Very good advice and a way to turn a "cash grab" into a "cash loss" for Disney. The biggest is the leaving the site to have your meals. That will eat up that parking fee in just one meal. I have never found any of the food onsite to be anything but mediocre. Some good, but, nothing spectacular. So I guess this can be turned into the gift it was claimed to be. One can find out that immersion doesn't mean or apply to what you are eating. (other then a Mickey Bar) Overpriced does not mean quality or quantity. Unless they are serving mouse fillets, the immersion is difficult to find in most of the Disney dining locations. However, the lazy nature of most humans means that they will gladly pay gross amounts to avoid putting any perceived effort into anything.
I have not stayed onsite for many years and I don't find it anymore of an effort to take a mouse break and head offsite for dinner. I look forward to the distraction and ecstatic about the money savings makes me giddy. I go back to the park after and am recharged and anxious for the evening. I didn't have to work my meals around a ride, when I had no impending places to be, I would go to dinner at a place that I had that desire for at that moment not months ago trying to guess what I would be in the mood to eat. The feeling that you use so much of your time in travel is strictly myth. It takes no longer then making your way to an ADR. Breakfast at a buffet before going to the parks is inexpensive and plentiful. So I do have lunch at a QS while there, but, that is usually the extent of any onsite eating I will ever do. (except Mickey Bars, did I mention them before?) Staying offsite has enabled me to pay the same thing for two or more trip then people currently pay for one visit onsite. I don't feel that I have missed anything at all.
It's a huge stretch. Cities have limited parking space and massive parking garages have to be built to accommodate. parking. They have a legitimate reason for charging.. Disney does not. They already have ample parking and have designed their room fees to cover maintenance. No excuse at all for charging other then someone wants to upgrade their Mercedes.
I was referring mostly to the deluxe resorts. Try finding a four diamond resort that has free parking.
It has nothing at all to do with physical parking space. For example if you want to have a four diamond or higher hotel, valet parking is a requirement. You then have to pay to sustain that valet operation, meaning you need to charge some reasonable rate to cover the costs. As those rates rise and if self parking remains free eventually less and less people will use the valet service meaning eventually its unsustainable. Not to mention at a certain point it becomes nearly impossible to hire people of any quality as only a handful of guests are using the service they’ll be making close to or at minimum wage. So the only two alternatives are to just start pouring money into a part of the business that is losing money or raise the self parking rates to lower the effective valet rate and increase business to a sustainable point.
First of all I never said all, I said most I think it’s fair to say more than 90% of the four diamond hotels charge for parking. Also I’m not defending Disney just pointing out how what they are doing is in line with the industry and how that likely gives them the point of view to ignore complaints about the parking charge. Secondly would you care to share the ones you found?
Try finding an actual 4 diamond resort at WDW. You don't pay for diamonds there you pay for mouse traps. It doesn't matter even a little bit about what others do. Remember your parents saying... well if they jumped off a cliff would you do that too? They didn't need to, they were not hurting for revenue, they already had included the cost of parking in their room rates from day one and all they want is every damn nickle you have. Go ahead and give it to them... I will not.
https://www.aaa.com/diamonds/diamond-awards
I don’t see anything listed but they do seem to have fees.
Yeah it’s a little hard to find directly on their site but I found it. They charge $22/day for self parking and $31 for valet. Here’s the link for you:
Heck, I know what the train of thought is, it's just that in this case it is the wrong thing to do. It is the wrong way to show appreciation for the people that spend more then a night in a 4 diamond resort, but, also buy overpriced meals, high priced park tickets and are basically the cream of fandom. Some things just aren't the right thing to do for the long haul. I thought that going to multi diamond resorts was because besides a room with a bed, there were perks and that many things were part of those perks. Urban areas are justified simply because of space available, but, not Disney that should be as it always has been, something that one would expect because of what they pay for that privilege of staying at a high end resort.
