The Disneyland parking structure and transportation hub that will rebuild how guests arrive at the resort broke ground Monday, and Disney is no longer calling it the Eastern Gateway. The project that carried that name through years of Anaheim planning fights is now officially “the parking structure and transportation hub on the east side of Disneyland Resort,” and the ceremonial shovels went into the Manchester cast member lot on August 24.
Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino led the ceremony alongside Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Architect Jonathan Peters, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, members of the Anaheim City Council and leaders from McCarthy Building Companies, Granite Construction and the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. Disney released photos from the event, and even the project’s sign made an appearance.
What Is Being Built
The structure rises on a portion of the Manchester lot east of Harbor Boulevard and will hold roughly 6,000 parking spaces, with dedicated shuttle and rideshare zones, security screening and direct access for traffic coming off Disney Way. The stated goal is to pull arriving cars out of the Harbor Boulevard crawl and give the resort a second front door on the east side.
The piece guests will actually see is the pedestrian bridge. It crosses Harbor Boulevard from the new structure and lands in a rebuilt Esplanade arrival area between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, with public access to and from Harbor on both ends. That bridge is why the four ticket booths in the Esplanade came down last week, work we covered when the Esplanade demolition was scheduled.
Disney describes the hub as the first step of its next construction phase and the infrastructure that makes the rest of DisneylandForward possible. The Coco attraction, the Avatar experience at Disney California Adventure and the doubled Avengers Campus with Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab all depend on a resort that can absorb more cars than it currently can.
What Estorino Said
Estorino called the groundbreaking “an exciting milestone for Disneyland Resort and the City of Anaheim,” and said the hub will change how guests arrive while improving traffic flow across the resort area. She framed the project as continued investment in Anaheim and local jobs, a message aimed squarely at the neighbors along Harbor Boulevard who fought the original Eastern Gateway plan in 2017 over fears the bridge would route foot traffic past their businesses.
Disney has not given an opening date for the structure or the bridge. The resort has reportedly pulled forward both this project and the Coco build compared with earlier public timelines, with the hub moving from a fall 2026 start to summer 2026, though Disney has not confirmed those shifts in its own materials.
Why It Was Not A D23 Announcement
A parking lot was never going to share a stage with Avengers Infinity Defense, and Disney did not announce the ceremony in advance. It simply happened, a week after the Esplanade booths came down, while the resort is also spending this week on its 2027 booking window, an Anaheim community event and the opening stretch of Halloween Time.
KTLA carried the official statement and photos, and LaughingPlace has the full attendee list from the ceremony.
For the latest news and updates make sure to follow us on social media! Facebook | Twitter | Threads | Instagram | TikTok
