Additional Hotels? - December 2021

[Stevek]

Has there been any discussion or speculation on additional hotels opening up by December 2021? Planning a trip for first week of December, likely going to just go ahead and book POP but hoping POR will be open by then.

 

[Schweino]

Any answer you get here will be pure speculation. As we inch closer to the 50th, the only way I see POR opening back up is if all of the value/mod resorts are fully booked. Disney is still hemorrhaging money due to operational losses, and why not have a better way to make up value then push more people to lux's instead of opening up more mod/values.

Personally, if they are not taking resy's by June, it's not opening up until next year, and I haven't read/seen anything to show that there is a chance it opens this year.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Any answer you get here will be pure speculation. As we inch closer to the 50th, the only way I see POR opening back up is if all of the value/mod resorts are fully booked. Disney is still hemorrhaging money due to operational losses, and why not have a better way to make up value then push more people to lux's instead of opening up more mod/values.

Disney doesn't need to we worrying about margin on room nights right now. They need volume. When demand returns and capacity is increased, the resorts will open.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Disney doesn't need to we worrying about margin on room nights right now. They need volume. When demand returns and capacity is increased, the resorts will open.

You're right -- I just think Disney is forgetting what generated the demand for WDW in the first place.

WDW seems to be caught in a vicious cycle. Shuttering half the restaurants and hotels and entertainment, removing on-site perks and delaying construction of new attractions is contributing to the sluggish bookings, particularly when some of the non-Disney theme parks have almost fully reopened with few missing amenities. The sluggish bookings, in turn, are convincing Disney that it should continue to shutter half the restaurants and hotels and entertainment, and delay the reinstatement of onsite perks and completion of construction on new attractions...

Of course, the idea that bookings are sluggish is based on what bloggers seem to be saying. Anecdotally, as I've been exploring options for my family's late August visit, I can't help but notice that the lower room categories at the moderate and deluxe resorts have, in most cases, become fully booked for our dates in the few weeks since we started planning, and the more expensive categories are now starting to show limited availability as well.

 

[ilovelabs2021]

You're right -- I just think Disney is forgetting what generated the demand for WDW in the first place.

WDW seems to be caught in a vicious cycle. Shuttering half the restaurants and hotels and entertainment, removing on-site perks and delaying construction of new attractions is contributing to the sluggish bookings, particularly when some of the non-Disney theme parks have almost fully reopened with few missing amenities. The sluggish bookings, in turn, are convincing Disney that it should continue to shutter half the restaurants and hotels and entertainment, and delay the reinstatement of onsite perks and completion of construction on new attractions...

Of course, the idea that bookings are sluggish is based on what bloggers seem to be saying. Anecdotally, as I've been exploring options for my family's late August visit, I can't help but notice that the lower room categories at the moderate and deluxe resorts have, in most cases, become fully booked for our dates in the few weeks since we started planning, and the more expensive categories are now starting to show limited availability as well.

I have noticed the same. I have toyed around with changing our dates for our July trip slightly and am noticing that with some combos of dates that I have put in for end of June/early July, Beach Club is not available. Whether or not this will prompt more resorts to open is anyone's guess.

 

[Schweino]

I have noticed the same. I have toyed around with changing our dates for our July trip slightly and am noticing that with some combos of dates that I have put in for end of June/early July, Beach Club is not available. Whether or not this will prompt more resorts to open is anyone's guess.

I had the same experience booking Pop for 8 nights last year Black Friday - 12/5. I called Disney and let them know my struggles to book for a straight 8 nights and they were able to do it over the phone and also got a preferred room to boot. Not sure what was up there.

 

[networkpro]

What your seeing is Disney not making any guesses on how effective the vaccination process will be or how it might impact visitation. Its currently at the point where they are comfortable with the value proposition with the currently open resorts and staffing levels. They still have to contend with the amount of debt that accrued while WDW was closed (as well as the other resorts worldwide)

 

[carriebeth]

Another issue with opening more resorts is bussing. When we were there in January we chatted with a lot of the bus drivers and were told all drivers had been called back to work. With the limited bus capacity now it requires more busses per open resort. Opening another resort presents the problem of having another resort to bus people to and from parks.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Another issue with opening more resorts is bussing. When we were there in January we chatted with a lot of the bus drivers and were told all drivers had been called back to work. With the limited bus capacity now it requires more busses per open resort. Opening another resort presents the problem of having another resort to bus people to and from parks.

I never even considered that.