Disney Resorts to start charging parking fees....

[Disneylover99]

Probably meant book now for a September trip.

Yes. That makes sense.

 

[lambdabeta]

Sorry, but I totally disagree. I know of no one who made a trip to WDW while I was growing up. No one. Based on your trips, you were not lower middle class. I'm thinking you don't really know what that means. Lower middle class did not mean trips every year, at least not in this part of the country. Heck, I didn't fly until I was 29. Even car trips were pricey.

You really need to consider yourself privileged to have gone on those trips. Your experience is not common to the middle or lower middle class as I lived it. Maybe your mom was a killer budget master.

Please don't pretend to know my childhood and whether I was lower middle class or not. I know very well what that means. Just because you or anyone you know didn't go to Disney when you were a kid doesn't mean it wasn't affordable for the average family. Your just making an assumption. Let me show you the reality. I never said we went to Disney for a week at a time nor did I say we went on vacation every year. I said we went in 72 and 78 and it was affordable. We went for 3 days each time and that was when they had ride tickets. In 1972, the rooms were $29- 44/night. We stayed in the garden wing of contemporary in 72 it probably was $29. Tickets for 11 rides were $5.95 for adults there were 2 in 72, $5.50 for junior my sister and $4.95 for children. There were 3 of us. So I'll do the math 2-3 nights at the resort $116- 174. Park tickets 2 adults x 2-3 days $23.80-35.70, 1 junior $11.00-16.50 and 3 children $29.70- 44.50. The total cost would have been for our first trip $180.50-270.70. I don't know what food prices were but I don't think it was more than another $125 for the entire trip. We drove and gas would have cost about $80 round trip from our home. Total trip was less than $500 for a family of 6. If you want proof here is a link to prices back in 1972. As you can see it was affordable for most middle class families back then. There was only one park and 1-3 days was plenty of time. I gave you 2 prices because I wasn't sure if we stayed 2 or 3 nights. I also used ticket prices for the most expensive tickets which I'm not sure we got. https://www.retrowdw.com/retro-disney-world/the-good-old-days-1972-prices/

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

Hmmmm .... okay. Afford doesn't come into the picture for us. I think many of us are used to paying 3000 - 5000$ per trip all total so the extra 24$ x # of days is not a deal breaker. However those of us who do the planning(yes I do the planning for our house and love doing it) for the trip have seen a sharp incline in prices over the last 5 - 10 years(mainly the last 5 or so). That would be great if there where added value but overall there is not, in fact I would say there has been a bit of a decline. As I have been planning the last 10 years I have seen increases in the prices to stay at resorts of all level, the price increase of park admission, the price increase of APs, the price increase of TIW membership. Don't even get me started on the preferred parking garbage that sprung up the last few year. Nothing like showing up at AK super early and parking at one of the farthest spots from the entrance(honestly I think there are some parking spots at AKL that were closer then we got to park last time.

So yes we can afford it but as we plan and we see our dollars getting less and less return, we start to think about alternatives. For some that is trying Swan and Dolphins, for others that might be staying offsite completely(maybe even giving Universal a try), and for others that might mean going to a completely different destination. I guarantee there are some who will choose the later 2 choices and that will achieve the opposite of what Disney intended.

In the end(and I am just speaking for our family), we go to Disney because on our vacations to the World we seemed to come closer together. We all treat each other better and we are willing to go on rides and attractions that we might not normally go on by ourselves but since our Wife or Son want to go on it we are game(does this make sense?). We also go for the Nostalgia, I can remember our first time staying onsite we were on the Nemo ride 7 year old son next to me, 4 year old in my lap listening to the characters sing "its a big blue world". Every trip since then that part of the ride takes me back and for a brief moment my sons are 4 and 7 again(I also like to pretend I am not 42).

With every one of these little cash grabs Disney is losing a little peice of that. Who is to say that if we try Universal, or take that trip to the beach that we might not find the same happiness and Nostalgia? Would we then feel the need to come back and pay 24$ a night for the privilege of parking at a Disney Resort?

We too have been going every year for the last 9 years, and have found that what once was good value for money and an awesome experience, has now become a tad too expensive for the value we have now received. We bought DVC to encourage us to take our holidays, but as DVC is holding its value, the extra add-ons are not. And we dont want to just sit at our resort for 14 days, so it really is a catch 22.. I do think free dining has had a big impact on what Disney now charge, as they think ok people are getting free food so lets hike up everything else to cover that, which is a double whammy for those of us who pay OOP for food and dont get discounted accom deals.But YMMV. Just an observation on how things have changed so much within a decade.

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

Oh and this morning I booked our car hire for the 14 days, as the buses and transportation will now be a nightmare, as most people now will forgo having a hire car. Can you imagine what the buses back to the resort are going to be like? SHUDDER......

 

[ArielSRL]

Then count yourself very lucky. We were definitely middle class and a trip to WDW was well out of reach. We were lucky to drive 4 hours and spend time near the lake.

Btw, I'm 51 years young. My mom worked in a factory and my dad was a retail manager. Trips to WDW were not in the budget. You were very fortunate.

We went a lot when I was a kid. I’m 44. My dad worked a middle class paying job and my mom stayed home and babysat neighborhood kids. It probably helped that we live in GA and drove, and guess what, we stayed offsite! Made it affordable for us.

In my teens we started staying onsite and NEVER went offsite again. Now as an adult, I just bought DVC (resale as I’m definitely average joe middle class) so we won’t have to worry about the fee but we do want to take more trips than we have points for, so I will now look to staying offsite again (30 years later) when staying on a cash ressie.

 

[fla4fun]

i looked it up...apparently in florida, the tax collector's office is the DMV....or at least in orange county (where WDW is)...
you get your drivers license there, tags, etc.
so have we gone off topic?

The tax collector and license tag office are combined, but drivers licenses are at a separate office, at least in my county (a neighbor to Orange). I found out the hard way going to the drivers license office by mistake when I needed to do a tag transfer, waited, then had to go to another office and wait again. My tag office is usually less crowded and more efficient than the drivers license office, but you can make an appointment at the drivers license office, which does help.

People upward in the thread have compared this to the Toys r Us bankruptcy and I just read an article that broke down step by step how they went from the number one toy retailer to losing it all. It would have been very easy to substitute Disney’s name in the article. I don’t have kids so I wasn’t a big toy shopper anyway, but the article was sad because they realized too late what they had done wrong, and couldn’t get back on track.

I am still waiting to hear how they will handle if there are two vehicles on the booking but one of them will only be there a few nights, instead of the whole stay. That will play a big part in our decision whether we go back, as no one wants to pay a parking fee for nights they aren’t there. I usually stay 11 nights, and my sister joins me for 2-3 nights mid trip, but both names are on the reservation. Have they even addressed partial stay parking at all? With car rentals on property I could see people renting for a couple days when they have off property things planned, instead of renting for the whole stay.

 

[jsand99]

I sent an email yesterday morning and got a call this afternoon. Missed the call and made two attempts to return it and got voicemail.

 

[dachsie]

Book in September? Do you mean book now?

Yes, book now for Sept. Sorry I wasn't clear

 

[HopperFan]

I am still waiting to hear how they will handle if there are two vehicles on the booking but one of them will only be there a few nights, instead of the whole stay. That will play a big part in our decision whether we go back, as no one wants to pay a parking fee for nights they aren’t there. I usually stay 11 nights, and my sister joins me for 2-3 nights mid trip, but both names are on the reservation. Have they even addressed partial stay parking at all? With car rentals on property I could see people renting for a couple days when they have off property things planned, instead of renting for the whole stay.

I would think they could just do it like the extra adult fee when a guest is only there a few nights. You pay for each night they are there.

 

[ArielSRL]

I emailed George and was very polite but mentioned my discontent. I also mentioned I had recently bought into DVC so that’s who called me back...DVC. I’m playing phone tag with Emma but she’s supposed to be back in the office tomorrow so we’ll see if I get a call then.

 

[Jennasis]

I emailed George and was very polite but mentioned my discontent. I also mentioned I had recently bought into DVC so that’s who called me back...DVC. I’m playing phone tag with Emma but she’s supposed to be back in the office tomorrow so we’ll see if I get a call then.

DVC called me back too which is disappointing as they have nothing to do with this or the implementation of the fee. The very nice woman I spoke to was essentially "gathering info" and taking notes on my concerns to "pass along". I would have preferred to speak to the office responsible for this nonsense, but oh well.

 

[Togadadof2]

Sorry I don’t believe that. $4,000 with airfare, plus hotel, food etc. flight alone cost that or more from the US (family). Unless you went by yourself.

We spent 2 weeks in Italy last summer for about what we just spent on 8 days at BCV in feb. Flights r/t were $1550 total for 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids) on United. It wasn’t some crazy airline at some crazy time. We’re going to Europe again this summer and our flights there are cheaper than flying to Orlando. Going to Europe isn’t as crazy expensive as one might think. Obviously it can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

 

[ArielSRL]

DVC called me back too which is disappointing as they have nothing to do with this or the implementation of the fee. The very nice woman I spoke to was essentially "gathering info" and taking notes on my concerns to "pass along". I would have preferred to speak to the office responsible for this nonsense, but oh well.

Good to know. I guess that’s what I will expect.

 

[blondietink]

Anybody remember the saying .... "too big to fail?" I think Disney thinks that of themselves.

 

[Lynne M]

Again, I'm going to ask that the thread stay on topic.

We are, at heart, a travel-planning board. This is an important topic, of interest to many people planning stays at Disney resorts. There's a lot of useful information being shared and discussed here. Personal arguments, frankly, aren't of interest to anyone besides the people doing the arguing.

 

[SmithSmith]

I haven't either. I sent my email 3 days ago. So many people have stated they emailed and received a phone call back the next day. I feel like nobody is going to respond to me at this point.

You’ll get a call.

FWIW, I emailed Guest Services a few years ago with an issue and it took a week to get a call back. The GS CM told me then that they will call everyone back who emails them. My issue I needed resolved required a lot of back and forth. She warned me that her department was extremely behind, and I should expect it to take 7 days to receive any reply from her.

Fast forward to this year, and I’ve needed to contact GS twice already. That same department that was a week behind, is now 2 weeks behind.

(Btw, this is just another example of Disney cost cutting measures that irritates me. Why can’t they just staff accordingly?)

Anyway, when people on this thread were saying they were already getting called back, I was shocked because it happened so quickly. Perhaps they expected an increase in complaints and temporarily upped the staff?

Anyway, that’s my take, based on my experience. I could be completely wrong though.

 

[lambdabeta]

You’ll get a call.

FWIW, I emailed Guest Services a few years ago with an issue and it took a week to get a call back. The GS CM told me then that they will call everyone back who emails them. My issue I needed resolved required a lot of back and forth. She warned me that her department was extremely behind, and I should expect it to take 7 days to receive any reply from her.

Fast forward to this year, and I’ve needed to contact GS twice already. That same department that was a week behind, is now 2 weeks behind.

(Btw, this is just another example of Disney cost cutting measures that irritates me. Why can’t they just staff accordingly?)

Anyway, when people on this thread were saying they were already getting called back, I was shocked because it happened so quickly. Perhaps they expected an increase in complaints and temporarily upped the staff?

Anyway, that’s my take, based on my experience. I could be completely wrong though.

I complained to guest services about an issue on my last trip in Dec. I did not get a call at all. I got an email back saying if I wanted to talk to someone I would have to call them. That was my experience. It seems the people on this thread that are getting call backs are writing directly to George Kalogridis. I haven't heard of anyone getting a call back from guest services yet. If anyone has let me know. I wrote to them first and haven't heard a thing other than they received my email. I plan on writing to Mr. Kalogridis myself and I will let everyone know if I receive a phone call.

 

[SmithSmith]

I complained to guest services about an issue on my last trip in Dec. I did not get a call at all. I got an email back saying if I wanted to talk to someone I would have to call them. That was my experience. It seems the people on this thread that are getting call backs are writing directly to George Kalogridis. I haven't heard of anyone getting a call back from guest services yet. If anyone has let me know. I wrote to them first and haven't heard a thing other than they received my email. I plan on writing to Mr. Kalogridis myself and I will let everyone know if I receive a phone call.

That’s so weird. That hasn’t been my experience at all. Not only do they ALWAYS call me back, the person who will call me will send an email the day before. In it, they introduce themselves, give me their schedule in case I need to contact them, and finally, they let me know when I can expect their phone call. It may take awhile to hear from them but at least they’re thorough.

Heck, guest services will call me back even when I ask them not to.

Just to be clear, we are talking about using the email address guest.services@disneyworld.com to contact them directly and not going through the WDW website, correct? What you describe is what I experience if I contact Disney through their website.

ETA: You’re probably right about who is getting called back. I haven’t been keeping track, but now that I think about it, I know for sure people were reporting getting calls from DVC and Kalogridis, can’t be certain it was GS.

I’m sorry for the confusion, it’s late, I should be in bed.

 

[greg9x]

Man, every Facebook post from Disney is getting slammed in the comment section about the parking fee. People are relentless with all the sarcastic comments.
This is turning in to a PR nightmare for them.
Seems to be going down the 'social justice' route...if It gains too much momentum they'll be doing a lot of damage control. They just need to look down the road at Sea World as to what can happen when the public is unhappy with the way you run things.

As others have mentioned,it isn't the parking fee itself, but that people are at the 'ENOUGH !' point. The bubble has burst for quite a few to realize just how off the price/benefit ratio has gotten.

I need to make at least one more trip to get money's worth from annual pass...then done. Sure Star Wars will be tempting, but the craziness from it will put me off for quite a while i think.

 

[disneyholic family]

Man, every Facebook post from Disney is getting slammed in the comment section about the parking fee. People are relentless with all the sarcastic comments.
This is turning in to a PR nightmare for them.
Seems to be going down the 'social justice' route...if It gains too much momentum they'll be doing a lot of damage control. They just need to look down the road at Sea World as to what can happen when the public is unhappy with the way you run things.

As others have mentioned,it isn't the parking fee itself, but that people are at the 'ENOUGH !' point. The bubble has burst for quite a few to realize just how off the price/benefit ratio has gotten.

I need to make at least one more trip to get money's worth from annual pass...then done. Sure Star Wars will be tempting, but the craziness from it will put me off for quite a while i think.

but they're censoring the posts - the new threads have angry posts, but once their scrubbers get to work, they clean them up...the older posts have been cleansed and replaced with rah rah posts....no doubt by their social media bots...

.