A few weeks back, FMN’s Charles Boyer reported on Florida’s trial of a new State Park reservation system for day users. How did it go? The results are coming in….
A long standing problem at several of Florida’s State Parks has been the crowds. In fact, many of the smaller parks, particularly those built around Florida’s beautiful springs, have become so popular that they reach capacity and have to cut off admissions early in the day.
Traditionally, there’s only been one way to get into some day-use State Parks parks during the peak summer season. From roughly June to September, the answer has been to get up early, pack up the kids and your “supplies,” then go stand in line. Or, if you want to really push your luck, you can try again around 3 PM and hope that some people have left. But be aware that some parks won’t even allow you to stand in line once they have reached capacity, probably due to limited parking. So much for your “stress-free” vacation.
Recognizing that there has to be a better way, Florida officials came up with a new plan this summer… a reservations system. Not to be confused with an existing camping reservations system, this system is for general entry.
As a trial run, the new reservations system went into effect on March 12th at Wekiwa State Park near Apopka. The plan is to go online, make your reservations, pay the entrance fee, and then show up for a day of fun. Annual pass holder? You still need to make a reservation. Camper? If you have a camping reservation, you’re good.
So how is it going? As of this writing, the program seems to be massively popular. In fact, the entire summer at Wekiwa from May 13th through September 1st is fully booked. The park seems to be handling a sizeable crowd, considering that Wekiwa has about 500 parking spaces. Why is the park only booked through September 1st? Well, that’s as far out as the reservations system goes.
State park officials have said that if the Wekiwa project goes well, the program could spread to other Florida State parks, such as Weeki Wachee State Park, another typically crowded park. Will it work? Well, that remains to be seen, but it’s looking good so far.
