Name changes coming to Magic Kingdom parking lot sections

[Pioneer Hall]

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.



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.

A few things...

Part of me believes that some of the motivation for these changes have to do with Disney's ever growing international fan base. There are a lot more international guests now who have a hard enough time with the English language and this can help with the parking situation. You would also be surprised just how many people tend to lose their cars in a parking lot that size on any given day. I spent a summer break a few years ago working as an EMT at my local six flags. Our parking lot was probably smaller than even the studios lot, yet there were a lot of people who would need security to assist them with finding their car. Now you tie up a valuable resource for who knows how long of a time period when they are needed for other things. If someone says they parked in the dwarf section, it could be hours before they find that car. Sure the responsibility is on the person who is driving, but Disney has to help them regardless of who is at fault. The security CM isn't just going to tell someone that they should have been more careful and remembered. Also, keeping track of the times the lots fill is far from new. They have been doing this for a while for exactly this reason, and it is incredibly easy to do. All it takes is for someone to write down when they start and when they finish filling the lot and it can greatly reduce the amount of time to find a lost car. These changes weren't done to please the guests as much as they were to help the logistics for parking lot CM's. The more info you have in finding a missing car the less time it will take. I have no problem with anything that is going to make the situation easier for everyone. It isn't like they just gave the lots generic names, they're still just as "themed" as the other lots were. And at the end of the day, it is still just a parking lot. I don't really spend much time worrying about the lot when I am more concerned about getting to the park and getting on some rides.

 

[Rob562]

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 could have sworn that quite a while ago, they used to run two separate tram routes on busy days. One ran to the "Mickey and his friends" lots, the other ran to the Dwarfs lots. That was one reason for the two separate tram loading areas in the first place.

-Rob

 

[Hakunamatata]

A few things...

Part of me believes that some of the motivation for these changes have to do with Disney's ever growing international fan base. There are a lot more international guests now who have a hard enough time with the English language and this can help with the parking situation. You would also be surprised just how many people tend to lose their cars in a parking lot that size on any given day. I spent a summer break a few years ago working as an EMT at my local six flags. Our parking lot was probably smaller than even the studios lot, yet there were a lot of people who would need security to assist them with finding their car. Now you tie up a valuable resource for who knows how long of a time period when they are needed for other things. If someone says they parked in the dwarf section, it could be hours before they find that car. Sure the responsibility is on the person who is driving, but Disney has to help them regardless of who is at fault. The security CM isn't just going to tell someone that they should have been more careful and remembered. Also, keeping track of the times the lots fill is far from new. They have been doing this for a while for exactly this reason, and it is incredibly easy to do. All it takes is for someone to write down when they start and when they finish filling the lot and it can greatly reduce the amount of time to find a lost car. These changes weren't done to please the guests as much as they were to help the logistics for parking lot CM's. The more info you have in finding a missing car the less time it will take. I have no problem with anything that is going to make the situation easier for everyone. It isn't like they just gave the lots generic names, they're still just as "themed" as the other lots were. And at the end of the day, it is still just a parking lot. I don't really spend much time worrying about the lot when I am more concerned about getting to the park and getting on some rides.

The obvious and simple solution to all of this is for Disney to provide valet parking. :king:

 

[Figment1986]

I JUST experienced the new parking configuration today, parked in Jafar. The tram picked us up and took us strait to the villans unload area and was told to come back there at night to catch a tram back.

Later after a long day (and party) I went back to villains and caught the next tram, while loading the CM on the back kept spieling this was for the villains lot and only villains lot. Then the checker came by and said the same as well. I guess they have had some confused guests since the change is relatively new.

I know they have an auto spieler for the "safety" spiel but is there any way to expand that to perhaps state this tram is servicing the *insert name here* parking lot and only the *insert name here* parking lot? and then list the parking lots followed by saying if your not parked in one of these lots see a CM for assistance?

 

[TP2000]

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.

They do this at Disneyland too. You see confused folks all the time at the massive Mickey & Friends Parking Structure trying to figure out which floor they were on, even though they are labeled with number, character and color. After 12 hours of fun and ready to drive home, standing at the base of the escalators it can be very daunting to remember what color/level/character plus aisle letter and row number you parked in.

Quick! Remember Which Escalator To Take!

But they have CM's there to help, and the first thing they ask is "What time did you get here?". You give them a time, and they look at their sheet and say "Between 10:05 and 10:40 we were parking the south side of the Goofy level sir, that's the green escalator there to Goofy Level 4"

I know this because, um, it may have happened to me once, or five times. :lookaroun

Something tells me this time tracking thing isn't just a Disney theme park concept. It's probably pretty standard practice in the mega-parking industry for theme parks, stadiums, convention centers, etc. But that idea to actually post the parking times on electronic signs so people have yet another way to know where to go is very smart!

 

[Thurp]

The other day someone asked me "I'm parked in Simba, is he a Hero or a Villain?"

So people are at least remembering the character where they parked, but they are forgetting the character's classification. If you are not THAT familiar with Disney characters, a lot of parents aren't, you now have 3 pieces of information to remember: Hero/Villain, Character, Row number.

 

[Disaddict]

I dont like the idea of separate trams for different sections since each tram serviced the whole parking lot.

But wouldn't two seperate trams running make things go faster? You wouldn't need to wait until the tram got all the way through Mickey and friends just to get to the dwarves section. And visa versa.

Regular visitors will forget where they parked in the haste to get to MK.

That's their fault. If they're going to forget that they parked in Jafar 74 then they'd also forget that they parked in Minnie 36.

The other day someone asked me "I'm parked in Simba, is he a Hero or a Villain?"

So people are at least remembering the character where they parked, but they are forgetting the character's classification. If you are not THAT familiar with Disney characters, a lot of parents aren't, you now have 3 pieces of information to remember: Hero/Villain, Character, Row number.

That's what the signs at the tram stations are for. If they are so out of touch with Disney movies that they do not know which is villain and which is hero then they can look at the signs and tell which one Simba is, hero or villain. They still only need to remember a name and number. Same as before. Only now it is a different set of names.


People can only make this as hard as they want to make it. The only difference I can see happening is a faster commute to your vehicle since you only need to go to one side of the lot. And that's fine by me.

 

[Thurp]

That's what the signs at the tram stations are for. If they are so out of touch with Disney movies that they do not know which is villain and which is hero then they can look at the signs and tell which one Simba is, hero or villain. They still only need to remember a name and number. Same as before. Only now it is a different set of names.

Are there signs with the characters at each of the tram stations? I know they say HEROES and VILLAINS but I didn't walk up to them to see if they also had a list of characters.

I do agree with what you are saying though, people can make this as easy or hard on them as they want to. That's why I think that the previous system which worked just fine for 40 years didn't need changing. But I do like the idea of having 2 separate tram zones though. It should speed things up at the end of night.

 

[Disaddict]

Are there signs with the characters at each of the tram stations? I know they say HEROES and VILLAINS but I didn't walk up to them to see if they also had a list of characters.

Yes. Pictures 3 and 4 here: http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions...k-at-the-new-Magic-Kingdom-parking-system.htm

 

[wm49rs]

Yes. Pictures 3 and 4 here: http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions...k-at-the-new-Magic-Kingdom-parking-system.htm

Looking at those photos, the changes really aren't that bad.

 

[Disaddict]

I don't think they are bad either. Like I said earlier, the only difference (other than a character image) is that it will take less time to get you to your car. Instead of waiting throughout the entire tram ride to get to your car you only wait half that time now.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't think they are bad either. Like I said earlier, the only difference (other than a character image) is that it will take less time to get you to your car. Instead of waiting throughout the entire tram ride to get to your car you only wait half that time now.

I would guess they would use the same number of trams used before, the trips would just be shorter. It won't be half the time, but it would still be more effecient.

 

[Disaddict]

I would guess they would use the same number of trams used before, the trips would just be shorter. It won't be half the time, but it would still be more effecient.

Okay. Let me see if I can get this right.... you're saying that a trip that used to take you allllllllll the way around the parking lot to your car at the end of the ride will still be the same amount of time spent by riding a tram that only goes to half of the parking lot?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Okay. Let me see if I can get this right.... you're saying that a trip that used to take you allllllllll the way around the parking lot to your car at the end of the ride will still be the same amount of time spent by riding a tram that only goes to half of the parking lot?

Nope - you have to read my full post.

So say before both locations made the same loop and there were 8 total trams making the same long loop. Now there are two locations both with 4 total trams making a loop that's half the size. The trips would be shorter but there would be less trams making that shorter trip. Without seeing this in practice I can't see exactly how it works, but it is highly unlikely that it would cut your wait in half - it would just cut your wait.

 

[Disaddict]

Nope - you have to read my full post.

So say before both locations made the same loop and there were 8 total trams making the same long loop. Now there are two locations both with 4 total trams making a loop that's half the size. The trips would be shorter but there would be less trams making that shorter trip. Without seeing this in practice I can't see exactly how it works, but it is highly unlikely that it would cut your wait in half - it would just cut your wait.

Okay. Admittedly, I have never ridden the trams at MK. I always have a AAA Diamond Parking pass and park up front. No need for a teram. But don't the trams drive all the way around the lot (the red line in the photo) and the new tram routes will be only on one side each? (the green lines)

 

[devoy1701]

^^^

no they do not go in a full circle...the red line you drew at the bottom of your picture is on a one way street going the other way...The trams start by heading to toward the Mickey and Friends Lots (left side of your picture) go all the way back to Daisy and Donald Lots (lower left side) and then circle back all the back up to Floridian way and then go down and drop off on the Dwarfs Side of the parking lot.

 

[Slugger]

Okay. Admittedly, I have never ridden the trams at MK. I always have a AAA Diamond Parking pass and park up front. No need for a teram. But don't the trams drive all the way around the lot (the red line in the photo) and the new tram routes will be only on one side each? (the green lines)

The trams would drive all the way along the red line depending on how busy and how many lots they parked. If they ended up parking all of Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and Daisy and the Dwarfs then yes, but if they didn't park all of the Dwarfs and only the first 3 then they would make stops at Minnie first, followed by a double stop for Goofy and Pluto then another double stop for Donald and Diasy, then u-turn go back towards the entrance and turn towards the Dwarfs.

Now with the double load zones they can load two trams at once and they can be dispatched at the same time. One tram heading towards Heroes and the other towards the Villains. With two trams being dispatched at once it should lower the wait times for boarding the trams. It should also bring the trams back into the load stations quicker due to them not having to make as long of a trip.

 

[Disaddict]

Ahhhhh. I see. Then the name change makes no difference at all. Told you I neverride the MK trams. LOL Why are people upset over it?

 

[Master Yoda]

Ahhhhh. I see. Then the name change makes no difference at all. Told you I neverride the MK trams. LOL Why are people upset over it?

Because something changed.:drevil:

 

[Disaddict]

Because something changed.:drevil:

Ahhhh. I should have guessed. LOL