WINTER PARK, Fla. – Businesses near Rollins College, where President Obama is visiting Friday, are getting ready for the presidential parking problems.
"We've never had something so big going on before," said Colbee Johnson, the manager at the Pita Pit on Fairbanks Avenue, which is losing half it's parking lot on Friday as the college prepares for the visit.
Rollins College officials are warning people to get to campus early for the president's visit. He set to speak at 4 p.m., but parking on the Rollins campus will be completely closed off as of Thursday night.
The free tickets passed out by the Obama campaign were all gone by Wednesday night, leaving hundreds who stood in line empty handed.
"This shows you how much there's people out here for Obama, so I'm not upset, I'm really not upset," said Luz Irizarry, an Orlando resident.
Organizers told Local 6 the event will be at full capacity.
"It depends on how much they open up. It could be 2,000 to 3,000," said Rep. Scott Randolph.
Though it will be hectic, businesses near the college are excited for what could be new customers.
"It should keep us busy on that day, hopefully it will boost back up, because we've been pretty slow throughout the summer-so hopefully it will help us," said Johnson.
Businesses near the college told Local 6 some of their employees are even working from home to avoid the traffic.
"Fortunately, at the firm that I work with, we're able to log in from home to our servers, so a lot of us are going to work from home tomorrow," said Brian Ballew.
Drivers are advised to avoid U.S. 17-92 and the Interstate 4 exits in the area. City officials said Dinky Dock Park will be closed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.