Guests traveling between the parks of the Disneyland Resort and the Downtown Disney district have found that their usual routes have been changed. These changes have been made to accommodate the construction of the new Porto’s Bakery and Cafe. In the evening hours, these changes have also affected the loading and unloading of trams.

The Porto’s footprint will be considerably larger that the Boudin Bakery/Earl of Sandwich which formerly occupied the construction site. Two ticket booths, located at the south end of the western porting of the esplanade have also been removed. The construction fence around the site was recently moved northward, and now cuts off access to Downtown Disney at the eastern end of the shopping area. (Construction zone shown in red.)

Approaching the tram loading area at night, new illuminated signs direct guests to the northern boarding area (shown in blue on the map). Guests seeking entrance to Downtown Disney are directed to walk through the southern tram loading area.

After walking clear of the construction wall, guests can see that the construction wall partially encompasses the fountain located across from the entrance to World of Disney. It is also possible to see that the large backstage gates adjacent to the store have been opened for guest access.

Trams may still unload in the southern zone, but no guests will be picked up. All guests are directed to the west to enter Downtown Disney before making their way into the parks. This has not been the case during daylight hours, so far.

Foot traffic in front of the World of Disney is still two-way, but guests may not go back to the tram loading area once they have entered Downtown. To get to the parks or the trams, they must walk to the east and make a right-hand (southern) turn toward the exit gates located next to the World of Disney.

Once they have turned the corner and cleared the gates, they will find themselves backstage behind Soarin’. Cast members are stationed in strategic locations to ensure guests are moving in the right direction.

The last time guests were routed through this area was during the renovation of Disney California Adventure’s entrance into Buena Vista Street. The traffic during that time was the reverse of now, to allow access into DCA.

To prevent entrance into DCA, guests are directed to the north and into the esplanade, through the gate at the extreme western end of the DCA entrance turnstiles.

This change was implemented just this last week. There is no way of knowing how long to may last.  Cast members, speaking off the record, said their understanding was that it would likely be this way during the entire construction project.