Disneyland cancels Eastern Gateway, more parking and hotel

[DLRExpert]

The east entrance will eventually close for DCA expansion but it won't be for Marvel as Marvel will go to Bugs Land and behind Guardians.

Once new hotel opens, Paradise Bay Hotel will be next to be removed in order to create more DVC and moderately priced rooms and compete with surrounding hotels.

Star Wars hotel may also come depending on the popularity of the Wdw version.

 

[funatdisney]

Thanks for posting this. Got alot of great info here.

 

[GatorChris]

The Value hotels at WDW have weaker theming. The better themed hotels there are definitely the Deluxe hotels. Even the WDW Moderates do not have that great of theming (except, as I understand, the new Art of Animation). What you are asking for based on WDW is another Deluxe hotel along the lines of GCH (the only true DLR deluxe). And that would carry GCH prices (or higher, since it would be new).

Man, I'd love to argue a bunch of points (since you disagreed with everything I said). Especially on the 3rd gate. DL needs crowd control before they need more rooms. Everyone knows it. But.....to the point you made here, I can't let it pass. The moderates at WDW have TONS of theming! The Mansions of POR. The bright colors, palm trees and beaches of CBR. The "Jackson Square" feel of POFQ. And the three different themes of Coronado, all surrounding the Myan pool. All four of these have waaaaayyyyy more character than PPH and DLH. Way more. Shoot, even the AllStar Movies has more theming than PPH, and runs even with the theming of DLH (which is a Hilton but with cool Monorail waterslides and the Sorcerer's Hat).

If they want a bubble, they need more of what makes Disneyland ....Disneyland. Theming. What made DCA so awful it's first ten years? Minimal Disney theming - only Bug's Land felt Disney. Make the new hotel "themed" and people will feel the bubble. Otherwise, all they're adding is another Courtyard Marriott with Disney's name on it. That's a WDW/DL veteran's opinion. Here I stand, I can do no more.

 

[goooof1]

I just refuse to pay $500+ at the Grand when the last time I stayed at the Poly in Florida I paid $189 per night.

Yah....but it's Florida and not CALIFORNIA !!!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

Man, I'd love to argue a bunch of points (since you disagreed with everything I said). Especially on the 3rd gate. DL needs crowd control before they need more rooms. Everyone knows it. But.....to the point you made here, I can't let it pass. The moderates at WDW have TONS of theming! The Mansions of POR. The bright colors, palm trees and beaches of CBR. The "Jackson Square" feel of POFQ. And the three different themes of Coronado, all surrounding the Myan pool. All four of these have waaaaayyyyy more character than PPH and DLH. Way more. Shoot, even the AllStar Movies has more theming than PPH, and runs even with the theming of DLH (which is a Hilton but with cool Monorail waterslides and the Sorcerer's Hat).

If they want a bubble, they need more of what makes Disneyland ....Disneyland. Theming. What made DCA so awful it's first ten years? Minimal Disney theming - only Bug's Land felt Disney. Make the new hotel "themed" and people will feel the bubble. Otherwise, all they're adding is another Courtyard Marriott with Disney's name on it. That's a WDW/DL veteran's opinion. Here I stand, I can do no more.

My knowledge of the WDW moderates is not that great so I will defer to the points you and others have made here. I have stayed at CBR and thought the theming was really weak. But I did not use the pools or spend much time on the grounds except the bus ride around the resort. I went to a conference at CSR but did not stay at the hotel. Anyways, I agree DLR hotel theming is weak aside from GCH.

On the issue of crowd control, I guess I do not know what you mean. I think you mean they need to make the crowds be less or make the parks larger and keep the crowds the same. If you think adding a third park will lower crowds at DL and DCA, well history at both DLR and WDW do not show that. When new parks are added the older parks still bring in the same number of guests if not more.

I am not sure why they would want to make crowds be less (if that is what you indeed mean). Yes, it is nice for guests if crowds are lower. But the larger crowds bring in more money and has led to things like Star Wars Land.

The ability to make the parks larger, well that usually involves things like CarsLand and SWL which in turn bring in even more people. So that does not help with crowd density.

Maybe you can comment on what crowd control means to you?

 

[GatorChris]

My knowledge of the WDW moderates is not that great so I will defer to the points you and others have made here. I have stayed at CBR and thought the theming was really weak. But I did not use the pools or spend much time on the grounds except the bus ride around the resort. I went to a conference at CSR but did not stay at the hotel. Anyways, I agree DLR hotel theming is weak aside from GCH.

Maybe you can comment on what crowd control means to you?

If you've not tried the moderates at WDW, you should! They're awesome! So much less expensive than the deluxes but with all the theming and good restaurants. I've even got video of watching Illuminations Christmas version from my room at Coronado Springs (Rancho). They just have so much to offer. And they're definitely better than the Values as far as size of room and bus service.

As for crowds: I don't think I have to tell anyone how crazy it is entering the DLR parks each morning, or walking down Main Street, or squeezing through Tomorrowland or Adventureland. Now imagine an extra 5k-20k of people in DL each day because SWL attracted them there. That will be a reality in 2019....one I'm not sure I want to be a part of. Sure, I want to see it. Sure, my kids can't wait for it to be built. But the absolute madness it will create in the park will balance out all the joy the new land creates.

I don't claim to have the expertise to lay out logistics for where the third park would be, how we'd get to it, etc. I just know we need another place to draw people to, not more into the same direction. It's like dealing with commuter traffic to the Bay Area, and then Amazon opens a warehouse that employs 10,000 more people. Yeah, it great they did that. But the other commuters have to deal with 10,000 more people headed in the same direction (thank God I don't do that anymore).

 

[HydroGuy]

As for crowds: I don't think I have to tell anyone how crazy it is entering the DLR parks each morning, or walking down Main Street, or squeezing through Tomorrowland or Adventureland. Now imagine an extra 5k-20k of people in DL each day because SWL attracted them there. That will be a reality in 2019....one I'm not sure I want to be a part of. Sure, I want to see it. Sure, my kids can't wait for it to be built. But the absolute madness it will create in the park will balance out all the joy the new land creates.

Well it sounds like you might agree with a quote Yogi Berra reportedly made "No one goes there anymore because it is too crowded".

I think DL and DCA have both made attempts to improve crowd flow. The recent changes in AdventureLand have made a huge difference, but it still can get crowded in that gauntlet. Aside from limiting access to DL there is much more they can do.

A lot of the worst crowd issues at DL over the last few years happened because of the closure of Big Thunder Trail because of the Star Wars Land construction and re-routing the DLRR. Now that Big Thunder Trail is open that has improved things a lot at DL IMO.

When they added CarsLand to DCA and opened the path from BugsLand to Tot (now GOTG) that helped crowd flow at DCA a lot. They did a good job having several ways in and out of CarsLand, and having the RSR FP machines out front helped as well.

Aside from DLR just reducing the number of people allowed into DLR I am not sure what they can do. They already operate at maximum hours a good chunk of the year.

The final knob they can turn is reducing the number of AP holders. And they have turned that knob several times but people just keep paying. And coming.

I don't claim to have the expertise to lay out logistics for where the third park would be, how we'd get to it, etc. I just know we need another place to draw people to, not more into the same direction. It's like dealing with commuter traffic to the Bay Area, and then Amazon opens a warehouse that employs 10,000 more people. Yeah, it great they did that. But the other commuters have to deal with 10,000 more people headed in the same direction (thank God I don't do that anymore).

As I said before, history indicates a 3rd gate will do nothing to reduce attendance at DL or DCA and will likely increase attendance.

You can Google this and what I most often read is a 3rd park would likely go in the A section of the image below. There has been talk about an elevated peoplemover/walkway and/or new Monorail stop.

Also see this article from two years ago: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-...-idea-of-third-theme-park-20150313-story.html

 

[Albort]

i thought they were building a parking structure on C.

 

[toonaspie]

The parking structure will only be located in the corner right behind Paradise Pier.

I feel like they dropped the ball on any third gate opportunity by not buying GardenWalk when they had the chance. Note how that landmass perfectly bridges the Pumbaa Lot and Toy Story together.

 

[ludari]

I'm excited for this change and I only hope they will add some DVC rooms to the new hotel.