I've been there three times in the past, before th...

I've been there three times in the past, before they remodeled. It seemed bigger before, but I could be wrong, it has been a while. They no longer have parking, so good luck finding a place to park, especially if you need handicapped parking. After circling a few times, we were lucky enough to snag street side parking by the river, but there are stairs so my handicapped daughter still had trouble. When we finally made it to the arch, we wondered around with 3 or 4 other families/groups who were also trying to figure out how to get in. After finding the exit, we were able to get directions to the entrance. Yay, we finally made it! We arrived 2-3 hours before they closed, but they were still all sold out for the ride to the top. In the past, I've never had to buy tickets hours in advance. I don't know if it's vastly more popular than in the past, or if they are understaffed, or what, but for whatever reason, you have to now buy your tickets hours in advance. Maybe you can buy them online, but I didn't see that option on my phone. I would check to see if it is an option to buy online, so you don't waste your time like we did and drive hours out of your way for no reason. As for us, we will not be going back again, even if we are staying in the city.