crazynakedguy
Member
I guess it's called the Riviera allthough not sure which Riviera it's supposed to be
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WDW Resorts Reopening Thread
- Thread starter Magic Feather
- Start date
wedenterprises
Well-Known Member
I really wish it would have been a purely french one.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
I think they're probably very hesitant to create a category-within-a-category. Value/Moderate/Deluxe is very clean.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Yes, but de facto they have this already. People understand the lodges are a lower tier than the others, and the price point matches this. The Grand needs a reason to cost more than Poly or it should just cost as much as Poly. There is a premium to be close to MK but The Grand comes at a further premium because...reasons.
I believe they price the Grand artificially high, just to connote it's luxury status. There are some wealthy visitors who will actually default to the most expensive option, because it must be the best!
But they can't actually book nearly enough rooms at that inflated rate -- So they QUIETLY fill the rooms other ways.
They don't want that guest paying $1,000 per night for their luxury room to know that the person next door paid just $400 on hotwire, and that the person across the hall was upgraded for free from Pop Century.
Because Disney wants to create the illusion of Grand Floridian being a "luxury resort," and they are hesitant to advertise steep discounts at that resort, there are actually opportunities to get Grand Floridian at a cost cheaper than other deluxe resorts.
For my August travel dates... Regular GF rate of $694 per night, Hotwire has a "hot rate" at Grand Floridian of $416 per night.
That's a LOT better than the official 25% discount.
But they don't want the general public to realize they are actually booking GF at such a low rate.
This leads to a problem when categories aren't really so clean cut. The dining plan has caused even worse issues: How do you squeeze every meal into either a "QS" or "1 credit TS" or "2 credit TS."
Caribbean Beach Resort is elevated to quasi-deluxe location thanks to being the Skyliner hub. (I'd probably rather stay at CBR than AKL solely on location). The value resorts on the skyliner line have elevated value over those not on it. Coronado is elevated to quasi deluxe with the addition of the tower and lots more dining.
Riviera is a "deluxe" but weaker by sharing property with a mod. Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge suffer pricing just slightly higher than mods, because of their "non-deluxe locations." OKW and SSR are "deluxe villa resorts" but are really more like upper mods.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
And the moderates are already a weird category themselves. I personally think Port Orleans is 3x nicer than the other moderates, and they do charge more for it than the others. But CBR has the Skyliner, which is a big deal for some people. Coronado Springs almost feels like it's in a separate category than the other two, but it's also almost two separate resorts between the tower and the standard rooms.
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UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
And yet, as I said above, the rack rates at Port Orleans are higher than CBR or Coronado -- which is accurate to me since I think it's a much better resort (it's better than OKW and SSR too, although I did like staying at OKW). The categories provide some baseline for price but they're kind of outdated.
But they haven't re-opened Port Orleans... which should tell you something too.
Go back 5 years, I'd agree that Port Orleans was much nicer than CBR or Coronado. But since then, both CBR and Coronado have gotten major upgrades. And my understanding is occupancy at Port Orleans hasn't been great.
CBR got the skyliner, Coronado got the tower with lots of deluxe level dining.
For a variety of reasons, some of the value resorts can demand better pricing than some of the mods.
There really is no reason to have deluxe/mod/value designation at all. The resorts simply are what they are.
The only reason you really would need a designation is if you give different benefits based on resort class -- For example, if Maxpasses are included only with deluxe resorts. Or in the days of free dining, where it was DDP for deluxe and QDP for value. (I forget which mods get).
As I said, there is no reason to have the designations but it doesn't cause any major harm. Ultimately, each resort is priced differently.
It's actually a much bigger issue with dining and the dining plan as it makes it difficult for any restaurant to have a menu that doesn't fit the structure. Makes it difficult to have a real cheap sit-down restaurant, Or to have a Tapas restaurant focused on lots of small plates instead of the entree+dessert model. Makes every participating TS restaurant design their menu either around a $40 meal price structure or a $60-70 meal price structure.
So with dining, the designations really inhibit the flexibility and creativity of restaurant and menu development.
DavidNoble
Well-Known Member
Since you're the list guy, do you have a list of what's closed, what's opening, and what's planning on re-opening?
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
I thought pre Covid one or both of the Bobs made it known they were not a fan of the current Grand and it was about to head into a gut job? My guess is Enchanted Rose was a test to see if “upscale princess” would work and it looks like it has. Seeing some of the renderings from the Wish and Disneyland Paris Hotel makes me think designs will be cross utilized for the Grand. Also I’ve heard from a few servers that Citricos will be VERY different upon reopening but wouldn’t say how, this could also point towards what direction the resort is headed...
Tusker House, Chef Mickey's Dinner and Cape May Café returns to Walt Disney World
Tusker House, Cape May Café and more dining returns to Walt Disney World
Two new character dining offerings are part of the reopening.
www.wdwmagic.com
That changes too quickly to keep up on for me, sorry.Since you're the list guy, do you have a list of what's closed, what's opening, and what's planning on re-opening?
Yeah, I noticed the Wish got an adult bar called and reminiscent of the Belle-inspired job that GF got.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think it was Chapek; he didn't like the Victorian theme and wanted to make the hotel more modern (i.e. generic).
The Enchanted Rose is awful. I guess people like it, but even ignoring any theme etc. issues, it just does not look good. I was actually surprised by how bad it looked/felt in person because I was expecting something that at least had a high quality veneer if nothing else. However, it did not look or feel upscale/luxury at all.
I've always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian but wasn't willing to shell out the cash to do so (not enough value) -- the changes they're making (eliminating the orchestra, the Enchanted Rose, whatever else is to come in that vein) are making me far less likely to choose it. Not what they're going for, but as long as the majority like it it doesn't really matter if I'm a no.
As for Citrico's -- I could see changing the carpet and the upholstery on the furniture because it looks dated (and not in a Victorian era themed way). Other than that, it's a pretty elegant space. If they're planning a serious overhaul, that doesn't bode well based on the other changes they've been making at both the GF and elsewhere.
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castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
Yah everything at citricos has been ripped out and replaced (the carpet twice because apparently something was wrong with the first replacement) it’s supposedly returning next month sometime. I think this will be the biggest indicator of where we are headed.
Thanks!
I was hoping reduced capacity would explain almost every room being booked in October, now I'm just going to have to accept that it's just a lot of people that are booked!
Thanks!
I was hoping reduced capacity would explain almost every room being booked in October, now I'm just going to have to accept that it's just a lot of people that are booked!
Well there is reduced hotel capacity in the sense that many hotels are still closed.