A Spirited 15 Rounds ...

[FigmentJedi]

This is the type of thing Walt would've jumped on to show off like the Monorail and Peoplemover.

It's basically right out of Magic Highway (Around 4 minutes in this clip)

 

[CinematicFusion]

You've heard all about their version of Pirates. It's true. All of it. (yeah, had to get that reference to that overrated space soap opera in)

Overrated as compared to the Pirate films?.... or are you comparing the Pirates ride to the SW land that is about to be created?
Whats overrated about Star Wars compared to Pirates?

 

[britain]

I see one of these everyday driving to work in my country bumpkin, behind the times state of Texas (right @5thGenTexan)
Caravana has "car vending machines" and you purchase a used car online and go pick it up with a customer code- never even have to talk to a person if you don't want to.

You in San Antonio like me?

I can't look at these things without thinking of Mission Impossible 4... Ooof!

 

[FerretAfros]

Thanks. Aaaaahhh the parking lot isn't going to be open in time for SWL.

You don't have to answer that.

Yep, it seems pretty clear that project is dead, at least for the forseeable future. For those who haven't followed the Eastern Gateway saga, here's a "quick" history of the project:

• The site was originally earmarked for a parking structure under the Westcot resort expansion plans in the early 1990’s. At the time, it was home to the Anaheim Grand Hotel, which Disney bought in 1996 and imploded in 1998 as part of the Resort District transformation
  
• In the late 1990’s, both the City of Anaheim and CalTrans invested heavily in upgrading the surrounding infrastructure in anticipation of the future parking structure. The I-5 offramps and Manchester Ave/Disney Way are oversized for the 2017 traffic loads, even with the current parking problems
  
• During the resort expansion leading to DCA’s 2001 opening, the site was designated as the Pumbaa Lot and was only used on busy days. Charter buses shuttled guests to the resort’s eastern entrance, about a half mile away. At the same time, the Mickey & Friends parking structure was built in the resort’s northwest corner, with a dedicated tram route and flyover ramps for easy freeway access
  
• Throughout the 00’s, DLR’s AP population grew. With the introduction monthly payments for locals in 2008(?), the AP population exploded, and with it, the number of cars arriving with only 1 or 2 people blossomed, exacerbating parking issues
  
• Toy Story Lot in 2010, on the former strawberry fields that had always been earmarked for a third theme park, and had formerly served as CM parking. Guests are shuttled to the park in Orange County Transportation Authority buses with Toy Story wraps, by OCTA-contracted drivers. If you thought WDW’s bus fleet was lackluster and the drivers gave out bad information, you haven’t seen anything yet
  
• Following the opening of the Toy Story Lot, the Pumbaa Lot became primarily used for CM parking. Shuttle bus service from the lot was discontinued for both cast and (on busy days) guests, leading to endless parades of zombie-like pedestrians on the sidewalks after long days working & playing in the parks
  
• Since around 2012 DLR has routinely lacked parking capacity for its busiest days, and has used the Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim Gardenwalk (failing outdoor mall) for extra guest parking. CM parking is often displaced to Angels Stadium during these periods, with shuttle service that often takes 30-60 minutes to make the 2-mile trip through Disney-generated gridlock
  
• In summer 2015, Disneyland worked with the City of Anaheim to continue a ban on park tickets for 30 years if Disney invests $1Billion in their parks, hotels, and infrastructure by 2024 (with the option to extend another 15 years with $500M additional investments)
  
• After a revolving door of DLR presidents through the years, they finally realized that parking needed to be addressed in a serious way before the opening of Star Wars, which would also serve toward their investment goals. They made a splashy public announcement about a year ago for the Eastern Gateway, which would not only add a new parking structure, but relocate the resort’s transit plaza and eastern security perimeter. The public and businesses alike quickly noticed the lack of direct access to Harbor Blvd, underwhelming aesthetics of the pedestrian bridge, and lack of people-moving options to/from the parks
  
• Meanwhile, last November saw a dramatic shift in the Anaheim City Council, which brought in a group with a distinctly anti-Disney flavor. The Mayor has generally been in favor of Disney, but with political shifts, he has found himself on the outs and is trying to curry favor with the new politicians
• Last spring the proposal was shot down by the planning commission, who wanted better pedestrian connections to Harbor Blvd in exchange for the approval to build the new bridge. Businesses banded together to fight the proposal, focusing on bridge aesthetics and ease of access to their facilities. And Disney never came back with another option…so here we are…

For a longer version of the events, here’s a link to the 60-page thread we have on the subject in the DL section of the boards. Although it’s a long thread, it’s been remarkably on topic and gotten regular updates by a loyal group as things have (not) progressed; please to keep discussions on topic and relevant
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/new-disneyland-parking-garage-and-transportation-hub.916599/

Gonna say it again, automated parking structures are the future. You can fit more cars into a more compact garage without forcing guests to hunt for parking spots. A structure the size of mickey and friends could hold twice as many cars. Whether Disney would ever have the courage to do it remains unlikely.

Although that’s a fine and dandy solution for a very dense area like Manhattan or Tokyo (I think it’s excessive even in Hollywood), Anaheim just doesn’t have the density to require that. Anaheim isn’t exactly urban, and the property values just don’t justify the added expense of all that vehicle-moving equipment.

Additionally, unlike in a downtown area, where cars trickle in and out over many hours to relatively small garages (200-or-so parking spaces), theme park parking tends to occur in massive surges. Everybody arrives at more-or-less the same time in the morning and everybody leaves at more-or-less the same time in the evening. Having a system where each car is individually selected just isn’t practical for a garage that needs to move 10,000 cars in 2 hours. It’s the same reason that subway systems favor stairs and escalators to access the platforms instead of elevators (which are also present for accessibility); when dealing with large surges of pedestrians, it’s best to let them flow as freely as possible

 

[Donaldfan1934]

And Dreamlights just got another update recently and it's looking better than ever. I'm looking forward to seeing the Christmas edition later this year for the new and upgraded floats.

And THAT is why every other Disney resort no matter how well run they are is still behind Tokyo by a noticeable margin.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Although that’s a fine and dandy solution for a very dense area like Manhattan or Tokyo (I think it’s excessive even in Hollywood), Anaheim just doesn’t have the density to require that. Anaheim isn’t exactly urban, and the property values just don’t justify the added expense of all that vehicle-moving equipment.

Additionally, unlike in a downtown area, where cars trickle in and out over many hours to relatively small garages (200-or-so parking spaces), theme park parking tends to occur in massive surges. Everybody arrives at more-or-less the same time in the morning and everybody leaves at more-or-less the same time in the evening. Having a system where each car is individually selected just isn’t practical for a garage that needs to move 10,000 cars in 2 hours. It’s the same reason that subway systems favor stairs and escalators to access the platforms instead of elevators (which are also present for accessibility); when dealing with large surges of pedestrians, it’s best to let them flow as freely as possible

Some quick points

• While Disneyland is in Anaheim, we can certainly agree Disneyland's needs are distinct from Anaheim's though the city does bear the brunt of Disneyland's presence.
• The Unitronics system that was installed in WeHo is an advancement from older systems because it uses a fleet of autonomous little yellow buggies that can store and retrieve multiple cars at a time
• Additionally, that garage can turn over half of its capacity, 100 cars, per hour

The biggest problem with Disneyland's parking situation is the absence of a truly comprehensive mass transit access point to the resort. I recall an old MiceChat report that said APs that park at the resort have an average of 1.5 guests per car. A mass transit solution would best serve these guests, but it would mean expanding the LA Metro to Orange County, which isn't likely to happen at this point. Then there's the issue of route placement because what would benefit the resort district wouldn't necessarily be in the interest of Anaheim and OC residents. I bring this up because the parking conversation needs to come from a place of acknowledgement that we are painted into a corner.

An automated garage like the one Unitronics built in WeHo would be the best solution for guests that overwhelmingly come to the resort by car. Disneyland needs a parking solution that accounts for the density of a much larger city and one that can efficiently get guests in and out of their cars. A garage designed for Disneyland could be built to handle the morning and evening influxes of guests by increasing the number of buggies so the system can handle 75-100% of its total capacity in an hour. Instead of a free for all for parking spaces, a parking attendant can tell a guest to park at a specific bay thus bringing order. Plus many bonuses like a common guest exit entry pathway unlike the current mess of escalators to the tram, unlimited handicap spots, and a facility that doesn't require cars to be running to reach their parking spaces.

 

[WildcatDen]

In the last four months, I have been in France, Germany, Switzerland, China and Japan. And FL, USA. Do you want to know what place I have felt the least safe? People should wake up to what is going down in their country and travel abroad and realize that we aren't really the best nation at anything other than having nukes and delusions and great PR!

And the NFL, don't forget the NFL. (After preseason games anyway. . .)

 

[Disone]

In another thread, people are defending Disney for removing individual soap and shampoo bottles from hotel rooms and replacing them with wall-mounted pumps, like what you'd have at a gym. I can stay at any Marriott or Hilton for $185/night and get my own soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion, but Disney wants to charge $200/night for Pop Century and have everybody share a giant bottle of soap.

Saw that thread but the location was never specifies and the picture does not look like the in room bathroom of any wdw guest room. That said the values and moderates use to have that. I have heard of them going back but I do not know of any that have. The deluxe have not.

 

[brb1006]

And THAT is why every other Disney resort no matter how well run they are is still behind Tokyo by a noticeable margin.

Dreamlights is seriously good during the Christmas season, check out this one form last year.

 

[peter11435]

Saw that thread but the location was never specifies and the picture does not look like the in room bathroom of any wdw guest room. That said the values and moderates use to have that. I have heard of them going back but I do not know of any that have. The deluxe have not.

It's the shower at port Orleans riverside

 

[Ag11gani]

Dreamlights is seriously good during the Christmas season, check out this one form last year.

Christmas Dreamlights has always felt half-assed to me. After seeing the parade when I went to TDR and hearing about the Christmas version, I watched a video and was rather disappointed. I expected more, all I feel they did was chuck some garland on some float, put a bit of Christmas music in and dress up some characters, particularly towards the end it felt like there was nothing really Christmassy there.

And someone who really loves Christmas I was expecting a lot more considering how good Dreamslights is.

 

[ford91exploder]

The thing that really worries me about Iger is the fact that there is absolutely nobody better in the pipeline to replace him, and the kinds of CEOs who are actually consumer friendly (Craig Jelinek of Costco comes to mind) would never take the job. It saddens me that Iger could be the best advocate for the parks we get in the CEO chair at Disney for some time.

Iger just like Eisner before him pushed out all potential successors so he would have no competition for his seat

 

[tirian]

Christmas Dreamlights has always felt half-assed to me. After seeing the parade when I went to TDR and hearing about the Christmas version, I watched a video and was rather disappointed. I expected more, all I feel they did was chuck some garland on some float, put a bit of Christmas music in and dress up some characters, particularly towards the end it felt like there was nothing really Christmassy there.

And someone who really loves Christmas I was expecting a lot more considering how good Dreamslights is.

I love TDL's Dreamlights, but I also miss WDW's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade c. 2006, when they still had the riverboat unit, an extended Toyland, and THREE (!) live bands.

 

[brb1006]

Christmas Dreamlights has always felt half-assed to me. After seeing the parade when I went to TDR and hearing about the Christmas version, I watched a video and was rather disappointed. I expected more, all I feel they did was chuck some garland on some float, put a bit of Christmas music in and dress up some characters, particularly towards the end it felt like there was nothing really Christmassy there.

And someone who really loves Christmas I was expecting a lot more considering how good Dreamslights is.

I disagree, I actually like how they mixed Christmas music with the normal float music.

 

[truecoat]

Yep, it seems pretty clear that project is dead, at least for the forseeable future. For those who haven't followed the Eastern Gateway saga, here's a "quick" history of the project:

• The site was originally earmarked for a parking structure under the Westcot resort expansion plans in the early 1990’s. At the time, it was home to the Anaheim Grand Hotel, which Disney bought in 1996 and imploded in 1998 as part of the Resort District transformation
  
• In the late 1990’s, both the City of Anaheim and CalTrans invested heavily in upgrading the surrounding infrastructure in anticipation of the future parking structure. The I-5 offramps and Manchester Ave/Disney Way are oversized for the 2017 traffic loads, even with the current parking problems
  
• During the resort expansion leading to DCA’s 2001 opening, the site was designated as the Pumbaa Lot and was only used on busy days. Charter buses shuttled guests to the resort’s eastern entrance, about a half mile away. At the same time, the Mickey & Friends parking structure was built in the resort’s northwest corner, with a dedicated tram route and flyover ramps for easy freeway access
  
• Throughout the 00’s, DLR’s AP population grew. With the introduction monthly payments for locals in 2008(?), the AP population exploded, and with it, the number of cars arriving with only 1 or 2 people blossomed, exacerbating parking issues
  
• Toy Story Lot in 2010, on the former strawberry fields that had always been earmarked for a third theme park, and had formerly served as CM parking. Guests are shuttled to the park in Orange County Transportation Authority buses with Toy Story wraps, by OCTA-contracted drivers. If you thought WDW’s bus fleet was lackluster and the drivers gave out bad information, you haven’t seen anything yet
  
• Following the opening of the Toy Story Lot, the Pumbaa Lot became primarily used for CM parking. Shuttle bus service from the lot was discontinued for both cast and (on busy days) guests, leading to endless parades of zombie-like pedestrians on the sidewalks after long days working & playing in the parks
  
• Since around 2012 DLR has routinely lacked parking capacity for its busiest days, and has used the Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim Gardenwalk (failing outdoor mall) for extra guest parking. CM parking is often displaced to Angels Stadium during these periods, with shuttle service that often takes 30-60 minutes to make the 2-mile trip through Disney-generated gridlock
  
• In summer 2015, Disneyland worked with the City of Anaheim to continue a ban on park tickets for 30 years if Disney invests $1Billion in their parks, hotels, and infrastructure by 2024 (with the option to extend another 15 years with $500M additional investments)
  
• After a revolving door of DLR presidents through the years, they finally realized that parking needed to be addressed in a serious way before the opening of Star Wars, which would also serve toward their investment goals. They made a splashy public announcement about a year ago for the Eastern Gateway, which would not only add a new parking structure, but relocate the resort’s transit plaza and eastern security perimeter. The public and businesses alike quickly noticed the lack of direct access to Harbor Blvd, underwhelming aesthetics of the pedestrian bridge, and lack of people-moving options to/from the parks
  
• Meanwhile, last November saw a dramatic shift in the Anaheim City Council, which brought in a group with a distinctly anti-Disney flavor. The Mayor has generally been in favor of Disney, but with political shifts, he has found himself on the outs and is trying to curry favor with the new politicians
• Last spring the proposal was shot down by the planning commission, who wanted better pedestrian connections to Harbor Blvd in exchange for the approval to build the new bridge. Businesses banded together to fight the proposal, focusing on bridge aesthetics and ease of access to their facilities. And Disney never came back with another option…so here we are…

For a longer version of the events, here’s a link to the 60-page thread we have on the subject in the DL section of the boards. Although it’s a long thread, it’s been remarkably on topic and gotten regular updates by a loyal group as things have (not) progressed; please to keep discussions on topic and relevant
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/new-disneyland-parking-garage-and-transportation-hub.916599/

Although that’s a fine and dandy solution for a very dense area like Manhattan or Tokyo (I think it’s excessive even in Hollywood), Anaheim just doesn’t have the density to require that. Anaheim isn’t exactly urban, and the property values just don’t justify the added expense of all that vehicle-moving equipment.

Additionally, unlike in a downtown area, where cars trickle in and out over many hours to relatively small garages (200-or-so parking spaces), theme park parking tends to occur in massive surges. Everybody arrives at more-or-less the same time in the morning and everybody leaves at more-or-less the same time in the evening. Having a system where each car is individually selected just isn’t practical for a garage that needs to move 10,000 cars in 2 hours. It’s the same reason that subway systems favor stairs and escalators to access the platforms instead of elevators (which are also present for accessibility); when dealing with large surges of pedestrians, it’s best to let them flow as freely as possible

So we've talked about how incredibly shortsighted Disney has been but the city will have to deal with the increased traffic also. Disney can now blame the city if it all goes pear shaped.

 

[CanadianGordon]

So think by the time I visit Disneyland drone flights will be a thing? That parking situation is nuts. Utter failure on both sides.

 

[Nmoody1]

Christmas Dreamlights has always felt half-assed to me. After seeing the parade when I went to TDR and hearing about the Christmas version, I watched a video and was rather disappointed. I expected more, all I feel they did was chuck some garland on some float, put a bit of Christmas music in and dress up some characters, particularly towards the end it felt like there was nothing really Christmassy there.

And someone who really loves Christmas I was expecting a lot more considering how good Dreamslights is.

Half assed? That would be the jamin jingle parade... however, that said, i'd take it back any day - any seasonal offering we get in Orlando is welcome now its all so minimal!

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Just back from a short vacation in California (no theme parks...just grandbaby, stepson and mountain drives). I appreciate the efforts by all to stay on topic so I don't come back to forty pages of pizza or cheesesteak arguments. I will also appreciate a Spirited blog in the future. While it was hard to drive past Disneyland on the way to Irvine from Ojai, I managed. I also have trouble with those who plan a trip to a foreign destination and only go to a theme park. I have discovered so much of the US and so far, Italy, Ireland and Great Britain by simply driving around them that I am addicted to it. Carry on Mr. Spirit. I look forward to reading more here and wherever your journey takes you.

 

[COProgressFan]

I love TDL's Dreamlights, but I also miss WDW's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade c. 2006, when they still had the riverboat unit, an extended Toyland, and THREE (!) live bands.

I loved that parade too; the bands were great, especially the guys on the riverboat. Sad that they'd never pay for live bands in a parade today. And I'm pretty sure that Mickeys 'Twas the Night Before Christmas had a live ensemble too instead of canned music.

 

[Stevek]

The resort has been a parking nightmare since the 50th Anniversary a dozen years ago ...

At times, yes but not that I've ever experienced. We have never had a problem getting a spot in our preferred Toy Story Lot. Mickey and Friends just sucks even often on non busy days.