Toy Story Parking vs. Mickey and Friends Structure

For regular Disney Park visitors like myself, parking can be a ritualistic pain at times. I often wonder if I’m the only one who has the urge to drop into the park but then as I begin to think of the parking process, I find myself already tired at the thought. The Mickey and Friends Parking Structure has its pros and cons but for some time it was the most convenient option. Now with the added option of parking at the Toy Story lot, regulars and vacationers are now provided with an alternate option to break the monotony of parking anxiety. It took me a while to look past my doubts of any convenience that the newer lot could provide based on its location being so far from the Disneyland Resort property. So in the effort to provide a fair opinion to share, I recently broke down and tried the Toy Story Lot parking option and have the following review to provide.

Let’s first start with the pros and cons for parking at Mickey & Friends Structure;

PROS:

• Covered Parking for the most part
• Direct access to tram
• Walking distance from Down Town Disney
• Walking distance from Parks
• Restrooms provided
• Awesome RV and large vehicle parking access
• Plenty of handicap parking
• Sufficient CM support
• Ample handicap accessibility on tram
• If you are boarding a pet in the Disneyland Kennel the tram allows your pet to ride with you into the park.

CONS:

• Garage closes periodically to detour and control parking throughout the day
• Sometimes your parking placement puts you very far from escalator access to trams
• Escalator and elevator services sometimes go down due to technical difficulties
• There are often long lines to toll booth on busy days which causes mass traffic on both Ball Rd and Disney Drive areas
• Frequency of trams picking up and dropping off sometimes don’t efficiently meet the needs of the crowd
• Even in moderate busy days you will still need to endure the awkward fight to get on the tram with other park visitors
• If there is an accident or other park vehicles that need access to the ONE path that the tram takes, then trams end up being backed up and you could be waiting for a very long time.
• On cold blustery or rainy days, the tram is almost intolerable to ride unless you enjoy getting soaked or freezing your buns off.
• The awful smell of the exhaust that the trams give out can sometimes cause a bad headache.

Now here’s a little info that I find some Annual Pass members who also have the parking package, still don’t know. For the longest time and before the Toy Story Lot was added, we were only allowed to take advantage of our pre paid parking in the Mickey & Friends Structure. Now the parking privilege has been extended to include Toy Story Lot as well.

So let’s now explore the Pro and Cons of our alternative parking option, Toy Story Lot...

PROS:

• This lot is hardly ever filled to the max
• The layout of parking space to shuttle pick up zone makes any parking space a relatively close trek to the shuttle area.
• Getting in and out of this lot is a breeze because you are not in the high traffic areas around the resort.
• Walking distance to Garden Walk, if you want to eat a great meal outside of the Resort or do a little shopping
• YOU CAN PURCHASE PARK TICKETS AT A CONVENIENT KIOSK LOCATED IN THE SHUTTLE PICK UP/DROP OFF AREA (this is actually a huge perk allowing you the opportunity to avoid long lines at ticket booths inside the park)
• Shuttles are always in abundance, waiting to load one after the other. This eliminates the wait time to board and gets you and yours into the park quicker.
• Shuttles are busses complete with heat and AC
• Shuttles are always clean and provide shelter from the outside elements
• The in-park drop off and pick up area for these shuttles is located in the shuttle zone, on the east side resort entrance. This is a pro because the East side entrance tends to be less crowded as you are not entering with the Down Town Disney patrons
• Upon departure from park, there are a slew of shuttles waiting to take you back to the lot making leaving efficient, quick and easy.

CONS:

• You are not within walking distance to your vehicle
• There are not restrooms provided anywhere on the lot
• Sometimes in order to meet the high crowd needs, the shuttles will allow max capacity boarding which means standing room only option. Due to many stops and turns, the standing room only option is very uncomfortable and challenging to stay on your feet.
• The ride from the lot to the park is a little longer
• Ventilation on the shuttle is sometimes not favorable for some riders

Both parking options have their own conveniences to offer but if you haven’t yet tried the Toy Story lot, I highly recommend giving it a go if you plan on an all day visit to the parks. Even though I am an annual pass member I appreciate the service of purchasing park tickets at the Toy Story Lot to avoid the long lines that build up at the ticket booths. The TS Lot also provides a dry and warm alternative on those wet, cold winter days. I personally base my parking decision on what kind visit I am making to the park that day. If I plan on a movie or dining in Down Town Disney or just a quick dip into the park, the best option for me that day is the structure. Otherwise if I plan to be at the parks most of the day I favor the Toy Story lot option mostly because I can barely tolerate the fight to get on the tram at the end of the night, which usually can take up to 30 minutes to even get me back to the structure.  After a full day in the park my sore feet and limited energy does not do well waiting and pushing through people who are just as anxious to get the hell out of dodge as I am.

The Toy Story Parking Lot is located off of Harbor Blvd between Katella and Orangewood. The entrance is opposite Convention way and can be accessed both north and South of Harbor Blvd. The Parking price is $15 for cars and motorcycles, $20 for oversized vehicles. NOTE:This parking facility is also included for us AP members who also have the pre paid parking added to our membership.

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