Richard Petty Driving Experience to close

[SomeInternetGuy]

Today Disney filed a permit for what I'm assuming is the first phase of the "transportation improvements" coming to the former Driving Experience plot - an expansion to the MK guest parking lot.

From the permit:

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. is now seeking Permit Modification approval to demolish the
existing Speedway and construct an expansion to the existing Magic Kingdom guest parking lot. The
Magic Kingdom Guest Parking Lot Expansion project is located west of World Drive, east of Floridian
Way and south of Seven Seas Drive. The project site is 70.45 acres, located in Section 14, Township 24
South, Range 27, within Orange County, Florida.

Here's a plan view of the new parking area:

And here's a (crude) colored overlay of the plans:

And lastly, a before and after .gif, to hopefully help everyone visualize the changes:

A quick edit to add that on page 26 of the engineering report they outline the project schedule, but clearly made a typo on the end date:

The current schedule proposes to begin construction in the summer of 2015 and complete work in the by the end of 2014.

Hopefully they meant 2015 and not 2016.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Interesting that they are keeping the Mouse Ears lake/pond, and quite a bit of green space. I wonder why?

Conservation, perhaps? Might be land they cant touch without having to restore other wetlands.

Someone on here has that stuff handy.

Edit: Page 41 of the aforementioned engineering report says its a drainage basin.

 

[peter11435]

Interesting that they are keeping the Mouse Ears lake/pond, and quite a bit of green space. I wonder why?

Drainage and flood plain

 

[Nick Pappagiorgio]

Drainage and flood plain

Yeah, I noticed there are the earthen "guides" that you see leading into retention ponds everywhere.

 

[bhg469]

So on a truly busy day, does mk have a lack of parking spaces? I would imagine that if they made due with what they had in the past, adding more spaces just means people will be able to park but not get in... I usually don't park so I don't know.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Drainage and flood plain

And honestly, it'd be kind of nice to have a Mickey-shaped pond visible as you enter MK parking. It will make a cool design element much more visible.

 

[peter11435]

So on a truly busy day, does mk have a lack of parking spaces? I would imagine that if they made due with what they had in the past, adding more spaces just means people will be able to park but not get in... I usually don't park so I don't know.

The parking lot fills often. And not just on super busy days. It is pretty normal for them to park guests in the grass as well as have guests park at Epcot and monorail back to the Magic Kingdom

 

[PhotoDave219]

So on a truly busy day, does mk have a lack of parking spaces? I would imagine that if they made due with what they had in the past, adding more spaces just means people will be able to park but not get in... I usually don't park so I don't know.

Yeah. During Christmas season & spring break, the parking lot used to fill on a regular basis.

 

[ABQ]

Yeah. During Christmas season & spring break, the parking lot used to fill on a regular basis.

So here's where the accountants at TWDC confound me yet again. Evidence can support the belief that WDW takes no action which will result in an expense unless it can be offset by an ROI. Examples, rather than put something new in a location, they'll just shutter it, either permanently or temporarily. See Odyssey, WOL, Diamond Horseshoe and so forth.
So have the folks in accounting produced spreadsheets showing that the MK has lost revenue due to limited parking? You'd think with more and more onsite accommodations that fewer MK guests are driving to the MK (yes, I have stayed onsite and had a vehicle, but the MK is the one park I've never driven to as there are more way and better ways to get there than parking, imho. Maybe in a long while it will pay for itself, but that is also counter to the current operating and spending strategy of TWDC as it always seems the short sighted way is how they act. Maybe I'll have to ask someone at PWC, KPMG, EPMD or UTFO.

 

[TheRabbit]

Makes no sense to me, they only fill up the existing lot on New Years Eve and 4th of July. Otherwise, plenty of parking spots in that lot even when they close to capacity.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Makes no sense to me, they only fill up the existing lot on New Years Eve and 4th of July. Otherwise, plenty of parking spots in that lot even when they close to capacity.

What you are saying is not true. The parking lot fills routinely.

 

[peter11435]

Makes no sense to me, they only fill up the existing lot on New Years Eve and 4th of July. Otherwise, plenty of parking spots in that lot even when they close to capacity.

This is not true at all. The parking lot fills long before the park is at capacity and this happens FAR more often than just holidays.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I have noticed on many occasions that they use MK parking and EPCOT parking to complement each park. So for example, if MK parking fills then they direct guests to epcot parking then take monorail back to TTC. Or, if EPCOT parking fills have guests park at MK and take monorail back to EPCOT.

I have not had to do this myself before, but I have been present to witness this happening in both cases. Back in May on 24hr event the MK parking lot filled by mid-day and guests were parking on grass already. Also, later that evening guests were parking at EPCOT and taking monorail to TTC, MK. The EPCOT monorail ran until 6am to help with this issue by the way.

Another instance was when I visited during the
January running event where EPCOT parking lot was so full guests were parking on grass lot areas and also being re-routed to MK lots.

 

[bhg469]

The parking lot fills often. And not just on super busy days. It is pretty normal for them to park guests in the grass as well as have guests park at Epcot and monorail back to the Magic Kingdom

Cool, I guess it's needed. It's just impossible to get excited for parking spaces.

 

[roj2323]

A quick edit to add that on page 26 of the engineering report they outline the project schedule, but clearly made a typo on the end date:

"The current schedule proposes to begin construction in the summer of 2015 and complete work in the by the end of 2014."


Hopefully they meant 2015 and not 2016.

The typo could mean this project has been planned for longer than we think and that it was supposed to be done in 2013-2014. If this is the case I wonder what the holdup was. Perhaps they had to wait for the contract with the driving experience to end.

 

[TheRabbit]

This is not true at all. The parking lot fills long before the park is at capacity and this happens FAR more often than just holidays.

I guess you and Navigator didn't go to the park 5 days a week for the past 4 years. Cruella and Scar sections are rarely filled. They usually park extra trams there. Even when they park cars on the grass areas, the Cruella and Scar sections aren't all filled.

 

[peter11435]

Cool, I guess it's needed. It's just impossible to get excited for parking spaces.

You're not supposed to.

 

[peter11435]

I guess you and Navigator didn't go to the park 5 days a week for the past 4 years. Cruella and Scar sections are rarely filled. They usually park extra trams there. Even when they park cars on the grass areas, the Cruella and Scar sections aren't all filled.

My information is accurate. And there are operational reasons they avoid filling the cruella lot. Hopefully these will be taken care of with the redesign.

This isn't something that has been happening for all of the last 4 years. But for the past 1 to 2 years it has been. The problem will only continue to grow and disney is right to address it now. You and I both know Disney would not spend the money on this if it was not necessary.

 

[danlb_2000]

The typo could mean this project has been planned for longer than we think and that it was supposed to be done in 2013-2014. If this is the case I wonder what the holdup was. Perhaps they had to wait for the contract with the driving experience to end.

No, it's most likely just a mistake. All the drawings and engineering reports are dated 2015.

 

[BJones82]

Cool, I guess it's needed. It's just impossible to get excited for parking spaces.

Infrastructure, always necessary but no one ever is excited, ask how people in Michigan feel about their roads and the lack of spending for infrastructure over the past decade and how much extra it is costing the state now that they are playing catch up

It's not pretty but it's needed!!