Photos of Disneyland's periphery

Disneyland's old parking lot didn't have a name, but the new parking building does.

Disneyland's new parking building has its own name: the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure. This building was necessary when Disneyland's parking lot was removed for Disney's California Adventure (DCA), but moving the parking farther from the park meant that trams became almost essential to come and go from the parking areas. Disneyland's south parking lot was closed to make way for DCA on January 22, 1998.

I have some minor personal resentment about this building because it represents the destroyed parking lot on the south side of Disneyland, an area that had fond memories for me, and DCA also defied Walt Disney's vision of never having a rollercoaster in his park, which there now is. Still, I have to admit this is the coolest parking building I've ever visited. There is a good view of Disneyland, Anaheim, and distant mountains from the top level, the landscaping is nice, the architecture relatively attractive, and there is a nice row of tall bamboo plants in its center that was apparently designed to be reminiscent of a Japanese garden. My guess is that the Japanese garden theme was deliberately chosen because Japanese gardens are known as areas for quiet reflection, which might tend to offset tempers caused by traffic jams in the parking lot.

The webpage DisneyLies has some interesting background and trivia about the MFPS, such as that the MFPS is sinking into the ground due to poor engineering, and that cars of many Disney characters are parked in MFPS.

According to JohnGar of MousePlanet, the address 1201 S. Disneyland Drive can be used for this Parking Structure when using Yahoo! maps to get directions. However, this Parking Structure does not appear to have a real address; any address from 1031 through 1579 S. Disneyland Drive should work equally well.

The east entrance to the Parking Structure, whose interior driveway passes by tall bamboo.

Bamboo

Tall bamboo in a rock flower bed rises to the second floor in the center of the parking structure.

A Tomorrowland-like bridge between parking sections, framed by bamboo.

The top level of this parking building is open to the sky and in the morning there are sparrows, crows, and pigeons all around. A planter with bougainvillaeas is on the edges of each level that overlooks Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel. Around the tram area are rose bushes, split-leaf philodendrons, palm trees, magnolia trees, a pepper tree, and a lot of benches for resting pedestrians. Security doesn't mind non-guests visiting the parking building during daylight hours. The top floor of this building would be a beautiful place for a picnic, except that no benches are provided. It is, after all, a parking building, not a recreational area.

The white MFPS building has planters with bougainvillaea flowers on every level.

White on white: white bougainvillaeas on a white building.

Below the MFPS is where the trams shuttle guests to and from Disneyland.

I wonder if this pepper tree (Schinus molle) in the planter at the end of the tram area has any special significance.

MFPS has a total of six levels, the top one of which is named Minnie.

The ceiling of the escalator vaguely resembles a spinal column.

The actual parking area itself is just typical building parking.

If you have a good telephoto lens and are interested in seeing backstage areas, this is an excellent place for photos. The Matterhorn, Toontown, TDAB, Cast Member parking building, various backstage buildings and roads, Disneyland Hotel, Disney's California Adventure, the Anaheim Convention Center, and more are all visible from the top floors of MFPS.

Views from atop MFPS

The Matterhorn in the afternoon, as seen from the top of the parking structure.

The top of yellow TDAB and the mountainous painted backdrop of Toontown can be seen from atop MFPS.

Yellow TDAB in the distance, fireworks scaffolds in the foreground.

A tunnel into the berm in the Frontierland area.

Backstage buildings with aluminum rooftops and a heavy lifting beam.

Underneath the top of the orange crane is the Pictorial Dept., with tables and chairs stacked outside.

An unidentified green building near the Adventureland area.

It's nice to know that the old blue-and-yellow tram that used to run between the Disneyland parking lot and the Disneyland Hotel in the 1970s is still in operation, though only in Cast Member areas. I spotted it one morning parked forlornly in the corner of the employees lot that is northeast and immediately below the MFPS, and caught a picture of it another day, going through the employees gate on the west side of Disneyland.

The old yellow-and-blue Disneyland parking lot tram, parked in the corner of the employee lot.

The old tram entering the employees gate.

Created: February 24, 2007
Updated: May 6, 2007