New Disneyland Parking Garage and Transportation Hub

[TP2000]

Anything about the Eastern Gateway has now been pushed to August by the Anaheim Planning Commission. It's not looking good for anyone.

"On July 10, 2017, the Anaheim Planning Commission cancelled the regularly scheduled meeting of July 24, 2017, due to a lack of agenda items; and adjourned to the Planning Commission meeting of August 7, 2017 at 5:00 p.m." http://local.anaheim.net/docs_agend/ag_3vers/planning.pdf

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I've figured out the trick anyway. I used to park in the Toy Story lot and became annoyed waiting for a slow-moving bus, so I switched to the parking garage with its superior walking path. Well, since that's been ruined, I've switched back to Toy Story lot. While it can be pretty bad depending on when you arrive, it's generally efficient and preferable to the garage. I've had nothing but good experiences save for the occasional screaming child. It's like taking the WDW resort bus to the entrance of Magic Kingdom vs. parking in their lot and taking a ferryboat or monorail across a lagoon before finally arriving. Charming, but it wears thin, especially when you realize you'll eventually have to get to your vehicle in a gigantic humid parking lot later.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

Interesting aside. My rebel spies report that in the last management shuffle some months back, the Director of Westside Attractions for DL Park was moved back to Parking and Transportation. I'm told he was in that same position when Mickey and Friends opened, so he is possibly the most experienced senior manager for making alterations to parking and transportation operations.

At least that's the optimistic view. Never underestimate the capacity for TDA to screw things up! LOL

 

[NobodyElse]

Well, since no news is still no news, here's some more off-topic blathering.

I was recently fortunate enough to visit Norway. Traveling near Stavanger, I came across this impressively functional structure:

(Here's an overview.)

It's a cool pedestrian / cycling ring used to separate them from ground-level vehicular traffic. And for comparison, here's another, perhaps more elegant suspension version from the Netherlands:

So, why am I posting these? Because I think some sort of variation on this would be a great enhancement for the Harbor / Katella intersection. (Side-note: I won't get into a roundabout discussion in this post.) While there has been previous discussion about the potential benefits of pedestrian overpasses (with Las Vegas strip intersections used as examples) I would much rather see something like this. Unfortunately, one of the nice aspects of these designs (the gently sloping access ramps that alleviate the need for elevators, etc.) would never fly in Anaheim. CVS, Walgreens, and 7-Eleven would likely take a cue from "Ole Red" and his coalition and scream bloody murder due to the perceived "stripping of access". Also, with the way the current structures have been built up close to the street, fitting ramps would be difficult. Thus, elevators, and stairs / escalators would probably be used at each intersection. But, the ring configuration would still get around the necessity of going up and down each time a pedestrian needed to cross a street.

Or, is it just time to try one of these:

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney is definitely aware of pedestrian circles. The Disney Store in Shanghai is right off of a large pedestrian circle.

 

[D.Silentu]

Likely this has come up before, so I beg your pardon, but I'm curious how long a construction project like this will theoretically take once the red tape has been cut.

 

[TP2000]

Likely this has come up before, so I beg your pardon, but I'm curious how long a construction project like this will theoretically take once the red tape has been cut.

About 18 months seems to be the conventional wisdom.

But I'm not sure anyone knows for sure, aside from Disney's construction planners.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Does DLR's current parking ever reach capacity?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

It seemed to get awfully close earlier in the year. I mean, it was brutal. Not during the summer, though! Once they block the passholders and raise the prices, it's bliss. Unless you're in New Orleans Square in the evenings when they have Fantasmic.

 

[FerretAfros]

In news that we somehow missed, the Anaheim City Council fired the City Manager about a week and a half ago. Obviously there could be any number of things at play in that decision, but it seems like it could be related to Disney's agreements with the city:

Earlier this year, the council cut Emery's authority to approve city contracts up to $100,000 to $50,000. Tait previously criticized Emery for not informing him about Anaheim's deal with Disneyland to extend a moratorium on a gate tax in exchange for Disney to spend up to $1.5 billion in upgrades.​

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/11/anaheim-city-manager-asked-by-council-to-resign/

To me, it seems like it's the mayor's fault for not getting himself involved in a deal like that, but politics is politics and I obviously don't know the whole story. But aren't those sort of deals in the mayor's job description?


In other potentially-related news, two runDisney events scheduled to take place in early 2018 have gone on hold, with radio silence from Disney. Registration for next January's Star Wars weekend opened briefly for APs on March 7 (with general registration the following week), but was quickly closed and postponed that same day; 4+ months later, and they've given no indication when/if registration will open. Similarly, next May's Tinkerbell race weekend was supposed to go on sale in mid-June, but registration never opened. Both events remain on the runDisney website, lacking information about when registration will open

• Rumors among runners are that vague permitting issues have held up the approval process, stopping Disney from opening registration, which certainly plays into the rumors of bad blood between Disney and the City at the moment. The races require closures of several city streets, and heavy support from the Anaheim Police Department to redirect traffic (the Star Wars races also require help from Garden Grove).
• There are also rumors that construction of the 4th hotel will impact the pre-/post-race staging area in the Lilo Lot, immediately west of the DTD parking; that said, the Tinkerbell races finished in the Simba Lot (south of the Paradise Pier Hotel) for its first 4 years, so it's hardly a problem without a solution.
• Additionally, a new California rule went into effect recently, essentially barring use of volunteers at for-profit events. This year's Tinkerbell races were the first time that Disney had to hire temps to man the water stations and expo, and was widely reported to be a significant downgrade in runner experience from prior years

Half marathon training plans tend to last 3-4 months, so most runners tend to prefer registering for events long before they take place, unlike other special events at the parks that go on sale just a few weeks prior. Many runners plan races a year in advance, blocking off various times of year for specific events they want to participate in. This is even more true for destination races where travel is involved; runDisney races pull from a much broader audience than DLR's typical local AP fanbase. We're less than 6 months out from the Star Wars races, and if registration doesn't open soon, it seems unlikely that it will happen in January 2018

runDisney races typically sell out very quickly, often filling up within hours of registration opening; for several years, all races at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend over Labor Day sold out in under an hour. However, in the last year or so registration has slowed down considerably, echoing nationwide running trends. Races now fill up several weeks or months after going on sale; this year's Tinkerbell Half Marathon never sold out and had about 15% fewer finishers than in the past. In light of these changes in popularity and DLR's operating reality, it wouldn't surprise me if they're reconsidering runDisney's strategy in Anaheim, and whether they really want 4 annual race weekends moving forward

It's unclear how exactly these two items are related to Disney's trouble with getting approval for the new parking garage, but it shows that there's a lot going on between Disney and the City, and how the various chain reactions are all related. It will be interesting to see how this plays out

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Maybe I'm missing something but it sounds like Emery was doing a decent job until the Mayor and City Council turned against him.

The current situation reminds me of when Eisner pitted Anaheim against Long Beach as way to win concessions for whichever project was going to be greenlit by the board. I seem to recall at one point Eisner threatened to close Disneyland and rebuild it somewhere just north of San Diego. Does anyone else remember this or am I dreaming?

 

[Ismael Flores]

It's starting to sound more and more likely ke this mayor is an idiot. Lets see what happens when Disney cancels all these run events and hotel occupancy for all the surrounding hotels drop at times of years when they expected this extra revenue.

As for not knowing about the gate tax deal with disney how much of an idiot can he be. I think everyone else in Southern California has known about this for years. Disney should just keep expanding and then let the mayor worry about the parking issues that he and this council will cause

 

[Curious Constance]

In news that we somehow missed, the Anaheim City Council fired the City Manager about a week and a half ago. Obviously there could be any number of things at play in that decision, but it seems like it could be related to Disney's agreements with the city:

Earlier this year, the council cut Emery's authority to approve city contracts up to $100,000 to $50,000. Tait previously criticized Emery for not informing him about Anaheim's deal with Disneyland to extend a moratorium on a gate tax in exchange for Disney to spend up to $1.5 billion in upgrades.​

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/11/anaheim-city-manager-asked-by-council-to-resign/

To me, it seems like it's the mayor's fault for not getting himself involved in a deal like that, but politics is politics and I obviously don't know the whole story. But aren't those sort of deals in the mayor's job description?


In other potentially-related news, two runDisney events scheduled to take place in early 2018 have gone on hold, with radio silence from Disney. Registration for next January's Star Wars weekend opened briefly for APs on March 7 (with general registration the following week), but was quickly closed and postponed that same day; 4+ months later, and they've given no indication when/if registration will open. Similarly, next May's Tinkerbell race weekend was supposed to go on sale in mid-June, but registration never opened. Both events remain on the runDisney website, lacking information about when registration will open

• Rumors among runners are that vague permitting issues have held up the approval process, stopping Disney from opening registration, which certainly plays into the rumors of bad blood between Disney and the City at the moment. The races require closures of several city streets, and heavy support from the Anaheim Police Department to redirect traffic (the Star Wars races also require help from Garden Grove).
• There are also rumors that construction of the 4th hotel will impact the pre-/post-race staging area in the Lilo Lot, immediately west of the DTD parking; that said, the Tinkerbell races finished in the Simba Lot (south of the Paradise Pier Hotel) for its first 4 years, so it's hardly a problem without a solution.
• Additionally, a new California rule went into effect recently, essentially barring use of volunteers at for-profit events. This year's Tinkerbell races were the first time that Disney had to hire temps to man the water stations and expo, and was widely reported to be a significant downgrade in runner experience from prior years

Half marathon training plans tend to last 3-4 months, so most runners tend to prefer registering for events long before they take place, unlike other special events at the parks that go on sale just a few weeks prior. Many runners plan races a year in advance, blocking off various times of year for specific events they want to participate in. This is even more true for destination races where travel is involved; runDisney races pull from a much broader audience than DLR's typical local AP fanbase. We're less than 6 months out from the Star Wars races, and if registration doesn't open soon, it seems unlikely that it will happen in January 2018

runDisney races typically sell out very quickly, often filling up within hours of registration opening; for several years, all races at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend over Labor Day sold out in under an hour. However, in the last year or so registration has slowed down considerably, echoing nationwide running trends. Races now fill up several weeks or months after going on sale; this year's Tinkerbell Half Marathon never sold out and had about 15% fewer finishers than in the past. In light of these changes in popularity and DLR's operating reality, it wouldn't surprise me if they're reconsidering runDisney's strategy in Anaheim, and whether they really want 4 annual race weekends moving forward

It's unclear how exactly these two items are related to Disney's trouble with getting approval for the new parking garage, but it shows that there's a lot going on between Disney and the City, and how the various chain reactions are all related. It will be interesting to see how this plays out

Wow, sounds like serious trouble is brewing! How in the Sam hell could the mayor not have known about that tax deal with Disney? Wasn't everyone talking about that when it was being discussed?

Also, do you still attend all of the Anaheim runDisney events, or not so much since moving to the East?

 

[mm121]

Since the issue and holdup is the bridge I think Plan B is simple. Plan B should be just build the parking garage without the bridge with a path to the street. Then let the onslaught of guests try crossing that intersection and see the mess it'll make. And see how much those Harbor St business will NOT actually get much uptick in business they claim is being affected by the bridge. The city will be begging Disney to build the bridge and even offer to help pay for it.

not to mention the traffic backup it will cause if it has to be in crosswalk mode for 30 minutes of every hour

 

[mm121]

The evil, spiteful side of me thinks Disney should present their "Plan B". This would involve completely closing off Harbor access, and just routing everybody over to Disneyland Drive - possibly to a new structure on the Simba site.

I imagine then the original plan might not look so offensive to "The Coalition".

the whole situation with those hotels is a mess

its too bad disney could never just buy them out even if it woulda cost 10 or even 50 times over market just to get rid of them.

 

[NobodyElse]

Where cribs and strollers were once sold. Bye-bye Bergstrom's.

It's nice to know that some projects are capable of moving forward in that general area.

 

[The_Mesh_Hatter]

That's where my parents bought me and my brother's first beds. Mine was in the shape of a Corvette.

Goodbye Bergstrom's

 

[NobodyElse]

Mine was in the shape of a Corvette.

...and you fell fast asleep...

 

[vancee]

In news that we somehow missed, the Anaheim City Council fired the City Manager about a week and a half ago. Obviously there could be any number of things at play in that decision, but it seems like it could be related to Disney's agreements with the city:

Earlier this year, the council cut Emery's authority to approve city contracts up to $100,000 to $50,000. Tait previously criticized Emery for not informing him about Anaheim's deal with Disneyland to extend a moratorium on a gate tax in exchange for Disney to spend up to $1.5 billion in upgrades.​

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/11/anaheim-city-manager-asked-by-council-to-resign/

To me, it seems like it's the mayor's fault for not getting himself involved in a deal like that, but politics is politics and I obviously don't know the whole story. But aren't those sort of deals in the mayor's job description?


In other potentially-related news, two runDisney events scheduled to take place in early 2018 have gone on hold, with radio silence from Disney. Registration for next January's Star Wars weekend opened briefly for APs on March 7 (with general registration the following week), but was quickly closed and postponed that same day; 4+ months later, and they've given no indication when/if registration will open. Similarly, next May's Tinkerbell race weekend was supposed to go on sale in mid-June, but registration never opened. Both events remain on the runDisney website, lacking information about when registration will open

• Rumors among runners are that vague permitting issues have held up the approval process, stopping Disney from opening registration, which certainly plays into the rumors of bad blood between Disney and the City at the moment. The races require closures of several city streets, and heavy support from the Anaheim Police Department to redirect traffic (the Star Wars races also require help from Garden Grove).
• There are also rumors that construction of the 4th hotel will impact the pre-/post-race staging area in the Lilo Lot, immediately west of the DTD parking; that said, the Tinkerbell races finished in the Simba Lot (south of the Paradise Pier Hotel) for its first 4 years, so it's hardly a problem without a solution.
• Additionally, a new California rule went into effect recently, essentially barring use of volunteers at for-profit events. This year's Tinkerbell races were the first time that Disney had to hire temps to man the water stations and expo, and was widely reported to be a significant downgrade in runner experience from prior years

Half marathon training plans tend to last 3-4 months, so most runners tend to prefer registering for events long before they take place, unlike other special events at the parks that go on sale just a few weeks prior. Many runners plan races a year in advance, blocking off various times of year for specific events they want to participate in. This is even more true for destination races where travel is involved; runDisney races pull from a much broader audience than DLR's typical local AP fanbase. We're less than 6 months out from the Star Wars races, and if registration doesn't open soon, it seems unlikely that it will happen in January 2018

runDisney races typically sell out very quickly, often filling up within hours of registration opening; for several years, all races at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend over Labor Day sold out in under an hour. However, in the last year or so registration has slowed down considerably, echoing nationwide running trends. Races now fill up several weeks or months after going on sale; this year's Tinkerbell Half Marathon never sold out and had about 15% fewer finishers than in the past. In light of these changes in popularity and DLR's operating reality, it wouldn't surprise me if they're reconsidering runDisney's strategy in Anaheim, and whether they really want 4 annual race weekends moving forward

It's unclear how exactly these two items are related to Disney's trouble with getting approval for the new parking garage, but it shows that there's a lot going on between Disney and the City, and how the various chain reactions are all related. It will be interesting to see how this plays out

I'm here still waiting to register for the Star Wars Marathon, I've been told by many that it's still supposed to be going on. Not sure how true. You'd think they cancel it by now because it's starting to get really close to the race in January.

 

[TP2000]

We are coming up quickly on the one year anniversary of the announcement of the Eastern Gateway. Absolutely nothing has happened except a growing chasm between TDA and Anaheim's City Hall. Here's an article in the Register from this past week about the political winds sweeping through Anaheim's political halls. Mayor Says It's Time For Anaheim To Focus on Residents As Much As Tourists http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/2...ys-time-for-anaheim-to-move-in-new-direction/

Here's some of the choice rhetoric being tossed around from one of the new city councilmen... “We’ve invested in the children of tourists, it’s time to invest in the children of Anaheim,” Moreno said. (I can only imagine how long Mr. Moreno took to think up that zinger)

And then here's a rebuttal today from Ms. Lucy Dunn the president of the Orange County Business Council, who inconveniently points out that the Disneyland Resort District brings in a net $80 Million tax surplus every year that Anaheim gets to spend citywide on parks, libraries, schools, street maintenance, etc. That $80 Million annual surplus is more than the entire city budget of Mission Viejo. http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/29/instability-breeds-instability-in-anaheim/

For those not in SoCal, another comparison could be that a small city like Tuscon with 530,000 residents has an annual Parks & Recreation budget of $38 Million. And yet Anaheim with 350,000 residents gets $80 Million in net tax surplus from a booming industry on a relatively small chunk of private property. If Disneyland disappeared tomorrow, Anaheim would have to come up with $80 Million in other taxes or service cuts. Could you imagine how lucky any other city would feel to have a Disneyland within their tax base?

In short, it's a real mess. And Star Wars Land creeps closer every day. Tick, tick, tick...