Originally Posted By misty2 I am the trip coordinator for my son's high school trip to Disneyland. Working with Disney Magic Music Days has been wonderful! The folks working for Disney in this office are wonderful. One thing I can't seem to find a clear answer about: if we have to meet our buses at night in the Pinocchio oversized parking lot (in Mickey structure) do we really need to walk to Downtown Disney, then take the trams? Where are the trams located anyway? Couldn't we just walk to the parking structure? How far is it? Where exactly do you catch the trams? And where exactly is the parking structure? (and no, I'm not worried about someone falling off the trams Thanks SO much for any help!
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Sounds liek someone has given you bad info. The Pinocchio Parking Lot is right next to the Parking Structure, so you have two options, one is to just walk, it is about 1/2 mile, and everyone can stay with the group this way. Or you can take the trams from the Parking Structure to the World of Disney store near the Main Entrance. Main drawback here is that it might be busy, and not everyone will get on the same tram.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes misty2, You really need a good map!!! I hope that didn't soound snarky, but you're going to have a little bit of trouble without one. It's a nice walk from Disneyland's gate to the Pinochio lot. You walk through Downtown Disney, then follow the signs to your right. You probably would have trouble keeping everyone together if you took the tram, but you will also have trouble keeping a group of high school kids together walking through Downtown Disney. There are a lot of distractions - it was designed to be that way! But do walk!
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes <a href="http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/disneyland/l/bl_camap_dl.htm" target="_blank">http://gocalifornia.about.com/ cs/disneyland/l/bl_camap_dl.htm</a> (cut and paste if required) Now, I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the Pinochio lot is where it says in red "Downtown Dsiney Parking". (A little help here, LP'ers?) The tram pick up & drop off is at the "V" formed by the planters between the parking structure and the lot I just told you about. So, you see that you need to back track a bit to use the tram, plus fight the crowds, plus miss seeing Downtown Disney.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes BTW, straight line distance between Disneyland Drive and Harbor Blvd. is 1/2 mile (at Downtown Disney). (see the "E" Ticket Magazine issue #43 for the original survey maps) And, you can see here that the centerline of Disneyland's lot is not Main Street, but it's behind Main Street in Adventureland, on a line of trees installed as a wind break before Disney owned the property (I love survey maps).
Originally Posted By TinksBestFriend The Pinochio parking lot is just south of the Mickey & Friends parking structure. You will use the same entrance. The tram pick up is right at the Pinocho parking lot. There is a gap in the bushes (fence). You will not have to back track to get to the trams. And be careful...the trams do not have a front bumper.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer I would not walk thru Downtown Disney. Instead gather up the group and head towards the Tram entrance (you should see the sign, but instead of going into the tram area, make a right and go south to Magic Way, at the sidewalk, make a left (east) and then cross at the Traffic Light, once you cross the street, make a right (south) and follow the sidewalk until you see a fork in the path, head towards the left (east), there is good signage here. If you end up under the bridge, you have gone too far. Follow the path to the Main Entrance, this way you won't walk by any shops, you basically walk behind the shops and end up at the other Tram loading area.
Originally Posted By dlkozy I too am going this year with my son's high school and I have gone many times before with my other kids when they were in high school. We are divided up in groups- each with a chaperone. The kids are on their own during the day with mandatory check in times. They will meet up with their group (about 8 to a group)and their chaperone before leaving the park and make their way as this small group to the bus loading area,-I have never found all getting on a tram as being a problem. IMHO, trying to stay as a group with a large number of high school kids is impossible.
Originally Posted By misty2 Thanks so much everyone. Schmitty you don't sound "snarky" at all - everyone tells me, all the time, that I need a good map! I have no sense of direction at all which is why I've asked all of you kind folks to help me out. I've printed the map. I am also printing this page so folks can help me with everyone's wonderful suggestions. Darkbeer, it sounds good, I just need to look at the map and follow through on the instructions. dlkozy thanks - we do have mandatory check-ins, etc but this end of day bus deal is giving me a headache. I really like your idea of the smaller group with departure. Thanks so much to all of you! I will let you know how it all turns out....
Originally Posted By misty2 The bus leaves after school Wed 3/7. I'm driving down earlier in the day w/another chaperone. We'll be in DL Thur through Saturday.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Here is a marked Satellite Map with the route. <a href="http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=739515" target="_blank">http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ ?r=739515</a> You can see where the buses park in the Pinocchio lot and how close it is to the Parking Structure, in fact, the Bus will enter the ground level of the Parking Structure and go thru the Toll Booths prior to heading to the Pinocchio Lot. (The First Level roof is much higher than the upper levels)
Originally Posted By dlkozy I will hope for great weather for your band visit. Our band will be there the weekend of the Premiere! YIKES!
