Changes to private dining hours at Walt Disney World Resort hotels

[TrojanUSC]

If you are staying at GF, they'll give you some chocolates on your pillow. There ya go. Enjoy!

This is such a ridiculous thread, yet so entertaining . It simply amazes me that someone can't wait four hours in the wee hours of the morning, to eat. It's this lack of self control that has made us the fattest country in the world. Pretty soon, you'll be paying extra to walk around WDW. Guests with scooters will remain at the same price.

What are you talking about? 24 hour room service is offered in fine hotels all over the world, it's not a US thing. As far as "waiting four hours," let's say you get in after a long flight at 2am. You're starving but there are no food options. Do you want to tell that person to wait up the extra four hours for breakfast to be available, rather than being able to have a snack when they want it? Considering guests paying less per room at the Waldorf or Four Seasons can do just that, Disney should offer it too.

The point is that Disney attempts to market its hotels as five star properties but they've rested on their laurels and are working hard to catch up (remodeling rooms to meet industry standards, improving spas, offering better in-room technology, etc). This goes against that. Room service stopping at 12am is something you'd find at a business Sheraton in Tulsa, not at a five-star Disney resort.

 

[EOD K9]

I generally eat my dinner well after 1am and go to bed about 20 minutes after that. I really don't have any issues with weight gain. And, like another poster stated, that's my normal meal and not binge eating.
I'd like to see their numbers that made them justify their decisions on this. For those of you that used this service, how limited is limited? If they were to cut this service on DCL, then its game on!

 

[EOD K9]

and bring you a cookie at 3:00 AM.

Tell me more about these cookies. Chocolate chip? Oatmeal raisin? Oatmeal Chocolate chip? I'm curious.

 

[trampdog]

The point is that Disney attempts to market its hotels as five star properties but they've rested on their laurels and are working hard to catch up (remodeling rooms to meet industry standards, improving spas, offering better in-room technology, etc). This goes against that. Room service stopping at 12am is something you'd find at a business Sheraton in Tulsa, not at a five-star Disney resort.

Anyone who has ever stayed at a WDW resort since 1971 (and I have and many years since), knows there is nothing five star about those hotels. Disney is marketing the experience, not the luxury.

Tell me more about these cookies. Chocolate chip? Oatmeal raisin? Oatmeal Chocolate chip? I'm curious.

I believe their Oatmeal Raisin are point on.

I had another thought on this whole thing. For the price of "in room dining", you have two options (one I have done) that will be even better than Disney's Sysco trucked cuisine,

1. You could Uber or Lyft over to McD's, which is open 24 hours

or better yet

2. UberEats and Grubhub will deliver right to your door.

 

[TrojanUSC]

I generally eat my dinner well after 1am and go to bed about 20 minutes after that. I really don't have any issues with weight gain. And, like another poster stated, that's my normal meal and not binge eating.
I'd like to see their numbers that made them justify their decisions on this. For those of you that used this service, how limited is limited? If they were to cut this service on DCL, then its game on!

The menu was a couple sandwiches (burger, club, etc) and salads. It had been scaled back from what it was previously. I certainly understand offering a much more limited menu during the overnight. It's the option of something, no matter what it is. When I was a kid, our family fun was to have a very early dinner then have room service late in the hotel as a deliberate splurge.

 

[TrojanUSC]

Anyone who has ever stayed at a WDW resort since 1971 (and I have and many years since), knows there is nothing five star about those hotels. Disney is marketing the experience, not the luxury.



I believe their Oatmeal Raisin are point on.

I had another thought on this whole thing. For the price of "in room dining", you have two options (one I have done) that will be even better than Disney's Sysco trucked cuisine,

1. You could Uber or Lyft over to McD's, which is open 24 hours

or better yet

2. UberEats and Grubhub will deliver right to your door.

Both wise ideas, but its the idea of the services being scaled back from what they should be based on the price point and competitive market.

 

[AEfx]

Better yet, why didn't they just pick up something in the park?

Apparently, you haven't been to the parks when they are open late. The food options are extremely limited and start closing much earlier. The only thing that is usually open in the later hours is Casey's - which is hellishly crowded because of this. I'm not even sure if they keep that open until close.

Not to mention, maybe people don't want to spend their last hour in the park waiting in line just to scarf down a hot dog before they take the long walk and bus travel back to the hotel, and would rather be able to eat in some comfort and peace.

I swear, reading this thread is just so "smack my head" ridiculous - if you don't care, or you don't eat late, that's fine, but all this other nonsense like the above quote, or people shaming people who want to get a bite late while they are on vacation and dooming them to health problems for it, etc. - I mean, come on. Do you people hear yourselves? Or read your posts before you make them and realize what they sound like? It's really a shame this social-media induced "react, furiously type type type, send" discourse has infected even this site.

 

[AEfx]

Yet another idiotic decision by the dimwits running the show at Disney. Hungry after midnight? Well tough dirt, your choice is starve or go to the vending machine. Sad this is what supposed 'deluxe resorts' offer to their Guests.

Just less reason to pay the outrageous prices of those resorts, and/or more reason to have your own vehicle on property, as there are plenty of places that you can get food at 1/5 of the price within just a few minutes of WDW. That's the kicker - we are talking $21 salads and $16 turkey sandwiches (plus $3 delivery fee and 18% surcharge) - people crowing about "well now they don't have to keep the kitchens open, and can clean better" don't have a clue what they are talking about. Some of the resorts didn't have any hot food at all, others that had one or two hot things you could get (nachos, wings) just required one oven.

 

[GoofGoof]

Also, I'm for anything at Disney that keeps fat people from getting fatter and using more scooters.

Come on, we all know the fat people have already eaten...no way they are waiting until after midnight to chow down

 

[GoofGoof]

I’m confused on the economics of this decision. Room service is ridiculously overpriced (what isn’t at WDW) so if they are stopping it for the overnight hours it must not have been very popular. The markup is pretty steep and Disney wouldn’t shut this down if it was profitable. It seems from posts here a lot of people used room service at these resorts pretty frequently so unless the people here are just an outlier and not a good representation of the rest of the guests something doesn’t add up. Cost cutting can’t really explain it either since this wasn’t a cost center but rather a profit center. Cutting costs makes sense if it’s a service being provided to guests that’s included in the room rate or park admission so no additional revenue, but since this was an upcharge (and a rather profitable one) it doesn’t make sense to cut it if it was being used.

 

[seabreezept813]

It seems odd given the number of hotels and people coming in from all different locations on different time schedules. Are local places allowed to deliver to Disney? I don’t ever recall seeing pizza flyers or anything in the room.. but this would be a great opportunity for local business..

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I generally eat my dinner well after 1am and go to bed about 20 minutes after that. I really don't have any issues with weight gain. And, like another poster stated, that's my normal meal and not binge eating.
I'd like to see their numbers that made them justify their decisions on this. For those of you that used this service, how limited is limited? If they were to cut this service on DCL, then its game on!

Your correct in your not going to gain weight. Ask any well versed nutritionist and they will tell you calories are the same anytime you eat them. Eat 2000 calories in the morning and nothing the rest of the day or reverse it, it’s all the same. Now back to the cookie conversation.

 

[Lets Respect]

What does Deluxe even mean when OKW and SSR are marketed as Deluxe?

 

[GoofGoof]

What does Deluxe even mean when OKW and SSR are marketed as Deluxe?

They are technically a different category. I think it’s something like deluxe villa, it was home away from home.

 

[trampdog]

What does Deluxe even mean when OKW and SSR are marketed as Deluxe?

A bathroom with a door.

 

[Lets Respect]

They are technically a different category. I think it’s something like deluxe villa, it was home away from home.

On the main website, they are marketed as Deluxe Villas along with VGF and the rest

They should be with the Mods

In any case, just another reason Deluxe means nothing

 

[flynnibus]

Having limited hours on Room Service is pretty typical... given the prices on most RS offers its kind of pointless to order from anymore anyways. Many chains have found a balance by offering convenience items and food that can be microwaved in a 'store' that can be staffed directly by the front desk. This gives guests the convenience they want, while balancing the hotel's commitment/cost. That helps with the late night snackers... or late arrivals.

Was just in a 4star in Miami Beach last week.. and room service items were like 25 for items that should be 5-8 dollars... I mean literally like 25 dollars for a salad, etc. A meal was going to be easily 40-60/per person.

I'm all for Disney tuning the offers if things are not working... no need for 'the same for the sake of keeping things the same' - but what I want to know is how Disney will IMPROVE the offerings by tailoring things to what guests actually use/need.

Simply saying "turning this off due to no one paying our crazy prices" is not tuning offers.

And there used to be a time Disney resorts aimed to IMPRESS, not just 'do what is necessary'

 

[EOD K9]

A bathroom with a door.

Not for nothing, but I am a DVC member and my in-laws took their five grand-children to the World last year and paid for the parents too. We volunteered to use our DVC to make things easier and less expensive, they said no, and they put everyone up at AoA. We stayed in The Little Mermaid and I can tell you, it feels weird with a curtain area for privacy.
To answer another poster's question, there was a pizza flyer scam years ago, which is why you wont see them in the rooms or the halls. I believe food can be delivered, but you'd need to go through the internets or the old fashioned local phone book.

 

[GoofGoof]

On the main website, they are marketed as Deluxe Villas along with VGF and the rest

They should be with the Mods

In any case, just another reason Deluxe means nothing

They should be in a different category since they are neither moderate or deluxe hotel rooms. They are timeshare condos. I have no issue with naming the category deluxe villas. I think it would be more of an issue if the DVC rooms were lumped in with the deluxe category. Supposedly all of the categories are going away soon anyway.

 

[coasterphil]

I’m confused on the economics of this decision. Room service is ridiculously overpriced (what isn’t at WDW) so if they are stopping it for the overnight hours it must not have been very popular. The markup is pretty steep and Disney wouldn’t shut this down if it was profitable. It seems from posts here a lot of people used room service at these resorts pretty frequently so unless the people here are just an outlier and not a good representation of the rest of the guests something doesn’t add up. Cost cutting can’t really explain it either since this wasn’t a cost center but rather a profit center. Cutting costs makes sense if it’s a service being provided to guests that’s included in the room rate or park admission so no additional revenue, but since this was an upcharge (and a rather profitable one) it doesn’t make sense to cut it if it was being used.

They may have been making money (questionable given modern tastes in relation to RS offerings, but certainly possible), it probably just wasn’t a high enough margin to continue to have it. Even profitable offerings can be cut if they aren’t operating at the margin needed.

Again, we want Disney to be an industry leader but this is another case of them following the larger market. Room Service is not the money making machine it was in the good old days, and most major chains have made changes reflecting that. The WDW deluxe resorts may be priced at the luxury level of Four Seasons/Waldorf, but the truth is their service standards are more in line with your standard Marriott or Hilton. Those brands don’t see 24 hour service as a neccesary amenity, and there will likely be a day that the luxury brands phase them out as well.