ANAHEIM – When Disney officials talked last week about their high interest in pumping at least $1 billion into new attractions and other improvements at the Disneyland Resort in upcoming years, the project included a 5,000-plus parking structure.
But many familiar with the two parks say the company should add parking even if it doesn’t go ahead and make significant improvements at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, or both.
“They have to do something, realistically,” said Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, editor at MousePlanet.com, an unofficial Disney website. “They just don’t have enough of it in the busiest days. It’s fine in the slow days, but once it hits peak season, parking can be a challenge.”
In the past couple of years, parking has become “a big mess,” said Matthew Gottula, a contributor at Theme Park Insider, a web site that reports on the theme park industry.
“The annual passholder population has exploded in the past 10 years,” Gottula said. “What Disney has found is people (annual passholders) tend to drive separately to the resort. …
“The parking situation impacts everyone, from guests heading there for the day, to the cast members who are trying to get to their jobs,” Gottula said.
At both parks, attendance keeps climbing – in part because of the popularity of Cars Land, which opened in 2012. Parking slots have been added over the years, but some say not at a quick-enough clip.
On some of the busiest days, visitors who get shut out of Disney’s 10,000-spot Mickey and Friends parking structure are funneled in and around the resort into nearby Disney owned-lots.
On rare occasions, employees park at Angel Stadium and get shuttled the two miles to the parks.
“With record attendance and job growth over the last few years, creating additional guest and cast parking is an ongoing priority,” said Suzi Brown, a Disneyland spokeswoman. “Last month, we opened a 1,300-space lot at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Ball Road, and soon we will be adding more spaces at our Toy Story lot.”
Disney’s workforce alone is 28,000 strong. Employees and guests share 32,000-plus parking spaces in 23 parking lots for the two parks, three hotels and Downtown Disney, according to Disney documents.
On July 7, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to consider extending a ban on a ticket tax at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for 30 years if Disney invests at least $1 billion by 2024. Disney officials said that adding the parking structure is contingent on the council approving the deal.
Disney appears well poised to add the lot.
For the past three years, it has quietly spent more than $80 million buying properties adjacent to the resort, east of Harbor.
In 2014, Disney spent $48 million on a 13.6-acre site at 1515 and 1585 S. Manchester Ave., which sit next to the Pumbaa lot, at Harbor and Disney Way. Tenants, a federal-government agency and a dental-supply company, still have leases on the properties.
And earlier this year, the company spent $32 million on the 131-room Carousel Inn & Suites at 1530 S. Harbor Blvd., directly across the street from the two theme parks’ main entrances.
Disney officials say the company could build the parking structure with 5,000-plus slots on its Pumbaa lot, east of Harbor, which currently only has ground parking.
Some Disney bloggers say the company could add even more spots on the 13.6-acre property just north of the Pumbaa lot, and even raze the Carousel Inn to allow for a walkway – that leads straight to the parks’ main entrances.
Perhaps a bridge will go over Harbor, the bloggers say, to help the guests get to Disneyland and California Adventure.
“It’s possible they (Disney officials) can build an elevated walkway, something like a PeopleMover or a transport to shuttle guests over there,” Gottula said.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or jpimentel@ocregister.com
