CDavid
Well-Known Member
Indeed, this isn't exactly a well designed or necessarily even pleasant entrance to the park. Proper landscaping could easily (and economically) remedy this - I've never understood why its that way.
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Parking lot at Disney's Animal Kingdom about to expand ahead of the park's new additions
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Indeed, this isn't exactly a well designed or necessarily even pleasant entrance to the park. Proper landscaping could easily (and economically) remedy this - I've never understood why its that way.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I doubt it. The assumption is Epcot will have a Frozen ride, Soarin' Over the World and possibly a new nighttime show and another ride (Ratatouille or something in Future World). I suspect the first two will be enough to keep it ahead of DAK.
MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
This always confuses me as well. It's a very odd setup.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Some would say that the design was intentional, with the lots being a vast desert leading to the lush tropic of the Oasis... (I may have also read that in the Imagineering Field Guide to AK, I'm not sure).
Of course that could also be a "cover story" thought up after-the fact...
-Rob
Tom
Beta Return
Yeah, the bus ride into DAK feels like you're heading into a demilitarized zone. It is, by far, one of the most unmagical arrangements on property. Not to mention the cast having to cross the bus route and walk through that area, sometimes half in costume, half street, carrying lunch bags. Pretty much a failure on the part of the parking and entry design.
MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
One joke the cast members had was that with each park Disney seemed to care less and less about what how the cast got in.
Magic Kingdom: park in a remote, backstage lot, take a bus backstage into an underground entrance, arrive to your land through underground tunnels. NO entering another land under any circumstances while in costume.
Epcot: side (but still fairly distant) lot, walk in through a low-traffic area side gate; walk to your area onstage, but WS cast must stay in WS and FW cast must stay in FW (fun fact: my girlfriend worked WS carts and I occasionally worked Future World carts, so a few times we both decided to work carts on the WS-FW bridge so we could hang out together at work)
DHS: drive in through the same entry plaza as guests, but park in a designated parking lot section and enter through a side gate, mostly invisible to guests; walk anywhere onstage to your location
DAK: park right next to guest areas, walk directly in front of guests through the front gate, no restrictions on how much costume you're allowed to wear, walk anywhere in the park to your location
It's an often-overlooked but (IMO) pretty significant area where Disney has let their standards slip over the years. They used to place much higher priority on where cast could and couldn't be seen.
Marco226
Well-Known Member
That's an interesting idea about the desert, but whatever the reason, it's neither fun or pretty to look at. The Florida sun is brutal, and it sucks having to wait for the tram in the 100% humidity and heat... and then listen to that safety message 4 times because people keep boarding.. Lolz
Instead of just trees, in all of the parking lots, I think it would be nice to also put gazebo type structures along the tram paths for people waiting for the tram and for those willing to walk. They could even add some music speakers on them just add an extra little magic before entering the park.
Of the WDW parking lots, DAK is really the worst. It is void of trees or any shade. I would rather feel like I am parking in a forest (which for me would add to the allure of DAK) than park in a desert and wait in the beating sun and humidity for the tram to come all the way to giraffe. Seriously. Plant a tree.
It is so silly of me to think, but the parking lot at DAK is such a turn off that we typically only visit that park for a few hours once ever trip. The huge expansive lot kills the theming for me. I've been in better arranged and more thematic parking lots at Target.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
The idea, or at least the "official" story, is that its intentionally barren to give the biggest possible transition to the lush, dense vegetation of the oasis. But I agree with the other posts here - it has an adverse effect - without any tree line or "island" like the other three lots, or really any landscaping at all, it looks like a Six Flags parking lot. It looks cheap, and it can get ungodly hot.
Edit: oh, this was already answered.
There's no room for a tree line like the other parks have, but they could at least plant trees along the tram route and entering/exiting traffic lanes. If they want to keep in theme with the park, make the trees look "natural" - IE not evenly spaced palm trees.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Why not just do covered walkways with moving sidewalks like at Disneyland Paris?
CDavid
Well-Known Member
It's not actually barren though, that might be fine, but instead we see unthemed and unsightly chain-link fence, barbed wire, and concrete barricades along the bus path. That's the problem. The "barren" look works somewhat out in the parking lot (and presumably for the car entrance - I've never driven there) to provide the desired transition to a lush park, but the Disney buses appear to be entering a prison compound rather than a theme park.
Again, while a barren look might be alright, we need landscaping or something to hide the industrial/prison look - that doesn't really set much of a mood for a lush theme park. It should be noted that the bus exit - by CM parking - avoids some of the ugliness.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
By expanding existing lot, they will gain flexibility if/when a garage is justified. The new lot would be used while building vertically on the original lot footprint. This would happen if AK attendance increases by a factor of five. So all the chance of any form of solid water in Hades.
Tom
Beta Return
One joke the cast members had was that with each park Disney seemed to care less and less about what how the cast got in.
Magic Kingdom: park in a remote, backstage lot, take a bus backstage into an underground entrance, arrive to your land through underground tunnels. NO entering another land under any circumstances while in costume.
Epcot: side (but still fairly distant) lot, walk in through a low-traffic area side gate; walk to your area onstage, but WS cast must stay in WS and FW cast must stay in FW (fun fact: my girlfriend worked WS carts and I occasionally worked Future World carts, so a few times we both decided to work carts on the WS-FW bridge so we could hang out together at work)
DHS: drive in through the same entry plaza as guests, but park in a designated parking lot section and enter through a side gate, mostly invisible to guests; walk anywhere onstage to your location
DAK: park right next to guest areas, walk directly in front of guests through the front gate, no restrictions on how much costume you're allowed to wear, walk anywhere in the park to your location
It's an often-overlooked but (IMO) pretty significant area where Disney has let their standards slip over the years. They used to place much higher priority on where cast could and couldn't be seen.
That pretty much nails it! And it's also quiet evident that the visual separation of guests and off-the-clock cast became less important.
It's one thing if DAK cast is parking next to guests and entering with them...that's fine. But they shouldn't be wearing any part of their costume. That's the same as them wearing part of their costume into the grocery store, which is forbidden.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
oswaldmickey
Member
There are other reasons to avoid parking lots. Check out this Al Lutz article about Disneyland's parking lot from 2010. Talks about the nasty state of the 10 year old garages and the incident at Disneyland where chunks of cement were falling off Disneyland Parking Lot in 2010. Here is the link. Plus according to the article, after a decade of their parking lot, people have been nice enough to decorate it with sticky gum and such. DW doesn't seem to upkeep as well and the people aren't as Disney...ish as they used to be so.
http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al070610a.htm
The construction of this new mega-structure can’t come soon enough for the Mickey & Friends parking facility. That 10,300 space structure recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and after a decade of heavy use and abuse it is now showing its age. It’s even generated a new nickname on the MiceChat boards as the “Sticky & Friends Structure” for the disgusting display of surface stains and debris now found throughout the structure. Much of the wear and tear is cosmetic and could be repaired with a little TLC, as the rusted handrails and dull tile walkways clearly display.
But some of the wear to the Mickey & Friends structure is more than just cosmetic, and it may be quite troubling. A few months ago, a large section of parking on the second and third floors suddenly had to be blocked off after chunks of cement fell from support beams and large cracks developed in the roof and support columns. The big section on the second and third floors remains coned off as TDA engineers study the problem. The cracks developed in the roof of the second level, but the spaces just above that on the third level remain vacant to avoid putting additional weight on the damaged beams. While the visible cracks were patched up with cement within a few days, the area remains coned off and Cast Members have been told not to walk near the area as they park those levels.
http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al070610a.htm
The construction of this new mega-structure can’t come soon enough for the Mickey & Friends parking facility. That 10,300 space structure recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and after a decade of heavy use and abuse it is now showing its age. It’s even generated a new nickname on the MiceChat boards as the “Sticky & Friends Structure” for the disgusting display of surface stains and debris now found throughout the structure. Much of the wear and tear is cosmetic and could be repaired with a little TLC, as the rusted handrails and dull tile walkways clearly display.
But some of the wear to the Mickey & Friends structure is more than just cosmetic, and it may be quite troubling. A few months ago, a large section of parking on the second and third floors suddenly had to be blocked off after chunks of cement fell from support beams and large cracks developed in the roof and support columns. The big section on the second and third floors remains coned off as TDA engineers study the problem. The cracks developed in the roof of the second level, but the spaces just above that on the third level remain vacant to avoid putting additional weight on the damaged beams. While the visible cracks were patched up with cement within a few days, the area remains coned off and Cast Members have been told not to walk near the area as they park those levels.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
^ Universal Orlando keeps their parking garages decently clean.. hmm.
I forgot about the fact that the buses get a nice view of backstage before reaching the bus stops. That's always seemed odd to me.
Well, the bus stops are landscaped, but the actual parking lot has zero trees as dividers or borders or anything. Which is why I don't know if I buy the explanation that they intentionally planted nothing to have a big transition. The entire walk from the bus stops to the entrance plaza is landscaped.
I forgot about the fact that the buses get a nice view of backstage before reaching the bus stops. That's always seemed odd to me.
drnilescrane
Well-Known Member
It's a problem caused by increased post-9/11 security requirements. If you look at the historic imagery available on Google Earth for 1999, the DMZ-esque security plaza doesn't' exist and it's a more traditional kiosk with a boom gate, further down the road to be less visible to arriving guests.
At DHS, the cast parking used to be where Rock-N-Roller coaster and Fantasmic are now - it was affectionately called the "Statue Lot" due to the view of the Swan and Dolphin. That all changed in 1997/1998 with the big reconfiguration backstage due to the expansion of Feature Animation.
Yes, DAK looks awful. Yes, there probably should be more vegetation, but it's next to impossible the way the roads are wedged in between two retention ponds. Yes, Cast look stupid walking half dressed past entering guests (especially post Jammin' Jungle), but what I have heard is the original intention was to have smaller lots closer to work locations, which got killed before opening because of security (and budget cuts).
At DHS, the cast parking used to be where Rock-N-Roller coaster and Fantasmic are now - it was affectionately called the "Statue Lot" due to the view of the Swan and Dolphin. That all changed in 1997/1998 with the big reconfiguration backstage due to the expansion of Feature Animation.
Yes, DAK looks awful. Yes, there probably should be more vegetation, but it's next to impossible the way the roads are wedged in between two retention ponds. Yes, Cast look stupid walking half dressed past entering guests (especially post Jammin' Jungle), but what I have heard is the original intention was to have smaller lots closer to work locations, which got killed before opening because of security (and budget cuts).
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BernardandBianca
Well-Known Member
All you have to do is go into a Publix, or fill up your car with gas, to know that costumed cast members are seen everywhere.
Figment2005
Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
For decades it was as part of maintaining the illusion of show. That was before Efficiency beat the snot out of Show.