Parking fees at Resorts

[Deadphish]

I have driven to a WDW resort at least 10 times and never once had any issue finding a place to park my car. They don't care about how ugly the parking lot looks it's all about the "benjamins". Disney want's to keep you a captive audience so you spend all your time and more importantly your MONEY with Disney exclusively. I for one have found other places to vacation with my family. I've had it with the greedy mouse.

Dollywood was a lot of fun. The food was better and the employees were really friendly. The pigeon forge area driving in reminded me of international drive

 

[lilibutt]

I am a huge opponent of this relatively new fee aka tax placed upon The “local” clients(Floridians especially) and the driving population to Walt Disney World. While they continue to raise entry fees, food prices, room rates, soon to be pay for Fast passes.... they decide to charge a fee to park at the resort..... so I asked a reservation specialist, Does Disney discount my rate for not using the Magical Express from the airport, I was told no. So why is Disney trying to charge to park my car on property that was paid for by Walt Disney 40 plus years ago?????
The answer: greed. The magic is fading ladies and gentleman. It feels like Gordon Gecko is running Disney lately..... very sad.

well my trip next month will be my last having to pay to park my car at a hotel im already paying to stay at is the final nail for me I cant fly cause of medical problems and driving 17 hours is hard on me but I do it put now there going to charge me to park my car thats it and my car never moves once im there so why
have been there over 10 times paying the price increases and lived with it but no more for me to much.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

So, I guess when I pay for valet parking, with cash, and no one scans my band, because valet doesn't do that, I get "dinged in my MDE file for going to the parks after a meal? Because that is allowed, officially by Disney.

Where did you get your tinfoil hat?

~NM

Uh....what? Couple of things here:

1) Your band wasn't scanned to park........ so how would it be in your file?
2) You paid for Parking and went to the Parks afterwards? I'm sure that is allowed and welcomed by Disney. I guarantee you that is"dinged" in a file somewhere as that is valuable data to those TDO peeps. Isn't daily parking available to anyone that will pay? Assuming the Resort is not at/above capacity?

And, that WAS tremendous as my mother always makes the same tinfoil hat reference! Even gave my a 1 foot tall dinosaur wearing a tin foil hat for Christmas one year!

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Don't misread this... what it means is 'you don't have to pay twice'... not that you get free theme park parking. If you've paid for resort parking, you don't have to pay for theme park parking - that's what this means.

Hey, it's been a minute...hope all is well with you!

Anywho, I didn't know the policy was even, "no additional cost" to park at Park when staying at a Resort. It get the concept it was captured/embedded in the Resort price/Fee.

Not knowing that caused us to continue to use WDW Transportation until we converted to APs a few years back......

 

[John park hopper]

Ninja Mom

'So instead of whining about how "If you don't like it don't come!", how about if you share the tips and strategies that YOU use to save money on your Disney vacation... or are you just the type that bends over, spreads their cheeks and lets Disney take all your money because businesses have to make money too ?'

I posted my strategy for our trip in May since we drive we will only eat one meal in the park rather than 3 as in past visits, now we will bring snacks and drinks into the park. Driving we can bring food for breakfast and lunch and a small microwave. We will spend far less in the parks compared to our previous trips. For us the magic is the parks themselves not the shops on every corner, or IMO the average fast food. To those who ridiculed my previous posts--- I can afford the parking and spending ridiculous amounts in the parks ---I choose not too

 

[Trackmaster]

Literally, Disney not the last to charge for parking. There are resorts (and hotels) that are still NOT charging for parking. The numbers may be dropping, but you did say, "literally"...

BTW, if anyone ever wants to know what resorts charge fees and what they are for, here is a good resource: resortfeechecker dot com

Let's get something straight. No resort or hotel lets a guest park for free. Many resorts or hotels include parking in the cost of your stay, and some choose to separate the two charges, giving you the option to waive the parking charge if you don't drive there. Either way, nobody parks for free.

 

[Trackmaster]

I have driven to a WDW resort at least 10 times and never once had any issue finding a place to park my car. They don't care about how ugly the parking lot looks it's all about the "benjamins". Disney want's to keep you a captive audience so you spend all your time and more importantly your MONEY with Disney exclusively. I for one have found other places to vacation with my family. I've had it with the greedy mouse.

That's because they charge for parking. If they didn't charge for parking and maintained the current level of parking spots, there would be days where they would run out of spaces. By creating some kind of nominal fee, you incentivize guests to find alternative forms of transportation or carpool. Granted, what they're doing is gambling, but they're guessing that the odds of every licensed driver who attends the park deciding drive separately, not taking a ride-share, not taking a bus, not coming in from the airport, etc. is low. Its like when an airline overbooks a flight, relying on some people not to show. And in their calculations, they figure that increasing the price of parking decreases the odds of running out of parking spots.

 

[Hockey89]

In all of my trips to WDW since the 90s (drove a car in all trips), when there was no parking fee, I never experienced a time when I could not find a place to park...
I think the monorail resorts are the only ones where I have heard (more recently) of parking being a challenge. And, I seriously doubt that is because of too many resort guests driving. More likely MK guests trying to get free parking.

All you have to do is read this board with Poster's like Dave Baer and now that happens...

 

[John park hopper]

That's because they charge for parking. If they didn't charge for parking and maintained the current level of parking spots, there would be days where they would run out of spaces. By creating some kind of nominal fee, you incentivize guests to find alternative forms of transportation or carpool. Granted, what they're doing is gambling, but they're guessing that the odds of every licensed driver who attends the park deciding drive separately, not taking a ride-share, not taking a bus, not coming in from the airport, etc. is low. Its like when an airline overbooks a flight, relying on some people not to show. And in their calculations, they figure that increasing the price of parking decreases the odds of running out of parking spots.

In all my years of staying at WDW I have never had a problem (pre parking fee) finding a place to park at any resort that I was staying at. I don't see that as a valid argument to justify the parking fee.

 

[Chi84]

In all my years of staying at WDW I have never had a problem (pre parking fee) finding a place to park at any resort that I was staying at. I don't see that as a valid argument to justify the parking fee.

I doubt a lack of parking is the reason for the fee. Other than at a few deluxe resorts at certain times of the year, there are sufficient parking spaces. Cars clog up the roads, get into accidents and drive people off the property - nothing but a nuisance for Disney as long as they can find enough people willing to forgo cars or pay for them. Disney could easily have raised prices at the resorts without specifying a separate fee for parking. They want to discourage people from bringing cars, and are probably willing to lose the ones who consider it a deal-breaker. A good number of people on this thread have taken the position that parking fees are common in the industry (despite the fact that fees are usually imposed because of a lack of parking spaces). Others have said they are not price-sensitive to the fees. Those who plan to punish Disney by eating peanut butter sandwiches in their rooms or go on for pages about the benefits of staying off-site? Disney is probably okay with losing them.

 

[markc]

People. With the utmost respect, lets please stop with the surmising wild guesses on why the fees went into place.

We all know why. In fact - I can tell you exactly why they went into place based on people who were present when this was being discussed internally. Quite honestly, the parks had aggressive numbers they had to hit. Bob Chapek, being relatively new to the Florida parks at the time (his time was mainly spent at Disneyland due to his time as head of what was then, DCP, in Glendale), quite simply asked why do the Florida resorts not charge the parking fees that the resorts of Disneyland do? (I'm summarizing here but) Somebody then went into a detailed explanation on the differences, the reasoning, and the data behind not charging parking. Bob insisted it was a lost opportunity for easy captive revenue and that a team look at what it would take to implement it immediately. He had also proposed parking fees for Disney Springs similar to Downtown Disney in Anaheim, but that was shot down relatively quickly due to many factors (some of which were out of Disney's control at the time)

And that, is how we got paid parking at the resorts. It has nothing to do with keeping guests captive on property, nothing to do with keeping guests off the road, nothing to do with costs associated with maintenance of the parking lots or issues with crowding. If any of those were true issues, they would've also implemented a system to charge those who park at the resorts during the day for meals or shopping or (which they don't).

I doubt a lack of parking is the reason for the fee. Other than at a few deluxe resorts at certain times of the year, there are sufficient parking spaces. Cars clog up the roads, get into accidents and drive people off the property - nothing but a nuisance for Disney as long as they can find enough people willing to forgo cars or pay for them. Disney could easily have raised prices at the resorts without specifying a separate fee for parking. They want to discourage people from bringing cars, and are probably willing to lose the ones who consider it a deal-breaker. A good number of people on this thread have taken the position that parking fees are common in the industry (despite the fact that fees are usually imposed because of a lack of parking spaces). Others have said they are not price-sensitive to the fees. Those who plan to punish Disney by eating peanut butter sandwiches in their rooms or go on for pages about the benefits of staying off-site? Disney is probably okay with losing them.

 

[larryz]

People. With the utmost respect, lets please stop with the surmising wild guesses on why the fees went into place.

We all know why. In fact - I can tell you exactly why they went into place based on people who were present when this was being discussed internally. Quite honestly, the parks had aggressive numbers they had to hit. Bob Chapek, being relatively new to the Florida parks at the time (his time was mainly spent at Disneyland due to his time as head of what was then, DCP, in Glendale), quite simply asked why do the Florida resorts not charge the parking fees that the resorts of Disneyland do? (I'm summarizing here but) Somebody then went into a detailed explanation on the differences, the reasoning, and the data behind not charging parking. Bob insisted it was a lost opportunity for easy captive revenue and that a team look at what it would take to implement it immediately. He had also proposed parking fees for Disney Springs similar to Downtown Disney in Anaheim, but that was shot down relatively quickly due to many factors (some of which were out of Disney's control at the time)

And that, is how we got paid parking at the resorts. It has nothing to do with keeping guests captive on property, nothing to do with keeping guests off the road, nothing to do with costs associated with maintenance of the parking lots or issues with crowding. If any of those were true issues, they would've also implemented a system to charge those who park at the resorts during the day for meals or shopping or (which they don't).

 

[Hamlit]

I only know two ways to avoid paying parking at the resorts.
1. Become a DVC member
2. Take magical express from the airport

It you want to go through the hassle you could park offsite near the airport in a cheaper lot that offers an airport shuttle, then use ME. Some of those lots are $4 per day. This seems extreme but is possible.

Or use a strategy to save money in the parks that counterbalance the parking fee. Here is my number one tip that can save families a lot:

1. Ask for water anywhere they have fountain drinks instead of buying it.

I will also say that in any resort area be it a beach town or a large city, parking is generally more expensive the closer it is to the attraction so it doesn’t surprise me that a for profit company would capitalize on this revenue stream. According to Disney research, 80% of the resorts in the area charge for parking. Disney at least offers Magical Express so people don’t have to park at their resort.
As far as selling the upcharge, I disagree. When I recently called to renew my season pass, the cast member noticed I didn’t go during blackout dates last year and suggested I downgrade my pass if I wasn’t going during those dates last year. This, parking fees, increased ticket prices etc, are attempts at curtailing park overcrowding. It’s become so crowded that people can’t enjoy themselves anymore. They have to try to do something to decrease demand because they can’t increase capacity overnight.

Have a great day, y’all.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I only know two ways to avoid paying parking at the resorts.
1. Become a DVC member
2. Take magical express from the airport

It you want to go through the hassle you could park offsite near the airport in a cheaper lot that offers an airport shuttle, then use ME. Some of those lots are $4 per day. This seems extreme but is possible.

Or use a strategy to save money in the parks that counterbalance the parking fee. Here is my number one tip that can save families a lot:

1. Ask for water anywhere they have fountain drinks instead of buying it.

I will also say that in any resort area be it a beach town or a large city, parking is generally more expensive the closer it is to the attraction so it doesn’t surprise me that a for profit company would capitalize on this revenue stream. According to Disney research, 80% of the resorts in the area charge for parking. Disney at least offers Magical Express so people don’t have to park at their resort.
As far as selling the upcharge, I disagree. When I recently called to renew my season pass, the cast member noticed I didn’t go during blackout dates last year and suggested I downgrade my pass if I wasn’t going during those dates last year. This, parking fees, increased ticket prices etc, are attempts at curtailing park overcrowding. It’s become so crowded that people can’t enjoy themselves anymore. They have to try to do something to decrease demand because they can’t increase capacity overnight.

Have a great day, y’all.

Just because you Can do something doesn't mean you Should do something. Disney was often looked at as the exception to things. I can't see why they could not provide their guests free parking at the resorts they are staying in. I have never seen a lack of parking as an issue at the resorts, they built them to ensure lots of parking, which they could do because they own the whole dang area. Honestly comparing how Disney operates to other venues is silly. They are their own city. They get all of the dollars as spent at the hotel . Other resorts don't own all the restaurants or hotels on their properties. This parking fee for actual resort guests is just greedy.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Just because you Can do something doesn't mean you Should do something. Disney was often looked at as the exception to things. I can't see why they could not provide their guests free parking at the resorts they are staying in. I have never seen a lack of parking as an issue at the resorts, they built them to ensure lots of parking, which they could do because they own the whole dang area. Honestly comparing how Disney operates to other venues is silly. They are their own city. They get all of the dollars as spent at the hotel . Other resorts don't own all the restaurants or hotels on their properties. This parking fee for actual resort guests is just greedy.

???

I have never understood this, we aren't talking about a religious organization or a non profit. The object of a business is to make money, as much money as possible. as much money as legal, as much money as the market will bear. Yes a business is supposed to look at the opportunities for revenue and then decide if it is worth the cost. what because they are their own "city" that means every thing is supposed to be free or cheap to make the consumer feel "magical"??

they are a for profit business, their job is to make a profit.

The consumer is always in charge.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

???

I have never understood this, we aren't talking about a religious organization or a non profit. The object of a business is to make money, as much money as possible. as much money as legal, as much money as the market will bear. Yes a business is supposed to look at the opportunities for revenue and then decide if it is worth the cost. what because they are their own "city" that means every thing is supposed to be free or cheap to make the consumer feel "magical"??

they are a for profit business, their job is to make a profit.

The consumer is always in charge.

That's true but when the justification is that other resorts do it as well its not a fair comparison given the way WDW is structured. I really am baffled at people who don't see the advantages Disney was granted by having their own government to unilaterally control and how it's already not a level playing field for competing companies. Yes they have every right to ring every dollar they can out of you, but please do not say they aren't greedy for doing it and reprimand my response to it.
Its about the vibe you want to present to people, and over time it filters down. You are a DVC member like me so this fee doesn't apply. But I have a friend flying in next month, only airline that flies near him lands in Sanford. No Express there, so now he has to rent a car for several hundred dollars and has to pay 100 bucks extra for his 4 night AKL stay even though he doesn't plan on driving again once he parks it.
It kind of has me thinking, maybe the solution is to just charge each time you enter the lot, not per night. Maybe a fair compromise...that will never happen lol.
First those that like to drive to the park, you could get a different parking card and pay more for in out privileges .

 

[eliza61nyc]

That's true but when the justification is that other resorts do it as well its not a fair comparison given the way WDW is structured. I really am baffled at people who don't see the advantages Disney was granted by having their own government to unilaterally control and how it's already not a level playing field for competing companies. Yes they have every right to ring every dollar they can out of you, but please do not say they aren't greedy for doing it and reprimand my response to it.
Its about the vibe you want to present to people, and over time it filters down. You are a DVC member like me so this fee doesn't apply. But I have a friend flying in next month, only airline that flies near him lands in Sanford. No Express there, so now he has to rent a car for several hundred dollars and has to pay 100 bucks extra for his 4 night AKL stay even though he doesn't plan on driving again once he parks it.
It kind of has me thinking, maybe the solution is to just charge each time you enter the lot, not per night. Maybe a fair compromise...that will never happen lol.
First those that like to drive to the park, you could get a different parking card and pay more for in out privileges .

I really didn't mean it as a reprimand, my apologies, I just don't see it as greedy. LOL actually I see it, totally opposite.

I think people look upon disney as some benevolent "grandad" who is out to make the world a happy place, I think folks have brought into this "image" of Walt Disney has some big ole santa claus who wanted nothing more than for people to be happy.
I do not see Disney as any different than the Bellagio in Vegas, the Ritz in New York city, the Atlantis in the Bahamas. I do not look at it "Well Disney has always been different". We use the theory that because a company operated one way 30 years ago,it should still operate like that.

When I first purchased my points we got free length of stay passes for a year, those days are gone. Does that make Disney "greedy"?
maybe?

It's not that I'm baffled about the advantages Disney has by incorporating into their own city , I just don't see it as important to the reasoning. whether or not they have any type of advantage IMO is moot, they still have a responsibility as a for profit company to do business competitively and to use their advantages for gain. So you are saying if a business has a competitive advantage it should then give it's customers some sort of break????

I totally understand your friends issues, I really do think it's one of the reasons why I'm not retiring full time to a lower cost of living area, I want to be able to fly where I want without a hassle.

I'm just anti "Disney owes me an affordable vacation" or they are "greedy" because now there is a charge for something I use. I've said many times, I am absolutely sure that at some time I will get to the point that I feel what they offer is not what they are charging for it, or I simply can't afford it. At that time I'll sell and go some place else but here's the thing anywhere else I go will most likely be doing t he same thing.


Just me...

Again my apologies, I was not trying to reprimand anyone.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I really didn't mean it as a reprimand, my apologies, I just don't see it as greedy. LOL actually I see it, totally opposite.

I think people look upon disney as some benevolent "grandad" who is out to make the world a happy place, I think folks have brought into this "image" of Walt Disney has some big ole santa claus who wanted nothing more than for people to be happy.
I do not see Disney as any different than the Bellagio in Vegas, the Ritz in New York city, the Atlantis in the Bahamas. I do not look at it "Well Disney has always been different". We use the theory that because a company operated one way 30 years ago,it should still operate like that.

When I first purchased my points we got free length of stay passes for a year, those days are gone. Does that make Disney "greedy"?
maybe?

It's not that I'm baffled about the advantages Disney has by incorporating into their own city , I just don't see it as important to the reasoning. whether or not they have any type of advantage IMO is moot, they still have a responsibility as a for profit company to do business competitively and to use their advantages for gain. So you are saying if a business has a competitive advantage it should then give it's customers some sort of break????

I totally understand your friends issues, I really do think it's one of the reasons why I'm not retiring full time to a lower cost of living area, I want to be able to fly where I want without a hassle.

I'm just anti "Disney owes me an affordable vacation" or they are "greedy" because now there is a charge for something I use. I've said many times, I am absolutely sure that at some time I will get to the point that I feel what they offer is not what they are charging for it, or I simply can't afford it. At that time I'll sell and go some place else but here's the thing anywhere else I go will most likely be doing t he same thing.


Just me...

Again my apologies, I was not trying to reprimand anyone.

Reprimand was a bit too heavy a word for me to use so I apologize as well. Can we agree that maybe since they have the extra parking space we can get some basketball courts and shuffle board put in at more resorts lol

 

[flynnibus]

The object of a business is to make money, as much money as possible. as much money as legal, as much money as the market will bear

No it’s not... but that twist is people’s usual justification for greed.

Too many people distort fiscal responsibility into “most money possible” and that is simply a distortion of the bigger picture twisted to justify a view. Shareholder value does not simply mean profits.

If you start off with that motivation... that’s all you’ll ever be.

Many businesses set off to provide something... or make something available.

 

[flynnibus]

I do not see Disney as any different than the Bellagio in Vegas, the Ritz in New York city, the Atlantis in the Bahamas. I do not look at it "Well Disney has always been different". We use the theory that because a company operated one way 30 years ago,it should still operate like that.

Yeah because... that model is what BUILT the company... and you’re suggesting that simply being like everyone else (counter to the company’s success pattern) is the answer... No wonder you clash with other opinions.

You literally are suggesting giving up what made you successful...