The Spirited 8th Wonder (WDW's Future & You!)

[Cesar R M]

Four Seasons

isnt the Waldorf Astoria better quality than the Orlando Four Seasons?
I'm unsure how they rank in the US(quality wise).

but the RIU, Waldorf and Four Seasons are usually of the top of the top in my country.

 

[Cesar R M]

I find that so strange.

But I also find it strange when people who take buses, while standing up with others of varying hygiene at 2 a.m., and spending 20-90 minutes in transit thinking that WDW resorts are so much more convenient than having a car and driving 10 minutes.

But I am a thinker ...

eeeh, not everyone can rent a car just sayin'.
specially those who are first timers..

I asked this of a few folks and don't have a definitive answer. My best guess is that the Poly has an extremely loyal group of guests, many who return year after year. I think TDO was afraid of completely alienating them because most of the loyalists are not DVCers.

eeeh x 2...
Shouldnt have they prevented the destruction of the poly's water feature if they were really worried about loyalists?

 

[BrerJon]

eeeh, not everyone can rent a car just sayin'.
specially those who are first timers..

Everyone can rent a taxi though, and there are plenty of hotels very nearby (some in walking distance to Disney Springs) that are better quality than Deluxe Disney hotels, but cost much less, even when including the cab money.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

How much would the standard rooms be? When I looked on the site I only saw rooms that were $400-$500 a night.

The lowest I saw was $466 for a standard four seasons room.
Still easily worth the price compared to $386 in a garden wing room at the Contemporary

 

[Padraig]

Everyone can rent a taxi though, and there are plenty of hotels very nearby (some in walking distance to Disney Springs) that are better quality than Deluxe Disney hotels, but cost much less, even when including the cab money.

I've yet to rent a car in Orlando. Another plus point for the WA/HBC was the excellent bus service.

 

[Jennifer66]

In any case, if someone was telling us not to, we wouldn't pay any attention to them. I agree that a deluxe resort hotel room may not be worth the rack rate. They are, except maybe the Grand Floridian, four star hotels.

I do not agree that the Disney deluxes are 4 star. We stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Buffalo a couple of weeks ago and it was much nicer, but only a 3.5.

 

[rd805]

Have I mentioned how much I love staying off-site?

But isn't it worth it to be onsite for transportation, EMH? --- do you rent a car?

 

[Blueliner]

I find that so strange.

But I also find it strange when people who take buses, while standing up with others of varying hygiene at 2 a.m., and spending 20-90 minutes in transit thinking that WDW resorts are so much more convenient than having a car and driving 10 minutes.

But I am a thinker ...

We have all but abandoned Disney bus transportation. Ironically, in our experience, the worst resort for bus transportation so far has been . . . Wilderness Lodge. It is a shame, because aside from transportation, that is one of my favorite resorts. When you couple Fastpass+ with your own car, you can save tons of time for the things that you really want to do (whether in one of the theme parks, somewhere else on property, or somewhere off property).

 

[PhotoDave219]

We have all but abandoned Disney bus transportation. Ironically, in our experience, the worst resort for bus transportation so far has been . . . Wilderness Lodge. It is a shame, because aside from transportation, that is one of my favorite resorts. When you couple Fastpass+ with your own car, you can save tons of time for the things that you really want to do (whether in one of the theme parks, somewhere else on property, or somewhere off property).

I've had that problem before. The boats are hit and miss, based on how spread out they are.

 

[Nemo14]

But isn't it worth it to be onsite for transportation, EMH? --- do you rent a car?

Yes we rent a car, and even doing that, it's far cheaper than staying on site, and frankly, I loathe Disney buses. We never do EMH either, so there really is no incentive for us to stay in a tiny room when we can stay in a 3 bedroom condo with 2 1/2 baths, free laundry facilities, fully supplied kitchen, and our own private hot tub, a mere 10 minutes from WDW.

Oh and a 20 minute ride to that other park...

 

[The Mom]

Just a suggestion - before you make a post, ask yourself "Does this get things back on track, or does this move the conversation further away from the OP?" Thank you.

Thought it was worth another reminder.

 

[bhg469]

LOL. I would pay it if I wanted a true deluxe hotel but otherwise, my $167 a night POFQ is just fine for now!

I like pofq but 167 seems high.. is that discounted or is that the rate these days?. I look at that price and I have to shake my head because un less I'm in nyc LA or Boston, my company would not let me get that room on a business trip. If I did pay that much on a business trip, I would expect it to be something a little better than a standard room.

The dvc Taking things over is going to make those prices the norm...

 

[BrerJon]

But isn't it worth it to be onsite for transportation, EMH? --- do you rent a car?

I really don't think it is worth it for those.

Let's say staying onsite is an extra $100 a night than a comparable off-property. Call it $200 if a Deluxe (those are conservative prices, usually the difference would be greater). For that $100 you could pay for an entire extra day in the park at one-day prices, more than making up for the EMH missed. That saving can also pay for shuttle buses, taxis etc. so you don't need to rent a car but can still be transported home (and without having to wait for scooters to be loaded or buses with space to turn up).

Plus, with a good touring plan, you can actually get more done without EMH than with it, because of the crowd differences.

 

[Fishbait]

Yes we rent a car, and even doing that, it's far cheaper than staying on site, and frankly, I loathe Disney buses. We never do EMH either, so there really is no incentive for us to stay in a tiny room when we can stay in a 3 bedroom condo with 2 1/2 baths, free laundry facilities, fully supplied kitchen, and our own private hot tub, a mere 10 minutes from WDW.

Oh and a 20 minute ride to that other park...

I agree. We only stay off-site now. I prefer to be able to get away after a long day in crowds. It is nice to get back to a beautiful hotel with a helpful staff, where your kid can go to sleep in their own room, while you and the wife stay up and unwind and enjoy...and not having to pay an arm and a leg to do that. Being able to eat at any restaurant, do laundry in our own room are added perks.

I would stay on-site, but Disney would have to add a lot of perks to make me feel like it is worth it. Right now, nothing they are doing is worth it to me.

 

[gmajew]

I am going to be honest I stay at some of the best hotels in the world and I travel for work and pay for them for my vacations. I know what the top hotels are like and what they provide and I do love them.

DVC is not that but it is something that my wife and I bought to use because we love love going to the parks etc with our kids. Now as our kids get older we still will love going because I am in an industry that I get a return on my trips. I love people watching etc and there is not a better place to go then WDW for some of that.

I though can afford the vacation club and we will use it as a weeks get away every year. I will say the GF villas are very very nice is the bedding great no, towels no but the decor and space is wonderful for someone that still works on vacation.

I give credit to WDW int he past three years for fixing some of their issues and getting the place in better condition. Main street refresh etc.... but their are things that are wrong and need attention. Would I love new rides every year hell yes!! but for some reason Disney builds lands and not simple rides... so I dont get that every year, would be nice if they can build a land in half the time....

 

[crispy]

But isn't it worth it to be onsite for transportation, EMH? --- do you rent a car?

We usually always stay onsite and rarely use Disney transportation - it's just too much of a hassle. We drive so it's so much easier to jump in our car and go on our way. Right now, we can stay onsite fairly cheaply (we are paying an average of $115 for CSR in October) so it's fine. Transportation is just not a perk for us.

As far as the Disney deluxes versus the Four Seasons, I admit that it's all too rich for me. In real life, we generally stay somewhere like the Hampton Inn where we always get nice, clean rooms and a good breakfast for a decent price. When I can get a moderate for the same price as a Hampton Inn, I'm good. I am just too cheap to spend $400 a night for hotel room.

 

[jlsHouston]

I don't believe that the vast majority of people who visit Disney's deluxe hotels really know what a deluxe is let alone what the general rules of society that apply to them.

Fancy and Disney seems to go together like oil and water. The guests who seem to stay at deluxes appear - from outward observation - Ill mannered people who are trying to impress with how much money they have. Many of these observations come first and second hand based on the servers, bartenders, staff and housekeeping staff that simply does not like the way the guests treat them as well as my own observations that see how quickly these folks come unglued when they have to jump through hoops.

Maybe the über rich will be doing the Four Seasons. The average Disney crowd? Way too fancy & out of their tax bracket.

I can't even believe you said this! I think there are a certain number of guests who stay deluxe because that is what they spend their dollars on but it has nothing to do with their manners. In my case I spend more hours at the resort than park. Once I went from value to moderate to deluxe, of course I found I prefer the deluxe resorts because of the proximity to multiple dining options, the pool and the lobbies, not to mention larger bathrooms/square footage in the hotel rooms themselves.
I think I see alot of people from other countries at the deluxe resorts too.
I completely agree a disney deluxe is not even comparable to a standard room at the Omni or Ritz or Driscoll or other 4 stars. But I have noticed depending on the location of your vacation what hoteliers sell as a 4 star kind of varies. Some of the 4 stars in New Orleans are a bit lacking if you ask me but, just like WDW deluxe resorts, they do make it up for it with ambiance/theming /location.
I have to get back to page 10 and try to catch up on this thread, which I found really interesting. I think I understand the business model TDO is using in the build more DVC direction but I am not sure if it's going to get them the results they are looking for. If they saturate with available DVC, you got an over supply. And that reduces demand, which reduces pricing....
Also I think the demand for the deluxe rooms of course varies by season and which deluxe. CONT and BC are tough ones to book with discounts for the standard rooms but other than that you can usually pay rack rate and book a room with no problem anywhere deluxe. So reducing supply but not offering discounts may not fill those deluxe resort rooms to capacity....

 

[Astro Blaster]

I still think there are positives, but they are here and there. A new restaurant or menu ... a new line of merchandise ... the nice new parade at MK (the first one in years that can be mentioned in the same breath as those at international resorts and DLR) ... hell, even the SDMT and the LOOK of new Fantasyland, the new Frozen fireworks. Or my favorite relatively new thing, the Celebrate the MAGIC projection show.

There's plenty good.

The problem is it's a drop in the bucket because so much else is going to hell and/or not being fixed or being Walmarted. Things do improve on the micro level, but continually fall on the macro level. If they hadn't of given up on the resort more than a decade ago, then all this stuff would be icing on a spectacular cake. But they did give up.

What do you mean when you say they "gave up" on WDW?

That makes it seem like you think Disney threw in the towel, which companies do with failing products. WDW certainly isn't failing.

I'm pretty sure you mean that they realized WDW will make money even if they put minimal effort into the resort, so in that sense they gave up the game of keeping the resort cutting-edge.

It's sad because eventually they run the risk of killing the golden goose, even if it's 15-20 years down the line.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I like pofq but 167 seems high.. is that discounted or is that the rate these days?. I look at that price and I have to shake my head because un less I'm in nyc LA or Boston, my company would not let me get that room on a business trip. If I did pay that much on a business trip, I would expect it to be something a little better than a standard room.

The dvc Taking things over is going to make those prices the norm...

That is the non discounted rate. They don't really offer discounts at FQ.

But back on topic before we get yelled at

I really have always wanted to see DVC rooms at moderates. I wish moderates offered suites at least. (csr does but they are so expensive)

 

[PhotoDave219]

[QUOTE="GrammieBee, post: 6226781, member: 95875"Or, aren't there any positives anymore?

I think it has been proven that you do not come to the News and Rumors section of the WDWMagic Forums for Good WDW News.[/QUOTE]

Well.

I do. But there hasn't been much good news of late.