Disney Resorts to start charging parking fees....

[Iya]

I sent an email to the execs a few days ago as a UK-based visitor. They correlated my email address with my MDE account and called me yesterday. I spent about 20 mins on the phone to a representative who stressed that they care deeply about guest feedback. She mentioned the whole "industry standard line". I explained that Disney should not be compared to the industry standard and that they already charge a significant premium for their rooms. She then mentioned that they wanted to bring WDW in line with Disneyland and the Hawaii resort. I countered this by commenting that the three resorts are completely not comparable. WDW is huge with multiple attractions and resorts in a wide area, making transport critical. I complained that resort-to-resort transport is non-existant and driving to restaurants is far better than relying on a series of Disney buses. I then mentioned that charging so much more for Deluxe vs Value was simply taking further advantage of those guests that spend more to stay, and that by charging more to park per day at a resort than guests staying offsite pay to park at MK is ridiculous. I stressed that the answer to this is not to charge more to theme park guests! I mentioned that being slapped with a $300+ bill at the end of the stay leaves a very sour taste in the mouth and is not the final memory most guests will want to leave with.

Finally I commented that the service at WDW resorts is generally excellent, principally down to the cast members who greet guests on the front line. I tried to emphasise that ridiculous board-level decisions such as this only serve to undermine the hard work done by resort staff.

She stressed many times how important guest feeback is. I told her they've got it wrong on this one and don't be too proud to accept that. I don't know what will happen going forwards but at least I have left them fully aware of current opinion.

There have been so many insightful, well-thought out responses in this thread to this new fee that it makes you scratch your head that Disney didn't anticipate any of this. Don't they have anybody working there at ANY level that would have come up with the same responses Joe Q Public has offered? Or were those same things dismissed as "eh, the public will forget about it after a few days and pay the fee without complaint"? I don't get it.

 

[Klismania]

I actually looked at offsite house rentals and was *SHOCKED* at how much more I got for spending less than I would have spent at a Fort Wilderness Cabin. Private pool? Full kitchen? Multiple bedrooms? And it's a thousand dollars less? If I ever go back to WDW, I'll definitely be staying in one of these houses. If it weren't for this parking money grab, I never would have even looked. What's seen can never be unseen. I'm still shocked by how much I was overspending and what I was getting in return for those dollars.

 

[Iya]

Well we cancelled as I mentioned several pages back. We are going to the beach this year. This will be the first time not going in a long time. We will however go in 2019. We plan on alternating years instead of yearly trips. As I mentioned earlier we are not mad. We are and will always be Disney fans. We just want to branch out and see and do more that our great Nation offers. We have had a very expensive habit and time to scale back or at least spread out our hard earned dollars . Never know we may become addicted to something else.

If you're interested, the current issue of Money magazine has a lengthy article on the best value for the price places to visit, both in the US and international.

 

[Rosanne]

First off, I'll say I really like the Poly because it's so relaxing. I don't love that they added the bungalows in the water because they block so much of the view. It's not like I'm upset with people renting them, I mean, Disney built them so they should be rented. I just don't like how it changed the view so much.

That said, my second favorite place was the Swan and Dolphin but the parking fee and resort fee had put me off. I know it's still cheaper but I am just not a fan of fees. Recently my cable company started adding a "network something something fee" for something we've always had. That just rubs me wrong. Fees for a carry on bag for airlines rubs me wrong. So does actually getting to "choose seats to sit together with your family fees". Fees, fees, fees.

So, I'm thinking now that Disney is adding parking fees as well, the S&D has risen back above. I choose to drive due to it being the same length to drive or fly and flying is less predictable. I really thought the S&D was more lux feeling than the Y&BC. It's a little further but walking around the interior of the BC was pretty tiring every time we wanted to go anywhere.

I'm keeping my Poly res and not saying I'll never stay there again but I'm pretty certain our next trip we'll stay at the S&D. We all loved it and since we're getting fee'd by Disney anyway I feel pretty good about going back to it.

 

[Tink-osophy]

First off, I'll say I really like the Poly because it's so relaxing. I don't love that they added the bungalows in the water because they block so much of the view. It's not like I'm upset with people renting them, I mean, Disney built them so they should be rented. I just don't like how it changed the view so much.

That said, my second favorite place was the Swan and Dolphin but the parking fee and resort fee had put me off. I know it's still cheaper but I am just not a fan of fees. Recently my cable company started adding a "network something something fee" for something we've always had. That just rubs me wrong. Fees for a carry on bag for airlines rubs me wrong. So does actually getting to "choose seats to sit together with your family fees". Fees, fees, fees.

So, I'm thinking now that Disney is adding parking fees as well, the S&D has risen back above. I choose to drive due to it being the same length to drive or fly and flying is less predictable. I really thought the S&D was more lux feeling than the Y&BC. It's a little further but walking around the interior of the BC was pretty tiring every time we wanted to go anywhere.

I'm keeping my Poly res and not saying I'll never stay there again but I'm pretty certain our next trip we'll stay at the S&D. We all loved it and since we're getting fee'd by Disney anyway I feel pretty good about going back to it.

I know I'm OT, but I agree the bungalows have spoilt the view.

 

[DISNEY1975]

IOW, I realize there is sufficient parking at the mods and values, but would there be sufficient at the deluxes if they were mainly resort guests, as well?

Absolutely. As I stated in an earlier post, at 10pm - 11pm the parking lots at the MK deluxes (I only can speak for Poly and Contemp, havent stayed at GF) are 100% full and I drive around anywhere from 10 - 20 minutes waiting for a spot. When we leave the resort around 7:30am to drive to a breakfast elsewhere in the bubble, the parking lot is 1/4 full. If we return from breakfast (and not go to a park right after), around 10:00am, the lot is completely full again. At the Poly, if we return from AK/HS/Waterpark at 5 to shower and change for dinner, it could take 30 minutes to find a spot as there are a million people there for OHana and the Luau, as well as the parked people who never left in the morning after breakfast and would still be at the MK, and the locals who just park there for the free parking (though Im just assuming that because I do see some groups of teens without adults, I assume they are local. Maybe their parents let them vacation at Disney without adults?? I dont see it too often, but have once or twice. I have seen nightly people/families get off the monorail and head straight for the parking lot. I assume they had breakfast or dinner there and left their car to go to the MK).

 

[Tink-osophy]

Absolutely. As I stated in an earlier post, at 10pm - 11pm the parking lots at the MK deluxes (I only can speak for Poly and Contemp, havent stayed at GF) are 100% full and I drive around anywhere from 10 - 20 minutes waiting for a spot. When we leave the resort around 7:30am to drive to a breakfast elsewhere in the bubble, the parking lot is 1/4 full. If we return from breakfast (and not go to a park right after), around 10:00am, the lot is completely full again. At the Poly, if we return from AK/HS/Waterpark at 5 to shower and change for dinner, it could take 30 minutes to find a spot as there are a million people there for OHana and the Luau, as well as the parked people who never left in the morning after breakfast and would still be at the MK, and the locals who just park there for the free parking (though Im just assuming that because I do see some groups of teens without adults, I assume they are local. Maybe their parents let them vacation at Disney without adults?? I dont see it too often, but have once or twice. I have seen nightly people/families get off the monorail and head straight for the parking lot. I assume they had breakfast or dinner there and left their car to go to the MK).

It's crazy, isn't it?

And I just don't see how they can claim to view guests as important cogs (as they told Kevin355) (...shouldn't guests be something more than cogs anyway?...) and then put their highest paying guests in this position!

 

[dachsie]

There have been so many insightful, well-thought out responses in this thread to this new fee that it makes you scratch your head that Disney didn't anticipate any of this. Don't they have anybody working there at ANY level that would have come up with the same responses Joe Q Public has offered? Or were those same things dismissed as "eh, the public will forget about it after a few days and pay the fee without complaint"? I don't get it.

I think it boils down to the elite don't get the masses. They live in the bubble their success has created and can't relate to and do not understand Joe Q Public. It's that way in a lot of things in the country and it's sad.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Don't they have anybody working there at ANY level that would have come up with the same responses Joe Q Public has offered?

No, they dont. Most are 6 month interns working for free / minimum wage All they want is the clock to say 5pm so they can get the heck out of there. There are no more imaginears, just engineers.

 

[bryanb]

It does make one curious as to why they extended the perks to those outside the bubble. Any theories?

Because once SWL opens, Disney won't have the hotel capacity.

That's not for over a year still though. So it doesn't make sense to do this for 2018. The perks are only confirmed through the end of this year.

Iya is right... and even before SWL, Disney hotels are already running near capacity, even at the very high room rates they charge. With their current occupancy rates, their prices keep going up each year but demand is not falling off. The only way to really grow is to start striking deals with neighborhood hotels.

We don't know the contracts behind these deals, but it's probably that those hotels aren't getting this benefit for free, but part of their revenue is being shared with Disney.

I'm probably being a bit negative.... while the current situation does NOT affect my DW and I? I would suggest you avoid phone calls.
Phone calls can feed you anything that makes you feel good. The content can not be documented, and Disney knows this very well.

Just an opinion? Demand EMAIL replies. Don't settle for a "feel good" phone call.

If you're looking to get promises, I would get them documented in writing somehow. But I think that there's no harm in having a conversation with the executive office.

The fact that I have seen numerous posts about getting a response from Disney is encouraging and discouraging at the same time. I think its great everyone is being heard and receiving a call back, but leads me to think if they have time to call everyone back, maybe there really isnt a lot / enough complaints being sent.

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.

The fact that they're putting in special effort to call people back on this issue is good. I even imagine that there's healthy dissent within the Disney executive ranks, which is not uncommon in large companies. So I see it as encouraging. I work for a large company, and we once did something that was kind of unpopular. I wanted to make a case against the decision and asked customer service to bcc me on every email that came in on the topic (positive or negative). I got hundreds of emails a day, which I looked through every night after finishing my regular work, and summarized. As much as I was tempted to talk directly to customers, the reality is that there's literally no way for that to happen. You need the office's assistants to do that. Also, let me say that some of the messages coming in were really terrible. Insults, foul language, abusive. Even one person who suggested someone should be shot... all over an entertainment product. Co-workers who made the mistake of talking to customers/guests in the past, got their name splashed all over internet forums and harassed on their personal Facebook pages. And these aren't even high level execs, just regular managers in cubicles. So I hope everyone voices their opinion, but please be nice to the people you're messaging even if you feel angry.

If Disney is saying that they are going with the industry standard (to which they shouldn’t lower themselves), I would think that Las Vegas parking fees would be more comparable to Disney. ...

Vegas isn't a good comparison. They offer free day and overnight parking because they want people to stay in the casino into the wee hours of the morning without worrying about time. On a $25 blackjack table, they'll earn that "free" parking fee again and again and again. Other WDW-area hotels makes sense to me.

maybe Disney can use the daily "room security" checks as an opportunity to collect the daily parking fees from guests as well...

This is a bit off topic, and has been discussed extensively elsewhere, but since it keeps coming up in various threads, I really don't get why a fairly common hotel security policy gets lumped into so many topics.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Pretty surprising that on a Sunday (today March 18th) at 10:30 am I get a call from someone from the office of George Kalogridis. They acknowledged my email and said they could tell I was passionate about Disney and felt hurt. They said feedback like this helps them review the impact of policy changes.

So.....if you haven't already, send in an email to Disney. they more noise we make, the better chance of them considering the customer more before they make dramatic changes in policy.

I suggested they come here ............on the Disboards Resort thread......... to look over comments that, as of last night, had over 80,000 views.....

 

[bryanb]

There have been so many insightful, well-thought out responses in this thread to this new fee that it makes you scratch your head that Disney didn't anticipate any of this. Don't they have anybody working there at ANY level that would have come up with the same responses Joe Q Public has offered? Or were those same things dismissed as "eh, the public will forget about it after a few days and pay the fee without complaint"? I don't get it.

To be fair, we don't know that Disney didn't anticipate any of this. They might have anticipated grumbling, but calculated that the profit would outweigh the complaints.

 

[dachsie]

Pretty surprising that on a Sunday (today March 18th) at 10:30 am I get a call from someone from the office of George Kalogridis. They acknowledged my email and said they could tell I was passionate about Disney and felt hurt. They said feedback like this helps them review the impact of policy changes.

So.....if you haven't already, send in an email to Disney. they more noise we make, the better chance of them considering the customer more before they make dramatic changes in policy.

I suggested they come here ............on the Disboards Resort thread......... to look over comments that, as of last night, had over 80,000 views.....

I suggested the same thing

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I was looking over comments made by somebody a few posts ago about Disney trying to bring things more in line with the attractions in Hawaii and California.

Uh............wait a minute Disney............have you priced the cost of these things in those other places? A loaf of bread, a gallon of gas, the rent for a 2 bedroom apartment, a pound of top sirloin steak???? Just because the cost of living "over there" is crazy shouldn't give you a license to jack up fees in Florida! There is a major flaw with that philosophy.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Since I didn't leave a phone number on any of the mails I have to presume that WDW is cross referencing the complaining e mails with previously registered guests and people who use My Disney Experience.
They obviously want to confirm that the people complaining aren't just trolls.

Ummmm...that or they wanted to verify its you before they take you off the Disney Destination Unique Pincode Email list

(sorry...couldnt resist!!)

 

[Maxie86]

Absolutely. As I stated in an earlier post, at 10pm - 11pm the parking lots at the MK deluxes (I only can speak for Poly and Contemp, havent stayed at GF) are 100% full and I drive around anywhere from 10 - 20 minutes waiting for a spot. When we leave the resort around 7:30am to drive to a breakfast elsewhere in the bubble, the parking lot is 1/4 full. If we return from breakfast (and not go to a park right after), around 10:00am, the lot is completely full again. At the Poly, if we return from AK/HS/Waterpark at 5 to shower and change for dinner, it could take 30 minutes to find a spot as there are a million people there for OHana and the Luau, as well as the parked people who never left in the morning after breakfast and would still be at the MK, and the locals who just park there for the free parking (though Im just assuming that because I do see some groups of teens without adults, I assume they are local. Maybe their parents let them vacation at Disney without adults?? I dont see it too often, but have once or twice. I have seen nightly people/families get off the monorail and head straight for the parking lot. I assume they had breakfast or dinner there and left their car to go to the MK).

This will not change, day guests will still park for free. Adding an overnight parking fee will not free up parking spaces if day guests can still park for free. I also don't think that people who stay in the deluxe resorts will stop renting a car because of the fee. It is just too convenient driving where you want to go instead of taking the buses. We always valet, so have always paid to park but it was our choice. I pay for the convenience of pulling up to the front of the resort and having someone park the car for me, and having someone bring it to me when I want to go somewhere, not to park the car. I am absolutely against this for so many reasons though. It's a money grab nothing more.

Just to add my 2 cents to why they have extended the 60 day FP and EMH to DS hotels, the Hilton always had EMH but I don't know about the FP's. I think it is the start of paid FP's at 90 days for resort guests. I do think they will do this if enough CL guests do it during the trial. Just my opinion so take it for what it is worth...nothing.

 

[sbd78]

Comparing DW to DL is ridiculous. In DL there are a plethora of offsite hotels that are walking distance to the parks.

 

[emilymad]

To be fair, we don't know that Disney didn't anticipate any of this. They might have anticipated grumbling, but calculated that the profit would outweigh the complaints.

I think Disney did anticipate this. They just don't care.

 

[bryanb]

I think Disney did anticipate this. They just don't care.

Right. Although I think some people do care based on the responses so far. But whether that will be enough to change anything, I'm not holding my breath, but one hopes the feedback will make a difference -- or at least force them to take it into the account next time they want to add a new fee.

 

[blondietink]

I was looking over comments made by somebody a few posts ago about Disney trying to bring things more in line with the attractions in Hawaii and California.

Uh............wait a minute Disney............have you priced the cost of these things in those other places? A loaf of bread, a gallon of gas, the rent for a 2 bedroom apartment, a pound of top sirloin steak???? Just because the cost of living "over there" is crazy shouldn't give you a license to jack up fees in Florida! There is a major flaw with that philosophy.

Well, we went to both Hawaii and Disneyland within the last 6 months and honestly the prices for food and gas in both is pretty much the same as where I live in New York State. Hotel across the street from Disneyland was reasonably priced and had free breakfast! I have found grocery prices in Florida in general to be higher than where I live, a large part of the increase is due to the sales taxes they put on groceries.

I just got a call from George's office regarding the Email I sent yesterday. I reiterated what I had said and was polite to the gentleman on the phone bearing in mind he was just the messenger. At least I feel like my opinion was heard. Now maybe if I speak with my feet running off-site they will listen.