Resort Parking Charges

[note2001]

Picturing a National Lampoon's Disney vacation: The family, all 8 of 'em including a rottweiller, a ferret and 2 guinea pigs load up the roadster and take the 18 hour drive to Wilderness Lodge, where they plan on sneaking everyone into one woods view bunkbed room. But, alas, the parking fee they're hit up with is the killer. Dad devises a way to keep moving the roadster around so the hotel staff is none the wiser and won't charge them for parking. At one point the roadster ends up in a green covered retention pond, is towed to the Disney service station and Mickey himself "tsk-tsks" Dad while handing him the charges for disrupting the landscaping along with the parking fees.

 

[eliza61nyc]

They have every right to charge whatever they want. It’s slimy and a hidden charge. Want to visit the resort for 23 hours? Sure, come park for free. Want to stay the night? Please pay us this fee. Live in the European Union? No fee for you! Live in the UK? No fee for you!

Disney should hold them to higher standards, but they don't.

So do you work or get compensated by Disney for your blind pragmatism?

Why? An absolute serious question because of same antiquated "Walt would be turning over in his grave" and "it was sooo much better in 19XXX" emotional feeling?

Disney is a business, it should make as much money as it humanely can thereby increasing the roi of it's stockholders. Now I know the following is going to sound jaded but I really don't care about some magical "standard" that I keep hearing about simply because this is not someone's kids college education that will effect them for the rest of their lives, it's a theme park where folks have the option of not going and not supporting the current management style.

lol I can't speak for chef Mickey but my pragmatism isn't blind at all, it's nicely tied up in my retirement portfolio.

 

[homerdance]

Why? An absolute serious question because of same antiquated "Walt would be turning over in his grave" and "it was sooo much better in 19XXX" emotional feeling?

Disney is a business, it should make as much money as it humanely can thereby increasing the roi of it's stockholders. Now I know the following is going to sound jaded but I really don't care about some magical "standard" that I keep hearing about simply because this is not someone's kids college education that will effect them for the rest of their lives, it's a theme park where folks have the option of not going and not supporting the current management style.

lol I can't speak for chef Mickey but my pragmatism isn't blind at all, it's nicely tied up in my retirement portfolio.

I assume you are asking why they should not charge? Please see reasons I explained. It isn't a fee to park but a fee to stay overnight. And only for certain guests.

It's a very misleading practice to hide the fee to park. How often do you see people who are savvy enough to know that the $139 rates at the swolphin are really $200 a night after the fees. People search for rates and see $139 for all stars but see it's really $160 anight.

But good for you to like paying for parking. Makes you a great guest.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I assume you are asking why they should not charge? Please see reasons I explained. It isn't a fee to park but a fee to stay overnight. And only for certain guests.

It's a very misleading practice to hide the fee to park. How often do you see people who are savvy enough to know that the $139 rates at the swolphin are really $200 a night after the fees. People search for rates and see $139 for all stars but see it's really $160 anight.

But good for you to like paying for parking. Makes you a great guest.

But here's the thing, one doesn't HAVE to pay for it.
That's the point. A company is free to charge what it wants for whatever. There is no moral obligation to give anyone anything free or at a price we like.
I don't like the parking charges, guess what, it's not rocket science. I'm not going to pay the charge. No car, no parking, no fee. Wow, see how spectacularly easy that is.
Throwing out some silliness about some "higher" standard, like they are a charitable organization is IMO dumb.
People act like Disney is there to make their lives easy or cheap.
Disney is a for profit organization. Period
And like any business selling a product, the consumer will decide what it deems acceptable.
Is it a cash grab? Definitely.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think there’s a conflation of issues here:

1. They can charge what they want...that will never change
2. This fee is slimey because there are no size/space limitations to cause a demand issue. And considering the overcharge for their rooms (about 100%)...this is tacky. To say nothing of the “tiering”
3. The customers have the right to and complain...or revolt. Disney deserves no defense...their acceptance of customer complaints and revolt are part of the fee they charge for their products...like every single cutthroat company on earth.
4. The customer has a personal responsibility to reject the fee or the resorts if this is too much. If not...zip it.


All of these things are true in this case.

 

[homerdance]

But here's the thing, one doesn't HAVE to pay for it.
That's the point. A company is free to charge what it wants for whatever. There is no moral obligation to give anyone anything free or at a price we like.
I don't like the parking charges, guess what, it's not rocket science. I'm not going to pay the charge. No car, no parking, no fee. Wow, see how spectacularly easy that is.
Throwing out some silliness about some "higher" standard, like they are a charitable organization is IMO dumb.
People act like Disney is there to make their lives easy or cheap.
Disney is a for profit organization. Period
And like any business selling a product, the consumer will decide what it deems acceptable.
Is it a cash grab? Definitely.

But anyway, can I be any clearer that Disney can charge whatever they want? Seriously. The fee is deceptive though. Hey our rates are $350 plus $25 if you park overnight. We are fine if you park here but damn you if you are going to park overnight for free!

And all I can say, your responses remind me of this lady. God bless.

 

[Chef Mickey]

They have every right to charge whatever they want. It’s slimy and a hidden charge. Want to visit the resort for 23 hours? Sure, come park for free. Want to stay the night? Please pay us this fee. Live in the European Union? No fee for you! Live in the UK? No fee for you!

Disney should hold them to higher standards, but they don't.

So do you work or get compensated by Disney for your blind pragmatism?

There is nothing slimey or hidden about it...it's reality.

The fee has nothing to do with where you are from...it's if you park a car there, period. Ever stayed in a resort with a resort fee that includes Wi-Fi and a bottle of water for $40?

 

[homerdance]

There is nothing slimey or hidden about it...it's reality.

The fee has nothing to do with where you are from...it's if you park a car there, period. Ever stayed in a resort with a resort fee that includes Wi-Fi and a bottle of water for $40?

It’s slimy. The reason we have resort/parking fees is so results on site aggregators who list lower prices first is can hide the true cost. The price is advertised as $150 but we have these fees we only tell about at checkout.

But you have said that multiple times, yes other places charge parking/resort fees. Pretty sure this thread isn’t “alll the fees our hotel in Mexico charged us” is it?

And yes, if you book from either the UK or The European Union, you don’t get charged parking fees.

 

[UncleMike101]

I think there’s a conflation of issues here:

1. They can charge what they want...that will never change
2. This fee is slimey because there are no size/space limitations to cause a demand issue. And considering the overcharge for their rooms (about 100%)...this is tacky. To say nothing of the “tiering”
3. The customers have the right to ***** and complain...or revolt. Disney deserves no defense...their acceptance of customer complaints and revolt are part of the fee they charge for their products...like every single cutthroat company on earth.
4. The customer has a personal responsibility to reject the fee or the resorts if this is too much. If not...zip it.


All of these things are true in this case.

Well......
WDW will not be stuffing me for parking because for the first time I'm flying into MCO.
The flight costs are less than the gas and motel stopover costs it would take to drive this year.
So, I'll get to utilize the the DME, that I've been paying for since it's inception, the cost of which is factored into the room charges for every room on property as a cost of operations.
And, I won't be dining at all of the usual table service establishments that we normally patronize. (Burgers, hot dogs, fries, egg rolls, and the like will do just fine.)
Plus, I won't be taking back the souvenirs that I could have taken in my SUV because I'm severely limited by airline baggage limitations.
I hadn't planned on the usual souvenirs this trip and the flight plans cinched that decision for me.
All things considered I'll be spending $400-$600 less this trip than on the last one.
This is my method of complaining about the rampant greed of Iger & Co.
If several thousands of other patrons do the same the financial impact will be palpable to Disneys Management.
And if not, I'm still having my vacation in The World at a lower price set.

 

[Dave B]

Ok you have a charge for DME already rolled into the nightly resort reservation fee. You would be charged for service you don't need when driving a vehicle to the resort. You would then be charged for a parking spot for the vehicle. This would be an unfair charge to park when you have already been charged a DME fee that is not used. The decision makers at Disney are only seeing the $$$$ and not the whole picture in the years ahead. How much further can they go with all the added charges before it is too late. I see people post that people are still coming and paying. Sure for now, but there will be a breaking point when it will be too unaffordable for the average family.

So I have to think that the cost of DME IS absorbed into the room cost and its just not talked about

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There is nothing slimey or hidden about it...it's reality.

The fee has nothing to do with where you are from...it's if you park a car there, period. Ever stayed in a resort with a resort fee that includes Wi-Fi and a bottle of water for $40?

I’m just curious on this hypothetical:

What would you say if they scanned your band an charged you $2 per ride on a monorail from the poly?

Or $1 per bus ride at port Orleans?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So I have to think that the cost of DME IS absorbed into the room cost and its just not talked about

It absolutely is...it’s just not broken out.

Mears did it relatively cheaply when it first started...they saw the writing on the wall.

But i’m Sure WDW looked at the cost/benefit analysis and realized it was a good margin/potential. And so that’s that.
But they did lessen the “burden” over time with price increases.

The parking fee is different. They are “probing” the tolerances of the clientele. They’ve been doing that systematically for about 6 years. They are changing the expectations...one price at a time. The housekeeping thing is another one - though at least you get something for that.

A more fair way would be to increase the room rates and then deduct the cost if you did not bring a car. That incentivizes it..they still get what they want..and those not affected lose nothing.

 

[CaptainJackNO]

Come on. The implication was clearly that the fees are driving the little guy out and it's such a shame the greedy corporate Disney is stealing the ability for John Q Work Man to go to Disney. $20 isn't make or break for everyone. If it is, don't go. They need a lot more fees and price increases to get these crowds down anyway. They built the company...let them charge what the market will pay. Nothing wrong with it.

If this was not the implication, a thousand apologies.

You want a clean example? Universal Studios. A comparable vacation there has comparable costs to Disney. Maybe all the fees aren't the same, but you can call your senator and tell them Comcast is stealing money too.

Vacation is expensive and riddled with fees and up charges. It's really not a big deal.

I can agree with that.

 

[CaptainJackNO]

Picturing a National Lampoon's Disney vacation: The family, all 8 of 'em including a rottweiller, a ferret and 2 guinea pigs load up the roadster and take the 18 hour drive to Wilderness Lodge, where they plan on sneaking everyone into one woods view bunkbed room. But, alas, the parking fee they're hit up with is the killer. Dad devises a way to keep moving the roadster around so the hotel staff is none the wiser and won't charge them for parking. At one point the roadster ends up in a green covered retention pond, is towed to the Disney service station and Mickey himself "tsk-tsks" Dad while handing him the charges for disrupting the landscaping along with the parking fees.

You made me laugh.....but it's the Wagon Queen Family Truckster. You think you hate it now, but wait 'til you drive it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I can agree with that.

Except about the “to get these crowds down”...I agree with the rest.

Come on...is there anyone left that believes that ????!

Believing that is as dumb as thinking they want to give up the free cash of the marvel license so they can pay to build you new rides...

Amateur hour

 

[Chef Mickey]

It’s slimy. The reason we have resort/parking fees is so results on site aggregators who list lower prices first is can hide the true cost. The price is advertised as $150 but we have these fees we only tell about at checkout.

But you have said that multiple times, yes other places charge parking/resort fees. Pretty sure this thread isn’t “alll the fees our hotel in Mexico charged us” is it?

And yes, if you book from either the UK or The European Union, you don’t get charged parking fees.

So stop going over a $20 parking fee that’s common. No one is talking about Mexico or EU, but I bet I can find hotels there that charge to park too, but I’m too lazy to care.

I can’t wait until,Disney starts charging resort fees to catch up to the rest of the industry too. Then we can get the full effect.

Disney is way too cheap as it is. The crowds are the worst part of Disney.

 

[homerdance]

So stop going over a $20 parking fee that’s common. No one is talking about Mexico or EU, but I bet I can find hotels there that charge to park too, but I’m too lazy to care.

I can’t wait until,Disney starts charging resort fees to catch up to the rest of the industry too. Then we can get the full effect.

Disney is way too cheap as it is. The crowds are the worst part of Disney.

Thanks for the fun. Keep on trolling.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Thanks for the fun. Keep on trolling.

Lol, you must be new here. I’ve never wavered in my position Disney is too cheap, needs to raise prices, and the parking fees are pretty normal in the industry. The cheap argument has always been based on crowd control, not that I enjoy paying more. Fun per hour is still among the cheaper ways to entertain the whole family, however.

Not everyone is indignant about fees on vacation and basic capitalism. No free lunches.

 

[John park hopper]

Lol, you must be new here. I’ve never wavered in my position Disney is too cheap, needs to raise prices, and the parking fees are pretty normal in the industry. The cheap argument has always been based on crowd control, not that I enjoy paying more. Fun per hour is still among the cheaper ways to entertain the whole family, however.

Not everyone is indignant about fees on vacation and basic capitalism. No free lunches.

I'm curious at what point will you say the cost is too much for what you are getting or not getting?

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

So stop going over a $20 parking fee that’s common. No one is talking about Mexico or EU, but I bet I can find hotels there that charge to park too, but I’m too lazy to care.

I can’t wait until,Disney starts charging resort fees to catch up to the rest of the industry too. Then we can get the full effect.

Disney is way too cheap as it is. The crowds are the worst part of Disney.

Don't know about the Mexico side but the poster wasn't saying there is no parking fee in the EU. They were saying that if you book a WDW vacation from over this side of the pond the parking fee is being waived.