Parking Garages

[Pongo]

This may be a question for someone like Martin:

Why does WDW not utilize parking garages? I mean, huge parking lots are rather environmentally unfriendly when compared to garages, and they take up more space. Lots are probably cheaper to build though...

But why does WDW not have them, and why didn't DLR get one until DCA was built?

 

[crazydaveh]

Garages are not cheap, but they are useful when land is in short supply. WDW has plenty of land for parking, so they build lots. It's also a lot easier to get in and out or around a parking lot rather than a garage. The masses heading in and out during the peak times would jam up the garage and the trip wouldn't be so magical.

Disney does have one garage that I know of, though it's for CM's. It's over behind ToT at DHS near IDEAS.

That's my insite.

 

[yankspy]

I would think that it is for aesthetic reasons. You may not enjoy some of the views if there is a five story parking garage blocking it.

 

[Mr Bill]

If it ever gets sick of being a hotel, the Contemporary could be a pretty cool looking parking garage.

 

[davidpw97]

I'm going to agree with Crazydave. With so many people all leaving at the same time when the parks close, getting out of a garage would be a nightmare. I'm sure there are some places where that sort of thing is done but most large capacity facilities that I can think of (theme parks, sports arenas) don't have garages. And as someone else has said it may also have to do with the view. I don't know how many parking spaces Epcot has but I would imagine if they had to condense the parking areas into garages the garages would have to be pretty tall and it would totally block the view when driving by or approaching the park.

 

[Kamikaze]

I'm pretty sure the 'other' land clearing at the Contemp DVC 'Kingdom Tower' is for a parking garage.

 

[daringstoic]

Universal/IOA has a garage. It's different, but not terribly bad. I've only been a couple of times during slow seasons, but I didn't have any real issues with it. My guess would be that the reason Disney doesn't have any is a combination of finance and necessity. I'm not an engineer, but I'd be willing to be that it costs a whole lot more to build a garage than a plain old parking lot. Plus, in WDW, they have more open land than they know what to do with. Why waste the money building a big old ugly garage if they've got acres and acres of land to park cars on.

 

[ChrisFL]

Universal/IOA has a garage. It's different, but not terribly bad. I've only been a couple of times during slow seasons, but I didn't have any real issues with it. My guess would be that the reason Disney doesn't have any is a combination of finance and necessity. I'm not an engineer, but I'd be willing to be that it costs a whole lot more to build a garage than a plain old parking lot. Plus, in WDW, they have more open land than they know what to do with. Why waste the money building a big old ugly garage if they've got acres and acres of land to park cars on.

I could see a few good reasons...there would be less need for trams to move guests, US/IOA has moving walkways and getting to the car is a faster process most of the time. It's also cooler for most of the cars being in the shade instead of the hot sun.

 

[frankd1962]

Being from the Northeast and our biggest concern is weight of snow on stuff, I would wonder about how hurricanes would be on a tall structure like that. If you think about it, a garage goes down there is more work to repair it than an open lot.

Then again like previous posts a lot is easier to get out of than a garage at peak "escape" times.

 

[uklad79]

A parking garage would be better for water drainage. Those car parks must cause water problems when the downpours happen in the summer. The drainage pipes must be huge and because there is no land for it all to drain into they must have had to put some extra drainage canals near the car parks. All of this plus the resurfacing costs every few years for the carparks makes me think that surface carparks can not be that much cheaper than a garage.

 

[uklad79]

Being from the Northeast and our biggest concern is weight of snow on stuff, I would wonder about how hurricanes would be on a tall structure like that. If you think about it, a garage goes down there is more work to repair it than an open lot.

Then again like previous posts a lot is easier to get out of than a garage at peak "escape" times.

There are hotels taller than parking garages in Orlando plus Universal is using them so I think they are hurricane proof.

 

[Jenna]

Parking garages would spoil the look! I'm not a huge fan of universal myself but the parking is so far from the park that it really doesn't have an affect on the aesthetics! In disney however you would see them quite clearly as you were driving to the parks. Plus I LOVE the tram ride-literally one of my fave parts of wdw! I clearly need to get out more lol!

 

[marni1971]

Universals infrastructure since 1999 is superb - but they didn`t have a choice with the land available. Same for Disneyland - they needed to go up since they couldn`t go outwards anymore - and DCA was a better use of the land (no, really!)

Tokyo DisneySea had one since it was built, again for space's sake and now its 1983 neighbour is getting one too since - you guessed it - the parking lot is being used for the new Disneyland Hotel. WDW simply dosn`t need them for the parks at the moment. The blessing of size and all.

Yep, DHS has a parking garage (or multi-story as we Brits call them) that was designed by WDI and was built for the expanded animation department. It was completed in May 1997. It has 855 spaces, but interestingly it was designed to go higher for 1055 spaces if needed. I doubt that`ll happen.

Shades of Green also got a parking garage in its southern wing during its rebuild in 2003-4. There was also talk of a garage at DTD on the Team Disney parking lot, with an aerial walkway across BVD, for Team Disney and DTD to share when Westside was in planning.

As an aside, the DAK parking lot was built from the offset for expansion; the south east corner was cleared but not paved. They learnt their lesson from the other 3 parks; the T&TC lot, EPCOTs lot and MGMs were all expanded due to demand. EPCOTs had another 3000 spaces only 5 months after opening. Plans exist for an expanded entrance plaza and second monorail station - to service the fabled LBV line - to be built in the EPCOT parking lot, hence the expanded lot was planned not just for the popularity of the park. Prior to this, early EPCOT guests regularly were sent to the T&TC Lot and caught a monorail to the park.

It seems I even have a reputation for parking garage knowledge at the World.....

 

[jt04]

I really wish Disney would look into modest parking garages (multi level for Marni) at each of the parks for those willing to pay a premium for covered/secure parking. One of the best benefits is Diamond parking. But they could "plus" that concept by having garages that connect to the park entry plazas by a covered walkway. This could easily be accomplished at all the parks and would easily fund itself in the short term and may turn quite profitable in the long term. I think a garage at Epcot designed to look like the monorail station, a garage at DHS where the employee parking is, a garage at AK where the current Diamond parking is and a garage just north of the Contemporary so people could use the current walkway (elevated over the road though). Just a thought.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I'd rather sit in a traffic jam (after Wishes or Illuminations) in open spaces where exhaust fumes can disappear into the night air, than sit in some multi story car park where fumes are lingering in and around my vehicle due to the level above my head preventing them from going

 

[marni1971]

I`d be happy with just a nice landscaping package; the steel rods with no kerb or foliage around the tram lines at the MK look so... un-Disney. DHS' parking lot, depending where you enter, is either a steel rode maze or has so many construction bollards it should be a building site. It`s saying something, but for a first time Brit tourist the Alton Towers parking lot looks nicer... did I say that??

Since we`re totally off normal ground with this topic, I`ll also mention the crazy exit from DHS; a park with a capacity around 60,000 and there is just one signal controlled exit. Okay... 60,000 guests won`t be leaving at the same time (not normally) but take 10,000 Fantasmic! people and it`s a nightmare at the end of a very long day. Since World Drive is too built up already around the Studios, my vote goes to an exit road heading east to merge with Victory way southbound, with a flyover at the Victory Way / Osceola junction to get traffic onto Osceola eastbound without having to stop; the Osceola/I-4 junction will handle the rest. Just as good an option would be to just head south and merge exit traffic with Osceola westbound - assuming World Drive can cope with this and other exit traffic.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

47 square miles and the parks need parking garages? Naahhh It doesn't need it really..If they needed space they can just make more parking..it's not that hard.

 

[jt04]

47 square miles and the parks need parking garages? Naahhh It doesn't need it really..If they needed space they can just make more parking..it's not that hard.

I agree they are not needed but it would be a nice premium option for those that choose to pay. The garages at Uni don't look bad at all and I think it would be great if they built similar garages at the Studios just because it would then allow the park plenty of expansion space. It's not an issue at the other parks......for now anyway.


Thanks Marni for all your great contributions. Your knowledge is amazing

 

[wedway71]

How would they get the Tram up in there???:lol:

Ya know maybe it is just me but I like the huge parking lots..For me ,it builds on the excitement of seeing the miles and miles of cars on a warm summer day.

 

[wdwmomof3]

A parking garage at Disney would not be very Magical. Can you picture what it would be like trying to get out of one after Wishes? No thank you.