ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
I agree. It's clear from the other rental companies that fabric strollers can be cleaned. Those hard plastic craptastic things have got to go.
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New Rule: For orders placed after 10/1, guests must be present to meet mobility vendor deliverypersons
- Thread starter Weather_Lady
- Start date
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
It might be a volume issue. Cleaning a fleet of hard plastic strollers nightly is probably much easier logistically.
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Only because those strollers are for in-park use only. If Disney were to change gears and allow full-stay rentals after switching to the fabric ones, the number needing nightly cleaning would likely be drastically reduced.
Lots of reasons...the same reasons that many cities are banning the electric scooter/bike rentals and then issuing permits for specific companies.
- The volume has reached critical mass and they needed to shift some of the burden back to the companies themselves and/or the consumer. I like this quote from a recent article from the Founder of Lime: “According to Lime co-founder Toby Sun, the days of dumping scooters in cities are over. "I think working with the city is very important," Sun said. "We're in markets for the long run, right? So, I think building that trust and collaborative approach will get us a lot longer serving the cities and users."” Disney has, for now, picked one company to work with closely similar to these cities. They are still allowing other companies, they just have different requirements.
- Working with one company dramatically reduces the complexity of coordination. Pre-determined drop off/pickup times. Single point of contact. Known models and storage needs.
- There could be a financial arrangement by which the preferred company contributes to offset the cost for Disney. A per scooter/stroller fee to help offset Disney’s labor cost.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Why would they do that when they can instead do what they do now... make money off someone else doing all the work and taking all the risk?
The cash grab angle is playing monopoly instead of letting multiple vendors play by the same rules. You lose your leverage over rates when the vendor has to compete with other authorized vendors.
A free-for-all is not good.. but locking down to specific partners, instead of simply having standards everyone has to meet.. means its a business relationship.
easyrowrdw
Well-Known Member
I don't follow this. Was Disney making money off of these rental companies? If anything, I would think they were losing money as fewer people were renting directly from Disney. Moreover, these companies are making money off of Disney. They are providing a service that folks value, but they wouldn't exist without Disney.
flynnibus
Premium Member
You think being an 'authorized vendor' is a freebie from Disney?
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
I was under the impression (by a previous poster saying the admin of a stroller company's facebook page had said as much) that they got kick-backs from the rental companies already.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Remember... every business makes decisions on what business they want to be in.
Just because there is an opportunity to make money.. doesn't mean its something that you necessarily want to be in. But if you can make money by OTHER people investing and spending money? That's the best kind of money... all margin, little to no risk, no capital investment, no overhead, etc.
Just because there is an opportunity to make money.. doesn't mean its something that you necessarily want to be in. But if you can make money by OTHER people investing and spending money? That's the best kind of money... all margin, little to no risk, no capital investment, no overhead, etc.
easyrowrdw
Well-Known Member
Are you referring to the new set-up or the old one? I thought there was one preferred vendor (Buena Vista?) and now there is a different one (Scooter Bug), along with a change in the rules.
Oh, really? I didn't realize all of the providers of scooters, strollers, etc. had to pay Disney. I don't really understand how that would work; it's not like Amazon is giving them money even though they deliver stuff to Disney guests all the time. I can see how getting that endorsement from Disney would cost, but otherwise... In that case, I imagine Disney wasn't getting enough from the vendors to justify the hassle on their end.
flynnibus
Premium Member
You're crossing wires. No Disney isn't collecting fees from independents. It has no direct way to. That's why they setup their authorized partner program. It provides a means to control standards and get a piece of the action.
My statement wasn't that Disney collects from everyone... but was in response to the postulation of why do authorized partners vs just doing it themselves.
Trying to block all 3rd parties is the nuclear option... Disney would (and has) tried to manage the situation without going to that extreme. My guess though is that will eventually change though if the number of delivery businesses keep sprouting up.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
This is part of why I asked if Disney still ran all of their in-park rentals themselves or if they had outsourced it. It could make sense to just have one company, that rents a facility on site, handle all mobility rentals. You could even expand to offering rentals at the resorts.
Great clarification. I worded that last sentence extremely poorly. I completely agree. They balance which services make sense to provide. It makes more sense to use an outside locker vendor and get a cut. It would not be a cash grab to in-house that service...it would cost WDW more. Every service on property goes through that lens. Internal bus system: in house. MDE...Mears.
Obviously going from free for all down to the original authorized partners was a logistics move. This most recent move down to a single partner is interesting. I have to imagine it’s a combination of financial and operational efficiency. I’d be shocked if ScooterBug was big enough to make the financial incentive of exclusivity the only reason to cut out the others but stranger things have happened.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
They most certainly did. Oddly, I was on a flight home from Atlanta this weekend, and there was a couple and a family discussing WDW in the line to board. The main thing they agreed on? The scooters have gotten completely out of control. I actually think it might be too late to but this horse back in the stable though. There really isn't anything they can do to limit them at this point. Can't ban them, can't charge guests extra who want to use them, can't force guests to get out of them at queue entrances. They are just screwed at this point.
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
There used to be several vendors that were official, now just the one.
Will it result in any real improvements at bell services? Really hard to say. If pricing stays about level across the board, then I suspect most people who used the other companies would switch to the new approved vendor, keeping the amount of scooters/strollers being stored at bell services the same. Maybe Scooter Bug agreed to do more drops offs daily while the other vendors were trying to just do one drop off a day for all their rentals. But unless their selections/pricing differ greatly, then I think they just agreed to paid WDW more and perhaps agreed to a different drop off/storage procedure.
The title of this thread has had me laughing. Could you imagine if your first WDW vacation was coming up and you saw these type of topics? I may quit my current job and just become a "Disney Vacation Helper....One step beyond a travel agent." I would just explain things like this and help the virginal vacationer determine if it impacted them. To fully acclimatize them I would charge $128 per helpful tidbit and not answer emails after 6PM, 5 nights starting 09/01 until the end of the year due to my constant hosting of holiday parties. Hmmm...maybe I'd answer emails during those evenings at a rate of $202.35 per helpful tidbit. If anyone ever suggested they just "show up" and have a good time, I'd berate them endlessly about the fact that everyone knows a good vacation requires either an inordinate amount of research or money.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
ScooterBug sells Disney, Universal and SeaWorld the strollers, wheelchairs and ECVs that they rent in the parks. They also sell hotel safes and lockers. The financial incentive could also include purchase discounts and other services.
nickys
Premium Member
Buena Vista have announced details of how they will manage the new policy.
Details are here:
www.disneyfoodblog.com
Essentially there are 5 routes covering all resorts. Each route will do three meet and greets per day at each resort. If you choose the last time of the day you do not get charged for that day.
Details are here:
Buena Vista Rentals Announces New Delivery System and Schedule for Disney World | the disney food blog
Buena Vista Rentals, a popular outside rental provider at Disney World is changing its operations and hours of service.
www.disneyfoodblog.com
Essentially there are 5 routes covering all resorts. Each route will do three meet and greets per day at each resort. If you choose the last time of the day you do not get charged for that day.
I've used Buena Vista for years, but unless this schedule changes, it will force me to Scooterbug, all due to timing.Buena Vista have announced details of how they will manage the new policy.
Details are here:
Buena Vista Rentals Announces New Delivery System and Schedule for Disney World | the disney food blog
Buena Vista Rentals, a popular outside rental provider at Disney World is changing its operations and hours of service.
Essentially there are 5 routes covering all resorts. Each route will do three meet and greets per day at each resort. If you choose the last time of the day you do not get charged for that day.
- My last few trips, I have stayed at Coronado Springs, and my flights have had me arrive onsite around 11am. I'd therefore miss the 10am meet and greet and need to wait until 3pm for the next one. I also leave very early, usually 6:30am, so I am not sure how they will handle that with their first meet and greet being 10am.
- Even if I was at a resort with the earliest time of 7:45am and my departure of 6:30am, that would be problematic.
- The earliest mid-day meet is 12:45, with my usual arrival of 11am, that wouldn't be too bad.