Disneyland Resort is planning a massive expansion project that would include creating a seven-story, 6,800-space parking structure, a new transportation hub, and a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard.
They are slated to be completed by the end of 2018.
After the Register wrote the story of Disney’s plans last week, questions were asked, via Twitter and e-mail, about the development.
The Register went back to Disney and the planning documents for more information. The answers:
Q. What’s going to happen to the Carousel Inn?
A. It will close sometime in October and eventually be razed. A spokesman for Wincome Group, which manages the property for Disney, said the hotel is relocating the 55 employees or helping them find a new job at a nearby hotel.
Q. How about the Pizza Press, which was also on the Carousel Inn property?
A. Disney’s lease with Pizza Press ends in April.
Q. Will visitors staying at nearby non-Disney hotels be forced to walk around to the Eastern Gateway transit facility on Manchester Avenue to get to the Disneyland Resort?
A. Guests staying in the hotels or motels on Harbor will be able to access the resort without going through the Eastern Gateway. The plans are still being developed but there will be another entrance with a security point for those entering on Harbor.
Q. Will nearby hotels or motels have backside access to the Eastern Gateway?
A. Disney has no plans to create an access point behind the hotels and motels on Harbor.
Q. Will people walking on Harbor have access to the pedestrian bridge linking the new transportation hub with the theme parks, similar to the bridges that connect some hotels in Las Vegas?
A. There will not be a direct access to the pedestrian connector or bridge from Harbor. However, vistitors can use a pedestrian pathway at Harbor and Disney Way directly to the Eastern Gateway.
Q. What will the pedestrian walkway and bridge over Harbor look like?
A. The bridge may be similar to the one visitors cross in Downtown Disney over Disneyland Drive. Visitors may not have noticed that they are using the well-disguised bridge, because planters and tall hedges hide the view of the street. There will be a limited amount of retail and food vendors along the pedestrian walkway.
Q. How far is the walk from the Eastern Gateway security checkpoint, on the east side of Harbor, where the theme parks’ new transportation hub will be, to the esplanade that leads to the theme parks’ main gates?
A. The walk is about a half-mile, or 10 minutes. There will be shuttles to take handicap visitors to a drop-off area near the esplanade.
Q. Will there be a new route for the Monorail? Is there a chance Disney California Adventure will expand into the area that now holds the transit hub?
A. It’s unclear if the route will change. And Disney says that the design for the main entryway, where the current transportation hub sits, is in progress.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney
