Name changes coming to Magic Kingdom parking lot sections

[IlikeDW]

But they still had printed names. It said you were in DOPEY lot. And the tram drivers say the name of the lot about 10 times. If people today are having trouble remembering where they parked, it's because they're stupider than they were in the past.

We have grocery stores here with parking lots so big that they put letters and numbers up on their light poles to help you find your car. No trams. No pictures. No maps. No parking attendants. Just a sea of cars and some letters. And not once have I seen someone sitting on the curb crying because they lost their car at WalMart.

Disney parking lots are just big Walmart parking lots, and they have more ways to help you find your car. It just takes an eensy weensy bit of personal responsibility to jot it down on a piece of paper and stick it in your wallet.

:brick:

or take a picture with your cell phone.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

my mom is there today she is parked in peter pan so she said there are 2 monorails 1 for heros one for villans leaving to go back to resort an out of town family ( fouriners) sorry bad speller did know which one to go on they dont read english got on my moms (heros) but car was in villans trams go opposite way so had to go back this will happen alot i presum

 

[wm49rs]

my mom is there today she is parked in peter pan so she said there are 2 monorails 1 for heros one for villans leaving to go back to resort an out of town family ( fouriners) sorry bad speller did know which one to go on they dont read english got on my moms (heros) but car was in villans trams go opposite way so had to go back this will happen alot i presum

Punctuation. Can. Be. Useful.

 

[Hakunamatata]

my mom is there today she is parked in peter pan so she said there are 2 monorails 1 for heros one for villans leaving to go back to resort an out of town family ( fouriners) sorry bad speller did know which one to go on they dont read english got on my moms (heros) but car was in villans trams go opposite way so had to go back this will happen alot i presum

So they are using monorails to take people to their cars in the parking lots because I had heard don't know for sure only heard that they use those long tram things to take people from the TTC to their cars but hat could have changed.

 

[jjharvpro]

I like the two separate tram stations. Plus, I'm a fan that they include the villains! Seems lime this will bring better organization.

 

[thelookingglass]

The signs on the tram stops seem like they'd be more fitting at Marvel Island at IOA.

Pretty sure they're exactly the same as before, only with different characters on them...

 

[LongtimeReader]

Yes. The whole point of this change was to make the guest exit experience easier. The new Heroes tram loading area at the TTC was previously a partial load area only utilized during EXTREMELY busy periods. Most of the time only what is now the Villains loading area was used, causing extensive backups during busy periods directly following a park close.

Think of it this way:

On days when the park is expected to have high attendance, both sides of the lot will be getting parked. Tram service will be running on both sides at all times. Guests parking in Peter Pan for example will never have to wait for the tram to go pick people up from Ursula before they go to the TTC. The Heroes side tram is Heroes side exclusively and the Villains side is likewise.

At the end of the night, with the way the old lot was set-up, you'd have 400+ people waiting at the same loading area for a tram to take them to every section of the parking lot that had been parked that day. Now, you'll have 200 at each loading area, only boarding trams that are going to their specific section, which means fewer stops and getting to your car faster.

The whole process may seem like a big 'why?' at first, but in the end, it's mostly just about having guests spend less time waiting to get to their cars, and more time actually GETTING there.

This.

By keeping the old names, it would make splitting the lots into two halves a bit less obvious as to which side was which when approaching two separate tram stations from a distance. This is much more efficient in basically every way. Which I believe is the 4th Key.

 

[Skooterkid]

I'm kinda split on this idea. On the one hand, the signs look really cool and I always back ideas to invest more focus on Disney characters in the parks (and outside of them...). But the 'Mickey Mouse' parking lots were classic and original, and I have a lot of sentimentality towards them... well, Pluto rows 11-27 anyway, as that's the one us early-birds always seemed to end up in! Simba rows 11-27 just doesn't have the same ring to it... but then again, if it had been changed into the Peter Pan lot that would be a different story...

 

[Tom]

my mom is there today she is parked in peter pan so she said there are 2 monorails 1 for heros one for villans leaving to go back to resort an out of town family ( fouriners) sorry bad speller did know which one to go on they dont read english got on my moms (heros) but car was in villans trams go opposite way so had to go back this will happen alot i presum

Um...what?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Um...what?

I can only assume monorail = tram?

 

[PuertoRekinSam]

Who is to say the Dwarfs were not 'classic' characters. Using the term Classic and Dwarfs seems a bit like 'rectangle' and 'square.' All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Anyway, I was waiting for my wife to finish up at the rest room so we could head back to the airport and I spoke to a manager (wearing civis) and a parking lot CM about the new lots. They told me this wasn't the only change. Soon there will be a LED sign that will say "9:00am-9:15ameter Pan", "9:16am-10:00am: Repunzel", etc...


Call me crazy, but it sounds like there is some Industrial Engineering behind these changes. (And I don't say that just because I am an industrial engineer )

 

[devoy1701]

Who is to say the Dwarfs were not 'classic' characters. Using the term Classic and Dwarfs seems a bit like 'rectangle' and 'square.' All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Anyway, I was waiting for my wife to finish up at the rest room so we could head back to the airport and I spoke to a manager (wearing civis) and a parking lot CM about the new lots. They told me this wasn't the only change. Soon there will be a LED sign that will say "9:00am-9:15ameter Pan", "9:16am-10:00am: Repunzel", etc...


Call me crazy, but it sounds like there is some Industrial Engineering behind these changes. (And I don't say that just because I am an industrial engineer )

It could have been 7 Dwarves Lot and Mickey and Friends Lot.

Just saying...

Too many words I guess!

 

[Tom]

Who is to say the Dwarfs were not 'classic' characters. Using the term Classic and Dwarfs seems a bit like 'rectangle' and 'square.' All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Anyway, I was waiting for my wife to finish up at the rest room so we could head back to the airport and I spoke to a manager (wearing civis) and a parking lot CM about the new lots. They told me this wasn't the only change. Soon there will be a LED sign that will say "9:00am-9:15ameter Pan", "9:16am-10:00am: Repunzel", etc...


Call me crazy, but it sounds like there is some Industrial Engineering behind these changes. (And I don't say that just because I am an industrial engineer )

I'm not following on the LED sign thing. Where would these signs be, and what would they be telling you? Is that the approximate time a tram will come around to that lot next - like the timers in Subway stations?

 

[devoy1701]

I'm not following on the LED sign thing. Where would these signs be, and what would they be telling you? Is that the approximate time a tram will come around to that lot next - like the timers in Subway stations?

From the way I gather Tom it would basically tell you "If you arrived between 9:00am-9:30am, you parked in this lot." Kind of like a second aid in helping you remember where you parked.

 

[Rob562]

From the way I gather Tom it would basically tell you "If you arrived between 9:00am-9:30am, you parked in this lot." Kind of like a second aid in helping you remember where you parked.

I heard a while ago that the CMs/managers have been keeping this kind of info for years now. If you couldn't remember where you parked but knew about when you arrived, a CM could check the list and tell you which rows were being parked then.

Sounds like they're just making that info more openly available now, and probably have a more automated way for the parking CMs to input and track it.

-Rob

 

[montyz81]

No sir, I don't like it! I was happy parking in the Grumpy lot! But, I will still go to the park and deal with my car being in Zurg! :ROFLOL:

 

[Victor Kelly]

It worked for 40 years. Yes, 40 years. It is just another way to tie in merchandising, and current characters. Stupid, yes very stupid. Seems like a year of bright ideas again. I dont like the idea of separate trams for different sections since each tram serviced the whole parking lot. But I will wait and see until I actually have to use them. Otherwise we can just park in the AAA diamond lot instead.

 

[Tom]

From the way I gather Tom it would basically tell you "If you arrived between 9:00am-9:30am, you parked in this lot." Kind of like a second aid in helping you remember where you parked.

I heard a while ago that the CMs/managers have been keeping this kind of info for years now. If you couldn't remember where you parked but knew about when you arrived, a CM could check the list and tell you which rows were being parked then.

Sounds like they're just making that info more openly available now, and probably have a more automated way for the parking CMs to input and track it.

-Rob

Wow. I had no idea they put that much effort into parking cars. I mean, I know they have a system for parking them in certain lots in certain orders, but tracking the times in which each lot fills? Wow.

This obviously wouldn't work for someone who came in at noon and was directed to an open spot in an early lot.

It worked for 40 years. Yes, 40 years. It is just another way to tie in merchandising, and current characters. Stupid, yes very stupid. Seems like a year of bright ideas again. I dont like the idea of separate trams for different sections since each tram serviced the whole parking lot. But I will wait and see until I actually have to use them. Otherwise we can just park in the AAA diamond lot instead.

I agree. It has worked just fine for years. If people can't read or remember, shame on them.

Also, I have a feeling the 2-tram system is going to lead to more confusion than efficiency. Repeat guests are used to just hopping on "the tram". Now, in the mass exodus of park closing, you're going to have to not only know that you need the VILLAN tram, but you need to maneuver your party to that half of the TTC through the swarms of people.

It's going to take a LOT of effort on the part of the CMs to inform guests on their way in, and again (repeatedly) as they approach the tram areas. Heck, maybe even an added spiel on the express monorail that reminds guests to figure out where they parked and head to the correct tram.

 

[Victor Kelly]

Headed towards SNAFU again. Monorails MIA after an hour after park close. Two subsections of parking with two different tram routes. Regular visitors will forget where they parked in the haste to get to MK. Repeat visitors will scratch their heads in confusion. People already have a hard time understanding a simple concept like fastpass.

 

[BigThunderMatt]

It worked for 40 years. Yes, 40 years. It is just another way to tie in merchandising, and current characters. Stupid, yes very stupid. Seems like a year of bright ideas again. I dont like the idea of separate trams for different sections since each tram serviced the whole parking lot. But I will wait and see until I actually have to use them. Otherwise we can just park in the AAA diamond lot instead.

Again, as I stated before, the name change was done to solidify the fact that these are two very separate and distinct lots and their own tram routes to help expedite guests getting back to their cars at the end of the night. In the old setup, for example, if you parked in Sleepy/Dopey, and all the classic characters had already been parked, and Happy/Grumpy had been parked as well, you had to wait through 4 additional stops and a complete loop around the south end of the parking lot before actually getting to YOUR destination. Now the max that any guest will have to sit through is 2 stops prior to their own and that's only assuming they park in the southernmost sections of each side.

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with marketing current characters. With the exception of Rapunzel, none of the lots are named for characters from anything less than 10 years old. Woody may have been in Toy Story 3 but he's been around significantly longer than that.