What’s this Gay Days Weekend’s scariest, heart-pounding, fear-inducing feature? Finding a parking space!
There’s a standard checklist of what to bring if you’re going to any of this weekend’s events: cash; pre-purchased tickets; I.D.; and especially for daytime events—bottled water, sunglasses and sunscreen. We’d like to suggest having the following handy as well: patience, fortitude, perseverance, a bit of luck, and a well-thought out travel plan that includes plenty of time for traveling to—and parking at—every event you attend… unless you can hitch a ride on one of those religious banner-carrying planes and parachute in.
As Orlando’s Big Gay Weekend has grown over the years, so, too, has the need to find places to put everyone’s vehicles. Be it the myriad of construction projects in town or the side effects from having a sold-out hotel, nearly every event organizer has had to re-create alternative transportation and parking plans. They’ll also have different policies on what their own hotel guests will pay for parking, as well as how many parking spaces per room are permitted.
Our overall advice? If you can carpool, do it. If there’s a shuttle available, ride it. Take a taxi. Prepare to pay more for valet service and if you happen to stay overnight. And, of course, make sure you have a designated driver so everyone gets home safe. In order to help you better navigate your fun, here’s what to know before you go:
GayDays
The promoter with the largest number of events also attracts the largest number of guests. The Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld will charge $5 for parking that includes a $5 voucher for food or non-alcoholic beverages at the hotel. Their overflow lot will be approximately a quarter-mile away, west on Westwood Blvd., with shuttles and a walking path to the hotel.
The Parliament House
The resort’s on-site parking lots hold approximately 1,000 cars, which are expected to be at or near capacity by midnight Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Their standard overflow lot at the Citrus Bowl is unavailable this year thanks to the stadium’s renovations; an additional 250 spaces have been secured at a lot just south of the resort’s main entrance. Signage at the Orange Blossom Trail hotel will direct drivers to additional parking.
The resort will also offer a shuttle bus from the GayDayS Doubletree host hotel. Roundtrip tickets are $10; service starts at 9:30 p.m. with the last bus scheduled to leave the Parliament House at 4 a.m.
Tidal Wave Weekend
Day parking at the bear group’s host hotel, the Holiday Inn Orlando Lake Buena Vista, will run $5 with overflow parking across the street at the Athletic Amateur Union. The group will offer a free shuttle to their signature party at Wet ‘n’ Wild Friday night. Service starts at the hotel at 3 p.m. with the last bus leaving the water park at 12:30 a.m.
Girls In Wonderland
All non-hotel guests will be directed to an off-site lot a half mile north of the Sheraton Resort Lake Buena Vista, just off S. Apopka Vineland Road. Parking will run $5 and shuttles will run 24-hours-a-day between the lot and the hotel. The group will also offer bus service from the host hotel to their events at Ember and Firestone Live in Downtown Orlando and at the House of Blues at Downtown Disney; however prices had yet to be determined at press time.
One Magical Weekend
While parking at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon for the group’s Riptide party there Friday night is status quo, unofficial overflow parking across the street at Downtown Disney is anything but. Construction on the district’s new parking garages, as well as lane widening on Lake Buena Vista Drive, has made navigating the area extremely difficult. Disney is instructing all Riptide guests to park at Typhoon Lagoon; in the event alternative parking is needed, directional signage will alert drivers where to go. (Our suggestion? Approach the water park from its back side, heading east on Buena Vista Drive from EPCOT Center Drive.
To help ease the situation, $10 roundtrip shuttle bus service will run from the GayDayS Doubletree host hotel to the water park starting at 6 p.m. and ending when the last guests have cleared the park at approximately 2:30 a.m.
Unlike last year, shuttle busses will not be transporting guests to Saturday night’s WE party at EPCOT; instead, partygoers will enter through the theme park’s main gate and walk directly to the party location in World Showcase.
One Mighty Weekend
The group will offer free shuttle service between its host hotel, the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa, and their Magic Journeys parties at Arabian Nights; operating hours have yet to be determined.
