What Do You Think? Downtown Disney Construction 2 Year Update

It's been two years since the Downtown Disney construction began, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the progress so far. Have you had a chance to visit the area recently? Do you notice any significant changes or improvements? I'd love to hear your feedback on the ongoing project.

[@amandak1683]

Totally here for Parking Lot Journeys!

[@mars112v]

I still miss the AMC theatre there 😢

[@JonathanGaeta]

At least it’s at Gardenwalk. Yeah it’s not on Disney property but at least it’s close by

[@gothamsangel]

I miss the House of Blues. Going to Disney in the morning and then a show in the evening.

[@mars112v]

@@JonathanGaeta that’s true, but it’s much smaller and can never find a showing that fits my Disney schedule 😂

[@HeyBrickey]

@@JonathanGaeta knowing everyone in the theater had been through security was a plus even though that didn’t happen till the end, it just felt safer on property

[@Lbrisbois2000]

This is a great update! I really love all the before and after shots and seeing how far we've come. 🎉

[@JustJessee]

I will miss the AMC "Disneyland" Theater for as long as I live. Some of us needed that late night, 2hrs off our feet before slogging back to the hotel. Especially when you could see the newest Disney movie while in the parks, it was magical.

[@RobRoyRoadie]

That is the Park Plaza building under construction. You can see the “existing” retail building with the breeze block facade and 4 vertical “fins” sitting behind it in the ground-level rendering at 7:00. The teal green wall on the right with the gold sign comprised of an arrow with four overlain circles and a second floor balcony with people standing on it defines the end of the Park Place building and where the retail building begins. Also, the foundation layout matches that Park Side building footprint. The reason they started it so late may have to do with the fact that they first had to infill where the theatre was (because it had stadium seating, the theatres were well below ground level). They had to over excavate into undisturbed soil below the old footings, and then place engineered fill and compact that soil and allow it to settle/consolidate. Then, they had to come back in and run utilities for the new buildings through that space (go back to your older videos and you probably captured it), and THOSE trenches needed to be backfilled, compacted, and allowed to sit for a period of time.

[@karichadwick2932]

I love the before and after shots. It really does help with the memory of what was there and it shows how close the concept art is to what is there now. Thanks Mark!!

[@donnytucker]

You're my favorite parking lot vlogger for sure 😀

[@raypierce5818]

Thanks for more fun! From what I’ve heard, the construction on either side of the 9,000 sq ft. lawn area are 2 large Resteraunts plus some smaller shops as well. As you suspect, the new entry way to DTD will be at the back of the lawn from the stage. This is all set to open “around” April but of course that depends on a lot of other factors. Tortilla Joe’s was originally a massive Cuban Resteraunt (I forget the name) that had a large stage revue with music and dance numbers. I was sorry to see it go as another entertainment venue.

[@jeffstoeger2974]

Brickey, great vlog. You are master of information and theme park insight. Keep up the great work.

[@bruiser666]

Another great video Brickey. Love the before and after shots. Great to see all the progress. Excited to see it all come together.

[@stevea8351]

Brickey, you are definitely my favorite parking lot vlogger. LOL.

[@FowlersFullSend]

30K Subs 🙌🏻 The new consistency has been nice Keep crushing Mark, you still have such a unique perspective on the parks that no one can match.

[@MrCocoloco]

If I recall correctly, Tortilla Joe's was confirmed to be replaced by another Mexican restaurant. I could be wrong! But I agree with the "quick to rip" counter service spots. Parkside or ... Park-adjacent? 😃

[@raulzarco2063]

You are a great storyteller!! The video was so intriguing and then it was done and I found myself wanting more!! And your idea of the parking lot one day becoming more Downtown Disney and connecting Pixar Place .. wow that totally makes sense!!

[@JesseAdventure]

King of parking lots!

[@user-farrelld]

Thank you, this is exciting! You have an amazing documentation. That I believe is going to happen.

[@kevkriskels]

Just discovered this channel 3 days ago and I cannot stop watching. LOVE these videos, Brickey great job, fantastic looking forward dreaming. Great stuff!

[@edstrong597]

Great Update, the side by side shots really help show how much has changed. Wow those two years went by fast. You’re definitely in my top three favorite parking lot vloggers LOL ! Only Hey Brickey! Can make parking lots into something worth watching! Keep up the great work !

[@nzjonty]

Love your work! Can’t wait to see this soon

[@marcmooney9293]

I'll be down for 4 days around March 22. Looking forward to seeing all this exciting new developments. Love these topics. If I see brickey there I'm gonna stop for a pic!! Keep rocking buddy!

[@kentslocum]

I'm sure that GardenWalk is grateful that there is no longer a movie theater in Downtown Disney. 😊

[@aseainfo]

No doubt, Brickey is the KING of the Disney parking lot vlogs. Nobody but nobody does it like him! I also must add you are a FANTASTIC over-all Disney vlogger who really knows his stuff and can put it to video nicely.

[@CheriB702]

Love your videos! You’re the best!

[@JD_MeanGruene]

My favorite Theme Parking Lot Vlogger, I think you're on to something when you mentioned the new buildings are spaced further back than previous buildings. I think that is deliberate so the new expansion areas can access in/out of Downtown Disney. Tortilla Joes Conspiracy Theory - The DF concept art has it fully removed. I think Tortilla Joes is vital puzzle piece of DF. I believe they will use that area for a transportation system (tram, people mover or Skyliner). Tortilla Joes building is the exact footprint size of a skyliner station. Using that area as the main Mickey & friends drop off area would free up the current tram area for backstage, cast member space or expansion area. It makes too much sense to me, especially if they create theme park acces from Downtown Disney.

[@MrGregBMX]

Came for the construction update, stayed for the car park content! 😂

[@davidmariarivas]

Great info!

[@juanperaza6942]

Hey Brickley I like ur stories and updates for disney i see ur vision bro

[@Rich.O]

I love it, our favorite Disney Parking Lot Blogger! 😂 Great update, it is kind of funny I was just thinking to my self a few days ago. I wondered how the Downtown Disney project was going, Great timing!

[@ckbarry]

So wild that it’s been 2 years. The then and now shots are really helpful. I still miss the “little” Starbucks on that end. Thanks for the update.

[@shashona3084]

2 years seems like forever

[@JBX302]

Some reference to “Theme Parking Lot Vlogger” needs to be on the next T-shirt. Brickey, you are my favorite overall vlogger. Period. Thank you for your hard work!

[@josueacosta2034]

I'm just here for the parking lots 😂

[@kentslocum]

Regarding the parking lot situation, I think that Disney can't really get rid of the Simba/Downtown Disney/Disneyland Hotel parking lots until they build the Eastern Gateway project.

[@MonsterKidCory]

I'll miss the post-modern Art Deco, but retro-Fifties/Sixties Googie is okay too for Disneyland. It's looking more "futuristic" than Tomorrowland does anymore! And man, seeing that Walt Disney Travel logo took me all the way back to my first trips to DL in 2005 and 2006.

[@enchantkeymike8170]

Proud of you man, 👏 your views have been going up, the video's have been awesome and creative, Definitely thinking out the box more then these not so fresh Disneyland bloggers posting the same old dull content.

[@HeyBrickey]

I’m trying. I spent the end of the year coming up with a plan and it seems to be working!!! Even with getting sick a couple of times and getting forced off of my schedule, but yet it’s still working!!! Thanks for paying attention and caring ❤️

[@KensanOni]

We need to find a bricked Parking Lot, and take this allegory to a whole new level. :D

[@StephanieOlea]

Sir, if someone is having too much love to the parking lot we're calling the cops 😂😂

[@sk810180]

WOW its been 2 years.

[@derradune6722]

Nobody does parking lots like you, Brickey 🚗🛻🚙

[@scarabeo500gt]

Parking Lot King - Brickey!!!

[@jonathanlawrence1401]

I miss how you always called this project the Sarlacc Pit!

[@timdomke6172]

Great videos. I like your content, research, and looks forward. Your videos would be easier to follow if you edited them to be more clear when you are showing past shots for reference vs current shots with clues of what's coming. Any visual cue on shots of the past would help and there are many artistic choices that work. Look forward to seeing more of your videos.

[@christopheresparza4182]

Brickey do you have any speculation as to what they’re gonna do with the old rainforest Café building, and the old ESPN building?

[@martincohen8991]

My wife and I still miss the Uva Bar. The last week it was open we made a trip just to downtown Disney in order to have one last meal there. Sad.

[@JTKell]

Par"King" Lot!

[@Lbrisbois2000]

🤣👑

[@denisebrowne4630]

I would like see more options that serve breakfast before the parks open

[@brianwisdom8051]

Not sure what they’ll do with that parking lot? I believe that lot is currently being used for valet/self parking for the Grand Californian Hotel. Unless they go with a parking structure with floors reserved for hotel parking? Guess we’ll see!

[@kevinpeterson6468]

Is anybody getting modern communicore vibes from the far edge building?

[@RobRoyRoadie]

And those angled white light columns.

[@lonniekennedy5739]

Do you think they will ever reopen or build a new Disneyland Kennel Club?

[@stevea8351]

I am in agreement with @RobRoyRoadie that we see the retail building behind the Parkside market, so it is what is currently being built that just has a foundation right now. I believe they are calling it the Parkside market because the park is not one of the theme parks, but the park right next to the Parkside market where visitors enjoy the concerts sitting in the fake grass by the stage. That is what the park is. Here is something else that I am wondering about: When you look at Tortilla Joes from the backside, where there is a hidden parking lot, I think Tortilla Joes may actually be a 3 store building. I am wondering if there might actually be an underground area that stretches from the hidden 1st floor of Tortilla Joes all the way under that ally between Tortilla Joes and Splitsville (connecting the Tortilla Joes and Splitsville buildings underground. Could it be that if there is a big underground space, that they would keep the Tortilla Joes building and simply change the facade on it and redesign the interior. Not sure. I could be way off base. Take a look at google earth and tell me if there might be a hidden floor stretching from under Tortilla Joes all the way to Splitsville.

[@davidnevolo4402]

I am eager for the espn zone and rainforest cafe replacements. Either parkspace or imagine a body of water in dtd. They wont build a more grand floridian/coronado style hotel/resorts grounds these days but i would love to see some of that. Guess we kiind of have that covered with paradise pier though.

[@shawnmatt]

I hope the rainforest cafe returns. Neither restaurant should’ve been closed

[@solarwhale]

The biggest issue with the Grand Californian Self Parking lot regardless of what it becomes Is, where do you put those cars? The Valet lots under the hotel are not very big. Can you ask hotel guests spending $750 a night to leave their car in the Pixal Pals Structure? Or is that how far the valets are going to have to go to retrieve your car?

[@hawaiianpunch6534]

Is Earl's coming back? The other one i know is in Planet Hollywood in Vegas.

[@SagaciousSilence]

My family member used to manage the Tortilla Joe’s and another restaurant named Catal in downtown Disney. I recently went back to Tortilla Joe’s with him and we both felt that TJ’s is a shadow of its former self. We got the strong sense that Disney is going to replace that business.

[@spaldingclan1]

theyve already announced its going away

[@grammasworld]

Don't need to go any further than taking out the classic New Orleans style on Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and putting up a tacky Las Vegas style cheap version.

[@RobRoyRoadie]

You can blame the Brennan family for that. It was their decision to rebrand the restaurant and change the menu. They also dictated the architectural style of the renovation. If mid-century modern was a design decree from Disney, and a desire for uniformity, Din Tai Fung wouldn’t look like it does (the only one in the chain that looks so themed) and wouldn’t have the pronounced curved Asian roof, and be so starkly different than everything around it.

[@SR-zc6lk]

More mid century, the better.

[@QuatroAtYale]

Wow, I'm not sure I WANT to be entertained in a parking lot (snicker). Interesting comparison, though. An overhead reconstruction might have been cool. Ah, your videos make me want to be around in 10, 15, 20, 50 years from now... which ain't going to happen, I think. Well, hey, I got to go to DL in the 60's, which is really amazing opportunity, when I think about it. Ok, here's a question for you/. What do you think the Disneyland Resort will look like in 2050? 2075? You might make it. Let me know how it turns out!

[@lohphat]

Taking out the Uva Bar was disappointing. It's weird seeing DD change as the "original" tenants are now gone. To me it has the feeling of a dying mall. It doesn't know what it wants to be.

[@armandoarteaga2684]

Universal could build a whole park and Disney will still be working on downtown Disney and Tianas ride.

[@jonathanlawrence1401]

15:32 I’m pretty sure that lot is Grand Californian parking.

[@RobRoyRoadie]

Yes, it is. Dave at Fresh Baked keeps wondering what will happen to that lot as well, but it’s the only self-parking for Grand Californian.

[@finned958]

Downtown Disney expansion makes no sense with Disneyland Forward. It’s a wasted development. All that space could be theme park expansion with new attractions and restaurants integrated into the area west of the monorail station. Nonetheless, it could be removed after 10 years and the new restaurants eventually close as they all do like Rainforest Cafe and ESPN Zone. Ding Tai Fung and Portos won’t last in that area. The food will cost 50 to 100% more in Downtown Disney than in their standalone restaurants. I highly doubt a cake slice will cost $4 in Portos It’ll be $8 a slice in DD.

[@AStageForTheKingdom]

I predict that the new Downtown Disney expansion will be a placeholder development until the new Disneyland Forward shopping/dining district gets built (finished in probably ten years or so from now), and then the whole current Downtown Disney area will get torn down and that whole West side of the park (minus the Disneyland Hotel area) will be used for new theme park space.

[@juliemartinez1099]

Why don’t they want to use the ESPN building?? It just sits vacant like so many other buildings on property.

[@HeyBrickey]

They use it as a rehearsal space for performances.

[@davidnevolo4402]

I honestly do not like anaheims dtd and never have. The midcentury modern excuse of a theme is just an excuse. The dlr has never been immersive outside the parks the way that orlando (once) was

[@boba9170]

The whole mid-century modern design does not appeal to me.

[@boba9170]

The colors and furniture styles seem outdated already. Reminds me of early 70's sitcom set designs. Sort-of like 'Jetson's' meet 'Jefferson's'.

[@SusanM.]

Unpopular opinion but I don’t care for the 60’s retro motif.

[@SR-zc6lk]

I love it. It’s technically 1950’s into the 1960’s. Mid-century modern.

[@SusanM.]

@@SR-zc6lk yes, you’re right ! Mid-century modern! 🤦🏻‍♀️ I forgot what it was called lol 😂 I know it’s pretty popular right now and people really like it. I could just never get into it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@RobRoyRoadie]

It ties the west end of DTD into the original architectural language of Disneyland Hotel, as well as the new DVC tower. I think the idea is to create that transition, while also giving the feeling that that end of DTD is almost an extension of the hotel, especially since the hotel is notoriously short on food service/restaurants. If you look around the hotel, they’ve also leaned more heavily into a strong MCM blue and orange color palette.

[@boba9170]

I agree. Looks cheap, plastic and already outdated.