The Parking Structure is a friggin disaster

Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
OM, in regards to exiting the structures using the Magic Way "regular" exit.

During the middle of the day, when the volume is light, no APD is needed as it doesn't impede other traffic.

But when the nightly "rush" happens, basically any decent stream of vehicles would impact Disneyland Drive, especially northbound, but also Southbound, especially since Simba is now the main DtD lot. So that "impact" requires the assistance of APD, aka Disney gets a big bill to pay.

If Disney can keep the cars on the Flyover solely, that is the expected vehicle load, and designed to push almost 100% onto either I-5 North or I-5 South, and keeps cars off Ball Road. No APD is needed. So that is Disney's goal, and they have been doing a decent job on it. (I have been on Ball Road in the evenings quite a bit in the last few weeks.)

But I feel for the Disney Guests being forced to be funneled to just two exit lanes for about 18,000 vehicles.

I doubt that how they are exiting the structures have nothing to do with the Eastern Gateway.

The Angel Stadium issue is the biggest issue, as the city doesn't want to deal with the Gateway process until the Angels deal is signed.
 
mandelbrot

mandelbrot

Well-Known Member
Macro said:
The problem is that so many people try to leave at once after fireworks. Wait until closing time and it's better.

Plus if I'm seeing that picture above correctly then the flyover isn't open. If that thing's shut when a bunch of people leave then it's a nightmare. I leave late and it's almost always open. Or maybe the flyover is blocked by people trying to get to Ball road. It's hard to tell in that picture.
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The flyover can be quite hard to get to if you're parked on the fourth floor or higher. Most guests are forced to go north on Disneyland drive. It's all very badly designed.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
DrAlice said:
Word. If Disney designed it so that its only options are 1) pay a ton of money for APD to direct traffic or 2) make the guests suffer, I think, by definition, that makes it a poor design.
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Remember that the Western Gateway was a rush job, due to the Eastern Gateway political mess. The design wasn't that thought out, and changes had to be made from when first announced.

Another reason why the Eastern Gateway will be returning soon. (Unless the Angels issue becomes a big mess).
 
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wowsmom

Active Member
Darkbeer1 said:
Remember that the Western Gateway was a rush job, due to the Eastern Gateway political mess. The design wasn't that thought out, and changes had to be made from when first announced.
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Our family has talked about how it seems they didn't think through a lot of things when designing Pixar Pals. I guess it wasn't just us being picky. I wonder if they'll be able to change/fix some of the issues once the Eastern Gateway is done? Or will it mostly be not necessary with all the extra spaces?
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
wowsmom said:
Our family has talked about how it seems they didn't think through a lot of things when designing Pixar Pals. I guess it wasn't just us being picky. I wonder if they'll be able to change/fix some of the issues once the Eastern Gateway is done? Or will it mostly be not necessary with all the extra spaces?
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The spaces will NOT be extra spaces, the DLR is still way short in guests, CM and DtD and other third party employees.

But shifts can be made. Due to the underperforming SWGE, the CM's are now parking in level 2 of the structures (Instead of off site). The impact of CM vehicles is a lot different than guests. Only a few get off right after fireworks or closing, etc.

You also have to remember that SWGE will rebound (even if it is just letting more AP folks to show up), and that Marvel-like addition (Stage 1 and 2) will bring in more guests.

But yes, once Puumba is open, you can see some shifting/repurposing of spaces. But they still need a CM Structure at Harbor and Ball, so you have to place those cars somewhere temporarily. Plus what will happen to Toy Story? Part of it is only on a temporary use permit from the city.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Stevek said:
Yep, it's the only lot I park in. My daughters still go together but want to ride the tram so they deal with that structure cluster.
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I honestly don’t remember the last time my family parked in Mickey & Friends. It’s no longer an option for us. I do get a sense of nostalgia when I randomly think about the trams, but the nostalgia is not strong enough for me to choose to park in Mickey & Friends.
 
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wowsmom

Active Member
Darkbeer1 said:
The spaces will NOT be extra spaces, the DLR is still way short in guests, CM and DtD and other third party employees.

But shifts can be made. Due to the underperforming SWGE, the CM's are now parking in level 2 of the structures (Instead of off site). The impact of CM vehicles is a lot different than guests. Only a few get off right after fireworks or closing, etc.

You also have to remember that SWGE will rebound (even if it is just letting more AP folks to show up), and that Marvel-like addition (Stage 1 and 2) will bring in more guests.

But yes, once Puumba is open, you can see some shifting/repurposing of spaces. But they still need a CM Structure at Harbor and Ball, so you have to place those cars somewhere temporarily. Plus what will happen to Toy Story? Part of it is only on a temporary use permit from the city.
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LOL I didn't mean they would be extra spaces (as in unnecessary), I just meant there would be more spaces. Sorry if I wasn't super clear. (not enough caffeine today!) I'd just like to see more ADA spaces and on each level. :)
 
Old Mouseketeer

Old Mouseketeer

Well-Known Member
Thank you DarkBeer. This is exactly the kind of clarification I was hoping for. I think I'm pretty good at analyzing and inferring the intent of certain design choices, but it needs the real-world knowledge that you can bring.

Can I just repeat what I have been saying over and over: I truly believe that there is an opportunity for a reboot in the relationship between Disney and Anaheim and that if they are smart, there is some major horsetrading to be done with benefits for both sides. I just hope Disney will improve the Eastern Gateway--I believe there are some key improvements to be made.
 
mandelbrot

mandelbrot

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
The spaces will NOT be extra spaces, the DLR is still way short in guests, CM and DtD and other third party employees.

But shifts can be made. Due to the underperforming SWGE, the CM's are now parking in level 2 of the structures (Instead of off site). The impact of CM vehicles is a lot different than guests. Only a few get off right after fireworks or closing, etc.

You also have to remember that SWGE will rebound (even if it is just letting more AP folks to show up), and that Marvel-like addition (Stage 1 and 2) will bring in more guests.

But yes, once Puumba is open, you can see some shifting/repurposing of spaces. But they still need a CM Structure at Harbor and Ball, so you have to place those cars somewhere temporarily. Plus what will happen to Toy Story? Part of it is only on a temporary use permit from the city.
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I'm not sure if the underperformance of GE as anything to do with CM parking changes. CM's were displaced from Simba lot due to...Disney needing to tear up the lot for some reason. CM's are displaced from KCML because Toy Story lot is taking over that land.

You would need a parking structure as large as M&F to have enough parking for all CM's at peak times. That wouldn't fit at Harbor lot.

By "Pumbaa" did you mean Manchester lot?

Even if a lot of CM's got off at or just after fireworks time their impact on resort traffic would be negligible since they have their own exit on Ball

I think a lot of CM parking changes are coming. The former DtD lot is finished and never more than half full with DLH CM's. Whatever the heck they are doing in Simba (where thousands of CM's used to park) seems to be nearing completion and MCML is open or should be opening soon. It's possible the second floors of the structures return to guest use.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Assuming the pay rate is $20 an hour, plus benefits for a total labor cost of $25 an hour, you could pay for six traffic officers for six hours of work with 36 paying cars out of a parking garage that holds about 20,000 paying cars per day.
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The approximate fee is around $125 per hour cost to Disney. (Average hourly rate is about $40 per hour plus benefits, at overtime, plus overhead, it adds up)
 
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wowsmom

Active Member
mandelbrot said:
Whatever the heck they are doing in Simba (where thousands of CM's used to park) seems to be nearing completion
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We were in the Simba lot tonight...it's still a mess. The front lot is fenced off, there was only one booth for getting the parking ticket (I swear there were 2 last week), the walkway from the big lot is fenced off. People kept having to double back to find the way to DTD. There are a bunch of spaces with signs for electric vehicle charging (but no charging stuff yet) but very few ADA spaces. I'm really curious to see how it all ends up.
 

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