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View Full Version : Parking at mickey lot & 9-11



disneyscott
09-23-2002, 08:39 AM
I don't like parking in the structure, so about 4 months ago I started asking to park on the lower level and there wasn't any problem. About a week ago they wouldn't let me and yesterday they almost wouldn't let me.

As I went to town hall to ask if i could get a letter to allow me to park down stairs I got a very nice castmember ( i dont remember his name) and we talked for a while and he in the end blamed it on sep 11th.

Does disney or other companys use 9-11 as an excusse other than saying i dont know or ill look in to it.

I know is over one year and the world will never be the same but im am so tired of this excusse

Andrew
09-23-2002, 09:35 AM
It's not just Disney, though Disney does it quite a bit ("May we ride in the front cab of the Monorail, please?" "No, it's closed due to Sept. 11th." -- this in August 2002). Many failing tech companies' first-quarter layoffs were blamed on Sept. 11th, when in fact their unworkable business plans (and occasional criminal CEOs) were the cause.

Basically it's become a convenient excuse to use so that you won't be questioned about nonsensical decisions. It annoys me greatly, but who can you complain to? If you try to deny that Sept. 11 has anything to do with whatever they're trying to excuse, you get the "you have no idea" look.

RStar
09-23-2002, 09:59 AM
My wife has an extereme fear of hights and absolutely cannot handle the top of that structure. She panics, hyperventilates, and shakes at just the thought of going up there. She has a handicap parking plackard for now that keeps her in the bottom of the structure.

I wounder if an SAP can be had for this sort of thing? Otherwise, it may be better to park in one of the Lion King lots if they are not full. I know, it's a time consuming pain to park there, but it will keep you on the ground, if that is the problem.

disneyscott
09-23-2002, 10:52 AM
I thought the A P had to park only at the mickey lot to get the free parking

disguy
09-23-2002, 11:23 AM
That is true. The only way of getting around that is if you go to the parking lots 2 hours before closing. Then parking is free (except for DTD lot)

cstephens
09-23-2002, 11:32 AM
While I do think that using Sept. 11 is an all-too-pervasive and handy excuse, I can actually see how it might apply in this situation. If someone wanted to do something to cause damage in the parking structure, it might cause more or less damage depending on what floor they're on. I expect that in certain scenarios, something happening on the ground floor could cause the most damage, so it's possible it could be suspicious for someone to ask to park there. Of course, there are lots of reasons for people to make that request, so rather than have a parking lot CM decide who's dangerous and who's not, it's better to just have them say "no" to everyone. Also, I can understand the chaos that could result if everyone could request where they wanted to park. In cases where it's a physical problem (like fear of heights), I expect that can be handled on a case-by-case basis.

socabch
09-23-2002, 11:45 AM
I thought the A P had to park only at the mickey lot to get the free parking

That's normally true and it states it in the AP info. However, one time when I got off the freeway I forgot to get in the other lane and was forced into the Lion King lot. When I got to the first CM, I explained I made a mistake and can I go around so I can park where I'm supposed to. He said I could park in Lion King for free with my AP.:confused: Don't know why I was allowed to. So when I got to the kiosk (sp) and showed my AP guess what...... no problem. I got my free parking ticket. Go figure!

Ghoulish Delight
09-23-2002, 12:12 PM
Originally posted by socabch
That's normally true and it states it in the AP info. However, one time when I got off the freeway I forgot to get in the other lane and was forced into the Lion King lot. When I got to the first CM, I explained I made a mistake and can I go around so I can park where I'm supposed to. He said I could park in Lion King for free with my AP.:confused: Don't know why I was allowed to. So when I got to the kiosk (sp) and showed my AP guess what...... no problem. I got my free parking ticket. Go figure! The official policy is for everyone to park in the structure. And, when they oringially made this policy, the enforced it. To the point that I tried parking in Lion King once, and was given a red thingy on my windshield which prompted a CM to direct me across the street to the structure to park.

But now that all APers are aware of the policy, they don't care as much. They want all APers to park in M&F, but they aren't going to go out of their way to stop the small ammount that still go to Lion King. Just not worth their time.

scottmen
09-23-2002, 12:31 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
The official policy is for everyone to park in the structure.

Why would they have this policy. I know that when I got my pass it said I could only park in the stucture. But I never really knew why. I could guess that they want everyone so see the "exciting" structure and it does left you off almost in DTD for more shopping crowd control. But is there a real reason?

Scott

Ghoulish Delight
09-23-2002, 12:51 PM
Originally posted by scottmen
Why would they have this policy. I know that when I got my pass it said I could only park in the stucture. But I never really knew why. I could guess that they want everyone so see the "exciting" structure and it does left you off almost in DTD for more shopping crowd control. But is there a real reason?

Scott I would suspect it's simply because the Lion King lot is tiny. They'd like to not fill it up. If they keep most people headed to the parking structure, they can be sure that there is space in the LK lot. I remember showing up and often seeing the LK lot coned off. I'm sure this leads to some very confused tourists trying to figure out where to park, or thinking the park itself is full.

socabch
09-23-2002, 01:04 PM
I kind of like the parking in the structure. If it's hot, then you have shade on your cars (unless you have to park on top). There is a bathroom right there for last minute better go before hitting the road stop. The thing I don't like is the ramps when leaving. If you need to get gas before going home it's sometimes hard to get over to the right lanes for Ball St with all the traffic. Also some people get confused and actually stop in the middle of the road after leaving the complex because they aren't sure which lane they should be in.

disguy
09-23-2002, 02:59 PM
It may also have something to do with parking hours. When I parked there they did say this lot was mainly for The theme parks. They close the time that the theme parks close, However they can not close the gates or go home until the last car is gone from lot which could be as late as 2am (DTD hours) So maybe they just want everyone to park in M&F where they already have the CM's and not have to keep Cm's late or transfer them to the lot.

RStar
09-23-2002, 03:28 PM
I prefer the M&F as well, but I didn't realize we could ONLY park there! Oops, sorry. Thanks for letting me know before I tried it some day. I think the last time I used it was about 6 months ago and no one said any thing.

If you are only going for a few hours there's always the DtD lot. I use that some times, but you can hike it on the weekends....

Uncle Dick
09-23-2002, 04:00 PM
Originally posted by scottmen
Why would they have this policy. I know that when I got my pass it said I could only park in the stucture. But I never really knew why. I could guess that they want everyone so see the "exciting" structure and it does left you off almost in DTD for more shopping crowd control. But is there a real reason?
The only real purpose of Timon these days is stemming the heavy flow into the parking structure during the busy 1000-1200 period. When the east tolls are opened, all traffic is redirected to the structure until around 930 when the redirect begins to back up the traffic in the structure. Timon is then opened and, with any luck, not filled until traffic in the structure has died down significantly. Then the redirect is reopened until the Pinocchio tolls are shut down around 1600. Timon is then opened for the rest of the night.

So, since Disney is trying to get everyone to park in the structure anyway, it makes little sense for them to encourage parking in what is essentially an overflow lot, although you're not going to have any trouble parking in Timon if you're an AP.


Originally posted by disneyscott
I don't like parking in the structure, so about 4 months ago I started asking to park on the lower level and there wasn't any problem. About a week ago they wouldn't let me and yesterday they almost wouldn't let me.
Unless things have changed in the last month or so (and I wouldn't be surprised…), allowing guests to park on the lower level has always been the discretion of the toll booth lead based on both the expected and actual attendence. On heavily attended days, like weekends, lower level parking is restricted to those with disabled tags and oversized vehicles.

I will agree that 9-11 is a totally lame excuse, and I question whether the Guest Relations CM you spoke to was knowledgeable about operations in the parking structure, again, unless policy has changed in the past month and a half.

And not to sound like I've heard every lame excuse in the book from guests wanting to park on the lower level, but why exactly can't you park in the structure with the rest of us, beyond "not liking it"?

dizneelover
09-23-2002, 04:58 PM
Originally posted by Andrew
It's not just Disney, though Disney does it quite a bit ("May we ride in the front cab of the Monorail, please?" "No, it's closed due to Sept. 11th." -- this in August 2002

Using 9/11 as an excuse is just convieniant for some CM's when they don't want to deal with you. I went to DL back in April, my group of 3 asked the first CM we saw if we could ride in the front of the Monorail. She replied, "Sorry, we can't allow people to ride there due to our security policy which started because of 9/11". So, we waited a couple of minutes until the next Monorail came and when the conductor got out of the monorail, we asked him if we could ride in front. He replied with a "Sure! Go on in!". I was able to talk to him while he was "conducting" or whatever and he just said that that CM was probably just having a bad day or something. There is no rule, security or other, that says GP can't ride in the front or back of the Monorail, it just depends on who you ask.

RStar
09-24-2002, 09:45 AM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
And not to sound like I've heard every lame excuse in the book from guests wanting to park on the lower level, but why exactly can't you park in the structure with the rest of us, beyond "not liking it"?

Again, my wife can't handle the hights. I know it's silly, but just knowing we are going off the ground, whether she can see it or not, kills her. So after her handicap plackard is expired, what can we do?

Uncle Dick
09-24-2002, 10:07 AM
Originally posted by RStar
Again, my wife can't handle the hights. I know it's silly, but just knowing we are going off the ground, whether she can see it or not, kills her. So after her handicap plackard is expired, what can we do?
Well, I *would* recommend going to City Hall :rolleyes: , but after reading this thread, I think you should probably explain your situation to a parking lead. :)

disneyscott
09-24-2002, 12:12 PM
When i went to city hall I wasnt going in there with the I"M AN AP attatude. In fact the guest service person wanted to call a parking superviser, but I told him not to waste his time walking all the way over for somthing like this

I like to park down on the lower level because I dont take the tram into the park, I walk through DTD. When you add up the wate time for the elevators (we have a stroller) and the walk time it is faster to be on the bottem

I do think it does have somthing to do with the time i go becaue I there at 9am on sat, or sun and when i go back to my car at night they have opened up the area where i like to park.

Uncle Dick
09-24-2002, 11:34 PM
Originally posted by disneyscott
I do think it does have somthing to do with the time i go becaue I there at 9am on sat, or sun and when i go back to my car at night they have opened up the area where i like to park.
Shortly after the tolls are closed, all cars are directed into the lower level since there's no one left to give out tags separating the traffic.

MonorailMan
09-25-2002, 06:29 AM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
Shortly after the tolls are closed, all cars are directed into the lower level since there's no one left to give out tags separating the traffic.

AKA: Free Parking! :)

We have had this happen, but mom hates it, she doesn't like the walk. :)