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Overnight parking charges to increase at Walt Disney World Resort hotels June 2019
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
NelsonRD
Well-Known Member
I agree with you, but not 100% because Disney is not lenient with this fee. When I pull in with my full size SUV with NY plates on a 7 night stay, we are not renting a vehicle, and even if we spend a day at universal or legoland, the majority of our stay defines our loyalty. It would be good if they were flexible with the fee for longer stays and out of state registered vehicles, but they are very strict in collecting it. I have not heard of anybody getting out of it.
jwutony16
Active Member
I cant wait to see the price for #3
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Probably for a good long while. That's the carrot in the carrot and stick situation they've created.
Now, ten years down the road when nobody remembers or cares why they did it for free to begin with, they may make a change but for now, keeping that free is, I'm sure, part of the strategy.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
I agree to a point, but there is a substantial portion of guests who are there with their own cars, because they drive to Walt Disney World instead of flying. We have only flown to WDW once. Most of the time we have chosen to drive. There are many families closer than us who would never consider flying that distance.
So where do folks who are not renting cars, but are actually driving to WDW, fit into this calculus?
CaptainAmerica
Well-Known Member
Forever. The strategy is not "charge for random things and collect fees." The strategy is "get guests to stay on property for their entire length of stay and spend all of their vacation money with Disney."
- Charging for parking discourages rental cars and keeps people on property
- NOT charging for Magical Express discourages rental cars and keeps people on property
Charging for Magical Express would literally lose them money. It would swing people back in the direction of renting cars and there's no way they could charge enough for DME to offset the lost F&B and merch revenue of a captive guest.
Folks who drive from great distances are an extreme minority of guests. I doubt they were even considered.
Folks who are local but stay on property are "bad" guests from a profitability standpoint anyways so Disney doesn't really care about ing them off.
culturenthrills
Well-Known Member
These parking fees really punish the Florida Residents who often come for the weekend or a few days and almost always drive. I really don't know why anyone would stay on property anymore. It just isn't worth it.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
My gut is telling me that you are really underestimating the number of people who drive to Disney. I think it is a more significant number than you think.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
We are in the same boat no direct flights to Orlando from Charleston SC cheaper for us to drive. When they first started with the parking fee it was only matter of time before they increased it and sure enough they have. our last visit we drove stayed 8 nights and the truck never moved. I would like to see the stats on how many people drive and how often they drive off property. I looked around the parking area at POFQ and over half were not from FL.
Disney's money grab has me rethinking going back in the near future.
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devoy1701
Well-Known Member
Agree. There should be some sort of exception for either Passholders or FL Residents...or a discount...or credit...or whatever. But WDW has always been terrible at providing any perks or accommodations to this segment of their guests. Before we left FL, we went from spending 12-15 nights on property a year to 3 (usually at Ft Wilderness where we got the biggest bang for our buck by renting a cabin there).
Anyway...we moved to Texas and we definitely have a void from not being able to take our kids to WDW every few weeks. Camping has replaced our weekend WDW trips (which are significantly cheaper, mind you...). When it comes to full-on vacations, WDW more expensive than real experiences...and you can usually get much better accommodations. I feel like the longer we're away, the harder it'll be for us to pay that WDW Premium. We'll probably be switching to Disney Cruise Line for our Disney fix.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
it's about time they raise the current price on Mickey Bars $5.75, soft pretzel $7.00 such a steal at these prices --yea right
Tomi-Rocket
Well-Known Member
Prime properties in major cities charge a boatload for parking. I've seen in excess of $50 a night. I see Deluxe's approaching the $40/$50 mark nightly within the next few years and I also see the introduction of the "Resort Fee". They'll tier it and make it sound reasonable at first, then they'll gouge our eyes out with the increases.
I fear a day where you'll see a combined $75/$100 a day added to a hotel night with the combined fees. Heck, the Swolphin is at $55 combined right now. You know Disney is going to want to outdo that.
I fear a day where you'll see a combined $75/$100 a day added to a hotel night with the combined fees. Heck, the Swolphin is at $55 combined right now. You know Disney is going to want to outdo that.
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cmb5002
Well-Known Member
While I do not have to pay the fee, I do feel for those that do. There's no reason for the fees at a resort that has "an abundance of space.". It's just another way to increase their profits, because replacing their parking lots doesn't get that much more expensive.
With parking fees and resort fees appearing everywhere and becoming a universal traveler annoyance, I think we'll see legislation ending these "fees" soon. It should all be rolled into the room rate, like it used to be.
With parking fees and resort fees appearing everywhere and becoming a universal traveler annoyance, I think we'll see legislation ending these "fees" soon. It should all be rolled into the room rate, like it used to be.
KRW101
Member
Eventually someone will build a long term parking lot near WDW and undercut them on the prices. They can have shuttles that take you to your resort. Kind of like the offsite cruise parking at Port Canaveral or long term parking at an airport. We always drive, cheaper than flying and my husband hates to fly. I really wonder how long Disney can sustain these increases across the board and not have any loss of guests.
Alice a
Well-Known Member
I've been trying to figure out how to post this for months without WDW killing the loophole, but we avoided paying for parking at Coronado this past February and May.
We drive down from Charleston, SC because it's a nice 5.5 hour drive and if we flew, it would cost substantially more, we wouldn't have the freedom to change things on the fly, and I can shop to my heart's content.
I also book all employee travel for my company on my expedia account, so we try to get last-minute deals for WDW hotels and then pay the bill in points.
We weren't charged for parking for either Coronado stay. I'm the kind of person that accounts for every expense. The first time we thought it was a fluke- construction, etc. but twice signals a trend to me.
I enjoyed getting away with it- I understand charging for parking downtown in cities or at the Crescent Lake and Magic Kingdom area resorts, but to charge at values and moderates is obscene. Those are huge lots.
We drive down from Charleston, SC because it's a nice 5.5 hour drive and if we flew, it would cost substantially more, we wouldn't have the freedom to change things on the fly, and I can shop to my heart's content.
I also book all employee travel for my company on my expedia account, so we try to get last-minute deals for WDW hotels and then pay the bill in points.
We weren't charged for parking for either Coronado stay. I'm the kind of person that accounts for every expense. The first time we thought it was a fluke- construction, etc. but twice signals a trend to me.
I enjoyed getting away with it- I understand charging for parking downtown in cities or at the Crescent Lake and Magic Kingdom area resorts, but to charge at values and moderates is obscene. Those are huge lots.