A Spirited Perfect Ten

[PhotoDave219]

Hey, at least they are taking a chance.

If you haven't failed recently, you are not taking enough risk.

Okay I will completely give them that and I was all for rebooting the variety show five years ago as a Midsummer replacement.

I just here they are going to completely missed the mark with making fun of popular culture and their irreverence.

 

[gmajew]

I just here they are going to completely missed the mark with making fun of popular culture and their irreverence.

I hope they don't go to far down the irreverence point as that was the Segal movie point.

 

[TP2000]

It's doubtful that any Disney hotel would ever receive a 4 or 5 rating with those kind of criteria.

Correct.

Here's a look at the Four-Star properties in California and Florida, none of which are Disney hotels, plus a couple other states as a point of reference:

2015 Forbes Four-Star Hotel rankings
California - 41 Four-Star hotels (18 in Southern California, 2 near Disneyland)
Florida - 22 Four-Star hotels (Most in South Florida, 1 in Orlando)
New York - 24 Four-Star hotels (Most in NYC, a couple in rural resort areas)
Nevada - 13 Four-Star hotels (All in Las Vegas, some are boutique hotels within corporate resorts)
Texas - 12 Four-Star hotels (Welcome to the boards Texas! Lots of golf resorts in that list.)
http://www.forbestravelguide.com/about/awardwinners#C2-4STAR

The fun thing about getting down to the Four-Star rankings is that you finally get your first Disney option. Victoria & Albert's is listed as one of the 11 Four-Star restaurants in Florida.

So we know the Forbes team has set foot on WDW property within the last year, and even walked through the Grand Floridian to get to Victoria & Albert's.

I wonder if a CM in a lumpy polyester suit told them to "Have a Magical Day!!!" ?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Worth noting the Grand Californian will be receiving a rating from Forbes in the near future.
http://www.forbestravelguide.com/orange-county-california/hotels/disneys-grand-californian-hotel-spa

 

[lobelia]

Since we are discussing value...if WDW were using the old ticketing system today what would a ticket cost to ride an E-Ticket ride? Would I find value in the ride commensurate to the price point? Perhaps the rides would be better maintained if I paid a certain amount for a ride and there were issues. Imagine the guest relations interactions.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Thanks! So out of curiosity, I emailed the Forbes Travel Guide. The reason that you do not see any Walt Disney World hotels listed, is because they have never been evaluated. They did say that they hope to in the future.

Odd, here is a conversation from 2011. Check out the last two posts by dshyates (me) the links are dead, but you can get the gist of what was there. The first was a link to the Grand Flo rating. The next was The Poly.

http://mb.laughingplace.com/MsgBoard-T-119903-P-1.asp

 

[Cesar R M]

I think one of the first signs of Disney service decline was years ago (around 2000or before I believe) the Grand Flo started charging for valet parking. It's a business. Sure. I get it.

The reasoning was given that Disney was just following the trends of the resort industry and charging for valet parking had become common.

I remember a time when Disney used to set trends for the industry instead of following it.

Disney was special because it did business to the beat of it's own drum that others copied.

hold on boyo.. I have patented the wording "But Disney is a Business".
So I am the only one allowed to use that excuse from now on

 

[Cesar R M]

OK, I didn't want to respond, but decided I had to.

Let's look at the actual numbers for your vacation. Fictitious family of 4. Mom, Dad, 2 kids ages 8 and 12. They want to stay at AKL with a Savannah view. From July 11 - July 18, the total cost of the room is $2,761.27. Since they are going only to Disney, they use Magical Express from the airport, and Disney transportation everywhere. They want the ability to leave whenever they wish from a park and take a bus/boat/monorail to wherever they need to be. They have no other costs for the room under this setup.

Next, they decide to see if they can save some money and stay off-site at the Hyatt Regency Grand Express. I don't know where you got a rate of $167/night, but I couldn't find that. Anyway, in order to make a more apples to apples comparison, they want to stay with a pool view at the resort (as opposed to the savannah view at AKL). That nightly rate is $240. Since I will be staying off-site, and still want the option to come and go as I please, I will need a rental car. Since I am going to a 4 diamond resort, I'm going for a nicer full size car, such as a Ford Fusion. I can rent this for about $355 for the week. So plugging in everything at the resort, my room will cost $2,079.75, and I will have to pay a parking fee of $17/day, so add another $119. Total cost with rental car - $2,553.75. So I have saved just $207, and now I have to drive everywhere!

Then comes my scenario. I am a DVC member, and it would be 139 points for a Deluxe Studio for that same week. With my cost of dues, that comes out to $718 for the week. I can even get a 1 bedroom savannah view for 272 points or about $1,400. Over $1,000 less than stay off-site, and almost half of paying cash, AND I get a 1 bedroom suite instead of a hotel room.

I respect you a lot for what you bring to the numbers here, but you have totally missed the mark on this one.



If you really feel that way, maybe it's time to sell your points, and move on.



That is in no way inaccurate. When I get to the resort, I pay absolutely nothing out of my pocket to stay there. No room rate, no taxes, nothing. That is what I meant.

If you are better off staying at Universal, then by all means, stay there. My wife and I have no desire to even visit Universal, and would certainly never pay for a room with cash at a resort we couldn't care less about. Just us, and not for everyone. We have a Sea World here where we live, so don't need to go there.

Cheers!

The only downside I can think of.. is.. if you do not want to go to Disney one year..
You have to either sell the points or "deal with it" ?

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

@WDW1974 @Lee Hate to tell you this, but DL removed its trees from town square last night.

 

[TP2000]

Worth noting the Grand Californian will be receiving a rating from Forbes in the near future.
http://www.forbestravelguide.com/orange-county-california/hotels/disneys-grand-californian-hotel-spa

Great find!

This should be fun to watch. The first time a Disney hotel gets rated by Forbes.

My experience with the Grand Californian's "concierge" level rooms and service is what finally turned me into a former-customer of that Disney offering. The concierge rooms are the same, the lounge is ho-hum, the lounge hostess (I mean "Concierge!") couldn't even keep the coffee urns filled, and when I told her at 10:45AM one morning that there was no coffee she was super-perky and told me I could go down to La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney and get some coffee there. BZZZ! Wrong answer, honey.

The rest of the Grand Californian staff is doing that SoCal College Kid routine, with a dollop of attitude on top just to remind us all how cool they are that their transfer got approved from Little Mermaid Ride Operator to Hotel Front Desk Clerk. They are reasonably polite when approached, can't bother to make eye contact or initiate communication, and can only handle the most basic of transactional services. Like a decent Sheraton.

I'll look forward to Forbes take on it all. Although being connected to an operating Disney theme park, and with early entry into Cars Land literally steps away, I bet Forbes throws 'em a bone or two.

 

[Cesar R M]

So we get a Disney Springs bar "themed" to Indy's pilot friend who factors into 3 minutes of Raiders, but we still don't have the Indiana Jones ride twenty years after it opened in Anaheim.

Well done, TDO! Brilliant troll job.

they have the stunt show.. I suppose for TDO that counts

 

[Hakunamatata]

@WDW1974 @Lee Hate to tell you this, but DL removed its trees from town square last night. View attachment 92741

All of them? Isn't that a tree in the top right of the picture?

 

[jakeman]

All of them? Isn't that a tree in the top right of the picture?

That is a bush with a very tall trunk.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

All of them? Isn't that a tree in the top right of the picture?

That's a tree in front of Lincoln on the sidewalk, not in the middle of town sq.

 

[Katie G]

Charged for internet access until a couple years ago, long after access was no longer a novelty

I just stayed at a 4-Diamond resort in St. Augustine this weekend that charged $10 per day for internet. So it seems that some top resorts still charge for this kind of silly thing.

Additionally that resort had double sized beds (instead of Queen size which Disney has for their 4-Diamond)

Amenities can be hit or miss across 4-Diamond. I paid a decent amount of money for a higher end resort which nickel and dimed for the small things. When I go to Disney, I at least feel like I'm getting more than just a room for a couple of nights.

 

[Rteetz]

The hangar news is official

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...t-downtown-disney-at-walt-disney-worldresort/

 

[Cesar R M]

@WDW1974 @Lee Hate to tell you this, but DL removed its trees from town square last night. View attachment 92741

really?
Will there be trees at the parks in 10 years?

meanwhile those poor CM's in foamhead suits at the square will probably suffer even mroe.

All of them? Isn't that a tree in the top right of the picture?

he probably means the inner ring.

 

[doctornick]

The hangar news is official

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...t-downtown-disney-at-walt-disney-worldresort/

Sounds cool. Nice to see them bringing back some themed venues to DTD.

Also, it is interesting in that there seems to be more buzz regarding Indiana Jones. I would think that they wouldn't pursue a theme like this unless they have more plans for the franchise in the future.

 

[Cesar R M]

I just stayed at a 4-Diamond resort in St. Augustine this weekend that charged $10 per day for internet. So it seems that some top resorts still charge for this kind of silly thing.

Additionally that resort had double sized beds (instead of Queen size which Disney has for their 4-Diamond)

Amenities can be hit or miss across 4-Diamond. I paid a decent amount of money for a higher end resort which nickel and dimed for the small things. When I go to Disney, I at least feel like I'm getting more than just a room for a couple of nights.

I usually see a difference in internet services on hotels.
I am really surprised they charge for the free wireless one...

The big hotels usually offering 2 packages:
the free wireless slow (shared with all)
or the 100Mbps/1000Mbps high speed dedicated line for like 10-30$ a day.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

The only downside I can think of.. is.. if you do not want to go to Disney one year..
You have to either sell the points or "deal with it" ?

This was his statement:
I'm a DVC member too but find it difficult to use "Disney Resort" and "value" in the same sentence.

I simply mentioned that if he didn't find value in a Disney Resort as a DVC member, then it was probably time to sell his points. If you don't see the value in something, why continue to use it, or go there, or purchase that item or service???? The second we don't find value at a Disney Resort for our DVC points, you can bet my points will be up for sale that next week.