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

[TP2000]

Exactly. You’re telling everyone they don’t what’s out there while not even knowing the basics.

This has been around in development and early stage tests for years, even I know that. It finally arrived at a fuddy-duddy's dinner party in Utah last week. I've never claimed to be cutting edge, but here I am!

The future was at least eight years ago when Waymo started offering passenger service in their actual driverless vehicles.

I had no idea they were that old! I only became aware of the Waymo concept a year or two ago, and now that I think about it, it was when the crummy teens in San Francisco started attacking them and lighting them on fire for fun. I've never lived in a city with Waymo, nor do I do business travel any more to other cities.

(A quick check on the Google... and Waymos are still not operating in Orange County or San Diego yet. Just LA city proper, it seems. But I guess they got approval to expand into OC and San Diego later this year? )

But now it's 2026. Cars with Full Self Driving software and hardware are being sold by the thousands every week now.

As someone who still has battle scars from trying to fight my way into a Disneyland parking tram too often and started Ubering to the park to avoid that, I'm wondering how TDA will respond once there's a few thousand robot cars parked on their property every day and they all set off onto surface streets to find their master after the fireworks?

 

[lazyboy97o]

But now it's 2026. Cars with Full Self Driving software and hardware are being sold by the thousands every week now.

They are not. Full Self Driving (Supervised), which is its new and current name, is years old and was recently renamed because it still is not even the lowest level of autonomous system.

 

[Parteecia]

They are not. Full Self Driving (Supervised), which is its new and current name, is years old and was recently renamed because it still is not even the lowest level of autonomous system.

See my post #23.

 

[lazyboy97o]

See my post #23.

But the cars salesman said….

 

[TP2000]

But the cars salesman said….

I am mulling a Tesla purchase now, to be honest. Might be just a phase though. My brother-in-law recently picked me up at baggage claim in a very swanky, huge 2026 Audi EV behemoth. It was very impressive and very nice, but it only had the same assisted cruise control my '23 model car has.

This Tesla Self Driving tech is something else entirely. Call it by whatever number or software update or level you want, sniff away that the plebes shouldn't have known about this when it was already at CoolGuyCon back in 2022, etc., etc.

But when it gets an entire dinner party talking and then Googling the Tesla dealership in Las Vegas, that's something you can't buy. What Costco shopper right now wouldn't be impressed by this?!? The people in this parking lot sure were.

I'm just wondering what happens when there's a thousand of these stuck on Harbor Blvd. after the fireworks.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm just wondering what happens when there's a thousand of these stuck on Harbor Blvd. after the fireworks.

Same thing that happens now, or in bumper-to-bumper on the 405 at 5pm, they inch along just like every other car.

 

[TP2000]

Oh I forgot that you know more than everyone, all because you took a ride for the first time this past weekend at a dinner party.

I just took my first robot car drive last Saturday night. You guys have all been doing this robot car thing for years apparently.

I'm way behind the curve, I'm the first to admit it. But at least I'm honest.

And, because this is a Disneyland forum, I started thinking about this technology's impact on Disneyland's already miserable Resort Parking operation and infrastructure.

As has been told to you over and over, there are different levels of Autonomous Vehicles, what you're talking about is Level 4/5 type autonomous cars, Tesla is at Level 2 and no software update in 6 months will make them Level 4.

You got sold on a parlor trick that is all.

If Tesla is selling all these cars based off of a parlor trick, it's working! It's incredible technology, especially when you see it for the first time first hand like I just did.

Disneyland needs to get ready for this. It's going to rewrite the rules of how people want to leave the Resort after fireworks.

 

[TP2000]

Same thing that happens now, or in bumper-to-bumper on the 405 at 5pm, they inch along just like every other car.

The San Diego Freeway was already designed to be 16 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic at times.

But that's not what we're talking about. Not even close.

This single right hand turn lane out of the 17,000 space Mickey & Friends Parking Structure was never designed to handle 20% or more of the departing traffic as a thousand or more robot cars go looking for their master on Harbor Blvd. at 10pm.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I just took my first robot car drive last Saturday night. You guys have all been doing this robot car thing for years apparently.

I'm way behind the curve, I'm the first to admit it. But at least I'm honest.

And, because this is a Disneyland forum, I started thinking about this technology's impact on Disneyland's already miserable Resort Parking operation and infrastructure.



If Tesla is selling all these cars based off of a parlor trick, it's working! It's incredible technology, especially when you see it for the first time first hand like I just did.

Disneyland needs to get ready for this. It's going to rewrite the rules of how people want to leave the Resort after fireworks.

You’re not being honest. You’ve made a bunch of erroneous assumptions and extrapolations that you keep insisting are fact.

Level 2 driver assistance has been available from several manufacturers for years. It has had no impact on the parking situation at the Disneyland Resort and it is not suddenly going to change because you finally experienced it.

People will not be owning Level 4+ vehicles in the near future. Even if they did, the traffic jam caused by a bunch of people summoning them all at once would dissuade people from using them in such a manner. And if standing around waiting didn’t then there is an assortment of other strategies available such as not letting people load/unload in certain places.

 

[Disney Irish]

I just took my first robot car drive last Saturday night. You guys have all been doing this robot car thing for years apparently.

I'm way behind the curve, I'm the first to admit it. But at least I'm honest.

And, because this is a Disneyland forum, I started thinking about this technology's impact on Disneyland's already miserable Resort Parking operation and infrastructure.

If Tesla is selling all these cars based off of a parlor trick, it's working! It's incredible technology, especially when you see it for the first time first hand like I just did.

Disneyland needs to get ready for this. It's going to rewrite the rules of how people want to leave the Resort after fireworks.

And everyone here is being honest as well, you're the one claiming that we don't know what we're talking about. You're the one saying that Tesla can just fix this with a software update in 6 months, when you clearly don't even know what the issues are or how complex they are to fix.

Nor do you realize that Tesla is not even authorized yet (not legally allowed) to run Level 4 tests in California, let alone in the DLR parking structures or on any California roadway.

You think this is just magically going to happen overnight, like one day 6 months from now all of sudden there will be a huge backup of Tesla's trying to get to their "masters" on Harbor and not know what to do.

This isn't Disney's issue to fix, since you want to highlight Tesla, its Tesla's issue to fix. They are the one who has to resolve all their issues with being able to work within a multi-level parking structure, fix all the issues that prevent them from getting to Level 4 Autonomous, and then get authorization from the California DMV to begin testing, and then get permitted to run Level 4 Autonomous on California roadways, not to mention also get the public to buy into all of it. As mentioned before, it's likely at least 10 years away before that even happens.

Came back here in 2031 and update us where things are with Tesla, my guess is we'll still be here waiting for that update that you claimed was 6 months away.

 

[TP2000]

I'm confident the architects, engineers, and consultants Disney is working with who specialize in parking garages and transportation infrastructure, are following all the developments in vehicle technologies and doing forecasting, or future casting, of how that will affect their field. Can you imagine the seminars and round-tables they are having at their conferences around this stuff, it's probably the only thing interesting for them to talk about, haha. Anyway, they know.

The weak link here isn't Disney's giant parking structures. Whether a tired Dad is driving the family car out of the structure, or whether it's a robot doing the driving, the cars still need to exit the massive 15,000+ parking facilities Disney operates.

The weak link here is the Resort District road infrastructure and design.

Most of us here were, or still are, Disneyland AP'ers and SoCal locals. We know all the tricks, the strategies, the cheats to get around an over-crowded Resort area that didn't quite turn out how it was supposed to when first designed in 1995. (They had no idea they'd have over 1 Million AP'ers at a time back in '95, who behave very differently than tourists and day trippers had always behaved since 1955).

The weak link is stuff like this single, right hand turn lane that only has space for about 10 waiting cars as it exits Mickey & Friends at Ball Road. If everyone just obeyed the 1995 planners, they'd all be on that flyover and surface street lanes moving thousands of cars per hour obediently to the Santa Ana Freeway. But now, if there's even just 1,000 robot cars being summoned by owners after the fireworks in that 17,000 space parking structure, it's going to cause gridlock.

Not to mention what it does to Harbor Blvd. in both directions, Katella avenue eastbound to the 5 and 57 freeways, etc.

I wonder what they might be able to do with the Eastern Gateway parking complex as an option? Because Mickey & Friends with its circa 1995 traffic management plan is completely screwed in this new dawning era of self driving cars!

 

[TP2000]

You think this is just magically going to happen overnight, like one day 6 months from now all of sudden there will be a huge backup of Tesla's trying to get to their "masters" on Harbor and not know what to do.

No, I don't think that at all. Things move fast, but not quite that fast. In 6 months, the Telsa software update 14.9 or whatever it is might make Summon features easier and faster in parking structures.

But it will take a few more years for the number of self driving cars on SoCal roads to reach the critical mass needed to start impacting the Resort District's surface streets and traffic flow.

In 2026 you can already Summon your car to come from the far side of the Costco parking lot to come pick you up at the entrance doors. In 2027 I'd imagine that Summon feature could work for up to a mile or more. In 2028, I'd imagine the Summon feature could work for your car to drive itself from Mickey & Friends to the Panera Bread on Harbor Blvd.

That's about when the fun will really start!

Airports are going to be different with this tech, because you generally pay upon exit. So you couldn't get your car to drive itself from Long Term Parking to come pick you up at Baggage Claim, because you have to pay to get out. Same with valet stands and such at restaurants and South Coast Plaza.

But Disneyland's Parking Operation is rather unique, in that you pay upon entrance for the entire day. Then after the fireworks it's every man for themselves trying to get back to their car!

Imagine if your car could come to you along the curb on Harbor Blvd., instead of dealing with this?

 

[Disney Irish]

The San Diego Freeway was already designed to be 16 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic at times.

But that's not what we're talking about. Not even close.

This single right hand turn lane out of the 17,000 space Mickey & Friends Parking Structure was never designed to handle 20% or more of the departing traffic as a thousand or more robot cars go looking for their master on Harbor Blvd. at 10pm.

View attachment 909124

Well good thing that Disney (and Anaheim really since its Ball that would need to be adjusted) will have many years (likely decades) to figure out what needs to happen if anything.

 

[lazyboy97o]

In 2026 you can already Summon your car to come from the far side of the Costco parking lot to come pick you up at the entrance doors. In 2027 I'd imagine that Summon feature could work for up to a mile or more. In 2028, I'd imagine the Summon feature could work for your car to drive itself from Mickey & Friends to the Panera Bread on Harbor Blvd.

They claimed this would be available years ago and it still is not. They even changed the name to reflect that. You are again describing a Level 4+ system. They need to get to Level 3 first and there is no indication that is happening in the next few months.

 

[Disney Irish]

No, I don't think that at all. Things move fast, but not quite that fast. In 6 months, the Telsa software update 14.9 or whatever it is might make Summon features easier and faster in parking structures.

But it will take a few more years for the number of self driving cars on SoCal roads to reach the critical mass needed to start impacting the Resort District's surface streets and traffic flow.

In 2026 you can already Summon your car to come from the far side of the Costco parking lot to come pick you up at the entrance doors. In 2027 I'd imagine that Summon feature could work for up to a mile or more. In 2028, I'd imagine the Summon feature could work for your car to drive itself from Mickey & Friends to the Panera Bread on Harbor Blvd.

That's about when the fun will really start!

Airports are going to be different with this tech, because you generally pay upon exit. So you couldn't get your car to drive itself from Long Term Parking to come pick you up at Baggage Claim, because you have to pay to get out. Same with valet stands and such at restaurants and South Coast Plaza.

But Disneyland's Parking Operation is rather unique, in that you pay upon entrance for the entire day. Then after the fireworks it's every man for themselves trying to get back to their car!

Imagine if your car could come to you along the curb on Harbor Blvd., instead of dealing with this?

View attachment 909129

And your timelines there are way way way off.

Not to mention this -

"In addition, Actually Smart Summon is disabled on public roads. Actually Smart Summon is designed and intended for use only on parking lots and driveways located on private property where the surrounding area is familiar and predictable."

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-7D207174-88CD-4795-8265-9162A72AA578.html

So yeah no this isn't something that is coming in 2027 or even 2028. Again not to mention that Tesla is still not legally allow to run Level 4 Autonomous in California roadways, something you still gloss over.

Again come back here in 2031 and update us all on the state of Tesla and that 14.9 update.

 

[TP2000]

Robot taxis and self driving cars are now real. It's already here! The technology is improving by the month, and software updates are going out routinely. The legal hurdles are being cleared. It's approved. It's legal. It's happening now, in the parking lot of your local Costco and Target. And it's for the middle class masses now, not just $100,000+ luxury cars.

So what is Disneyland going to do about it? What can they do about it?!? I don't envy them. I just worry because they've been so notoriously bad and belligerent about their Parking operation for the past two decades, that their track record is not trustworthy any more. The execs get free valet parking, so what do they care about the paying plebes and rubes packed onto trams after the fireworks?

They'll need to change exit lanes and flow rates from the 17,000 space Mickey & Friends & Pals megastructure. That's just a given, but also a nightmare when you look at it from the air.

Hopefully it's early enough in the planning for Eastern Gateway that they can figure something out for autonomous vehicle pick-up zones en masse, that still offer a quick on-ramp to the 5 plus a getaway down Katella to the 57/91/55 freeway options for AP'ers from the Inland Empire or South County.

 

[Disney Irish]

Robot taxis and self driving cars are now real. It's already here! The technology is improving by the month, and software updates are going out routinely. The legal hurdles are being cleared. It's approved. It's legal. It's happening now, in the parking lot of your local Costco and Target. And it's for the middle class masses now, not just $100,000+ luxury cars.

So what is Disneyland going to do about it? What can they do about it?!? I don't envy them. I just worry because they've been so notoriously bad and belligerent about their Parking operation for the past two decades, that their track record is not trustworthy any more. The execs get free valet parking, so what do they care about the paying plebes and rubes packed onto trams after the fireworks?

They'll need to change exit lanes and flow rates from the 17,000 space Mickey & Friends & Pals megastructure. That's just a given, but also a nightmare when you look at it from the air.

Hopefully it's early enough in the planning for Eastern Gateway that they can figure something out for autonomous vehicle pick-up zones en masse, that still offer a quick on-ramp to the 5 plus a getaway down Katella to the 57/91/55 freeway options for AP'ers from the Inland Empire or South County.

As for what will Disney do, well you'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) but I expect them to do nothing. Because this will be no different than any other public venue with large crowds. And I fully expect that laws and rules will be put in place until there is mass Level 4/5 Autonomous Vehicles on the roadways that will prevent Summon (or any other call feature) to be used in large public venues like Disneyland or Honda Center or any sports complex and similar places where there will be a mass gathering of guests all trying to summon their cars at one time.

So again come back in 2031 and tell us where things are, I'd bet we'll still be in the same place as in 2026.

 

[DLR92]

The weak link here isn't Disney's giant parking structures. Whether a tired Dad is driving the family car out of the structure, or whether it's a robot doing the driving, the cars still need to exit the massive 15,000+ parking facilities Disney operates.

The weak link here is the Resort District road infrastructure and design.

Most of us here were, or still are, Disneyland AP'ers and SoCal locals. We know all the tricks, the strategies, the cheats to get around an over-crowded Resort area that didn't quite turn out how it was supposed to when first designed in 1995. (They had no idea they'd have over 1 Million AP'ers at a time back in '95, who behave very differently than tourists and day trippers had always behaved since 1955).

The weak link is stuff like this single, right hand turn lane that only has space for about 10 waiting cars as it exits Mickey & Friends at Ball Road. If everyone just obeyed the 1995 planners, they'd all be on that flyover and surface street lanes moving thousands of cars per hour obediently to the Santa Ana Freeway. But now, if there's even just 1,000 robot cars being summoned by owners after the fireworks in that 17,000 space parking structure, it's going to cause gridlock.

View attachment 909128

Not to mention what it does to Harbor Blvd. in both directions, Katella avenue eastbound to the 5 and 57 freeways, etc.

I wonder what they might be able to do with the Eastern Gateway parking complex as an option? Because Mickey & Friends with its circa 1995 traffic management plan is completely screwed in this new dawning era of self driving cars!

I thought the main design is allow drivers to get into the 5 north with ease…

 

[Disney Irish]

I thought the main design is allow drivers to get into the 5 north with ease…

Yep, the idea was that when opened the Pumbaa structure would handle all the traffic from 5 North, and M&F (and now Pixar Pals) would handle the traffic from 5 South.

I vaguely even recall a idea from the original plan that proposed an on-ramp direct from the 5 North, however I think that idea got scrapped early on.

I imagine exit traffic will come out from the structure both on Disney Way and Manchester depending on which way you want to go.

 

[TP2000]

No one really cares about Elmo here, that is not even part of the discussion regarding the tech, because believe it or not he doesn't actually write the code. You are over your skis here, as this is an area you know almost nothing about and only learned of from a 15 minute drive at a dinner party 3 days ago.

I honestly don't know how the tech works. You probably couldn't even teach me. I'm just too old. Also uninterested past about the 5 minute mark in any explanation that may happen.

But then I also don't know how the Internet actually works, and how you are able to talk to me right now via typing on screens. Nor could I explain how a giant Boeing 777 can take me from LAX to Tokyo in 11 hours with a champagne toast after takeoff and then a lovely dinner service. I'm just not smart enough to explain the engineering and physics behind any of that.

But I do know it works, and I do know things like the Internet and jet travel changed the whole world.

As for what will Disney do, well you'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) but I expect them to do nothing. Because this will be no different than any other public venue with large crowds.

That's where I disagree. Disneyland's Parking operation is fairly unique, in that it charges for parking BEFORE you enter the facility. It's not based on how many hours you stayed, like at an airport or office building. The customer has already paid for the service for the entire day at 9am. Then at 10pm after the fireworks, the customer will want their car to come pick them up at Panera Bread instead of dealing with the awful parking lot trams and crowds and soul-killing environment.

The only other analogy to Disneyland that I can think of is a pro sport stadium. You pay for parking on the way in there, too. And afterwards it's a scramble to get out of the lot. But at Disneyland, they've purposely placed 25,000+ parking spaces a fair distance away from the customer's end point at the Esplanade. It requires trams and crowds and bellowing CM's and cranky children in strollers.

Get your robot car to come get you on Harbor Blvd! If you had that option, who wouldn't want to do it that way instead?

And I fully expect that laws and rules will be put in place until there is mass Level 4/5 Autonomous Vehicles on the roadways that will prevent Summon (or any other call feature) to be used in large public venues like Disneyland or Honda Center or any sports complex and similar places where there will be a mass gathering of guests all trying to summon their cars at one time.

Perhaps that could be an answer. A statewide California law that says you can't use your robot car Summon tech in major venues. Seems customer unfriendly though. And the type of thing the Tech giants in Silicon Valley would quickly get out of via their lobbyists in Sacramento.

But, if we know anything about the Southern Californian Disneyland Annual Pass (Magic Key) personality, it's that they will find a way around anything that causes them inconvenience.

Just look what SoCal AP'ers did to the Disability Access Service in the 2010's! I think Disney is still in court over that one, aren't they?!?