News WDW Resorts to add fees for parking

[J_Carioca]

Meh. Considering the hotel Im planning on staying at in DC is $44 a night to park, I think its a damned good deal.

But DC is DC, and space is at a premium. Same with any hotel in the middle of a big city. The resorts all have ample parking and space is not valued the way it is in a big city. It's not a fair comparison.

 

[Horizons '83]

Some of us are already there,

Stopped visiting Disney, Sold our DVC (we were charter members at 2 resorts) and will return when hell freezes over.

But you still are a Disney die-hard because you are here posting.

 

[xdan0920]

For all those, "everyone does this" folks. I just want to point out that, that's not true. Many hotels don't charge parking. A great example of this is the Hotel Hershey and the Hershey Lodge, neither of which charges for parking. So, yeah.

 

[Mainahman]

Got it!! Times are changing so I could see it happening

Me too! Disney is already limiting lyft and Uber from Site from what ive heard, and really pushing their minnie vans.....

 

[21stamps]

For all those, "everyone does this" folks. I just want to point out that, that's not true. Many hotels don't charge parking. A great example of this is the Hotel Hershey and the Hershey Lodge, neither of which charges for parking. So, yeah.

Most hotels do charge for parking. As I said earlier, the difference here is that the overnight guests are the only ones being charged.

Oh well. It is what it is. If this pushes more people to stay offsite then maybe that’s the silver lining.

 

[Lets Respect]

I got this from a Facebook Group
Anyone who is worrying about Disney parking charges, here is an update from Disney

HOTEL PARKING AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

You may have seen reports that standard overnight hotel self-parking for guests staying at Disney Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World Resort will incur a fee that will be applied to hotel folio upon check-out.

For UK and Ireland guests this only applies to reservations made December 31st 2019 and after.

All EXISTING and NEW 2018 and 2019 UK and Ireland guests staying at Disney Resort Hotels will continue to enjoy free hotel parking for 2018 and 2019, and free parking at the theme parks and at Disney Springs”

No offense and I'm happy for the British and Irish visitors, but how is this fair?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I live 701 miles to be exact from the world. I can pay 75 bucks in gas to drive, park my car, and use disney transportation, as i did last week. the best cheaper route out of nashville, puts me going up to DC, then down to orlando, and if i fly., im restrticted in when i can arrive to the world, when i can leave, and what i can bring back, all for the tune of 500 bucks for 2 of us.
Thats where im miffed. For us its far cheaper, and easier to Drive. We dont leave, we dont want to. we just want to be able to travel cheaply.

You're adding two entire days of travel. For two people making $50,000 each, you're using the equivalent of $800 worth of vacation time to pay for your two extra days of travel.

 

[wdisney9000]

I guess I am used to paying for parking at the Swan and Dolphin for years, so this isn't anything shocking. I'd recommend staying at the S&D for the folks who haven't already or have their #1 priority as location. I find them to be great values for the most part (sometimes conventions can jack up the prices). We are going Labor Day, the Dolphin's rate is $162, when you factor all fees (including parking) its roughly $245. To me that is a value compared to the area Resorts (Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk) which will cost you well over $350 to $450 a night.

While you make a valid point and the S&D rates are pretty good, you are accustomed to it as a Disney visitor. But for many first time visitors or those who visit every few years, there is a psychological factor to consider. Seeing a certain price for a resort and deciding it is a good deal, and then seeing and additional $20 or more added for a parking fee gives you a feeling of just fat out being ripped off, even if it is still within your budget.

 

[Mainahman]

You're adding two entire days of travel. For two people making $50,000 each, you're using the equivalent of $800 worth of vacation time to pay for your two extra days of travel.

Were not 2 people making 50K a piece. Far from it. We drive trough the night because it allows us to go and not really spend any more time, by the time we have to be at the airport early, the layovers, the DME transfer etc.

We left at 9:30 friday night, were at our hotel at 10 am the next morning.

I left the following saturday at 7 am, stopped in pensacola on the way home, and still made it back by 7:30 pm.

 

[Horizons '83]

For all those, "everyone does this" folks. I just want to point out that, that's not true. Many hotels don't charge parking. A great example of this is the Hotel Hershey and the Hershey Lodge, neither of which charges for parking. So, yeah.

Yep, that one resort doesn't.

But let's be realistic, in the immediate surrounding area around the parks, most do. All the Hilton/Doubletree/, etc around Disney Springs do and have been for quite some time. Dolphin and Swan have been for years. We all knew this would happen at some point.

Like I mentioned earlier, you always have the option to stay at a Motel 6/Budget Inn for 59 bucks and free parking (and heck i did that the first few times I traveled to the World). If you are staying at a $450 a night hotel and can't afford the extra $24 a night, well then I don't think you should be staying there in the first place, which is why I don't.

 

[Horizons '83]

While you make a valid point and the S&D rates are pretty good, you are accustomed to it as a Disney visitor. But for many first time visitors or those who visit every few years, there is a psychological factor to consider. Seeing a certain price for a resort and deciding it is a good deal, and then seeing and additional $20 or more added for a parking fee gives you a feeling of just fat out being ripped off, even if it is still within your budget.

I hear ya, but again, this is nothing new in the industry. People still write bad reviews for the S&D because they still feel surprised by the fees (Parking and Resort). 10 years from now, people will still complain and say they are surprised and didn't know Disney was charging these fees. Just a fact of life, people don't do their research.

 

[ford91exploder]

The Disney Transportation System is severely taxed. Monorails that are bordering on disrepair, a bus system that is so overcrowded during peak times that Disney must outsource to third party operators to increase their fleet. Not to mention that reliability, while good, still not magical, especially if one of said transports suffers a mechanical issue. The boats are slow, crowded, and have their own issues.

I don't think Disney's goal here is "hey let's get more people on Disney Transportation". As for keeping people onsite, sure that's a goal, but for $20 bucks I don't think many people are going to give up the freedom of taking a ride to the outlet malls, Uni, SeaWorld, or I-Drive attractions and restaurants.

If the goal was to get rid of cars and move people to DT, Disney wouldn't have spent a boatload of money building parking garages, widening Buena Vista Drive, and constructing a new off ramp for I-4.

Here's deal though, the goal is indeed to force people into Disney transport, but since transport is a different B/U with its own metrics it gets the short end of the corporate stick in this scenario

 

[21stamps]

Yep, that one resort doesn't.

But let's be realistic, in the immediate surrounding area around the parks, most do. All the Hilton/Doubletree/, etc around Disney Springs do and have been for quite some time. Dolphin and Swan have been for years. We all knew this would happen at some point.

Like I mentioned earlier, you always have the option to stay at a Motel 6/Budget Inn for 59 bucks and free parking (and heck i did that the first few times I traveled to the World). If you are staying at a $450 a night hotel and can't afford the extra $24 a night, well then I don't think you should be staying there in the first place, which is why I don't.

I read a post on this site a while ago.. can’t remember what thread.. Anyway, the poster said that Shades of Green encourages their guests to use Poly transportation.

I’ve seen several other posts talking about Resort hopping or eating and leaving car at a monorail or Epcot Resort while they go to a park.
I would be a-ok with Disney addressing those issues.
The parking fee for overnight guests is annoying because it doesn’t address any of those issues.

Anyway, I will be curious to see if this actually has an impact on reservations. I doubt it.

 

[antoinebusby]

The problem with staying off site would be I think, no more EMHs. If that is not a pull for you to stay in park then that is great. There they have you.

Can you get a dining plan if you stay off property?

 

[DisneyOutsider]

Swolphin charges for parking. And has a mandatory resort fee, which they say covers paying for WiFi. And they run specials where you can get WiFi "for free", even though you still have to pay for WiFi by way of the mandatory resort fee.

It's still cheaper to stay at a Value and pay for parking there than at the Swolphin.

Value at the Swolphin even with the fees has always blown the Disney hotels out of the water no contest.

Now that Disney is also charging parking fees in addition to their higher room rates.. it moves even further ahead on the value scale.

Of course, I keep waiting for Swolphin to start raising their rates to catch up to places like Boardwalk. It's gone up over the years, but still an excellent value. And that's before I even consider the value of their rewards program.

 

[ford91exploder]

What’s next no outside food in the parks

I believe @WDW1974 said that was coming soon as well

 

[flynnibus]

No offense and I'm happy for the British and Irish visitors, but how is this fair?

I'm not going to take a facebook post at face value... but the premise is not unlikely to some degree. Recognize two things
1) EU consumer protection laws are very different
2) UK is a special ticket market for disney where they market and sell packages very differently than the US. They also have been big on selling packages/ticket offers that are good only within that calendar year.

My guess is they were selling packages for 2018 and 2019.. and they had to honor the terms of the offer as previously presented for the life of the offer. Packages beyond next year would be new offers.

 

[Lance]

I've never whined about paying to stay at WDW, been doing Beach Club last couple trips, so we like to spend ridiculous amounts of money...lol.

Now this is hard for me.... I never thought I'd feel this way....

But this is too much, the greed going on down there in the last few years is increasingly noticeable. I always rent a car or bring my own. Haven't been on a disney bus in probably 10 years, and I like it that way.

Just a vent, give me the.... "if you don't like it, don't go..." replies, I'm ready!

Which is my plan, they lost me at "daily resort parking fee."

FYI, I'm not a troll...

 

[antoinebusby]

Could not agree more! Were not over planners so making the fastpass plus reservations later, and playing the line game is fine with us. We went last week, and only waited 3 times in a line, road everything we wanted to but 1 ride.

Just curious, which ride did you miss out on?

 

[disney4life2008]

Not true. You can still walk and play on the beaches. There’s just a fence and rocks separating the beach from the water now.

My point is because the parents weren't watching their child we had to pay the price.