Preferred parking comes to Disney Springs from June 1

[LuvtheGoof]

Well, if you're going to dismiss my thoughts as "incorrect perceptions" anyway, there's really no point. I will just add this:

Given price increases across the board, I feel strongly that a WDW vacation is not nearly the value it once was (and I say that as a DVC member, so my room is essentially "free").

So if I'm a resort guest with a valid park admission and Disney asks me to take my wallet back out again for anything besides food and gifts, I'm not going to be happy about it. This goes for parking, hard-ticket events that close the park, Fast Passes, you name it. It's that simple. End of rant.

You don't need to rant - I just don't understand it. Being DVC members ourselves, we pay for our APs on one trip, and we get 3 trips or even 4 trips out of them - and then it's food and gifts. If there are events we'd like to do, we pay for them. We don't think any of the dessert parties are a good value, so we don't pay for them, but they don't affect our trip at all. We do pay for a few events during a Food&Wine trip because we think those are worth it, but they don't affect normal guests in the slightest.

Nowhere in the many trips that we take have we ever been asked to pay for something besides food and gifts that we didn't want. FP costs nothing. If you are DVC then you can buy an AP and parking is free. Hard ticket events that close the park are announced months and months in advance - even before anyone's 180 window opens for ADRs, so it is extremely easy to plan around those. Unless your family only likes going to MK for 7 days during party season, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to find something else to do that you would find equally enjoyable.

So since you don't seem to find good value in a WDW vacation anymore, what else are you going to do? Just continue to go and pay?

 

[pax_65]

So since you don't seem to find good value in a WDW vacation anymore, what else are you going to do? Just continue to go and pay?

We used to do the same thing you do, but after a few recent trips that were just ok (including a variety of problems with FP+), we dropped our APs. We've now reduced our WDW trips from about 3 a year to 1 every other year. An AP no longer makes sense at that frequency so we just buy a 7-day pass for each trip. We've used our points at other DVC Resorts (Aulani was incredible!) and have rented our points and put the cash toward beach trips, cruises, etc.

A big part of my dissatisfaction has been the state of the parks and specifically the lack of new attractions over the past few years, so that is now being partially addressed with Pandora, Toy Story Land, and Star Wars Land. (Of course Epcot still needs a lot of help.)

I realize I come off very negative here but I used to love WDW. My kids grew up going to the park at least twice a year and we have many great memories. I still say DVC was the best purchase I ever made because of the great vacations we've had. I hope to have more great vacations in the future (planning a trip for next year). If the value improves with the new attractions maybe we'll increase our frequency again. We'll see...

 

[LuvtheGoof]

We used to do the same thing you do, but after a few recent trips that were just ok (including a variety of problems with FP+), we dropped our APs. We've now reduced our WDW trips from about 3 a year to 1 every other year. An AP no longer makes sense at that frequency so we just buy a 7-day pass for each trip. We've used our points at other DVC Resorts (Aulani was incredible!) and have rented our points and put the cash toward beach trips, cruises, etc.

A big part of my dissatisfaction has been the state of the parks and specifically the lack of new attractions over the past few years, so that is now being partially addressed with Pandora, Toy Story Land, and Star Wars Land. (Of course Epcot still needs a lot of help.)

I realize I come off very negative here but I used to love WDW. My kids grew up going to the park at least twice a year and we have many great memories. I still say DVC was the best purchase I ever made because of the great vacations we've had. I hope to have more great vacations in the future (planning a trip for next year). If the value improves with the new attractions maybe we'll increase our frequency again. We'll see...

Fair enough.

 

[googilycub]

Of course it is.

There will also be resort fees. There will be parking fees for resorts. If the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, the Bonnet Creek hotels, the Dolphin and Swan all charge for them - why would the Disney properties be any different?

Go stay on the Vegas strip at the Venetian, Bellagio, Wynn - they all do. It's the industry norm. Disney is just late to the party - and because they were late people thought it'd never happen. Now when it does they'll scream, shout and complain - but a short while after - they just pay and it becomes an accepted practice.

Look I don't like it any more than any one else here does. But to say no one saw this coming - is just ridiculous. Just accept it and move on.

Neither the Wynn nor the Venetian charge for self parking. The Wynn does charge for Valet. The Bellagio charges for both, unless you have reached a high enough tier on its players club. Then they are comped.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Florida Residents get free parking after 6pm. Not sure about non-residents.

Last August, we were told non residents had to pay. We only wanted to go to Bubba Gump for dinner before the crowds at around 4:30. Had to pay $20 I believe... no options. We will not be going to Citywalk for dinner any time soon. Next time we visit Universal resort and stay there, we will go to Citywalk.

 

[IanDLBZF]

There will be parking fees for resorts. If the Hilton Lake Buena Vista, the Bonnet Creek hotels, the Dolphin and Swan all charge for them - why would the Disney properties be any different?

Go stay on the Vegas strip at the Venetian, Bellagio, Wynn - they all do. It's the industry norm. Disney is just late to the party - and because they were late people thought it'd never happen. Now when it does they'll scream, shout and complain - but a short while after - they just pay and it becomes an accepted practice.

I mean look, the 3 on-site hotels at DLR charge for parking, all of Universal Orlando's hotels charge for parking (both the Lowes Hotels and Cabana Bay).

 

[matt9112]

So exactly which Universal upcharges hold value to you?

The fact there pass levels are differentiated much better adding "value to higher tiers"rather than using a black out calendar to dictate essentially the only difference. As far as add ons go I would say the express pass is something very useful and valuable. Disney uncharges seem to be meh. Universal resorts also give you much nicer experiences for far less....thats value as well. Disney charges for the sheer premium of being at Disney world. They thrive off of blue Ocean theory.
More accurately they thrive off of DVC members like yourself.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

As far as add ons go I would say the express pass is something very useful and valuable. Disney uncharges seem to be meh. Universal resorts also give you much nicer experiences for far less....thats value as well.

So since they charge for the express pass - unless you're staying on property - you are OK with that - compared to free FP+??? How is that a "value" when you have to pay for it compared to something that is free? So would you call FP+ a "value" if only resort guests got it for free, but everyone else had to pay for it? I will say that would certainly cut down on the FP+ lines, as very few non-resort guests would probably pay for it.

So I asked you WHAT experiences that Universal gives you that are nicer for far less to you. Since we don't normally go to Universal, I was curious as to which ones offer a better value, for when we do go there.

 

[RustySpork]

So since they charge for the express pass - unless you're staying on property - you are OK with that - compared to free FP+??? How is that a "value" when you have to pay for it compared to something that is free? So would you call FP+ a "value" if only resort guests got it for free, but everyone else had to pay for it? I will say that would certainly cut down on the FP+ lines, as very few non-resort guests would probably pay for it.

So I asked you WHAT experiences that Universal gives you that are nicer for far less to you. Since we don't normally go to Universal, I was curious as to which ones offer a better value, for when we do go there.

Premier APs include express after 4 and a free HHN ticket. That's better than anything Disney offers with APs. UO Premier APs are also $50 less than Disney's Platinum Pass now that they've bundled Volcano Bay.

For residents the 2 park Premier is still available at $489 and it includes Express after 4 and a free HHN ticket. For comparison, Disney Gold is $559 and your benefit is less blackout dates than silver and you can download your pictures.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Premier APs include express after 4. That's better than anything Disney offers with APs. UO Premier APs are also over $100 less than Disney Gold APs.

So you think Disney should offer unlimited FP+ to Platinum Plus APs? Oh, and since there are only 2 theme parks compared to 4, you don't think that's worth any extra money?

ETA: And a 2 park AP for UO is only $20 less than a Gold Pass. The 3 park AP is over $120 MORE. Try to get the facts straight at least.

 

[RustySpork]

So you think Disney should offer unlimited FP+ to Platinum Plus APs? Oh, and since there are only 2 theme parks compared to 4, you don't think that's worth any extra money?

I think for Platinum plus it would be a tangible benefit and help them sell more Platinum APs, yes. Also, I know Disney has 4 properties right now, but I don't think HS adds any value, no. The value of Epcot is marginal as well these days.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I think for Platinum plus it would be a tangible benefit and help them sell more Platinum APs, yes. Also, I know Disney has 4 properties right now, but I don't think HS adds any value, no. The value of Epcot is marginal as well these days.

Difference of opinion on those. So we'll agree to disagree, since I don't see how 4 parks plus 2 water parks, not to mention the dining and merchandise discounts, golfing for those that wish to, and the photopass downloads, is all less of a deal than 2 parks and 1 water park, even including ep after 4 or one night for hhn.

 

[RustySpork]

Difference of opinion on those. So we'll agree to disagree, since I don't see how 4 parks plus 2 water parks, not to mention the dining and merchandise discounts, golfing for those that wish to, and the photopass downloads, is all less of a deal than 2 parks and 1 water park, even including ep after 4 or one night for hhn.

You also get dining and merchandise discounts at UO. If you don't golf, there's no value there. Photopass downloads are meh, you can add that to your UO AP later in the year for around $35. There's also little value in the water parks.

The same could be said about HHN if you don't like scary movies or Halloween though.

I'd lose the water parks, golf, and photo pass any day if it meant I could express whatever I wanted at Disney after 4pm whenever I want.

Keep in mind I visit WDW and UO sometimes multiple times a week, walking onto Kong without a wait is an incredible value. I'd pay good money to also be able to walk onto FoP like that.

 

[Kman101]

You get a 20 percent discount as an AP holder with Disney ...

 

[disney4life2008]

Last August, we were told non residents had to pay. We only wanted to go to Bubba Gump for dinner before the crowds at around 4:30. Had to pay $20 I believe... no options. We will not be going to Citywalk for dinner any time soon. Next time we visit Universal resort and stay there, we will go to Citywalk.

As of February, all visitors get free parking after 6pm.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trav...ersal-parking-garage-free-20170201-story.html

 

[RustySpork]

You get a 20 percent discount as an AP holder with Disney ...

15% at UO.

 

[pax_65]

So if I understand correctly, the argument is "It's OK if Disney charges for preferred parking because Universal and other resorts already do."

Historically, Disney has always set apart from Universal and other resorts. They were always more guest-focused, more about building loyalty than maximizing the customer's spend.

I guess those days are gone.

 

[seascape]

All of this debating which AP is better if irrelevant. What matter is they are both good deals. Yes, WDW Incuded free golf. Great deal for golfers but of no value for most people. For the record I am a Platinum Plus WDW holder. I think both parks have their advantages and for people who can go all the time should buy both.

 

[larryz]

Every Disney up-charge event seems to affect me personally in some way. The dessert parties have taken my favorite spots for watching the fireworks in both MK and Epcot. Again, not a biggie - there are plenty of other viewing areas. But still, this is something my family and I used to enjoy that we can no longer enjoy without paying a fee.

I would posit that we have only ourselves to blame. Every time we come on these boards raving about an experience, or sharing a tidbit or secret that makes our visits more enjoyable, we focus TDO's attention on those aspects, especially if subsequent numbers show that other folks agree with us.

 

[matt9112]

So you think Disney should offer unlimited FP+ to Platinum Plus APs? Oh, and since there are only 2 theme parks compared to 4, you don't think that's worth any extra money?

ETA: And a 2 park AP for UO is only $20 less than a Gold Pass. The 3 park AP is over $120 MORE. Try to get the facts straight at least.

Platinum pass is crap though....unless you golf.....block out dates are only for times of the year I wouldn't dare visit anyway. Point is at each "tier" universal gives you more with there passes. Valet for example or the free express pass with higher AP Disney only differentiates via black out dates....so platinum pass is very poor value compared to silver unless you love standing in a sea of your closest friends at MK and or golf.

As an aside I think WDW is way too resort guest centric too and it leaves them vulnerable to tourist trend sways. Annual passes should hold more water IMHO.

Disney also has no issue disturbing regular guest experiences for upsells. The most notable is the parade viewing from the boat. They legitimately close a regular "attraction" for hours to grab cash from the few. Or what about all the DVC expansions that I'm sure you cherish that destroy sightlines and character all for the mighty dollar.

Disney world is a poor value period. Now I love the place and just renewed our AP. But I also stacked seaworld and universal APs so when I'm in black out dates guess who gets my cash?