News Walt Disney World Adds Water Park Perk for 2025 Resort Guests

[Miss Bella]

OMG! I haven't logged in here in a few months and the first thing I see is this. What stupid idea will Disney come up with next. Who the hell arrives early enough to spend a day at the water park? Booking a one night hotel stay to use water park just negates the whole free thing.

 

[Miss Bella]

It’s a stupid, worthless perk.

Once again Disney makes folks jump through hoops to get something.

If Disney really wanted to give a perk, it would have been any day during your stay.

Totally agree. Are Disney customers that dumb or does Disney just think were that dumb?

 

[MaximumEd]

If a bunch of people were clamoring to hit a water park on arrival day, then Disney would sell them all a ticket. They wouldn’t give them one.

 

[JD80]

Yeah. And even if you are on a flight that arrives before noon, MCO is terrible and takes forever. Just getting your luggage and getting to transportation and then taking said transportation is easily another 1-2 hours.

One of the many hats I wear in my professional life is logistics and project management so I see everything in terms of time spent and the steps you have to take from point A to B.

Generally every time you fly it takes about an hour from the moment the wheels hit the runway until you're out of the airport. This varies obviously but it's true if you're sitting in the middle of the airplane, shave off 10mins if you're in first class, add 10m if you're in the back of the plane. Adjust for size of plane. Probably 1-2m per row.

Then you have to deal with transportation. Depending on how good you're with timing an Uber ride, it's 5-20m waiting for an Uber. I haven't done any of the bus services post Magical Express but that could be 1-2hr added.

Typically you're looking at roughly 1.5-3 hours from touch down to get to your Disney resort. So if you want to use this perk you really need to land before noon just to get to your resort with enough time. Then maybe another hour of getting ready and getting to the water park.

The caveat is after all that travel how tired are you? Do you have kids? Elderly family members? Is it worth all the rush and hassle of getting to the park after 8 hours of travel?

If Disney really wanted to get people in to the water park, they should just give everyone a voucher to get in to the waterpark after 1pm? 2pm? free once per trip and leave it at that.

 

[JD80]

OMG! I haven't logged in here in a few months and the first thing I see is this. What stupid idea will Disney come up with next. Who the hell arrives early enough to spend a day at the water park? Booking a one night hotel stay to use water park just negates the whole free thing.

Coming from the NJ/MD I almost always got on property from 11am to 1pm. That's driving and flying.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I think it's a simple perk Disney could add into their hotel offers without a huge penalty. It's a way of fluffing the register a bit. Compared to the UNI hotels.. they need to start adding some perks back.

Everyone talks about all the people that will miss out... yet there are still lots of people that wouldn't. Remember that huge 'locals' passholder population?? What's not included in their AP anymore? waterparks without add-ons.. That's a huge population of short visits to Disney hotels that may now consider a water-park visit they wouldn't have otherwise.

Plus, it's the kind of change people may alter their previous trip patterns for. Seasonal impact of course... but I think this is a simple 'paper' win for Disney that people can decide if it's meaningful to them or not.

Add the water parks option to your AP. Far cheaper than booking a room.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Totally agree. Are Disney customers that dumb or does Disney just think we’re that dumb?

It’s not they think we are dumb, they think we will take anything they offer us and beg for more.

 

[Jrb1979]

It’s not they think we are dumb, they think we will take anything they offer us and beg for more.

It hasn't shown any different. For everything they take away and all the complaining people take it and continue to go.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Our goal is to give you the opportunity to spend less time planning in the park and more time enjoying your visit

Question is: When did it get to this point? The point that the enjoyment of the vacation diminished and the managing (or micro-managing) of the vacation became more prevalent.

I don’t think Disney has acknowledged the root cause. Even though we know what it is and they know what it is.

So instead they continue spritzing the problem with the best designer fragrances in an attempt to mask the odor. When in reality all they really need to do is take a thorough shower.

MM+ is the problem. Not the tech. Rather how it’s been implemented and is being used. Should have always been designed to augment the guest’s experience - not the Disney accountant’s.

Edited to reinforce that the quote I responded to is not Magic’s. And that Steve is using a quote directly from WDW.

 

[plutofan15]

Because you don’t have a clue…and the trolling is a losing battle. So do the right thing, spike Lee

Maybe if you offered debate? But you do laugh emojis and claim “hidden knowledge”…which are dime a dozen tactics

Yawn. Your bit is getting old, tiresome and worn out.

I don't have to justify myself to anyone, especially you. It is true that I do not know everything about TWDC, nobody does. Shockingly, that includes you. But with my wife being a Finance Director for 20+ years at TWDC, I have a pretty good Idea about how the company operates financially. Over those 20+ years we have become good friends with many people from Admins (Admins are a fantastic source for info) to SVPs/EVPs to Producers to Content Creators to On-Air Talent to Park GMs. When we get together with these fine people at Christmas parties, BBQs, kids sporting events or company events, conversation inevitably turns to work. I have learned a lot over the last two decades. Whether you believe that or not really doesn't matter.
Of course, I am not foolish enough to name these people or their specific positions in a public forum. Sure, this will lead you to claim "hidden knowledge" again. Whatever. If that helps you continue to feel like a self proclaimed expert that can never be questioned in what is essentially a meaningless chat forum, so be it. It is actually rather sad and pathetic.
As for as your aversion to emojis, there is probably a therapist out there that can help you.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

…so let me get this straight…

You had this deleted and you bothered to do it again?

Right…enjoy that shift at studios stroller rental later

 

[flynnibus]

Add the water parks option to your AP. Far cheaper than booking a room.

The point is not the water park in isolation- but adjusting how you organize your trip. Travel day vs split day… this can be one of several factors influencing things.

And when you have a family… adding waterpark to 3-5 APs isn’t going to be cheaper than a simple $130 room

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The point is not the water park in isolation- but adjusting how you organize your trip. Travel day vs split day… this can be one of several factors influencing things.

And when you have a family… adding waterpark to 3-5 APs isn’t going to be cheaper than a simple $130 room

Yeah but as Len pointed out with the data…almost no one is going to do this…so what’s the game?

The management corps can’t be this BAD they think this offsets ticket increase announcements?

Or the hefty price tag on the pre-booked fastpass dropping in 5…4…3…2…

 

[HauntedPirate]

The point is not the water park in isolation- but adjusting how you organize your trip. Travel day vs split day… this can be one of several factors influencing things.

And when you have a family… adding waterpark to 3-5 APs isn’t going to be cheaper than a simple $130 room

True. But how many visits to one of the water parks does it take for a local family to come out ahead of the "just get a room for a night" plan? Five $100 add-ons to five APs, if a moderate is $250/night it's only 2 trips before they're ahead. And they have 363 other days they can visit a water park after that. I know they are doing this in an attempt to buy some bookings that otherwise may have otherwise gone to Uni or not have been booked at all, but it's still weak as hell.

Yes, some locals will do this to get the free water park admission, or maybe some will do it if they have some tax return money to burn, and maybe it will entice a few new bookings. DVC obviously changes this equation drastically, but it still makes far more sense to add-on than book a cash room if someone is planning to do this more than once. Or, in the case of DVC, you could book a string of one night reservations and spend 3-4 days in a row at a water park.

 

[flynnibus]

True. But how many visits to one of the water parks does it take for a local family to come out ahead of the "just get a room for a night" plan? Five $100 add-ons to five APs, if a moderate is $250/night it's only 2 trips before they're ahead. And they have 363 other days they can visit a water park after that. I know they are doing this in an attempt to buy some bookings that otherwise may have otherwise gone to Uni or not have been booked at all, but it's still weak as hell.

Point was - there are still new value propositions for this perk and opportunities to alter behavior... and not just shutout because of same day fliers. Countless numbers come in via car and other travel schedules.

Yes, some locals will do this to get the free water park admission, or maybe some will do it if they have some tax return money to burn, and maybe it will entice a few new bookings

I don't think this kind of perk is designed to drive bookings on it's own. This is about painting a value story for your hotels... something that has been radically cut back in recent times. There are literally dozens of 'amenities' or perks properties offer that not everyone utilities... but it still helps fluff up the image of the property in a comparison.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I don't think this kind of perk is designed to drive bookings on it's own. This is about painting a value story for your hotels... something that has been radically cut back in recent times. There are literally dozens of 'amenities' or perks properties offer that not everyone utilities... but it still helps fluff up the image of the property in a comparison.

Ok, I see where you're coming from. It definitely helps them paint a picture of "value" - It will look pretty to the first timers, who they desire the most, but guests from 5+ years ago will not be impressed by the painting.

 

[flynnibus]

Ok, I see where you're coming from. It definitely helps them paint a picture of "value" - It will look pretty to the first timers, who they desire the most, but guests from 5+ years ago will not be impressed by the painting.

Yup - my take away from this is bigger than the perk itself... the idea that they seem to be acknowledging the need to improve and repair this perception of stripping things away is a lot more significant (IMO) than the brash "we know it looks horrible and don't care" tragjectory they had previously.

I see Iger's world as "lets get money on base prices while glacially taking things away while telling you everything is going to be fine..".. while chapek's world was more "lets go scorched earth, charge for it all and be unapologetic about it"

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

.

I see Iger's world as "lets get money on base prices while glacially taking things away while telling you everything is going to be fine..".. while chapek's world was more "lets go scorched earth, charge for it all and be unapologetic about it"

In 5 years D U is gonna have a 10 minute webinar on this called “when Harry met Lloyd”

 

[celluloid]

It is a decent desperate perk...if not for the dumb check in day rule. So odd. You know what I would want to do? Get swimsuits out of luggage, even if resort will hold them. Hitting a theme park day after a water park day is not ideal for many either. Sunburnt or exhausted.

Afternoon storm and back with wet swimsuits. Sorry, your room is still not ready.

 

[JoeCamel]

One of the many hats I wear in my professional life is logistics and project management so I see everything in terms of time spent and the steps you have to take from point A to B.

Generally every time you fly it takes about an hour from the moment the wheels hit the runway until you're out of the airport. This varies obviously but it's true if you're sitting in the middle of the airplane, shave off 10mins if you're in first class, add 10m if you're in the back of the plane. Adjust for size of plane. Probably 1-2m per row.

Then you have to deal with transportation. Depending on how good you're with timing an Uber ride, it's 5-20m waiting for an Uber. I haven't done any of the bus services post Magical Express but that could be 1-2hr added.

Typically you're looking at roughly 1.5-3 hours from touch down to get to your Disney resort. So if you want to use this perk you really need to land before noon just to get to your resort with enough time. Then maybe another hour of getting ready and getting to the water park.

The caveat is after all that travel how tired are you? Do you have kids? Elderly family members? Is it worth all the rush and hassle of getting to the park after 8 hours of travel?

If Disney really wanted to get people in to the water park, they should just give everyone a voucher to get in to the waterpark after 1pm? 2pm? free once per trip and leave it at that.

Or you stay at Universal first and transfer to WDW at 6am, hit Kona then head over to the water......