West Side Parking Garage construction

[CDavid]

Much like the parking lot it replaced looked like a run of the mill parking lot.

But a surface parking lot is not so obtrusive as a multi-story parking garage. In a (themed) "resort" district such as Walt Disney World and Disney Springs, appearance and setting matter; A utilitarian parking structure would be out of place. That said, while they could have done more and a themed parking garage might have been nice, the structure as built is probably adequate. It will be a welcome relief from Downtown Disney parking woes and at least some thought has been given to the garage's outward appearance.

What does a parking lot which isn't "run of the mill" look like, anyway?

 

[Gabe1]

Where are the red, green and blue space availability lights? Am I just not seeing them or did the sensors just not happen? Like these so you know where the available spaces are or not without going up and down the isles.

This has me almost as excited as the Tangled bathrooms.

Ha! Kudos!

 

[dstrawn9889]

they are on the upper floors, well at least 2, i saw the pictures earlier today.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Where are the red, green and blue space availability lights? Am I just not seeing them or did the sensors just not happen? Like these so you know where the available spaces are or not without going up and down the isles.

Ha! Kudos!

This pic from @WDWtraveler shows them. They aren't currently working yet, but they will be by the time the garage is officially open.

 

[Gabe1]

they are on the upper floors, well at least 2, i saw the pictures earlier today.

This pic from @WDWtraveler shows them. They aren't currently working yet, but they will be by the time the garage is officially open.

Thanks Guys! I was looking at the photos in the update first look and not seeing them at all or the hardware.
So glad that was not cut from the project!!!

 

[mm121]

good to see they aren't waiting and the sensors have been installed on level 2 and above, then they just need to go back at night time and add the sensors to level 1, unless level one simply isn't going to have them.

After looking at the pics of the new garage I am a little confused. There are signs calling the area Disney Springs and other signs calling it Downtown Disney. Since the shopping and dining district has been renamed Disney Springs then all signs should have the same designation.

However the garage looks great so far.

Those signs saying DD on Level one are possibly temporary, as they will want most guests to transition to the second level before crossing over to Disney Springs, rather than crossing the road at ground level.

I guess they might close this again after Christmas to finish off the bridges & connections properly. It does look like they have done a temporary opening to get more parking for the holidays when there is still a lot of work to do.

they should be able to finish off the bridges etc without a full garage closure.

Does anyone else think this looks like your run of the mill, typical mall parking garage? Granted the landscaping and such is not complete, but I was kid of picturing this to be more Disney-fied, maybe with large character pictures on the outside...

characters on the outside would make it look cheap, though would of been cool to get some characters / murals inside the garage, possibly giving the levels themes

so you can be like I parked on level mickey, rather than level orange

typically in garages they try to give each level a color or something unique so we remember where we parked without having to remember level 1 2 3 etc

Additional garage area construction photos, as of Thursday, Nov 20. From the second deck of the garage near the west end, here is the view of the second level crossover to the standalone elevator building that is under construction between Splitsville and AMC Theaters.

View attachment 74562

A side view from the second level of the same area above.

View attachment 74563

nice to see there working on a second walkway, havent seen as many pics from this end of the garage

At the east end of the garage, here is the second level view of the standalone elevator and escalator building under construction near Planet Hollywood. In the left foreground you will see a service area behind the white wall to be hidden from guests at ground level.

View attachment 74564

From the second level, here is the view of the crossover to the standalone elevator and escalator building under construction near Planet Hollywood.

View attachment 74565
Here is the second level view of the construction area between the garage and AMC Theaters. The area behind the white wall will be a service area.

View attachment 74566



View attachment 74567

its too bad they are wasting so much area with that service court, would of been cool to add an imax or something there, in reality they still could, they could put the service court on level 1 then put the expansion on level 2 accessible from the walkway and build a escalator inside.

 

[WDWtraveler]

Photo update as of Friday, Nov 21. Today guests were being allowed to park in level 2 when the ground floor of the parking garage was filled. Cars were using the ramps on the Buena Vista side of the garage, accessed from the inside of the garage. One of the ramps is in the background of the below photo.

For those who asked, here is an example of the electronic ceiling sign in the main driveway of the second level of the parking garage that will probably indicate spaces down that row. You can also see the hanging parking indicators over parking spaces (still flashing red or green).

 

[mm121]

Photo update as of Friday, Nov 21. Today guests were being allowed to park in level 2 when the ground floor of the parking garage was filled. Cars were using the ramps on the Buena Vista side of the garage, accessed from the inside of the garage. One of the ramps is in the background of the below photo.

For those who asked, here is an example of the electronic ceiling sign in the main driveway of the second level of the parking garage that will probably indicate spaces down that row. You can also see the hanging parking indicators over parking spaces (still flashing red or green).

View attachment 74727

the lights must indicate for each group of spaces, rather than each space as each space doesn't have a light, like in some of the systems photos have been posted of

anyone know how the system knows if a space is occupied or not?

 

[Mouse Detective]

the lights must indicate for each group of spaces, rather than each space as each space doesn't have a light, like in some of the systems photos have been posted of. Anyone know how the system knows if a space is occupied or not?

Each space has it's own light hanging down above it that senses if a car is there. If empty, the light is green. If occupied, the light is red. These are not operational yet, at least not the ones I saw.

 

[danlb_2000]

the lights must indicate for each group of spaces, rather than each space as each space doesn't have a light, like in some of the systems photos have been posted of

anyone know how the system knows if a space is occupied or not?

There appears to be one for each space, except for the first space in each row which wouldn't need one.

 

[RAXIP]

There appears to be one for each space, except for the first space in each row which wouldn't need one.

Each spot has one. Your alignment is a bit off, look at the ceiling beams and columns to line up the lights.

 

[DisneyCane]

Sorry if this has been answered already. How many surface spaces have been/will be removed and what is the total capacity of the two garages when complete?

 

[dstrawn9889]

well i did a Q&D count for the first deck, and got about 1100 spaces removed, for about 5k in the deck

 

[71jason]

Used the garage yesterday. (To see the horrible Interstellar, but I digress.) Essentially same layout as OIA. Maybe 8 more feet of ceiling clearance, but in terms of parking space width, certainly not "roomier."

"Lot sharks" were already an issue at around 1:30 am, on an otherwise lightly crowded day. The lack of people directing traffic results in drivers waiting for someone on the first floor to pull out. I don't see how the Christmas lights will help this, other than the first couple spaces I don't think you'll be able to see them from the outer rows.

Had to walk through a construction zone to the DQ/Cirque alley to exit. I realize at some point this will be corrected but for now, it would have been just as fast/easy to park behind Cirque.

The real issue was when I tried to leave around 7. A constant, slow moving traffic jam of cars up on 2. One CM with orange lights just moving them down to the other side, but otherwise no direction. With no dedicated exit lane like a traditional crowd, to get out you're forced to nose your way in to traffic and follow. Once I took the convoluted way out of the garage, had another convoluted drive past the old Entrance 4 (still closed) to Entrance 5--where more CMs with lights were doing a better job directing traffic, as a lot of people are still headed behind Cirque.

A dedicated exit up Entrance 4 will help, as will faster pedestrian access to West Side. But the design is still fundamentally flawed, and I think TDO has no choice but to employ parking staff like the theme park lots, at least during peak hours, say, noon to 10.

BTW, it looks like a giant silver parking garage. I'm ok with that. Still can't see it from West Side.

 

[71jason]

Each space has it's own light hanging down above it that senses if a car is there. If empty, the light is green. If occupied, the light is red. These are not operational yet, at least not the ones I saw.

They were flashing like Christmas lights last night. As I mentioned above, don't know how you're supposed to see a green light halfway down the row before you turn. Might speed up cross lane traffic a bit, but on the outer, circular lane, which is the main issue, not really.

 

[DisneyCane]

They were flashing like Christmas lights last night. As I mentioned above, don't know how you're supposed to see a green light halfway down the row before you turn. Might speed up cross lane traffic a bit, but on the outer, circular lane, which is the main issue, not really.

There will be a sign at the head of each row that will say how many spaces are in that row. The red/green lights are to see how far down the row to go once you are in it.

 

[mm121]

They were flashing like Christmas lights last night. As I mentioned above, don't know how you're supposed to see a green light halfway down the row before you turn. Might speed up cross lane traffic a bit, but on the outer, circular lane, which is the main issue, not really.

There will be signs at the end of each row saying how many spaces it has available

though not sure if there are any traffic sensors in this system to change the sign once x amount of cars have turned down into the isle

 

[chemicalart]

Will confirm that regarding the parking spaces lights most are in but not yet functional, and there will be a walkway some time next year as well from the 2nd floor to connect to West side without having to go across the street.

I was sad to see the lack of a dedicated ramp to exit, the result is the nightmare of traffic at peak hours.

Not sure if confirmed explicitly, but the people that are working the parking garage are Reedy Creek and not Disney proper, so they lack experience in many regards. This would explain a difference regarding the effectiveness of personnel outside the garage as opposed to within it.

 

[mm121]

Will confirm that regarding the parking spaces lights most are in but not yet functional, and there will be a walkway some time next year as well from the 2nd floor to connect to West side without having to go across the street.

I was sad to see the lack of a dedicated ramp to exit, the result is the nightmare of traffic at peak hours.

Not sure if confirmed explicitly, but the people that are working the parking garage are Reedy Creek and not Disney proper, so they lack experience in many regards. This would explain a difference regarding the effectiveness of personnel outside the garage as opposed to within it.

lack of a dedicated ramp to exit?

can someone explain this, from the pics looked like there was going to be an up/down ramp for each level

though I dont think these are all open yet.

i'm sure traffic will improve alot once the full garage is open along with the dedicated overpass, as that will directly carry traffic wishing to preceed northbound/east on LBV up and over without a stop light left turn upon exiting.

 

[chemicalart]

lack of a dedicated ramp to exit?

can someone explain this, from the pics looked like there was going to be an up/down ramp for each level

though I dont think these are all open yet.

i'm sure traffic will improve alot once the full garage is open along with the dedicated overpass, as that will directly carry traffic wishing to preceed northbound/east on LBV up and over without a stop light left turn upon exiting.

I used it earlier in the week, but it seemed like the ramps had both up and down traffic share the same ramp at points. The result for example was that if going down a level you would have to watch traffic making left turns going up a level, resulting in an overall slowing of traffic flow.

Perhaps other ramps have not opened yet. But for now it is very well possible a ramp can be blocked if people get impatient making that left turn and thus get stuck in the middle of the ramp.