'special assistance' team at Virgin Holidays before we first used ours in Florida.

Good Luck - any further questions would be happy to help.

 

[freckles and boo]

In addition providing the date on your blue badge is current there is no need to contact anyone regarding using it - we have never had any problems, just ensure it is on display whenever you park.
All countries have slightly different types of disabled badge, but there is no reason why you cannot use it freely and without concern - we have used ours for a few years now and it has been displayed numerous times without issue.
We actually checked with the authorities in the UK and also the 'special assistance' team at Virgin Holidays before we first used ours in Florida.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thanks for clearing that up.

No problem

 

[alisonbestford]

We've used our blue badge with no problems either

The Americans hang theirs' from the front mirror but we just display ours in the middle of the dash board so that it can be easily seen

I think that the only parking meters I have seen are when we went to Clearwater/St Petes and I can't honestly remember whether we needed to pay with the badge

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think that the only parking meters I have seen are when we went to Clearwater/St Petes and I can't honestly remember whether we needed to pay with the badge

I remember those too , however the last time we used them Joshua wasn't born and I do remember having to put quarters in.
I will find out in August as we are going to Clearwater for a day at the beach.

 

[kevin harrison]

Last time we visited Clearwater, we had to pay for parking. So I remember we parked just off the beach, in a car park opposite the Huge "Seascreamer" speedboat, you drove along a one way street and you came to a booth where you paid up, can't remember if it was a nominal fee or we paid and displayed...

 

[jax100]

we were there in march this year and we had to pay $15 to buy a permit for the duration of our holiday for our use when we were out.

we were told we were NOT allowed to use the blue badge. we could use it in disney if we wanted but if we used it elsewhere we would be fined. we were pointed in the direction of a place where we had to transfer our badge and get a usa one. it cost $15 for the duration of our hol. we could then hang it from the mirror when out and about.

it was the benefit place we had to go to, cant quite remember complete instructions but it is on orange blossom trail.

The person who told us we needed to change our blue card for an american one was the police officer who decided to give us a ticket while parked on international drive. We pleaded ignorance as we had only just arrived so he gave us the directions to change the ticket and he didnt write out the ticket. although he did have his book out to do it.

all we did was show the blue badge, give the passport and our address while we were in orlando and then we were given the red thing which hangs from the mirror only when parked.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

we were there in march this year and we had to pay $15 to buy a permit for the duration of our holiday for our use when we were out.

we were told we were NOT allowed to use the blue badge. we could use it in disney if we wanted but if we used it elsewhere we would be fined. we were pointed in the direction of a place where we had to transfer our badge and get a usa one. it cost $15 for the duration of our hol. we could then hang it from the mirror when out and about.

it was the benefit place we had to go to, cant quite remember complete instructions but it is on orange blossom trail.

The person who told us we needed to change our blue card for an american one was the police officer who decided to give us a ticket while parked on international drive. We pleaded ignorance as we had only just arrived so he gave us the directions to change the ticket and he didnt write out the ticket. although he did have his book out to do it.

all we did was show the blue badge, give the passport and our address while we were in orlando and then we were given the red thing which hangs from the mirror only when parked.

Strange, we have used ours for the past few years at malls etc without any problems at all.
Where you actually parked on I-drive itself? because I wouldn't have expected to be able to park there even with a blue badge?

 

[jax100]

we were parked in a blue badge space, which we thought we could use displaying our uk badge. we werent keen to get into debates about websites and stuff with a police officer with a gun! lol, he was very nice and explained that all we had to do was go and swap our badge for a special permit. he also explained that it is common for tourists to not know about swapping but it does incur fines if not using the correct permit. we were not keen however to debate it further for fear of getting a fine or him changing and not being nice.

we then used the permit to park in all blue badge space. we discussed it with our virgin rep after the incident and she said that it was now necessary to purchase a special permit, which only cost $15 and lasted for the duration of the hol so we didnt think that was too expensive. sure beat getting a fine.

 

[alisonbestford]

I, too, was under the impression that the new Blue Badge system was recognised in the US

It may well be worth taking this question over to the disABILITIES forum to find out when/why things changed

Simply curious now

 

[mikki.young]

We used our blue badge in January with no problems. Think it was in one of Simon's books that we first learned you could use it! If they have changed this it seems rather harsh to make someone with difficulties getting about to have to go and find some office just to get a different piece of paper to hang in the car.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Well as I said we have never had any problems and I am not going to change anything.

 

[alisonbestford]

Out of curiosity I posted on the disABILITIES board and received the following from a FL resident:

All of Walt Disney World is private property. Technically the Sheriff's Office can only enforce non-felony problems at the invitation of the property owner. It is my understanding that in the agreements that WDW has with both the Orange and Osceola County Sheriff's Departments that they are instructed to honor anything which appears to be an officially issued handicap/disbled tag. This is not only all US states, but the Canadian Prvinces and the UK Blue Badge.

As far as outside of WDW, generally what I have heard is that Florida, due to the many international tourists, will accept the UK Blue Badge.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Out of curiosity I posted on the disABILITIES board and received the following from a FL resident:

All of Walt Disney World is private property. Technically the Sheriff's Office can only enforce non-felony problems at the invitation of the property owner. It is my understanding that in the agreements that WDW has with both the Orange and Osceola County Sheriff's Departments that they are instructed to honor anything which appears to be an officially issued handicap/disbled tag. This is not only all US states, but the Canadian Prvinces and the UK Blue Badge.

As far as outside of WDW, generally what I have heard is that Florida, due to the many international tourists, will accept the UK Blue Badge.

Fair enough.

 

[mikki.young]

Asked the question of Visit Orlando and got this reply:
Thank you for your interest in the Orlando area. Regarding your inquiry, U.S. Residents may use a handicap parking permit from any state provided it is hanging from the rearview mirror or plainly displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle.


International guests wishing to obtain a handicap parking permit may go to any Orange County Tag Office and pay a $15.00 fee. The international guest will need to show their passport, driver’s license and a current handicap parking permit at which time they will be issued a temporary handicap parking permit. International guests that have additional questions regarding handicap parking permits may call 407-836-4145 M-F 9am-5pm EST or visit their website at www.octaxcol.com

The website emntioned is not very helpful! None to sure how it will work when the driver is not the person with a disability. Not sure why so many of us have not had problem in the past

 

[alisonbestford]

Asked the question of Visit Orlando and got this reply:
Thank you for your interest in the Orlando area. Regarding your inquiry, U.S. Residents may use a handicap parking permit from any state provided it is hanging from the rearview mirror or plainly displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle.


International guests wishing to obtain a handicap parking permit may go to any Orange County Tag Office and pay a $15.00 fee. The international guest will need to show their passport, driver’s license and a current handicap parking permit at which time they will be issued a temporary handicap parking permit. International guests that have additional questions regarding handicap parking permits may call 407-836-4145 M-F 9am-5pm EST or visit their website at www.octaxcol.com

The website emntioned is not very helpful! None to sure how it will work when the driver is not the person with a disability. Not sure why so many of us have not had problem in the past

Thanks for that Mikki.

We've never had a problem in the past, using the blue badge, and DH has only ever 'parked', never driven, as he has to renew his license every year.

I'm always the driver

Guess I'll be going along with Johnny and doing what's always worked for us

I'm pretty tired now, and have had a couple of glasses of wine, but this 'new' $15 charge seems to add into the extra costs of visas etc that seems to be suggested now and then!

Don't get me wrong, I'd pay it if that were the law but I'm sceptical!



Still hoping to book for Orlando soon tho if we can.................... bought a 'lucky dip' lottery ticket tonight but not checked it yet........

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think we just have to stick with what we have already been doing, if after our August holiday I no longer post on these boards you can presume I am locked up in Orlando somewhere

 

[alisonbestford]

I think we just have to stick with what we have already been doing, if after our August holiday I no longer post on these boards you can presume I am locked up in Orlando somewhere

We'll come visit Johnny