Telsa Full Self Driving feature's impact on Disneyland Parking Logistics/Operations

[Parteecia]

I fully also experienced wide eyed delight by seeing driverless Waymo all over San Francisco for the first time a few days ago!

I go into L.A. on a regular basis and they are all over, especially thick in Hollywood. I was awed at first but now they're everyday. Tons of delivery robots on the sidewalks too.

Haven't used one but I would prefer it to an Uber. I don't get in strangers' cars.

 

[Disney Irish]

First Tesla Smart Summon does not reliably work in multi-level garages, they struggle and have issues with elevation changes in the garage, even crashing or just getting stuck. Now imagine 7000 of these at 10pm after fireworks, it'll be crashes like crazy and hours of grid lock, worse than anything that happens now. You'll have that tired dad waiting there until 2am for their car.

By 2031 (only 5 years away) I don't see any of that changing. We are a few decades away from everyone having full autonomous cars with full summoning features that work reliably in all situations. So check back in 2051 and see where things are.

Also Tesla car sales are on a downward trend, they are losing market share yearly of the EV market to cheaper and better manufacturers. They are even getting rid of some of their models and shifting into other businesses, ie they may not be a consumer car manufacturer in the long term. I see them moving into being an e-taxi subscription company long term if they remain in cars at all.

 

[Parteecia]

A ways to go:

https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/tesla-loses-crucial-autopilot-ruling-that-could-cost-hundreds-of-millions

Tesla quietly changed its FSD package, then known as “Full Self-Driving,” to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” and instead of promising the car could completely drive itself, it also changed the language to state that the car would only drive “with minimal driver intervention.”

Last month, Tesla canceled Autopilot, the most basic tier of its advanced driver assistance program, on new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. The move removed the Autosteer lane-centering feature from the vehicle’s base configurations, leaving only the Traffic-Aware Cruise Control feature.

 

[britain]

I suspect that there will be solutions for such new transportation patterns when they arrive, but they will be retrofitted into the current structures, and it probably won’t be that elegant.

It will be the equivalent of when we watched a lot of excellent queue designs get hacked up to fit FastPass into them.

 

[DLR92]

It is Tesla that is way behind Waymo. Waymo actually operates autonomously without anyone in the car. Waymo does much better in adverse weather. It is Waymo with the advanced hardware stack and not just cameras. Tesla’s system also causes more crashes than human drivers. Their sales have also absolutely cratered as they claim to be pivoting away from personal vehicles.

Even Elon himself stated Tesla will move forward with their AutoRobots.
Tesla is going through a trend that Elon Musk has popped with his erratic behavior.

 

[TP2000]

Waymo actually operates autonomously without anyone in the car.

Yeah, it's incredible! This is already happening on American roads. Driverless robot taxis. Who could have guessed?!?

Waymo does much better in adverse weather. It is Waymo with the advanced hardware stack and not just cameras. Tesla’s system also causes more crashes than human drivers.

Well, I don't know about that. The party host explained how Waymo uses different tech that struggles with snow and rain. Of course, his education was provided by a friendly Tesla salesman in Las Vegas, so...

But a quick Google shows that Waymo does have a problem with rain and snow, and it's due to a different type of technology than Tesla uses for Self Driving. It's sort of a Chevy Vs. Ford argument, but there's apparently something there.

We've had rain and snow in Southern Utah in the past month, and my friend says his Tesla Y AWD handled it all with no problem. But the Waymo uses a different tech. "Lidar"? It doesn't like it when there's standing water on the road, as there was in LA last week. Of course, the Tesla was driving in light snow and going on lightly populated and very well maintained roads in Utah, so that could help it.

No-go Waymo as rain stops fleet | Electronics Weekly

Heavy rain in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas of Arizona brought chaos to the roads and Waymo vehicles to a standstill. At the end of September, heavy

www.electronicsweekly.com

Their sales have also absolutely cratered as they claim to be pivoting away from personal vehicles.

Well, once American taxpayers stopped funding $7,500 tax rebates for upper-middle class families to buy expensive electric cars, electric car sales declined quite a bit in 2025. That wasn't a concept exclusive to Tesla, it also hit Cadillac and Lincoln especially hard and other upscale EV makers from Germany and Japan and Korea.

My dinner party host definitely would've enjoyed a $7,500 tax rebate (who wouldn't?!?), but he bought his Tesla too late. Like most Tesla owners though, he lives very comfortably and will survive happily with his new robot car without being subsidized by the income taxes of a waitress in Toledo and a barber in Raleigh.

I think I was most surprised that he paid the full $8,000 upfront for the Self Driving feature on top of the car cost, instead of going for just the $99 per month subscription. Both include real-time constant software updates and car improvements, but to get his money back he's going to have to live to be over 80. That's a gamble at our age!

 

[TP2000]

Haven't used one but I would prefer it to an Uber. I don't get in strangers' cars.

I'm the same way! I used Uber occasionally in the 2010's when I lived in SoCal, mainly to avoid parking hassles like at Disneyland or a Saturday night dinner reservation. Most of them were fine, some even fun and chatty.

But I had just enough weird Uber interactions driving down Katella back to Villa Park to happily choose a robot instead.

 

[TP2000]

I think your dinner host has it backwards. It’s a bit of propaganda because Tesla only uses cameras while the combination of LiDAR and cameras are superior.

It’s a bit of Tesla propaganda because they fell behind the curve.

I imagine you're right, and there's definitely a Tesla sales pitch going on here. Our dinner party host had been converted though!

And to Tesla's credit, all it took was a 5 minute ride around our gated community after dessert to see the light. I can just imagine this sort of thing taking place in suburbs around the country now and for the next few years.

This sort of word-of-mouth advertising and PR is priceless. As an older person, I would rank that dinner party drive right up there with when we got our first color TV, the first time I used a microwave oven, my first VCR, and my first car phone.

If anything, my first ride in a Self Driving Tesla was better than those other Firsts. Certainly, more glamorous.

So it really depends on cost here. I get way more usage out of my heated steering wheel than I’d probably get from this, especially if companies gate the feature behind a subscription.

My friend got the Tesla Y "Premium" with AWD and a fancy red paint job that added a few thousand, plus he paid an extra $8,000 upfront for Self Driving and all software updates for the life of the car.

But when I did some research this weekend, I was shocked! The last time I looked at Tesla is when I bought my Benz, and I was looking at an S sedan that was $80,000+ over five years ago. And only had the same assisted cruise control as German cars.

Now, when I look at Tesla prices they start at $35,000 and go up into the $50,000 with all the bells and whistles. That's honestly not expensive any longer, solid middle class car pricing around $40,000 or so.

This isn't something for the future, and it's not ultra-luxury. This is now, and it's middle-class normalcy. At least in the USA, especially SoCal.

Which is why I think it's going to impact Disneyland's antiquated and semi-hostile parking operation. TDA better get ready!

 

[Parteecia]

Which is why I think it's going to impact Disneyland's antiquated and semi-hostile parking operation. TDA better get ready!

Do they really care now? It's been a mess since I've been going, to the point that we rarely stay for night entertainment unless we're sticking around after because we dread the traffic so much. I think they've decided they have your money, they're done.

 

[TP2000]

Self driving cars are pretty impressive from what I have thus seen.
We truly are living in the future….

It's true! Exactly how I feel, especially now.

It's a fun and thrilling treat to ride in a Tesla as it drives itself around. But it wasn't until the next day that really got me thinking. This is mind blowing. It's transformational. It will completely rewire and rewrite how humans get around in their environment and their world. It will upend expectations for what basic convenience is.

And because like most long-term Disneyland fans and AP'ers, I have several battle scars from Disneyland's parking operation, I'm worried. After years of fighting the crowds and the mayhem trying to get on a tram to Mickey & Friends after World of Color, waiting.... waiting.... waiting... until a tram finally arrives to get us packed like sardines, then sitting in gridlock inching my way towards the freeway, etc. etc.

What the heck happens when even just 20% of those cars after the fireworks are all headed to a Resort District surface street location instead of the 6 lane freeway onramp??? What happens at 30%? 40%? And more?

 

[TP2000]

Do they really care now? It's been a mess since I've been going, to the point that we rarely stay for night entertainment unless we're sticking around after because we dread the traffic so much.

Something tells me when even just 25% of the exiting traffic post-fireworks starts trying to get into the single turn lane for a right onto Ball Road instead of merging into the 6 lanes of 5 Freeway onramps, they'll have to care.

Or when the hotel shuttle bus setup they create at the Eastern Gateway becomes instantly gridlocked by a few thousand Self Driving cars all being summoned by their master at the same time to come get them "off property", they'll have to care.

At a dinner party last Saturday I saw the future, and it is already here. It's too late to go back now.

After decades of TDA's gross mismanagement of their parking operation, especially the hostile and grossly incompetent way they operate the trams and buses and parking structures after 8pm every night, they better start thinking of a plan.

 

[TP2000]

It will be the equivalent of when we watched a lot of excellent queue designs get hacked up to fit FastPass into them.

If that will be their response, that is depressing to think about.

They destroyed the atmosphere of the park in many areas with Fastpass and the endless Standby queues it required.

I wonder though... This change will impact and/or destroy the surrounding Resort District surface streets and the businesses that rely on it to operate. Will those non-Disney businesses put up with it?

TDA can, and has, willingly destroyed the ambiance of New Orleans Square with Fastpass/LightningCrap at Pirates and Haunted Mansion, it can turn Tomorrowland into a charmless cement wasteland of queues and crowds, etc.

But will the business community of the Resort District put up with thousands of cars looking for their owners in surface parking lots along Harbor Blvd. after the fireworks each night? They might not have a choice.

And those "Good Neighbor" businesses will understandably be mad about it. TDA needs to be planning for 2035.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yeah, it's incredible! This is already happening on American roads. Driverless robot taxis. Who could have guessed?!?

Well, I don't know about that. The party host explained how Waymo uses different tech that struggles with snow and rain. Of course, his education was provided by a friendly Tesla salesman in Las Vegas, so...

But a quick Google shows that Waymo does have a problem with rain and snow, and it's due to a different type of technology than Tesla uses for Self Driving. It's sort of a Chevy Vs. Ford argument, but there's apparently something there.

We've had rain and snow in Southern Utah in the past month, and my friend says his Tesla Y AWD handled it all with no problem. But the Waymo uses a different tech. "Lidar"? It doesn't like it when there's standing water on the road, as there was in LA last week. Of course, the Tesla was driving in light snow and going on lightly populated and very well maintained roads in Utah, so that could help it.

No-go Waymo as rain stops fleet | Electronics Weekly

Heavy rain in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas of Arizona brought chaos to the roads and Waymo vehicles to a standstill. At the end of September, heavy

www.electronicsweekly.com

Well, once American taxpayers stopped funding $7,500 tax rebates for upper-middle class families to buy expensive electric cars, electric car sales declined quite a bit in 2025. That wasn't a concept exclusive to Tesla, it also hit Cadillac and Lincoln especially hard and other upscale EV makers from Germany and Japan and Korea.

My dinner party host definitely would've enjoyed a $7,500 tax rebate (who wouldn't?!?), but he bought his Tesla too late. Like most Tesla owners though, he lives very comfortably and will survive happily with his new robot car without being subsidized by the income taxes of a waitress in Toledo and a barber in Raleigh.

I think I was most surprised that he paid the full $8,000 upfront for the Self Driving feature on top of the car cost, instead of going for just the $99 per month subscription. Both include real-time constant software updates and car improvements, but to get his money back he's going to have to live to be over 80. That's a gamble at our age!

Do you think people outside the US got or could even use US income tax credits on their vehicle purchases?

This isn’t a Chevy vs Ford personal preference thing. There is no measure by which Waymo isn’t the clear industry leader. Tesla hasn’t even automated the Vegas Loop where there isn’t other traffic, the easy sort of automation setup that’s been done for decades.

 

[DLR92]

Tesla and Waymo can’t prove to me it reliable. I won’t have any desires to use Waymo. Because I don’t trust this early development of self driving automobile technology.

 

[Andrew C]

Yeah, it's incredible! This is already happening on American roads. Driverless robot taxis. Who could have guessed?!?

DW now always uses Waymo taxis when she travels to San Francisco for work. Says she prefers that over getting into a car with a stranger. Especially at night.

 

[Parteecia]

Something tells me when even just 25% of the exiting traffic post-fireworks starts trying to get into the single turn lane for a right onto Ball Road instead of merging into the 6 lanes of 5 Freeway onramps, they'll have to care.

Or when the hotel shuttle bus setup they create at the Eastern Gateway becomes instantly gridlocked by a few thousand Self Driving cars all being summoned by their master at the same time to come get them "off property", they'll have to care.

At a dinner party last Saturday I saw the future, and it is already here. It's too late to go back now.

After decades of TDA's gross mismanagement of their parking operation, especially the hostile and grossly incompetent way they operate the trams and buses and parking structures after 8pm every night, they better start thinking of a plan.

Ah, got it. City and other businesses' pressure. I recall the Leap Day gridlock.

 

[Professortango1]

They should build a big structure where Toy Story is or even further away and have a monorail/peoplemover/skyliner. Trying to keep up with cars is absurd and it's what has weakened Los Angeles. In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any private vehicles within the resort district and it would all be public transit and pedestrian areas.

 

[Disney Irish]

They should build a big structure where Toy Story is or even further away and have a monorail/peoplemover/skyliner. Trying to keep up with cars is absurd and it's what has weakened Los Angeles. In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any private vehicles within the resort district and it would all be public transit and pedestrian areas.

In a perfect world we would beyond the ICE and onto flying cars or something.

I think the days of car ownership will come to an end in the near future (for many reasons) and everyone will just be requesting rides from e-taxis or some pod type overhead personal transport, making parking garages obsolete anyways.

 

[Andrew C]

I think the days of car ownership will come to an end in the near future (for many reasons) and everyone will just be requesting rides from e-taxis or some pod type overhead personal transport, making parking garages obsolete anyways.

That won't be happening in my relatively rural area any time soon. Also, I need my truck for towing purposes.

 

[Disney Irish]

That won't be happening in my relatively rural area any time soon. Also, I need my truck for towing purposes.

"Any time soon" is relative, as I didn't say tomorrow, I said in the near future, I also didn't say in all areas immediately. Also why wouldn't it be in rural areas? What extra "infrastructure" is needed that isn't available in rural areas today, zero, all the infrastructure is mostly in place.

I expect it to start in the large metro areas first, and then move its way to the rural areas over time. As discussed there is already many that prefer e-taxi services like Waymo over rideshare services like Uber or Lyft, and I expect that to continue to rise over the next 5-10 years. Fast forward to 20 years down the line and you have less car ownership in the metro areas and it start making its way into the rural areas.

So no I don't expect it to happen in your rural area "soon", but give it a decade or two and you might be looking at a different situation. Also why couldn't there be e-taxis for towing? I mean you need to tow your boat for the weekend, request an "e-tow" from your home to the lake, done.