The next time you park your car at the Magic Kingdom, you might notice a few differences – not physical differences, but naming conventions and tram operations.
First, the parking lot has been divided into two sections. The western half (formerly containing lots named for Minnie, Chip & Dale, Pluto, Goofy, Daisy, and Donald) has been designated as the “Heroes” section. The eastern half of the parking lot (formerly containing lots named after six of the Seven Dwarfs) has been designated as the “Villains” section.
Within the Heroes half of the lot you’ll find new section names. Peter Pan, Rapunzel, Aladdin, Woody, Mulan, and Simba now designate the various sections.
The Villains half contains the Cruella, Ursula, Jafar, Hook, Zurg, and Scar sections.
At the TTC, guests will now board a designated tram when returning to their cars (either Heroes or Villains). No longer will you have to travel through the western portion of the lot before doubling back to find your car in the eastern half. This will ease crowding on the trams and be far more convenient.
As the tram spieler said on my visit yesterday, at least now if you forget where you park, you’ve narrowed the possibilities in half if you can just remember Heroes or Villains. LOL
As always, it’s important to remember where you park. Write it down. Commit it to memory. If you have a phone with a camera, take a picture of the row number. There are 11,000 spaces in this lot.
Wow! Now I feel really honored that we got to park in the first spot in the Minnie section before the name changed!
Jack, thanks for the information about the changes in the parking lot names. Would you know which of the new names replaced the old name. For example, did Simba replace Pluto. Thanks for your help!
Jack’s Answer:
Offhand, I don’t know. I would have to pull out old maps (which are packed away) and compare them to new. Sorry.
Whats wrong with the way it was? If folks couldn’t remember where they parked with the way it was, now they got to remember which lot their in and the row name. I always make a point to jot it down while waiting on the tram. Simple to do, never got lost. More confusion sounds like.
Whether ‘villains and heroes’ was the way to go or whether they chose the best characters – there’s always room for debate. However, I think splitting the trams is smart. In the past, didn’t we all just pile on the next available tram and endure the grand tour of the parking lot until they got to our section? The new system would seem to cut down on the wait in line and the journey to your car.
I still remember our parking spot from my first trip in 1983 – Grumpy 116. I remember because Dad was especially grumpy himself that day!
I remember now! I think you originally emailed me that Dopey was omitted (unless I’m getting “dopey”), but that is my favorite dwarf and I thought that it was included in the parking lot. Your response here says that “Doc” was omitted. I think I read somewhere that they didn’t include him because they didn’t want guests to get confused with the “Doc” parking lot and the “dock” for the Water Launch. There’s my only contribution to Disney trivia 🙂
Hi Jack!
I love this and what a great idea. I know my husband will be hard at work trying to figure out how we can time it right to park in the Zurg section!
Thanks!
Sarah
Jack, you responded to a poster that there was no Dopey lot. He did have a lot. Doc was excluded because they didn’t want people to confuse it with the ferryboat dock. Being a Walt Disney World CM I can totally understand why they made the decision to not give Doc a parking lot… 🙂
While I’m not the biggest fan of the new names, I do see why they did it. I just don’t like some of the characters they picked. Emperor Zurg really stuck out for me.. Really? He’s not even that big of a villian! I wouldn’t even consider him a villain. It’s not even that I am not a fan of the characters they picked, it is that some of them are so odd. I truly love Tangled and all but is Rapunzel really a hero? I definitely agree with posters that said they should have chosen more classic characters.
Disney has created so many fabulous characters over the years, I think it’s great that some new ones are getting their shot at “fame” in the parking lots. The old ones had been there at least fifteen years so they weren’t slighted in any way. It’s just fun to see newer characters too!
I just wanted to point out that it was actually Doc that was never a parking lot section. Dopey was the first lot on the left.
As somebody who remembers the Disneyland parking lot with the fancy section names of A, B, C, and on through most of the alphabet, I’ve always thought using Disney character names was cute. But my primary concern at the end of the day is finding my car, and getting to it quickly. It sounds like creating the two major sides, Villians and Heroes, will make it a faster trip on busy days and that’s great. I’m glad the Seven Dwarfs (or at least their minetrain) will be in the new section of Fantasyland; I don’t really care that they won’t be in the parking lot.
My kids are more likely to remember where we parked based on the new names so I love that on our 3 days in the MK they can do that job! Any advice on parking with the pre-ordered wheelchair but no handicapped parking tag?
Jack’s Answer:
Start by asking at the toll plaza as you pay for parking. If this is no help, ask the cast member directing you to drive down an aisle. Roll down your window and explain your situation to him or her. They may (or may not) be able to help you.
I agree with Meagan–I don’t like this AT ALL!!! Change is good….sometimes. I like the idea of the two-tram system. It makes total sense. But why are they casting out the classic and traditional in favor of the new and fashionable?? A big DISLIKE from this lifelong Disney fan.
This is great! I hope I get put in the villains lot every time. Love my villains.
I like the changes in the tram arrangement, but it seems like they could have achieved the same objective with one half being “Dwarfs” and the other being “Fab 5”. It is getting harder every day to find the Disney heritage in the parks and this is just another sad example of how it is fading away. My kids are all associated with one of the Fab 5 and we always would call or text to tell them where we parked that day.
I was there early last week and the lady showing people where to park told us to take a picture of “goofy” because that would be the last day that lot would be goofy. I went again on Friday for MNSSHP and I was in Zurg. I saw the 2 places for trams too… Very interesting.
I’m not a fan of this at all. On friday my fiance rolled into Zurg for MNSSHP and were like……..ZURG!?!? The heroes they picked are lame, generic, and already dated. What’s wrong w/ the original classic characters that every generation can appreciate? 🙁
I heard about this on TV or the radio last week, and was surprised when I went to Magic Kingdom on Friday, that the changes hadn’t been made. I was lucky enough though to park near the handicapped parking, so I walked to the TTC. For a moment I thought I may have simply overlooked the changes until I saw your photos of the tram loading areas. I would have noticed that when I left the park.
I did notice the new color schemes and awnings at the Confectionary and the adjacent facade. When I commented to a cast member that someone’s been busy painting on Main Street, she didn’t know what I was talking about, and hadn’t noticed a change. Oh dear!
You mentioned that one side of the parking lot was named after 6 of the 7 dwarfs. Which dwarf was left out? Was there a reason this name wasn’t used? I seem to remember reading about this somewhere a long time ago, but can’t remember the details.
Jack’s Answer:
The reason only six dwarfs were selected is because there are only six lots on the east side of the parking loat. Doc was omitted.
I am glad they are separating the lots so one will not have to double back. I do wish they left the names the same though. The little kid in me got a kick out of parking in the Goofy section.
Thanks for the great posts!
OK we were just there last week. And we could see that something was going on. Now I know. Cool can’t wait for the next visit.
As Claire said, I thought you would tell us the history of the lot. Oh well maybe a good idea for a later time. I will always remember the time that someone said they were parked in Mickey Mouse, and the cast member said he couldn’t take him to Mickey Mouse because it was too far away. The man started to get a little upset and that is when the cast member told him Mickey Mouse was only in Disneyland parking lot.
hey jack
once again disney is thinking out of the box. This will definetly help control crowd lines so that it will be less conjested and more convenient. can’t wait for your next blog and as always keep up the great work.
Hi Jack! I love this! I don’t remember the last time I parked at MK, because we always take Disney transportation. But, this new system sure will make it easier to find my car in the future. I’m the one who always has to sound my car alarm to help find my car. I always forget where I park, even on a trip to the grocery store. LOL!
Ok Jack, this is how your blogs have changed the way I think. When I saw the title of this one my first thought was “oh what amazing secrets and history is Jack going to tell us about the Magic Kingdom parking lot?” I was intrigued to say the least. Then I read it and had a good laugh as I realized it was one of your helpful and illustrative entries about the actual parking lot changes. But I was quite prepared for you to regale us with interesting tidbits about the parking lot!
Thanks again for the interesting AND useful posts you write.
Claire