Is this really a thing or is it April 1ST? Cabanas in the parks.

[Figments Friend]

I can think of a few better things to spend $650 worth of money set aside for Disney Theme Park fun.

For $ 650 you could....

- Fly cross country to Disneyland in California, stay in a hotel room (off site) for a couple of days, and have a couple of days admission into the Parks.

- Have a really nice meal with three or four friends at Club 33, alcoholic beverages included.

- Get a swag Deluxe Hotel room at either Resort on either coast for a night or possibly two...one of those *bucket list - spoil me * type of things.

- Buy a multi-day Park Hopper ( either coast ) that does not expire as a future investment.
DLR would be tricky as their tickets expire regardless by issued years end.
WDW *non-expiring* tickets are your best bet.

- Attend the mega-fan convention D23 Expo in CA for the entire three-day Event next year. Hotel, airfare ( cross country ), and Event and Park tickets covered.
Meals would likely be additional.

- Forget about the US Parks, and use that $650 towards a visit to Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea.
Exchange rate may be in your favor!



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[tissandtully]

I just... no words. CM's have to be laughing their butts off.

If they weren't too sad to see people spending a monthly CM salary on a tent for a day, they probably would be laughing.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

- Have a really nice meal with three or four friends at Club 33, alcoholic beverages included.

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I'd do it. How can i get in?

 

[RobbinsDad]

I can think of a few better things to spend $650 worth of money set aside for Disney Theme Park fun.

For $ 650 you could....

- Fly cross country to Disneyland in California, stay in a hotel room (off site) for a couple of days, and have a couple of days admission into the Parks.

- Have a really nice meal with three or four friends at Club 33, alcoholic beverages included.

- Get a swag Deluxe Hotel room at either Resort on either coast for a night or possibly two...one of those *bucket list - spoil me * type of things.

- Buy a multi-day Park Hopper ( either coast ) that does not expire as a future investment.
DLR would be tricky as their tickets expire regardless by issued years end.
WDW *non-expiring* tickets are your best bet.

- Attend the mega-fan convention D23 Expo in CA for that full weekend Event next year. Hotel, airfare ( cross country ), and Event and Park tickets covered.
Meals would likely be additional.

- Forget about the US Parks, and use that $650 towards a visit to Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea.
Exchange rate may be in your favor!

-

Those Grand Californian hotel rooms with balconies that overlook Downtown Disney. THAT is bucket list for sure!

 

[CdnDznyLuvr]

Concept, I like it, on a hot crowded day at MK, I'd LOVE 20 minutes to sit in a cool space with no one around me to recharge throughout the day. Current Set Up: awful!!

With the hot Florida sun beating down on them, my guess is the temperature in these tents would be less than cool

 

[Figments Friend]

I'd do it. How can i get in?

You must know or have a connection with a registered Member of the Club.
Either get extended a invitation by them to join them for a meal, or ask said Member if they can make a reservation for you.
Besides actually joining the Club yourself, it is the only way one can get in.

Most get in by knowing a Member who agrees to make a reservation, or they are friends of the person who was able to get a reservation.
Others are directly extended a personal invitation by the Member and enjoy the experience in a slightly different way, as a special guest of said Member.

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[AshaNeOmah]

You must know or have a connection with a registered Member of the Club.
Either get extended a invitation by them to join them for a meal, or ask said Member if they can make a reservation for you.
Besides actually joining the Club yourself, it is the only way one can get in.

Most get in by knowing a Member who agrees to make a reservation, or they are friends of the person who was able to get a reservation.
Others are directly extended a personal invitation by the Member and enjoy the experience in a slightly different way, as a special guest of said Member.

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So you're telling me I can't get in? I know that's the answer, I was just hoping for better news.

It's also not really another way to spend your $700. I wish is was, but it isn't.

It also serves as a reminder to me that high price upgrades have always been a part of the Disney experience. At least Club 33 is both hidden and beautiful.

 

[RobbinsDad]

So you're telling me I can't get in? I know that's the answer, I was just hoping for better news.

It's also not really another way to spend your $700. I wish is was, but it isn't.

It also serves as a reminder to me that high price upgrades have always been a part of the Disney experience. At least Club 33 is both hidden and beautiful.

They have, but they used to represent a unique experience. This new generation of upgrades is designed to charge more for the same experience - with a little more convenience.

 

[Brian Shiker]

While I understand the perceived class issues, I think some of you are just missing that for some people an extra $650 is just not that much more money. It might be worth it to them to have a home base for their day at the park (just like at a water park). Kids and adults can go running in different directions, with a place to meet back up. They can store their stuff there and not have to keep track of it. Have a place to grad a cold dring and mom or dad (who are reason they can afford it) can sit down and check in with work in a more comfortable environment (recharging their work enabling devices).

 

[Figments Friend]

So you're telling me I can't get in? I know that's the answer, I was just hoping for better news.

It's also not really another way to spend your $700. I wish is was, but it isn't.

It also serves as a reminder to me that high price upgrades have always been a part of the Disney experience. At least Club 33 is both hidden and beautiful.

Oh you can get in...yes...but you have to get to know some Club Members, or know someone who knows one!
Anyone can experience Club 33, but like many things in life it*s who you know....not necessarily how healthy your bank account is or who you are.

I have seen some rather questionable people allowed in....and a lowly Theme Park fan such as myself visited a couple of months ago.
So it CAN happen to anyone.

All it takes is a little faith and trust.....



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[note2001]

I just... no words. CM's have to be laughing their butts off.

I'm not a CM and I think this is hysterical. To me, they look like glorified outhouses, and Disney is charging WHAT?!!
They should have kept some of the extra Fort Wilderness cabins/mobile homes and popped them in over by FrontierLand. Would have been a better fit thematically , and far more comfortable for those dishing out the funds with AC, plumbing and better amenities.

----------------------------

So... Who is in their target market?

Someone with money
Wants to be in the MK all day
Staying off site
Clueless as to how to get rest while touring a Disney theme park.

Not putting down our foreign guests, but I think they're going for some of them.

 

[BrerJon]

Hey don't feel down if you're not the 1%, you too can get all the benefits of the cabanas within your budget:

Need a sleep in the aircon? Visit Carousel of Progress or HoP.
Need a place to store your stuff? Lockers can be rented for $15.
Want to charge your phone? Pretty much all over the park, and you can leave it at guest relations to charge if you don't want to be with it.
Got the urge to pay $650 for 'free' snacks? Get a Concierge level room in a Deluxe resort.
Need some Mickey ears hats? About $20 from lots of the stores on Main Street.
Reserved fireworks viewing? Fireworks are in the sky, just look up.

See, with a bit of creativity, we can all pretend we have more money than sense!

PS, I love the sick burn from wdwmagic on the homepage "The cabanas are actually small white tents, similar to those used to house the security scanners at the main entrance." Ouch.

 

[Brian Shiker]

Again, it is simply a matter of convenience. You could cobble together all of the above, but some people don't want to cobble it together. They want one convenient combination. So, $650 to them is OK for that convenience. I can completely see where they are coming from and have paid more than that for conveince in the past. To you it is rediculous, but to them $650 is not really that mcuh money (especially compared to what they are already spending on the trip). Or, to put it more in perspective, another family trip might be to someplace overseas with priveate guides and nice hotels that will put a few nights in Orlando to shame. A $8,000 Orlando trip could pale in comparison to an overseas trip that runs $30,000 (at least once a year).

 

[21stamps]

This wouldn't be for me, but I could see the appeal for some.
I don't have a problem with the $650 charge. It seems inline with what the price should be. I have a problem with how they look on the pictures. Any photos of the inside?

 

[senor_jorge]

It's no different than other services. When you pay (paid, most likely) for a landline phone you didn't get a dedicated line from the phone company to your home but it was multiplexed (you shared the line with others). It worked the vast majority of the time and only really fell through on Mother's Day. The same deal with your cellphone. You don't have a dedicated "line" on your cellphone to the tower but it's shared with others.

So the idea is to juggle it in such a way that the vast majority of the time no one is being turned away but all tents almost always full, maximizing profit. If they don't do this then they're leaving money on the table.

Or you could be purchasing a dedicated T1 vs. fractional. I've seen crazier things than gambling with a customers good will over $650, but not often. I guess we'll find out after a day or two.

 

[Brian Swan]

I would find more permanent structures, integrated with the park, an even greater disaster.

At least this refugee camp shows this sorry tacky disgrace for what it is. Integrated cabanas by contrast will first become accepted as just another decline, then eventually embraced by a replacement audience that enjoys this sort of thing, as WDW continues on its path to transform itself from a middle class American experience to a hangout of mobsters, defense contractors, assorted corrupt Third World politicians and business leaders, and the US and UK's monied lower class.

Personally, I wouldn't care if they offered a 5' x 5' closet with 2 folding chairs and a small table holding a bowl of airline pretzels for $1000/day. As long as I did not have to look at them. If people with more money than brains are willing to spend that kind of money (and none of them ever go to WDW - ever), fine. An anonymous - THEMED - door leading out of a land into "Cabanaland" hidden from view I would have no problem with. But the cabana tents that they are currently using, which might look OK in a beach or water park setting, and the lowest in tacky.

 

[Dis All Day]

How much would it cost to sit on the edge of a planter and put ropes around myself to keep others away?

I'm sorry, this was so funny I had to make my first post to the forum to tell you I laughed out loud.

 

[Sonconato]

While I understand the perceived class issues, I think some of you are just missing that for some people an extra $650 is just not that much more money. It might be worth it to them to have a home base for their day at the park (just like at a water park). Kids and adults can go running in different directions, with a place to meet back up. They can store their stuff there and not have to keep track of it. Have a place to grad a cold dring and mom or dad (who are reason they can afford it) can sit down and check in with work in a more comfortable environment (recharging their work enabling devices).

Read some of the posts that I and others have mentioned above...per the CMs, these are NOT yours to use for the entire day, they are only available for your use. They are shared with others that also pay $650. Unless the CM wasn't clear, you wouldn't be able to leave your stuff there as home base.

 

[cdd89]

I'd say it's a perfect fit for the Magic Kingdom - it'll fit in perfectly with Preferred Parking and other small minded ideas to "monetize" the parks.

I wonder if booze will be allowed in the cabanas - it's not like it would be the first exception...

 

[Goofyernmost]

I don't know how the rest of the world is reacting to this stuff. I can only speak for myself and my family. We have been going to WDW for 34 years, together and separately. I would look at my Quicken program over the last 16 years and get the exact amount of money I have spent in the last 16 years alone on my Disney trips. I'm thinking that would have put a nice cushion on my retirement situation. I patiently waited for 25 years to get my children married and with children of their own to do something that I promised myself I would do on my first trip and that was to take all of them, my children, their husbands and their children to WDW as a family unit. Accomplished in 2008. That gives you some idea of the love we all had for the place.

Now, I have one day left on my traditional 10 day, non-expiring, park hopper from back a couple years. I may use that in February when I go primarily to see Universal and use up that day. After that I really do not have any idea when or if I will return. I no longer feel the same way that I used too. I know of no one in my family that has any plans to attend in the future. They have spoken about Universal, but, not about WDW. I know that is just one family that was hooked on a place that we all loved. There is a good chance that we are unique in our feelings, but, it seems unlikely. I am really sad about what has happened to the place. I don't begrudge their need to make a profit and have defended that often, but, when they completely disregard the people that have been the core for years and years in favor of new money from people with no understanding of what Disney Co. meant to people over half a century, then I cannot help but not care anymore either.