VIDEO - Drive through of the new Grapefruit Parking Garage at Disney Springs

By WDWMAGIC Staff · Monday April 15, 2019 9:45am ET · "Disney Springs"
VIDEO - Drive through of the new Grapefruit Parking Garage at Disney Springs
Disney Springs now has three parking garages for easy parking during the busiest times.

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Disney Springs Grapefruit Garage opening day

The Grapefruit Parking Garage at Disney Springs is now open to guests, located directly across from the existing Lime garage and providing additional capacity and a direct entrance into the Marketplace.

Grapefruit Garage features the upgraded smart parking system, which offers information about space availability on each floor, and then individual space availability within each row. The new system also details accessible parking availability on each level. 

There are more than 600 spaces per level, spread across 5 levels. Grapefruit Garage will be the primary parking location for Cast Members working at Disney Springs, freeing up space for guests in the closer Orange Garage.

Like the other two Disney Springs garages, Grapefruit also includes electric vehicle chargers, and in this garage it is on the third level.

As with Lime and Orange, a pedestrian bridge links the garage to Disney Springs, and in the case of Grapefruit it takes you directly into the Marketplace between Basin and World of Disney.

The approximately 5 minute walk takes you over Buena Vista Dr., and although enclosed, is not covered.

There is a stop halfway that gives access to the Disney casting Center.

As for which garage to park in - Orange Garage remains your best option for the West Side and The Landing. Lime is well positioned for Town Center, and Grapefruit is great for the Marketplace. If you think you will visit all three, Orange remains the best option due to its larger size and very easy access from both I4 and the theme park side of Buena Vista Drive,

See the video below for a drive-through of the Grapefruit Parking Garage at Disney Springs.

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Are we really doing drive throughs of garages now? 🤣
Now they can do something with the marketplace parking lot should they choose.
↩ replying to wdwmagic
Looks great.

Interesting that they put stairs at the end of the walkway instead of escalators, but I guess it makes since if they are able to find a way to enforce employees parking here as that would mean less pedestrian movements from customers.

I would have designed it with a second pedestrian bridge on the other end of the garage to allow easier access to the west side and town center.
Any word if they are going to turn on the pay by phone feature for premium parking spots?
↩ replying to ThatMouse
Don't give them any ideas lol

Reserve a spot, for those that are majorly entitled.
Good grief, put a roof on the walkway.
↩ replying to Texas84
A roof over the walkway likely would have required it to be much wider.

The other walkways also don't have covers.

But it is surprising that this one appears to be the same width as the others despite its extra long length and that it's going to have 100 to 1000 times more usage than the other two walkways.
↩ replying to BoarderPhreak
Have you never been behind someone who seems to not know how to parking-garage? It should be required viewing.
↩ replying to mm121
Looks like a great place for my skate and a little down the ramp action. No moving sidewalks for across the street ?
So the new grapefruit garage is slightly larger than lime. It has 13 Rows versus lines 12 but smaller than oranges 14.

Within those Rows Orange has widest rows at 25 parking spots, grapefruit is 20 and lime's widest rows are only 17 spots.

Orange has three means of exiting and two of them have merging ramps that do not require coming to a stop how to traffic light. Lime has two ways to exit. Only one merging lane that does not require stopping at a traffic light. Grapefruit has two exits one for the first floor, and one for floors two through five. Neither of them have the option to just merge into the traffic, they both end at a traffic light. It's interesting that the first floor exit routes you all the way to the team Disney building. Exits for floors two through five exit right by the casting center.

One thing I learned from a recent New Year's Eve visit is that the orange garage exits much nicer than the lime garage did. Even though it is much larger the orange garage cleared out sooner than the lime garage did. For that reason I kind of worry about grapefruit on extremely busy nights when everyone leaves at the same time. But in the end grapefruit is adding an additional 2700ish (guesstimate) spaces. For me it will be treated as the garage of Last Resort, and while it does have some design opportunities, it is Light years better than the current surface lot option of parking by team Disney.
↩ replying to Disone
I would thing the lengthy bridge would string out a large crowd exiting DS all at once.
↩ replying to MisterPenguin
Not the people, the cars. But in regard to people, Also there is only one elevator on the Springs end of the pedestrian overpasses. Stroller and wheelchairs could que up on heavier traffic night and bummer when the elevator has down time.
↩ replying to Rteetz
In my opinion, Disney Springs has outgrown the area it's in. I get a headache whenever driving by it with the utilitarian parking garages cramped up against the road. And the mall area itself is so crowded, it's hard to enjoy yourself. It's lost it's charm. I don't have much desire to go there anymore.
↩ replying to Disone
But you can't have a lot of cars trying to exit at once if you can't get a lot of people into the garage all at once.