Studios parking lot reaching capacity (Dec 2015)

JeffBostock

Active Member
Per our fearless leader @wdwmagic, Studios Parking is full and being diverted to Epcot. (12/8)

Wow. For the lot to be full on a Tuesday in early December when schools are in session, that's pretty wild. I expect crowds at DHS the week between Xmas and NYE to be insane (perhaps at the same level DHS saw for Villains Unleashed). I wonder what time of the day phased closings will begin to happen each day that week. I'll be there then. Guess I had better get to the park before 2pm or so, since I'm staying offsite. Think I'll make me an ADR somewhere at the Boardwalk late one afternoon so I can park there and walk to DHS. Who the heck wants to deal with traffic on BVD? Leaving the park will be a joke.

Last year I was at DHS on NYE, and it took 2 hours to get from the parking lot back to our condo near I-4 & 192 (5-6 miles). We could have walked back quicker. Upon leaving the DHS lot they directed traffic from BVD to Victory Way, which was awful.

By looking at traffic patterns on maps, it looks like anyone leaving Boardwalk parking area should be able to turn right (heading west) onto BVD easily and head towards World Drive. I'm hoping that will be the case.

Does anyone know if when leaving the Boardwalk late in the evening if they will force you to head towards Victory Way or will I be able to head towards World Drive?
 

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Wow. For the lot to be full on a Tuesday in early December when schools are in session, that's pretty wild. I expect crowds at DHS the week between Xmas and NYE to be insane (perhaps at the same level DHS saw for Villains Unleashed). I wonder what time of the day phased closings will begin to happen each day that week. I'll be there then. Guess I had better get to the park before 2pm or so, since I'm staying offsite. Think I'll make me an ADR somewhere at the Boardwalk late one afternoon so I can park there and walk to DHS. Who the heck wants to deal with traffic on BVD? Leaving the park will be a joke.

Last year I was at DHS on NYE, and it took 2 hours to get from the parking lot back to our condo near I-4 & 192 (5-6 miles). We could have walked back quicker. Upon leaving the DHS lot they directed traffic from BVD to Victory Way, which was awful.

By looking at traffic patterns on maps, it looks like anyone leaving Boardwalk parking area should be able to turn right (heading west) onto BVD easily and head towards World Drive. I'm hoping that will be the case.

Does anyone know if when leaving the Boardwalk late in the evening if they will force you to head towards Victory Way or will I be able to head towards World Drive?

Yes, as a small aside ANYONE planning on doing NYE at Epcot or DHS will do well to find a room at Boardwalk, Y&B or S&D.

This is two days in a row and three out of the past four to fill the DHS lot - All filling in the late afternoon/early evening before Osborne Lights start. Its more than a trend and I would expect this to occur daily until the lights are done.
 

DHoy

Active Member
Original Poster
With the redirects already happening for DHS, and cast parking soon to begin at Epcot. I am seeing a big chance that NYE Epcot could end up closing their lot to capacity. If that were to happen where would they begin to send guests, MK & Epcot park at DAK and DHS park at Blizzard Beach?
 

roj2323

Well-Known Member
With the redirects already happening for DHS, and cast parking soon to begin at Epcot. I am seeing a big chance that NYE Epcot could end up closing their lot to capacity. If that were to happen where would they begin to send guests, MK & Epcot park at DAK and DHS park at Blizzard Beach?

DHS cast will park at blizzard beach or possibly Wide world of sports and off stage at studios. Epcot cast may be forced to do the same although they have a dedicated cast lot thankfully so it's not as bad as it could be. Magic kingdom just added around 3,000 parking spaces and they have level grass areas they can use to a limited extent if it gets to that point. Also animal kingdom just got done redoing their lots as well and added probably 2,000 spots in the process.

In short Disney is well prepared and has plenty of options should they need to make use of them.
 

YodaMan

Well-Known Member
DHS cast will park at blizzard beach or possibly Wide world of sports and off stage at studios. Epcot cast may be forced to do the same although they have a dedicated cast lot thankfully so it's not as bad as it could be. Magic kingdom just added around 3,000 parking spaces and they have level grass areas they can use to a limited extent if it gets to that point. Also animal kingdom just got done redoing their lots as well and added probably 2,000 spots in the process.

In short Disney is well prepared and has plenty of options should they need to make use of them.

And then there's poor, trapped Studios with no room for a bigger parking lot.
 

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Park definitely had healthy crowds tonight. Nice to see it busy and active. How it should be. Saw the lines of cars waiting to turn around as I bussed it back to my car at Epcot (I planned it that way). They seemed to be on top of busses. Epcot had one literally right after the other pull up.
 

JeffBostock

Active Member
Park definitely had healthy crowds tonight. Nice to see it busy and active. How it should be. Saw the lines of cars waiting to turn around as I bussed it back to my car at Epcot (I planned it that way). They seemed to be on top of busses. Epcot had one literally right after the other pull up.
How long did it take for your bus to get from DHS to Epcot tonight?
 

Kman101

Well-Known Member
How long did it take for your bus to get from DHS to Epcot tonight?

One pulled up as I arrived at the stop. It was probably about 20 minutes. Really not bad. Traffic was semi-heavy but not bad. I beelined it out of the park a little after 6 once the lights turned on. I wasn't going out with the crowd. And people were pouring in to the park. It was as busy as you'd see it during the daytime if not more.

To be quite honest, today was a great day. Low crowds (busy but compared to slammed it was great today) overall, I noticed. Actually enjoyable to walk around the parks today. Weather was fantastic.
 

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
With the redirects already happening for DHS, and cast parking soon to begin at Epcot. I am seeing a big chance that NYE Epcot could end up closing their lot to capacity. If that were to happen where would they begin to send guests, MK & Epcot park at DAK and DHS park at Blizzard Beach?

Dont worry. There's three lots that they dont normally use that will be used on NYE. All the lots by Woodpecker lane will be utilized. The last time I ever did NYE at Epcot, I parked by the cell phone tower....
 

DHoy

Active Member
Original Poster
Dont worry. There's three lots that they dont normally use that will be used on NYE. All the lots by Woodpecker lane will be utilized. The last time I ever did NYE at Epcot, I parked by the cell phone tower....
I know last year they never closed the lot but all surface spaces did fill and they continued to park guest in grass along woodpecker lane, the front entrance and the area following the auto plaza. There's only so much grass left.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
I just noticed a 100% double standard! How is it that DHS has traveled from its origins, and has changed and has had other experiences move in, and yet no one is crying foul? In Epcot, the WS is evolving, characters have moved in, and well, frozen, and this is the end of the world. But at DHS, sooo many people, complain that there is nothing to do, when DHS IS THE SHOWS. It is very much a performance park. I am a firm believer that people who have different core thoughts on a subject will have a very difficult time understanding each other. If I think the sky is Orange, and you think it is blue, we are going to not agree on color very often, even beyond the sky discussion. The same is true on other things. If Disney feels that the shows are an integral part of the DHS experience, and evidence is that they do, and the shows don't interest you much, then you will have very different views on the success of the park.

The same carries over to the EPCOT WS issues. Any idea you might have to "fix" the "problems" at either location don't line up with their under lying view of the location. We complain about frozen in norway, but the real problem is that many of us think WS should be something different that what Disney thinks it should be. We say there is nothing to do in DHS, they are proud of their shows and feel that they are a draw for the vast majority of people who visit the park (most guests visit less often than us.) Few of the shows are going away in the expansion plans, and much of that is that Disney is proud of the shows, and thinks they're important to the park. I'm not taking sides, but so long as Disney thinks the shows are part of the solution and others ignore the existence of the shows, there will always be disagreements.

Of course none of this takes away from my initial point... very little at DHS has closed, it's basically the same wonderful or boring half day park it has always been, with some minor additions and subtractions over the recent years.
Dhs is the most criticized park on this site... Not sure what you've been reading over the years.

And comparing content from a park that was supposed to be about the movies... To one that was about authentic culture... Is apples and watermelons
 

afb28

Well-Known Member
Wow. For the lot to be full on a Tuesday in early December when schools are in session, that's pretty wild. I expect crowds at DHS the week between Xmas and NYE to be insane (perhaps at the same level DHS saw for Villains Unleashed). I wonder what time of the day phased closings will begin to happen each day that week. I'll be there then. Guess I had better get to the park before 2pm or so, since I'm staying offsite. Think I'll make me an ADR somewhere at the Boardwalk late one afternoon so I can park there and walk to DHS. Who the heck wants to deal with traffic on BVD? Leaving the park will be a joke.

Last year I was at DHS on NYE, and it took 2 hours to get from the parking lot back to our condo near I-4 & 192 (5-6 miles). We could have walked back quicker. Upon leaving the DHS lot they directed traffic from BVD to Victory Way, which was awful.

By looking at traffic patterns on maps, it looks like anyone leaving Boardwalk parking area should be able to turn right (heading west) onto BVD easily and head towards World Drive. I'm hoping that will be the case.

Does anyone know if when leaving the Boardwalk late in the evening if they will force you to head towards Victory Way or will I be able to head towards World Drive?
Starting in about a week you won't be able to park there probably. They will start their resort policy of guests only for the holidays so don't bank on being able to park there.
 

RobbinsDad

Well-Known Member
I'm hopeful that the 11 PM closings once the SW fireworks start will alleviate some of the crowds at Osborne. We plan on going over one night after Fantasmic, something we've never been able to do before since Fantasmic usually ends after park closing.
 

DHoy

Active Member
Original Poster
I'm hopeful that the 11 PM closings once the SW fireworks start will alleviate some of the crowds at Osborne. We plan on going over one night after Fantasmic, something we've never been able to do before since Fantasmic usually ends after park closing.

With the addition of fireworks and expanded hours I fear it will be the opposite with increased crowds.
 

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