Premium Parking coming to Walt Disney World's parking lots?

[John]

Yes this is optional, in of itself it isnt a big deal. Still hate seeing people say...."well other venues do it...sooooooo" Disney has built their reputation as being different then everyone else. Its the reason 20 million people go there every year. I think the reason why some of us are so up in arms about all of this is because it has been an aggregate effect. Its one thing after another. As I mentioned in another post about themed napkins. Everyone laughed that someone could be upset about their removal. It isnt about stupid napkins. It isnt about charging a fee for an upgraded parking spot ( lets face it isnt that much of an upgrade when you still have to ride other transportation to get to the park with everyone else). Just with the mere mention of a possible resort fee it grates on our last nerve. What is being removed.....or lets say charged for is the Disney difference. We always knew the place was expensive to visit. We gladly payed it. We begged them to take our money. Guess what! Management heard us.....they want to take your money and even more. This group of management doesn't care about the Disney difference. Oh it still exist....just at a price.

 

[CDavid]

It's pretty much impossible for transportation to EVER keep up with - again - 20 million people a year and growing. You can say it just needs to "work better" or be "more fully utilized", but that still overlooks the fact that trying to shuffle 20 million people a year 1.5 miles to a SECOND transportation hub for ANOTHER round of shuffling them to the lots is just insurmountable. It's never going to just be a matter of "throw more monorails or ferries" at it to solve the problem.

Not true. There is absolutely no reason that transportation between the Transportation & Ticket Center and the Magic Kingdom cannot keep up with demand. You simply need sufficient capacity, that you don't have right now. Higher capacity monorails running on closer frequencies would help immensely, but years ago Walt Disney world operated the parking lot trams - at peak periods - directly to the Magic Kingdom gates. Rather than the expansion of bus transportation which was done, this option could have been restored.

And also again, ALL THREE OTHER WDW PARKS have lots right up front. Zero loss of magic. Epcot is no less Epcot for the fact you can actually get to and from your car without an act of God and an hour or two of your life you'll never get back.

No, there is a reason the Magic Kingdom is located away from the parking lots and other visible infrastructure - it builds up and contributes to the theme park experience. Epcot may be no less Epcot, but it does lose something in such a rapid transition from parking to Future World. Disney attempted to address this, to an extent, with the stark contrast between Animal Kingdom's bare parking lot and lush Oasis.

There is absolutely no need to compromise the theme park experience for the sake of guest convenience.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

years ago Walt Disney world operated the parking lot trams - at peak periods - directly to the Magic Kingdom gates.

Can anyone verify that? I never remember this happening, and I can remember tram rides at MK as far back as '88 or '89.

Would they go around Seven Seas by the Polynesian or Contemporary? There's no current way in from the Polynesian side, and I don't remember seeing any direct routes before. Did the trams of yesteryear have a faster top speed or was it just a 15-20 minute trip? Where did the drop off occur? I can't remember there ever being a place for a tram to unload, unless they used the bus stops.

I've always found the T&TC to be horribly unnecessary and think it's one of the few design flaws of the original plan. (Maybe not, since people were going to have to travel through EPCOT to get to Disney World originally.)

 

[wdisney9000]

Its truly amazing the amount of people that continue to dismiss Disneys attempts to absolutely squeeze every penny out of any area they can. They continue to view each price hike or up charge as an individual item that "doesnt affect them", rather than viewing the larger picture of the slow dismantling of the design that set Disney apart from any other business and service industry. But oh ya, they are building Star Wars Land, or Universal does it, so hack away.

We have a Home Depot card and we get 5% off each purchase (which is the main reason we use the card and shop there). Upon checkout the other day, the cashier informed me they no longer offer the discount for card holders. I asked why? Her response, "Lowes does not price match any more so we discontinued the discount". Instead of Home Depot execs viewing it as a chance to reinforce the value they place on customers and tell them "we STILL offer the discount while Lowes no longer price matches", they went the Disney defender route and downgraded. The fact that they would intentionally allow cashiers to tell customers boggled my mind. Your telling your customers how little you value them unless the competition gives them a reason to? Sounds familiar.

 

[ford91exploder]

Curious what will hapen when the peasant lot fills up. Will guests be forced to purchase the premium spots?

No they will be directed to 'overflow' parking just as they are now.

 

[CDavid]

Can anyone verify that? I never remember this happening, and I can remember tram rides at MK as far back as '88 or '89.

Would they go around Seven Seas by the Polynesian or Contemporary? There's no current way in from the Polynesian side, and I don't remember seeing any direct routes before. Did the trams of yesteryear have a faster top speed or was it just a 15-20 minute trip? Where did the drop off occur? I can't remember there ever being a place for a tram to unload, unless they used the bus stops.

I've always found the T&TC to be horribly unnecessary and think it's one of the few design flaws of the original plan. (Maybe not, since people were going to have to travel through EPCOT to get to Disney World originally.)

Circa summer 1980, well before the bus transportation facility existed, routed by the Contemporary.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

Circa summer 1980, well before the bus transportation facility existed, routed by the Contemporary.

13.8 million visitors in 1980. Compared to 20 or so million today?

I couldn't imagine putting trams on the same roads as bus traffic to try to drop off in an already congested area in front of MK.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...180065_1_walt-disney-magic-kingdom-attendance

 

[Imagineerwannabe]

I Remember in early December when the MK monorail loops went down one morning..
Getting the ferry over was a total nightmare. Huge queues and even with 3 boats running at once, the landing pontoons are still a real bottle-neck. only one ship can be docked at once for the embark/debark due to the flow of guests in the queue lines. They would need to look at reconfiguring that to have multiple ferries docked at once if they want to increase movement of people and increased visitor numbers.

The TTC isn't always a fun way of building excitement if you have to wait hours on end having come from the parking lots...paying $15 extra to join a growing queue a bit quicker than some other guests could seem extortionate too..

 

[R W B]

Considering I absolutly despise driving myself to the parks (unless I must) I don't have a problem with this. I use Disney transportation 99.9% of the time so this doesn't really affect me.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Considering I absolutly despise driving myself to the parks (unless I must) I don't have a problem with this. I use Disney transportation 99.9% of the time so this doesn't really affect me.

Why take joy in a series of larger, ongoing shifts because one very tiny component does not affect you? Should we all hope that the buses become pay per use with various levels of service?

 

[Imagineerwannabe]

Why take joy in a series of larger, ongoing shifts because one very tiny component does not affect you? Should we all hope that the buses become pay per use with various levels of service?

1 bus per hour from value
2 per hour from moderate
3 per hour from deluxe?

 

[R W B]

Why take joy in a series of larger, ongoing shifts because one very tiny component does not affect you? Should we all hope that the buses become pay per use with various levels of service?

Well with this new nightly resort fee they are talking about, the busses kind of will be a "paid for" service. Why should I bothered by a change that does not affect me?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well with this new nightly resort fee they are talking about, the busses kind of will be a "paid for" service. Why should I bothered by a change that does not affect me?

Because these changes are not in isolation and it is a sort of jerk attitude of "Ha ha, it sucks to be you."

 

[No Name]

Compared to some of the other cuts, I don't mind this much. If there's a place to make money, this is one of them.

I think, by the end of all of these cuts and price increases, some of you will be longing for Tom Staggs the same way we long for Michael Eisner. A year ago, everyone was complaining about quality and such, and now we are making comparisons to last year and painting it in a brighter light. Kind of like how people hated Disney and Eisner in 2005 but now realize how much better he was. You don't know what you have till you don't have it anymore.

 

[flynnibus]

If some are you are re-thinking of going to Disney because of something that apparently will be OPTIONAL, you were never really going to go there to begin with.

Sometimes its not about what you consume.. but the attitude and posture of the person selling it.

 

[marni1971]

Can anyone verify that? I never remember this happening, and I can remember tram rides at MK as far back as '88 or '89.

Yes.

Initially they were used before the Seven Seas ferries were completed to supplement the monorail. They were then used during peak periods when monorail and boats were overwhelmed. All to better the experience.

The original tram stop to the MK is the curved loading area to the right/east of the monorail station. It's currently used for busses to the MK when the monorails are down.

And now the same company wants to charge for what was free.

 

[Imagineerwannabe]

The original tram stop to the MK is the curved loading area to the right/east of the monorail station. It's currently used for busses to the MK when the monorails are down.

The roadway known as topiary lane ?. Where the entrance/exit often has the OC sheriff parked...

 

[marni1971]

The roadway known as topiary lane ?. Where the entrance/exit often has the OC sheriff parked...

Yes. Then under the aqueduct and a left turn to a much smaller drop off area roughly where the original MK bus station was.

Edit @Imagineerwannabe - I Knew I had a photo somewhere:

 

[halltd]

Yes.

Initially they were used before the Seven Seas ferries were completed to supplement the monorail. They were then used during peak periods when monorail and boats were overwhelmed. All to better the experience.

Learn something new every day! Your reference to the ferries is confusing, though. Can you elaborate? Parking lot ferries were a day one item, weren't they?

 

[marni1971]

Learn something new every day! Your reference to the ferries is confusing, though. Can you elaborate? Parking lot ferries were a day one item, weren't they?

Magic Kingdom I was the original from mid 1972. Magic Kingdom II came in late 1972 and Kingdom Queen in 1976. They were supplemented by the two Osceola Class side paddle steamships Ports-o-Call and Southern Seas.

There were also only six MKIV monorails until 1972 too.