Disneyland’s New 6,000-Space Garage Won’t Open Until Early 2029
Disneyland's Eastern Gateway parking garage is now expected to finish in early 2029. What it means for family trips, bus drop-offs and Harbor Boulevard.
Families planning Disneyland trips over the next few years will not get the resort’s big new parking garage soon. Disneyland officials told nearby residents at a community meeting that work on the Eastern Gateway structure, a 6,000-space garage on the east side of Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, is expected to run into early 2029. That puts the opening after the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028 and after the planned expansion of Avengers Campus, according to the Orange County Register.
What Disneyland told residents
Construction started in August. Officials expect the job to take nearly three years, and they said the estimate could shift as the work moves forward. Disneyland has not announced an opening date for the garage.
The fan site MiceChat put the longer schedule down to the planning, permitting and inspection steps the City of Anaheim requires. MiceChat also pointed out the contrast with the park’s own history: “They built all of Disneyland in just one year in 1955, but it will take them at least two and a half years to build this garage.”
What the new hub will include
The garage is part of DisneylandForward, a $1.9 billion project. Besides parking, the eastside site will be a transportation hub with:
- a shuttle bus area
- a drop-off and pick-up zone for ride share cars
- a pedestrian bridge over Harbor Boulevard to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, which sit on the west side of the street
Disney plans to use the extra spaces to handle crowds drawn by several new attractions opening at the Anaheim resort over the next five years. The list in the reports includes the Avengers Campus expansion, an Avatar themed land, a Coco boat ride and a reworked Tomorrowland.
What it means for families visiting
For now, parents driving to the resort should plan around the parking that exists today. The new garage will not help with crowds during the 2028 Olympics either.
The project will also move things around for people who arrive by bus. The current bus drop-off and pick-up area on Harbor Boulevard is set to shift to the Manchester lot, which Disneyland uses for employee parking and which backs up to the I-5 Freeway. The reports do not say when that move will happen. Families who use hotel shuttles or tour buses may want to confirm where their driver will stop before the trip.
Once the pedestrian bridge opens, families parking in the new garage will be able to walk across Harbor Boulevard to both parks.
What is still unknown
Disneyland has given no firm opening date, and officials said the early 2029 estimate may change. It is also not clear yet how parking prices, shuttle service or the bus area timing will work once the hub opens. Families with trips booked for the next few years should check Disneyland’s official parking information closer to their travel dates, because details will likely be updated as construction moves ahead.
Sources: Blooloop, Orange County Register
