Disney Springs Parking Tips and Tricks

In this week's episode, Jared gives us his parking tips and tricks for Disney Springs that will save you time and frustration! 

Transcript

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On this week's episode of a Dryer Dose of Disney, Jared shared with us his parking tricks at Disney Springs to make getting in and out easier. Intro Music Welcome to this week's episode of a Dryer dose of Disney. I'm your host, Jared dryer. And today, I'll be honest with you. We've got a really interesting episode for you where we are going to be talking about. Parking at Disney Springs. And I know that may sound a little bit weird. And in fact, I wasn't going to do this episode until after this past summer being out there in Orlando, we had some family and some friends come to town and we have taken obviously numerous people to the parks and spend a lot of time with people at Disney Springs, as well as other locations around Orlando. And we always tell our friends, here's where we park at Disney Springs and try to find the same spot just because it's easier to get in and out. And we were talking about it with some family and they said, you definitely have to do an episode on this because it is so significantly impactful to so many people. When they're coming to Disney Springs. So I thought about it for a while and I was like, I don't know if I want to do an episode about parking over at Disney Springs. But when you really think about all the options that are there and how to get in and out and how frustrating it can be I thought maybe worth it. And it's definitely a filler episode that would be good for some people that are logistically looking to make their vacation a little bit smoother out there in Orlando at Disney Springs. And so that's what we're going to do today is we're going to talk about tips and tricks for parking at Disney Springs. Things. And I do want to say, I do have a very specific place to go. I do have a very specific lane that we like to park in, and I'm going to tell you about all that and why it's so important because there are so many different options there and a lot of different ways to get frustrated, but before we dive into it and I start giving you those tips and tricks, I do want to ask wherever you're listening to us, or if you're watching us on YouTube, click pause, and find that subscribe button and subscribe to our content. So you're going to get this each and every week into your inbox. And then we'd like to remind our listeners that Patreon is the way you can support the show. There is a link in the description down below. So go ahead and click that. But we do have our biggest Disney tip or trick ever in our Patreon subscribers access over there. So that's at our top tier because it is such a good tip or trick. We do want to make sure that this does not get out into the general public because we do not want it abused and we do not want this trick to go away. But we do have the best Disney tip or trick out there in our Patreon for our subscribers. So you're definitely going to want to go check that out. So you guys know if you've been to Orlando, Disney Springs is this outdoor mall that has the world of Disney, which is a huge Disney store that has pretty much almost everything you can find in the parks. As well as a lot of other really cool stores, including the co-op, which we absolutely love the Art of Disney, that's my favorite store and about 30 to 40 different restaurants there. And honestly, we've been trying them all. We're almost through the entire list of restaurants over there. And we do have an episode on the best restaurants and places to eat over at Disney Springs. So it is a really cool place to go. It is very. Disney themed. It's very much that Disney atmosphere, lots of cast members working there. But the really cool thing is it's totally free to go to. So this is a really great way on the day that you fly in, or maybe the day that you leave. If you have some time to kill a Disney Springs is definitely where I would go. And then when we're in Orlando during the summer, we're at Disney Springs, two to three times a week, checking out new restaurants, we have AMC stubs. So we're on the A-List. So we like to go to the movies there just because that's the closest AMC theater to our condo. So we're always popping in and out of Disney spring. So it is an awesome place to go. It is pretty crowded. No matter when you go, unless you go really early in the mornings. And then on the weekends, we do encourage you to go check out brunch. There's a lot of really good places for brunch over there at Disney Springs. So it's a great compliment to your trip. It's free. Like I said, we like to go multiple times a week when we're out there. Now, Disney Springs can't be chaotic because it's large and it's very spread out and there's a lot of different parking options. And the parking options are what make it chaotic and especially Buena Vista drive. So if you're not familiar with the area, Buena Vista drive is a curvy street that goes on the south and east side of Disney Springs. You can, if you pull up a map, you're going to see that, and this is how you're going to access most of the parking areas. But this is very similar to International drive over on the east side of I four. And international drive. If you've ever been there is constantly backed up. There's a lot of lights. You get stuck everywhere. You're going, and it's very similar over at Disney Springs. And that's because there's a lot of pedestrian, walkways and crosswalks and people always crossing. So each light is very short. You're not going to have a lot of time to get through it and it gets backed up really quick. So it can be very, frustrating. So our whole goal is to stay off. Buena Vista drive when we're going there, which isn't possible because that's how you access the parking. So we're going to tell you the tips and tricks on which garage to go to, to minimize your time on Buena vista drive. And in fact there is one way in. That you won't even touch Buena a Vista drive. So we're going to talk about that here in just a moment and then how to get out of there as well, because their whole goal is to get away from the crowds and get away from all the stoplights. Now, when you're looking at Disney Springs, there are four parking areas and actually there's more than four, but I like to highlight it as four. A you have three large parking garages, the orange garage, the lime garage, and the grapefruit garage, which are all the huge structures. And usually where you're gonna find yourself parking. And then they have a handful of surface lots. I do say stay away from the surface. Lots. We don't like to go to the surface lots. And the main reason is as in Orlando, especially if you're going during the day, it gets very hot. Your car's just going to cook and bake. And when you come back, it's going to feel like it's a million degrees. In addition to that it rains in Orlando. So if you're ever parked on a surface lot and the rain comes. You could be trying to get through the rain to get back to your car where if you're in the garage once you get into the garage, obviously your car is going to remain cool and you're not going to be subject to the rain. So that makes it a little bit easier. Plus the way that we are going to tell you to get in and out of Disney Springs is through the orange garage. So that is our preferred parking place. It is the easiest one to access and it's the easiest one to get to. And from I four. So if you're on the highway and you're going to Disney Springs, whether you're going eastbound or westbound the orange garage is the easiest to get to. And it's also the easiest one to get back to I four. So you're definitely gonna want to target the orange garage. Now the tips and tricks that I'm going to give you a really important, because once you're in the garage things can go awry really quick. And I'm going to explain that here in a few minutes, but let's start with how do you even get to the orange garage? And so it's honestly very, easy. If you're on westbound, I four. So if you are Northeast of the Disney area and you're heading Southwest, cause I four runs diagonally. So if you're heading westbound towards Tampa you have an exit, that's going to take you right into the orange garage. So this is the easiest way to get in there. If you are going westbound on I four, and that is to take exit 67. It's clearly labeled for Disney Springs. And when you come off the highway, it's going to loop you right into the orange garage. So that is the easiest and the best way to go. And in fact, our, I can do this all day tip of the day in a minute is going to highlight that again. So you're going to want to pay attention to that because we're going to call out a specific area in town. If you are staying there, you are quicker to get an I four and take this exit than you are to go any other way. Now, when you come into the orange garage from that exit, you are already on level three, and that is really, important. You want to stay on level three? I would encourage you. Don't go up to levels four or five and definitely whatever you do at all costs, do not go to levels one or two. And that may be counterintuitive because the entrance from the orange garage into Disney Springs is actually on level two. And so a lot of people think I want to go to level two because that's how you get in. And we've tried that a few times, but your challenge is. When you were trying to leave Disney Springs, if you are on level two, the only way out is to go down to level one. Loop around the entire level one and you get pushed back out into the middle of Buena Vista drive and it takes forever to get out of there. So we tell you do not go to level two. You want to go to level three. Now before I tell you where to park in level three, I want to tell you how you can get there when you're going eastbound on I four. And that's the way we go. Our condo is down in champions gate. So we are just Southwest of the Disney campus. And so we're going eastbound on I four when we head in there. And when you're coming up the highway, you're going to see exits for Epcot and Disney Springs. It's the same exit. That is the exit you want to take. And the signs are very clear and very well labeled. When you take that Epcot exit, it's going to tell you which way to go, to get to Disney Springs. And you're going to get on Disney drive, and then it's going to have you take the first exit to get to Disney Springs. Now on that first exit, you are going onto bueno Vista drive. However, the orange garage is the very first garage and it's only one stoplight away and there's no crossing there at that stoplight. So it is very easy to get into the orange garage from there. And when you see the orange garage sign, that's where you want to go. It will take you up an exit ramp. And now you're on level three, just with the same people that are coming off. I four westbound. So you were going in at the exact same point as everyone else. And this is definitely where you want to go. Okay. Now I know I'm telling you this verbally again, if you're driving in the area, you can always pull up this episode and obviously you can listen to it again, and it will tell you how to go there. But basically in short, whether you're on I four westbound or I for. Eastbound, you're going to want to follow the signs to Disney Springs. And the first garage you get to is the orange garage. And it's going to take you in at level three. So you are already 90% of the way to where you need to go. Now when you get into level three. Here is the key. Is the entrance to Disney Springs, like we said earlier is on level two, but it's on the far opposite corner of where you come in. So what you want to do is when you come in, you're going to want to hang a right. And go as far down as you possibly can. Now, when you're going through the garage, you're going to see these little light indicators over each lane that tell you how many spots are available. And usually it's going to say zero, because level three is the most popular level. However, here is the tip and trick. Is that when you go all the way down to the end, go to one of the last couple of lanes. Turn and go up the lane. And then when you turn to come back down, one of these lanes, those lanes are always going to have available spots. And it's because people don't go that far into the garage to find spots, but when you turn and come up, one of those lanes, you may see three or four spots. That is where you're going to want to park because you are right next to the escalators, which will take you down one level and right to the entrance for Disney Springs. Okay. So that is key. Is you want to be on that corner of the garage right next to the escalators, because that's where the entrance is on level two. And it's a really short walk. It's easy to get to and from your car. And there's always spots available over there. Okay. Now. When you're leaving Disney Springs. Okay. So here's the other part of the trick is when you're coming out of the parking lot and parking garage. As you're heading out, there are actually two exits from level three. The first exit says go to level two and level one. And it says exit there as well. Do not take that. Okay. At all costs do not take it. That's where you get stuck going down to level one and have to loop around the entire level one. And you get popped out on Buena Vista drive in, it takes forever to get out that way. What you want to do is keep going a little bit forward towards the entrance where you came in and you will see an exit there that says I four you want to go. Out that way. And you go down a short ramp and you are at the very end now of Buena Vista drive by that only one stop light that we just talked about a moment ago that doesn't have the crosswalk. And from there you're able to go straight and loop and get right onto I four. So it's very quick and easy to get in and out of Disney Springs through the orange garage. If you go out of that second exit. Be mindful of that. That's the quickest way in and out. We have tried every single surface lot. We have tried every single garage and the orange garage level three is by far the quickest and the easiest one to get in and out of now, let's say you're staying on resort. You do have a lot of options of getting to and from Disney Springs. And I would encourage you to look at those. When we stayed at port Orleans, Riverside, we were able to take a boat to Disney Springs. That was a fun experience. It did take quite a while. Whereas if we would have drived, we probably could have gotten there in three or four minutes. It probably took us 20 minutes plus on the boat. So do know it's going to take you a little bit more time, but you're not gonna have to drive. You're not going to have to park or go through the crowds like that. So it does make that side of it a little bit easier, but whether or not you're staying on resort, if you are driving a car. And you use the orange garage. You're able to come back out to world drive. You're going to see all the signs that points you towards all the resorts, and they are still going to get you back to the correct resort area. So it is very easy to get in and out of the orange garage towards the center of Disney Springs is the lime garage. I used to use that in the past quite a bit because it puts you right in the middle of Disney Springs. But you have to go through so much. of Buena Vista drive. It is a headache and it's difficult to get in and out of the orange garage is a hundred percent the way to go. So you're definitely going to want to do that. Now for our, I can do this all day tip of the day. Our tip of the day is that if you are staying near Disney but you are offsite on Apopka Vineland drive. Okay. This is the main drive that is closest to Buena Vista drive right off the I four, there are a ton of resort hotels over there from Hyatts to Hilton's to embassy suites and all that. So if you are off Apopka Vineland Boulevard there I'm going to encourage you do not take Buenavista drive. We have done that in the past, and that's where it took us the longest you can actually get on I four westbound right there. And the very next exit is the exit that takes you into the orange garage. So it is much, much quicker to just hop on I four and go down one exit, which is only half a mile or three quarters of a mile. So stay in the right lane when you get on. And it will take you right into the orange garage on level three. And that is going to be the quickest way to get there from the Apopka Vineland road over there. So we do encourage you guys to do that. That is really it. That's the parking tip and trick is you want to be an orange garage level three, go all the way to the back corner and go down the escalators to get into Disney Springs. Like I said, I thought this episode was one. I didn't know that I wanted to do, but after talking to our friends and family, they said, you definitely need to do this because that Buena Vista drive is terrible. And this is the quickest way to get in and out of Disney Springs. So we wish you a magical week as you're planning your next vacation. And we will talk to you guys next week. Bye bye. Music Playing