Disney Springs’ parking garages will soon have new technology aimed at improving guests’ parking experiences, according to a recent permit filed by the Reedy Creek Improvement District with Orange County.
According to the permit, Reedy Creek will install a $2.37 million new system from Indect Parking in the Lime and Orange garages, as well as the upcoming Lemon garage. The company is known for creating a system that uses cameras to capture and store images of visitors’ license plates. This could be used to be able to locate exactly where guests’ vehicles are for those who cannot find them, as well as determine when peak hours are and how often certain guests visit. This comes with concerns about privacy, though it should be noted that by law, the company cannot find out who the vehicles are registered to.
The system currently in place was designed by Q-Free/TCS, which uses ultrasound to detect whether spots are filled with a large object, which it assumes to be a car, and adjusts the number of free parking spaces accordingly on signage. There is no word on what technology will be used with the new system, though it is expected that this will replace the Q-Free/TCS system entirely.
UPDATE: John Classe, Reedy Creek’s District Administrator, has informed us more about the new system coming to the garages, which will continue to use ultrasound and not cameras. The technology will be used track vehicles entering and leaving parking spaces.
Shouldn’t be long before they’re charging for parking.
This is what my mall does to prevent employees from parking in their lots. If they scan your license enough they know you work there and ticket your car. Happened to me when I used to work there last year. Wonder if Disney will be using it for the same.
No doubt this will enable them to charge for parking in these parking lots, it seems Disney are squeezing every dime from everyone, why else spend such a vast amount on something that is relatively new. The garages work well with the exception of at peak times when the power mad Disney red wand brigade get involved, we have been visiting at least once a year since 1992 and are looking forward to our next visit for the New Years celebrations, but the magic is definitely being eroded away
My name is John Classe and I am the District Administrator for the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Let me offer a few comments to clarify some items in the article. The existing 2 parking garages and the third facility under construction are owned and maintained by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, not Disney. These garages provide free parking. As part of the third garage project, the parking guidance system in the two existing garages is being upgraded to the Indect system. However the new system will not use cameras. The system will continue to use ultrasound technology to track vehicles entering and leaving the parking spaces.
I think that’s great but what the parking garage REALLY need is more than one handicapped space per floor. I use a wheelchair and live in Davenport and in the hundreds of times that I have been to Disney Springs, I have never been able to get a handicapped space. And with my wheelchair van that means I have to circle round and round to find an end space so I can let the ramp come out and drive my chair off the van. Or I have to do all that in the roadway and then have my husband pull the van into a regular space. And then reverse it all when we leave. I cannot believe that Disney built a garage that has more spaces for electric cars than handicapped spaces. Have some pity on us and make more spaces handicapped, please. If you can find the money to do this new system, which sounds awesome, you can certainly find the money to repaint the spots into handicapped spots. Or better yet, put in a new garage just for handicapped and use this new system to detect handicapped registered vehicles and only permit them to enter. What do you say?
I am sorry to hear that you have experienced challenges in finding handicapped parking spaces. There are multiple spaces on each level. The new parking guidance system will include information on available handicapped parking spaces that should improve your ability to locate a space. In the meantime, please also feel free to ask one of the parking staff inside the garage for assistance.