Disney Resorts to start charging parking fees....

[gillep]

I just sent off my emails as I wanted to sleep on it for the night.

I expressed my opinion that based on my extensive travel in the U.S. that this is NOT industry standard at resorts with similar setups and space. I also challenged them on their selectively myopic view of industry standards, and asked when we could expect other industry standards to come to WDW resorts such as complementary breakfast, loyalty programs that allow us to earn points towards perks and free nights, complementary lotion (as inexplicably I can get this at every other hotel I have ever stayed in the U.S., but not at many WDW resorts), as well as true club-level service.

I also asked what they would be doing to ensure that their transportation systems are able to handle the guests being pushed to WDW transportation, including appropriately dispatching the correct number of buses so as not to exceed 20 minute waits and so that everyone at a stop could get on the first bus, properly maintaining and bringing the monorail up to industry standards, and addressing the transportation to water parks.

I also asked why resort guests must pay a fee, but day guests, who take up many spaces especially at deluxe resorts are not included, and asked if because resort guests are now paying for space if they can be assured that a space will be open for them, and if not, how they will be refunding the parking fee.

 

[KenHutch]

I am a bit of an over planner so now that this has happened I have started pricing the good neighbor hotels (I will not stay at Disney again). I called Swan/Dolphin to get a couple of questions answered and a very nice woman helped me. The reason I am posting this is a comment she made about Disney. She said the executive that thought of this is going to be their favorite person for years to come if the number of questions they have been getting are any indication of future bookings.

 

[kittyab]

I wonder if they plan to segregate the lots into resort guest and day visiting areas. It would make it easier to guarantee parking for paying guest and enforce a time limit on visitors.

They should, if you are paying to park there better be parking spot for you and it better be a good one. Day visitors can walk.

 

[Tink-osophy]

I just sent off my emails as I wanted to sleep on it for the night.

I expressed my opinion that based on my extensive travel in the U.S. that this is NOT industry standard at resorts with similar setups and space. I also challenged them on their selectively myopic view of industry standards, and asked when we could expect other industry standards to come to WDW resorts such as complementary breakfast, loyalty programs that allow us to earn points towards perks and free nights, complementary lotion (as inexplicably I can get this at every other hotel I have ever stayed in the U.S., but not at many WDW resorts), as well as true club-level service.

I also asked what they would be doing to ensure that their transportation systems are able to handle the guests being pushed to WDW transportation, including appropriately dispatching the correct number of buses so as not to exceed 20 minute waits and so that everyone at a stop could get on the first bus, properly maintaining and bringing the monorail up to industry standards, and addressing the transportation to water parks.

I also asked why resort guests must pay a fee, but day guests, who take up many spaces especially at deluxe resorts are not included, and asked if because resort guests are now paying for space if they can be assured that a space will be open for them, and if not, how they will be refunding the parking fee.

Well said!

"...Selectively myopic view..."

And everything else you wrote!

 

[kittyab]

I help plan Disney vacations for the teachers at my daughters school.. I plan on suggesting one way to eat this (teachers have a very finite vacation budget) by not doing desert parties or things like Spirit of Aloho or HDDR.

Tell them to skip table service meals to make up for the paid parking!

 

[HopperFan]

No. They have not called me yet. Somebody else emailed them and received a call. They questioned the ability to modify a resort reservation after March 21st without being charged for parking, which is what I would like to get confirmation on.

Okay so that is info that is more credible.

But to the PP who was going to call them .... those folks you can't trust.

Email and ask for a call back with info.

 

[Tink-osophy]

If the off site hotels marketing department was smart they would be offering "free parking" and publicizing it prominently. Heck they could probably even raise their price but make it look like they were giving something for a discount.

This happens every time Disney raises their ticket price or takes away a perk, there are pages and pages on here about how people are incensed and not going anymore. Well the parks just keep getting busier and busier so unless it actually makes a dent in the Disney bottom line they don't care.

People need to realize That Disney does not care about you, they don't care about me they just care about the amount of money the company can make off of your visit to their parks. They are going to separate every dollar they can from you and smile while they do it and wish you a "Magical" time. It is a business and they will not care until their attendance starts to fall. It doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon.

There was a time when they managed to care about profit and Guests.

...Ah, the good old days!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I called Swan/Dolphin to get a couple of questions answered and a very nice woman helped me. The reason I am posting this is a comment she made about Disney. She said the executive that thought of this is going to be their favorite person for years to come if the number of questions they have been getting are any indication of future bookings.

May not get them a lot more business since the Swan/Dolphin has a $20 per day parking fee plus a nightly $25 resort fee (which may be waived for those at a high level of their loyalty program though. The resort fee, not the parking).

 

[Tink-osophy]

Yes, cabin guests now have to pay for their personally designated and numbered driveway parking space pad. Because industry standard.

Parking
Effective for new reservations made March 21, 2018 and thereafter, standard overnight self-parking is available to registered Guests for a fee of $19 per night (sales tax included). Complimentary standard self parking is available when visiting this Resort to enjoy select dining, shopping, entertainment and recreation experiences.

Each campsite provides parking space for one (1) motorized vehicle.

"Industry standard" for a campground!

 

[Bowen Family]

Okay, one last question/observation from me on this topic and then back to work!

Reservations made before March 21, 2018 are exempt from the new parking fee. But we can presently make resort reservations to the end of December 2018.

That means that between March 21 and December 31 (EIGHT months!!), resort employees are going to have to distinguish between cars in the lot entitled to free parking versus cars in the lot that must pay to be there. And they need a consistent transition strategy to manage this across 25 resorts!

So if they mistake your car for a post-March 21 resort reservation, do you get towed? Are they tracking license plates? So much opportunity to royally mess this up. I predict resort parking will be a very popular thread topic in 2018!

 

[Krandor]

Now that we have confirmation and some details, I'm going to re-post an idea I shared yesterday on this (then rumoured) topic:

Why not just charge resort guests a flat fee at the gate each time they LEAVE the parking lot??

So if you're a week-long guest that's arrived in your car, but you don't drive it anywhere, you pay for parking only once when you leave.

But if you brought your car to Disney with the intention of driving every day (to Universal, and/or adding to road congestion by driving to the Disney parks), you either pay more for that privilege, or you take advantage of a financial incentive to drive less.

And if you're legitimately at a resort for dinner or shopping, your ticket is easily validated at the point-of-sale for 3 hours of free parking.

This would avoid penalizing resort guests who a) need or prefer to drive to Disney, and b) stay in the 'bubble' their entire trip and take Disney transportation everywhere.

Our family is usually both a) and b) described above. But if we start paying a daily fee to park a car we're not using, 'll actually feel MORE inclined to drive in order to get more value from this new expense.

I like that idea. The other is like to see is if you don’t plan to use your car have a free out of the way parking lot with shuttles to resorts. That way we won’t add to the upkeep of that resort parking lot.

 

[DisBuckMan]

As I mentioned upthread somewhere, my parents usually drop us at the resort. So what's to stop anyone else from getting through to "get dropped off". And once the car is parked in the lot, there is no way to connect that car with your reservation, so they can't charge you. They don't know who the offending car belongs to. And since I don't see them towing anyone, even if they go back to paper parking passes, what are they going to do about cars that are parked over night without a pass?

Do you really think with this new policy that they won't change anything? Everything will still be the same, and it will all be on the honor system? I'd say there's a very slim possibility of that happening. I would imagine that they'll scan your magic band when you enter the lot, and it will tie to your reservation. Parking charge automatically hits your portfolio as soon as you enter the property. If, as someone stated above, you don't have a magic band because you're a "day guest", you'll probably be issued a ticket, which you'll have to present to exit the resort. This ain't rocket science, folks. It's not going to require some major engineering and construction to accomplish.

 

[DisneyDude71]

No profit there!

 

[Tink-osophy]

Okay, one last question/observation from me on this topic and then back to work!

Reservations made before March 21, 2018 are exempt from the new parking fee. But we can presently make resort reservations to the end of December 2018.

That means that between March 21 and December 31 (EIGHT months!!), resort employees are going to have to distinguish between cars in the lot entitled to free parking versus cars in the lot that must pay to be there. And they need a consistent transition strategy to manage this across 25 resorts!

So if they mistake your car for a post-March 21 resort reservation, do you get towed? Are they tracking license plates? So much opportunity to royally mess this up. I predict resort parking will be a very popular thread topic in 2018!

Yikes! Can you imagine? They're not managing to implement other systems consistently.

 

[parkhopmom]

I'm contemplating cancelling our upcoming trip, even though I made the reservations back in January.
It's just the principle of the thing. We used to go at least once a year, but then between the rising costs, rising crowds, and diminished overall experience, we took a few years off and went and did the Caribbean beach deal.
We stayed all inclusive, and those trips OUT OF THE COUNTRY with airfare and food and alcohol included were cheaper than staying at POFQ with no food, no air, no alcohol.
And now you want us to pay to park on your Magical Asphalt?
Gee wiz Disney, enough is enough.

Magical Asphalt

 

[lark]

Except, Disney isn't lowering their prices, so it doesn't appear "cheap."

Right, the idea is not make prices look low, but just artificially lower than what they are. This is simply a disguised price increase. That's all it is.

Disney has decided that people are more likely to book at $450 plus $30 for parking, then to pay $480.

Now, of course, I'm way oversimplifying. It's not really a straight across-the-board price increase. It only affects you if you drive, just as baggage fees only affect you if you check bags, and so Disney will no doubt market it as providing customer choice. But segmented pricing works. And they know it.

Also, there is a lot going on here. Disney is also trying to create a disincentive to people driving, just as with Magical Express. Even if only 1 out of 100 fewer people rent cars and drive, that's 1 out of 100 people who have more trouble going to Harry Potter. The disproportionate effect on Floridians who drive is lame, but actually may also be intentional.

 

[nkereina]

Okay, one last question/observation from me on this topic and then back to work!

Reservations made before March 21, 2018 are exempt from the new parking fee. But we can presently make resort reservations to the end of December 2018.

That means that between March 21 and December 31 (EIGHT months!!), resort employees are going to have to distinguish between cars in the lot entitled to free parking versus cars in the lot that must pay to be there. And they need a consistent transition strategy to manage this across 25 resorts!

So if they mistake your car for a post-March 21 resort reservation, do you get towed? Are they tracking license plates? So much opportunity to royally mess this up. I predict resort parking will be a very popular thread topic in 2018!

I may have missed this, but I would assume WDW will do this like other hotels and just tack on the per night parking fee to your reservation at check-in. By doing this, they would just take the fee x however many nights you are there, and apply it if you booked after 3/21/18. It would show up on your folio like any other charge. Do we know if they are doing it differently than this? I haven't read too closely on it because it doesn't apply to us.

Assuming that is how they will do it, I do wonder what they will do for the people who don't keep a card on file and don't set up charging privileges. I'm sure they will just have to pay at check-in, but it defeats the purpose of a package having everything paid in advance.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I just sent off my emails as I wanted to sleep on it for the night.

I expressed my opinion that based on my extensive travel in the U.S. that this is NOT industry standard at resorts with similar setups and space. I also challenged them on their selectively myopic view of industry standards, and asked when we could expect other industry standards to come to WDW resorts such as complementary breakfast, loyalty programs that allow us to earn points towards perks and free nights, complementary lotion (as inexplicably I can get this at every other hotel I have ever stayed in the U.S., but not at many WDW resorts), as well as true club-level service.

I also asked what they would be doing to ensure that their transportation systems are able to handle the guests being pushed to WDW transportation, including appropriately dispatching the correct number of buses so as not to exceed 20 minute waits and so that everyone at a stop could get on the first bus, properly maintaining and bringing the monorail up to industry standards, and addressing the transportation to water parks.

I also asked why resort guests must pay a fee, but day guests, who take up many spaces especially at deluxe resorts are not included, and asked if because resort guests are now paying for space if they can be assured that a space will be open for them, and if not, how they will be refunding the parking fee.

Saving this. Club level at Disney sounds like a joke compared to what I've experienced at Hiltons, and you're so right about the loyalty programs.

 

[gillep]

Saving this. Club level at Disney sounds like a joke compared to what I've experienced at Hiltons, and you're so right about the loyalty programs.

Exactly, my husband and I travel a lot, we are part of many hotel loyalty programs, including Diamond at Hilton, the industry standard comparison is laughable, we have also stayed at many Hilton, and other well-known hospitality chain properties that have zero parking fees.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I also think the worst part is this does nothing to scare away the day scammer trying to get around paying to park at the theme park lots.

This. So day visitors (who consistently suggest people park at hotels to avoid parking fees at the parks) still get in free, and there's nothing in place to change that. Guests actually staying at the hotels have to pay for parking, but scammers can fill up the parking lot. Who's to say if a car has been there for an hour or 9? Disney is going to do what other hotels that charge for parking do and just add the parking to your bill at the end, they're not going to actually check your car in & out every day.