gregf71
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Messages
- 512
Just to share, offer a warning, and possibly a recommendation...this past Friday (October 3rd), my family and I drove up early from San Diego to spend the day in the parks before enjoying Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that night. We arrived at the Anaheim Hilton around 8:15am, checked in, dropped our stuff off in our room, and headed for the Mickey & Friends parking structure at about 8:45am. So far so good! Unfortunately, as we approached the structure, we were shocked to see Anaheim Police blocking access to the structure, directing us instead down towards the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier resorts. Just beyond the turn into the Grand Californian, an officer was positioned in the middle of the street with a sign saying, "Theme Park Parking." Turning left there, we found ourselves driving behind DCA and over to Harbor Boulevard. Crossing Harbor, we then entered bumper to bumper stillness for the next 20 minutes, as we observed those in front of us trying to turn into the Gardenwalk parking structure. My wife called Disneyland Information for well "information," and after 10 minutes of being on hold (again, while barely moving in this queue), the Cast Member we spoke to had no idea this was happening. She called a Parking Manager and received confirmation, but was confused why we were being sent to Gardenwalk and not the Toy Story lot. When we asked why this was happening, she did not have an answer. Finally, we made it to the Gardenwalk structure, showed our MNSSHP tickets for the parking to the Cast Member, and followed the pylons and signs down the rabbit hole, into the lower levels. Parked, we, along with many others, followed Cast Member direction and took either the elevator or stairs up to the Street Level. Once there, we found no signage and no Cast Members offering further directions to the shuttle area. The now large group separated into different directions until one portion of the group saw a sign in the far distance and beckoned the rest of us to follow. After marching the full length of the structure, we were greeted by a smiling Cast Member directing us around the corner to the awaiting shuttles, about 50 yards away. As we boarded our shuttle, I made a point of telling the Cast Member there, who unlike the greeter was wearing a walkie-talkie, about the non-existent signage near the elevators and stairs on this level and the confusion is caused. My hope was that she would apologize, promise to rectify that problem, and get on her walkie-talkie to communicate the need. Alas, she just apologized with what felt like an empty smile.
Five minutes later, our shuttle dropped us off in the Disneyland shuttle area near Harbor. Entering Disneyland, while my wife and daughter used the restroom, I visited City Hall to express my discontent. The friendly Cast Member listened to my description of our adventure and then proceeded to divert the blame to the Anaheim Police. He stated that Anaheim PD has the right to alter traffic and affect parking if they feel there is a need to do so AND they do not need to warn Disneyland about this decision. I replied that while I respected the Anaheim PD's authority, I questioned how doing this so early in the morning, effectively denying us the Mickey & Friends structure and I assume reserving it for later arrivals, made a difference. I added that Disney had to be aware of the PD's decision because the Gardenwalk structure was manned by a small army of Disney Parking Cast Members, yet the Disneyland Information Cast Member we spoke to had no idea what was going on! Add to this, the lack of proper signage at Gardenwalk and I didn't feel that his claim that Disneyland was partially a victim here held any water. In the end, I told him that we lost an hour of park time dealing with the parking; to wit he was kind enough to give us two "any attraction" (sans Radiator Springs Racers apparently) Fast Passes, which I thankfully accepted.
Long story short...if Mickey & Friends is closed off, go directly to the Toy Story lot! The irony of it all is that we were staying at the Anaheim Hilton and had we known what was going to happen, we would have simply driven across the street and into the Toy Story lot, saving us a lot of time and frustration. Not to mention, the crowds in Disneyland were not bad at all throughout the day, so unless the masses were all over at DCA, I don't understand why the Police made the decisions that they did. I realize that it was a Halloween Party night and it was the start of Gay Days, but still Disneyland was not crowded. Ah well, in the end, we had a fantastic day in the park and so much fun trick or treating that evening!
Five minutes later, our shuttle dropped us off in the Disneyland shuttle area near Harbor. Entering Disneyland, while my wife and daughter used the restroom, I visited City Hall to express my discontent. The friendly Cast Member listened to my description of our adventure and then proceeded to divert the blame to the Anaheim Police. He stated that Anaheim PD has the right to alter traffic and affect parking if they feel there is a need to do so AND they do not need to warn Disneyland about this decision. I replied that while I respected the Anaheim PD's authority, I questioned how doing this so early in the morning, effectively denying us the Mickey & Friends structure and I assume reserving it for later arrivals, made a difference. I added that Disney had to be aware of the PD's decision because the Gardenwalk structure was manned by a small army of Disney Parking Cast Members, yet the Disneyland Information Cast Member we spoke to had no idea what was going on! Add to this, the lack of proper signage at Gardenwalk and I didn't feel that his claim that Disneyland was partially a victim here held any water. In the end, I told him that we lost an hour of park time dealing with the parking; to wit he was kind enough to give us two "any attraction" (sans Radiator Springs Racers apparently) Fast Passes, which I thankfully accepted.
Long story short...if Mickey & Friends is closed off, go directly to the Toy Story lot! The irony of it all is that we were staying at the Anaheim Hilton and had we known what was going to happen, we would have simply driven across the street and into the Toy Story lot, saving us a lot of time and frustration. Not to mention, the crowds in Disneyland were not bad at all throughout the day, so unless the masses were all over at DCA, I don't understand why the Police made the decisions that they did. I realize that it was a Halloween Party night and it was the start of Gay Days, but still Disneyland was not crowded. Ah well, in the end, we had a fantastic day in the park and so much fun trick or treating that evening!
