Most bad nights downtown start with a parking decision made in a hurry. Downtown Orlando parking is not actually difficult, but it rewards people who think about it for two minutes before they leave the house instead of circling the same block four times. Anthem sits at 100 N Orange Ave, on the corner of Orange and Washington, with city garages and surface lots within a block or two. The strategy that works almost every time is simple: park once, then walk everything else.
How downtown parking is laid out
The core has two kinds of parking. City garages are the structures scattered through the blocks around Orange Ave, and they are the reliable option: covered, well lit, and generally the last thing to fill. Surface lots fill the gaps between buildings, and they are quicker to enter and exit but smaller, so they go first. Street parking exists and is the least dependable of the three on any night with an event.
Rates and rules vary by operator and by night, so read the sign or the app at the entrance rather than assuming. That sounds obvious. It is also the single most common way people get a ticket downtown.
Park once. That is the whole strategy.
The downtown core is compact and walkable. Kia Center is roughly half a mile from Anthem at the west end of Church Street. Inter&Co Stadium is under a mile west. Lake Eola Park is about four blocks east. Every one of those is a walk, not a drive, and once you accept that, the parking question collapses into a single decision made once, at the start of the night.
Moving the car mid-evening costs you the good spot you already have, plus a second entry fee, plus the fifteen minutes you spend looking. It is never worth it.
Event nights are a different animal
When there is a game at Kia Center, a match at Inter&Co Stadium, or a large event in the core, everything shifts. Lots and garages closest to the venue fill first and price accordingly, demand pushes outward in rings, and the exit lines after a big event are the worst part of the entire night. On those nights, parking slightly further out and walking an extra three or four blocks is a straightforwardly better trade.
- Arrive earlier than the event calls for. Thirty minutes of buffer is worth more than any parking app.
- Park pointed outward, on a level you can find without a photo: though take the photo anyway.
- Choose a garage on the far side of your destination from the venue, so you are walking away from the crowd at the end of the night, not into it.
- Check whether the garage has an overnight policy before you decide to leave the car and ride home. Some do not.
- Read the signage at the entrance every time. Event-night rules and normal-night rules are frequently not the same.
- If the exit line is 25 minutes long, go get something to eat and let it clear. Anthem’s kitchen is right there and happy hour starts daily at 3 PM.
Rideshare on Orange Ave
If anybody in the group is drinking, the best parking strategy is not parking. Rideshare drivers pick up and drop on Orange Ave, and the corner of Orange and Washington is an easy pin to drop. After a large event, walk a block or two away from the venue before you request a car: surge zones are geographic and the wait time drops noticeably once you are out of the crush.
LYMMO, the free downtown circulator, covers the core, and SunRail serves downtown as well. Both are worth checking against current schedules before you rely on one for the trip home.
What you are walking to
Anthem is downtown Orlando’s LGBTQ+ bar and venue, with a stage, dance floor, sound system and a full kitchen. Most weeknights are free with no cover, running from 8 PM Monday through Wednesday, 10 PM Thursday through Saturday, and 2 PM on Sundays. Some weekend and headliner nights are ticketed.
Park once, walk the rest, and let the exit line be somebody else’s problem. See what is on before you pick a garage in the Anthem events guide, plan a weekend with the Saturday night downtown guide, or browse things to do at night downtown.
