This week, the Disneyland Resort announced a change to the parking policy at the Downtown Disney lot that eliminates any free parking without a minimum purchase from one of the Downtown Disney merchants. Disneyland fans on DISboards.com have been discussing the new policy, and while many admit to taking part in the abuse of free parking that may have lead to the change, few are happy about the new rules.
The new policy goes into effect August 16th and states that guests can receive up to 2 hours of free parking with a minimum $20 purchase at a single Downtown Disney location, including any shopping or dining location. Guests can receive up to 4 hours of free parking with validating from any Downtown Disney table-service restaurant or the AMC Theatres.
Some posters on the boards are laying the blame squarely at the foot of Annual Passholders. Poster ‘ashley0139‘ agrees that “a lot of APs use it for short term theme park parking” and ‘Kender” adds, “We just can’t have nice things, can we?”
Others, however, are throwing the blame back to Disney. ‘DLgal‘ shares, “Disney created this parking mess and now we have to pay for it. That’s just wrong” and ‘SteveMP‘ thinks that Disney greed is at the heart of the matter “like all of the other changes going on.”
Poster ‘MillauFr‘ is more logical about the change, adding “I am surprised they are taking so long to make changes there. I mean Disney is selling rooms for $600 per night at the Grand Californian??? That has to be incredibly profitable. Why aren’t they building more hotels there? Which would you do? Sell rooms for $600 per night or sell two parking spots for $10 per night?”
Poster ‘skierrob‘ thinks the change makes sense, adding “Disneyland wants people to park at Downtown Disney who will spend $$ at Downtown Disney. If you aren’t going to spend $20 at a location while there, then why should you get free parking?”
How do you feel about the new policy? Did you take advantage of the free 2 hour parking? Let us know in the comments below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.
Source: DISboards.com
