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[echoshadow]

I'm planing on my first 4 day stay at Fanime. I will be rooming with some other people at one of the hotels.
But as I learned for previous years, parking was always a hand full.

Which leaves me with the possible dilemma that the hotel parking space would be taken up by my other room mates.

So to drag out my question, where is the nearest safest place for one to leave their car over night for the 3 nights of Fanime?
I know of the parking structures around the convention center but do those offer over night parking?

[MPLe]

I'm planing on my first 4 day stay at Fanime. I will be rooming with some other people at one of the hotels.
But as I learned for previous years, parking was always a hand full.

Which leaves me with the possible dilemma that the hotel parking space would be taken up by my other room mates.

So to drag out my question, where is the nearest safest place for one to leave their car over night for the 3 nights of Fanime?
I know of the parking structures around the convention center but do those offer over night parking?

San Jose has a website for their downtown parking. It blew my mind when I found out that they had this. I don't know if they actually offer overnight parking for multiple days in a row.

http://www.sjdowntownparking.com

[KyraEnsui]

It's true that hotel parking are usually full, but they do reserve for the guests though. The sign may say full, but if you are their guest, then there will be parking. That's what happened with me with the Hilton. They had full parking and I was their guest so they told me to park in the valet part until there's free space and I won't get charged. If you asked, they will help you.

[Junon]

It's true that hotel parking are usually full, but they do reserve for the guests though. The sign may say full, but if you are their guest, then there will be parking. That's what happened with me with the Hilton. They had full parking and I was their guest so they told me to park in the valet part until there's free space and I won't get charged. If you asked, they will help you.

Lucky you. I was also a Hilton guest and was told to try again later. Didn't matter if I was a guest or not.

[MPLe]

It's true that hotel parking are usually full, but they do reserve for the guests though. The sign may say full, but if you are their guest, then there will be parking. That's what happened with me with the Hilton. They had full parking and I was their guest so they told me to park in the valet part until there's free space and I won't get charged. If you asked, they will help you.

Lucky you. I was also a Hilton guest and was told to try again later. Didn't matter if I was a guest or not.

This seems to depend on if there's parking *at all* as some times they were completely packed in their self-parking and valet area.

[SugarB]

Normally if you can get there in the early evening (between 4 and 7 pm) on Thursday then you should get a parking space, just DONT USE your in and out privileges. Once you park your car, don't move it.

If you have an over-sized vehicle (last year I had to drive my 7' truck to the con and none of the hotels have a 7' garage), you can try and work it out with one of the out-door lots where you can run over in the morning and pay for another day in their lot instead of having to leave and find new parking. It's sort of a hassle and probably costs more (we paid $15 a day) in the long run, but at least we were able to park and didn't have to worry about the car post-morning.

[echoshadow]

Awesome, thanks for that link. That should make things a bit more easier.
Lucky the last few years I always managed to park inside the convention center/marrirot parking garage. Any way now I'll have a good idea where to park, if needs be.

[c2chaos]

After unloading stuff off at your hotel, you can park at the lot above Psycho Donuts for the duration of con and leave on Memorial Day, free. They leave that arm up so you can just drive right out without paying or inserting your ticket. That's how I've been doing it for my FanimeCons thus far.

[TheMusician]

I generally park next to South Hall behind the main convention center. It's literally on the same block and is close to most of the centralized hotels. It's I think about $7 per day, you just need to renew your pass each morning so you don't get fined. It's pretty cheap, and it's a convenient location to boot.

[echoshadow]

Cool, well thanks a bunch, I was able to do some recon a few weeks ago. I now have some good cheep spots to park at.

[Somethingducky]

Does anyone recomend any specific lots for overnight parking? We never use the hotel parking, way too pricy, the Fairmont wants to charge $26 a day! Last year we parked at the convention center and just left the car there all week-end, if you say you lost your ticket the fee is only like $20 (sneaky I know). I'm very interesting in seeing if there are alternative lots, the one above Psycho Donuts might be and option this year if they always leave the arm up on memorial day...

[llaaannniiii]

i was trying to find that thread where someone was advertising like a special memorial weekend parking pass for the whole weekend with in and out privileges on 1st and 2nd street. does anyone know more about it? 

[royjovero]

I think that was from a couple years ago.

[LinLinLucy]

No it was from a few weeks ago, it was my moms post... they got deleted.

[royjovero]

Oh, that one with the phone numbers and stuff? I remember seeing that one now.

[llaaannniiii]

No it was from a few weeks ago, it was my moms post... they got deleted.

any chance i can get the info plsss?

[hikanteki]

If you don't mind walking about 20-30 min (or taking light rail to your car) parking is unmetered north of Julian or St. John streets.  This area is pretty safe but if walking back after dark normal precautions apply.

[royjovero]

Just a heads up for those con-goers who plan on leaving Monday...

The parking garage above Psycho Donuts leaves their gates open until 11PM on Monday because of Memorial Day. I parked my car there Thursday afternoon and left Monday morning without having to pay anything. I stayed at the Fairmont and only had to walk 2 blocks to get to the hotel. If you're staying at the Marriott, it's about the same amount of walking. Just pull up to the hotel, have a friend watch your stuff, park and return to check in.

I know that someone posted this same tip before, but I thought I'd give it a shot myself before proving or disproving their post.

So in a nutshell, free parking in the garage above Psycho Donuts!

[mdarkpoet]

After unloading stuff off at your hotel, you can park at the lot above Psycho Donuts for the duration of con and leave on Memorial Day, free. They leave that arm up so you can just drive right out without paying or inserting your ticket. That's how I've been doing it for my FanimeCons thus far.

That wasn't the case this con, you had to pay to exit and few places validated

[royjovero]

After unloading stuff off at your hotel, you can park at the lot above Psycho Donuts for the duration of con and leave on Memorial Day, free. They leave that arm up so you can just drive right out without paying or inserting your ticket. That's how I've been doing it for my FanimeCons thus far.

That wasn't the case this con, you had to pay to exit and few places validated

Actually, this was the case this year. I can personally vouch for it, and I have a picture of the gates being up on Monday on my Facebook. I've attempted to post the pic at the end of this post.

If you wanted to leave the garage prior to Monday, that's when you have to pay. If you park whenever you get there and don't leave the garage until Monday, you'll be able to leave free.