News WDW Resorts to add fees for parking

[DDLand]

It's not easy to miss when you hit "book". The fees and taxes are right there, lumped together.
The resort fee is always disclosed though. I posted an example of Atlantis several pages back. Every resort itemizes their fees. Most include some fluff "service" or "amentity" that the majority of people won't use, but it's how they get away with it. On top of extremely high prices already.

Yes, exactly. When you're checking out on the website and you've already gone through much of the process. It's something that needs to go in the dustbin.

Looks pretty clear to me. Not sure how you can miss it. The fee is also included later in the full rate breakdown. So yes, you may not like there is this additional fee and could cancel the booking process and look for another hotel. But, it isn't hidden here. Also, Resort Charges in Orlando are pretty common so many properties have them. So anyone who doesn't have them could actually be at an advantage.

Also, note that these hotels (like Hilton) are not backing down their rates and putting in a resort fee. They are adding in a resort fee completely on top of the rate which includes an amenity bundle.

Also, keep in mind this is how Expedia discloses the charge...why anyone would book a major hotel chain on Expedia is something I will never understand...

Again, I am not endorsing these fees in any way. I am only saying that if Disney decides to implement them, they better include it somewhere during the booking process or they will regret it quickly.

Is it bolded? No. Is it prominent? No. They're deliberately trying to downplay it. Also on the next page on reserve you have click a drop down to figure out why an additional 30 dollars is due at the hotel. People look at the bold number expecting it to be the price. That's what should be the standard.

The Resort fee is allowing them to artificially keep their base price low. The fee is inseparably connected to the pricing of the hotel. The hotel room I listed actually costs 200+ but they're getting away with marketing it for 170ish. That's dishonest and misleading.

People should be able to accurately compare a varied set of options with the actual price.

Trying to say this is anything but a way to mislead is inaccurate.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

How about doing a copy of paste of the email from Chapek's office to the forum so we can all see it?

It was a phone call

 

[flynnibus]

I can see your point but from my perspective a parking lot is just a cost of doing business at any hotel

Just highlighting that its not as 'free' as people think. Just ask any business owner who needs to pave his lot in front of his business.. People argue about paying for things they perceive as little to no costs. Parking spaces are expensive.. even surface lots. If people appreciated that more, they would appreciate alot more when the business does NOT charge for it.

 

[Andrew C]

The Resort fee is allowing them to artificially keep their base price low. The fee is inseparably connected to the pricing of the hotel. The hotel room I listed actually costs 200+ but they're getting away with marketing it for 170ish. That's dishonest and misleading.

They do not lower rates and then add in a resort fee. That defeats the whole purpose putting in place a fee like this. They are looking for an additional revenue stream on top of the room rate that can they charge by creating a resort amenity bundle.

They're deliberately trying to downplay it. Also on the next page on reserve you have click a drop down to figure out why an additional 30 dollars is due at the hotel. People look at the bold number expecting it to be the price. That's what should be the standard.

Go look at this specific hotel on Hilton.com and see if they are deliberately trying to downplay it.

I understand and agree that these fees kind of suck. But, unless the government makes some sort of ruling about getting rid of it, hotels will continue to go after this revenue.

 

[21stamps]

Yes, exactly. When you're checking out on the website and you've already gone through much of the process. It's something that needs to go in the dustbin.

Is it bolded? No. Is it prominent? No. They're deliberately trying to downplay it. Also on the next page on reserve you have click a drop down to figure out why an additional 30 dollars is due at the hotel. People look at the bold number expecting it to be the price. That's what should be the standard.

The Resort fee is allowing them to artificially keep their base price low. The fee is inseparably connected to the pricing of the hotel. The hotel room I listed actually costs 200+ but they're getting away with marketing it for 170ish. That's dishonest and misleading.

People should be able to accurately compare a varied set of options with the actual price.

Trying to say this is anything but a way to mislead is inaccurate.

These fees have been around as long as I've been an adult..they're common knowledge. People know, or should know, to look for them. It's not a hidden fee though, it will be visible somewhere on the website. It definitely isn't something that happens at check out from the resort. If you are looking at a hotel and their fees are too high (including self parking/valet only) you just simply don't book. Or do book and mutter under your breath for a few moments afterwards.

 

[flynnibus]

They do not lower rates and add in a resort fee

You are arguing semantics as if it changes the grand story. He said 'keep low' BTW.

If you need to raise prices.. and instead of raising rates you add a fee.. did you 'lower rates'? Because the alternative was a higher rate. 'lower' is just a relative term.. one that doesn't mean much when you are talking hypotheticals.

 

[Andrew C]

If you need to raise prices.. and instead of raising rates you add a fee.. did you 'lower rates'? Because the alternative was a higher rate. 'lower' is just a relative term.. one that doesn't mean much when you are talking hypotheticals.

That is not how these hotels are looking at these fees...at all...

They are not thinking, "we need to raise rates, but we want to hide this increase so lets implement a resort fee and rates will stay the same."

Their thought process is more like, "how can we bring in some additional revenue while at the same time continuing to push for a higher ADR? What about looking at our amenities that we currently charge guests on a la carte basis. We can bundle them together and charge all guests for all these amenities in the form a resort fee. Is our competition doing this as well? Yes, they are. Okay, lets make our resort amenity bundle and fee competitive compared to our competition."

End result, rates continue to go up hopefully based on a sound revenue management strategy. And now there is an additional guaranteed revenue stream and we no longer have to worry about trying to push these resort amenities at a la carte prices that is not guaranteed revenue.

 

[flynnibus]

End result, rates continue to go up hopefully based on a sound revenue management strategy. And now there is an additional guaranteed revenue stream and we no longer have to worry about trying to push these resort amenities at a la carte prices that is not guaranteed revenue.

What you call 'additional guaranteed revenue' -- others simply call 'more revenue while staying price competitive in the rate wars'.

The most common resort fees are things the hotel was not upselling anymore anyways..
- phone fees (long dead service..)
- daily paper (complimentary in the past)
- 1 or 2 bottles of water (people would consume out of desperation..)
- resort amenities (pool, gym -- things they weren't able to monetize anyways)

The other two more common ones are wifi and parking. WiFi they were all being pressured into making free anyways.. it it too falls to the 'no longer an upsell' category. In many cases, parking was already free or should have been. The majority of things covered in the fees are things guests would pass on if they had to pay for them. This is not about attach rates or saving services from cuts.. it's all about optics in pricing.

I know what you are saying about converting options into 100% attach rate.. but that's not the bulk of the demand. The center of your audience are far more inclined to drive buying decisions based on the top line price than they are comparing who has free newspapers or a gym. The biggest challenge for these guys is getting picked from the herd.. and top line price is HUGE. Resort fees allow properties to maintain an image of price point, while still getting the revenue they desire.

They aren't going to add a resort fee and goto a net zero change. When the other poster said 'lower' - they mean compared to the alternative. The hotels are going to say "we want to drive margins while still holding our price points' -- resort fees fit the bill. Increase your revenue by increasing your baseline prices while masking the increases.

 

[Angel Ariel]

FYI SoG charges for parking.. and no longer has parking privileges at the parks.

I know Shades charges for parking, but given how significantly cheaper it is to stay there in the first place, the parking fee doesn't matter (the parking fee is also not $30/night).

As for losing parking privileges at the parks, this is the first I've heard of that. But it doesn't overly matter. We use Shades' bus service to and from the WDW parks. If we have a car, it's to be able to go off site to Universal or something similar.

 

[Andrew C]

What you call 'additional guaranteed revenue' -- others simply call 'more revenue while staying price competitive in the rate wars'.

The most common resort fees are things the hotel was not upselling anymore anyways..
- phone fees (long dead service..)
- daily paper (complimentary in the past)
- 1 or 2 bottles of water (people would consume out of desperation..)
- resort amenities (pool, gym -- things they weren't able to monetize anyways)

The other two more common ones are wifi and parking. WiFi they were all being pressured into making free anyways.. it it too falls to the 'no longer an upsell' category. In many cases, parking was already free or should have been. The majority of things covered in the fees are things guests would pass on if they had to pay for them. This is not about attach rates or saving services from cuts.. it's all about optics in pricing.

I know what you are saying about converting options into 100% attach rate.. but that's not the bulk of the demand. The center of your audience are far more inclined to drive buying decisions based on the top line price than they are comparing who has free newspapers or a gym. The biggest challenge for these guys is getting picked from the herd.. and top line price is HUGE. Resort fees allow properties to maintain an image of price point, while still getting the revenue they desire.

They aren't going to add a resort fee and goto a net zero change. When the other poster said 'lower' - they mean compared to the alternative. The hotels are going to say "we want to drive margins while still holding our price points' -- resort fees fit the bill. Increase your revenue by increasing your baseline prices while masking the increases.

Whether there is value behind the amenity bundles that hotels put together is always up for debate. I have seen great bundles where there is good value behind the fee. And I have seen crappy ones. The crappy bundles far outweigh the good ones.

You make some decent points but with good revenue management, hotels (if they have a good product obviously) should be able to increase ADR consistently while staying competitive, and have a resort charge if they so desire. One should not be sacrificed for the other. Of course, if you have a crappy product, all bets are off.

 

[ElreTigo]

I'm beginning to wonder if I simply don't have the heart (or lack thereof) to work the industry I'm in. To think what we charge people for a place to sleep & shower is getting rather unsettling.

 

[coasterphil]

Many of you are asking why a parking fee and resort fee rather than a higher room rate? There are several reasons for this, some of which were mentioned previously.

-Keeps your rate comparable when shopping online. No hotel posts the rate including parking/resort fee in bold on a web search for hotels on your average travel site, so keeping it seperate allows your property to seem like a comparable value. By the time guests see the final quote with parking/resort fee (hotels have gotten more honest about this, likely to head off legislation) you're counting on them being committed to booking with you or assuming other properties likely have similar fees.

-Creates a revenue source that no travel agent can get a cut of. If WDW decided to raise rates $60 a night rather than institute fees, they'd be giving $5-10 of that a night to travel agencies. Expedia, Priceline, and everyone else don't get a piece of your fee revenue.

-Splitting the parking fee saves the guest money on taxes. Parking is taxed at the standard sales tax rate rather than the occupancy + whatever other special taxes an area might apply to the room and resort fee. Hotels are actually looking out for you on this one.

-Fees are essentially 100% profit. Hotels love having revenue sources with a nearly 100% margin. Spending in hotels tends to go up in step with the room revenue (for various reasons), so this prevents departments from eating away at the additional revenue with additional spending. They can't claim they need X because revenue is up in Y as easily with fee streams.

-Fees like parking only affect the guests using the service. For as much as people say they hate being nickel and dimed, if you never bring a car you'll obviously be glad they didn't roll it into the rate.

-Parking fee strengthens the appeal of using Magical Express and just staying onsite rather than renting a car and exploring. Disney knows how much money leaves their hotels on a daily basis, which is obvious with their offerings at Disney Springs.

-Everyone else it doing it. This is a terrible reason as far as the guest is concerned, but I'm surprised Disney has held out as long as they have. As everyone else mentioned, almost all other major hotels in Orlando charge a resort fee and parking fee. Outside Florida, even Vegas resorts have caved and started charging for parking. No one would have predicted that 10 years ago.

-Easy service recovery option. Since they're basically 100% profit it's the perfect recovery option for a guest. Disney is very mindful of the cost of their recovery options, so once these go into effect don't every expect your rate to be adjusted or refunded in any way.

I hope Disney doesn't make the move, but it certainly seems inevitable. I'd assume it will end up being tiered much like the Vegas resorts do it. You don't pay as much in fees/parking at MGM's Circus Circus as you do at Aria. I can't imagine Disney would try to charge an ASM guest the same as a GF guest, as they'd be leaving a lot of money on the table keeping that one rate low enough to avoid chasing off the value guests.

 

[MayorLionheart]

Swan and Dolphin charge for parking. If Boardwalk begins to, I'm just going to stay at Swan. It's cheeper and just as fine, just a few minute extra walk from Epcot.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

Parking fee strengthens the appeal of using Magical Express and just staying onsite rather than renting a car and exploring.

I live 600 miles away. Not nearly a local, but close enough that it makes no sense to pay for flights for my family of 4.

I just can't agree that upkeep of a parking lot is cheaper than putting everybody on Magical Express.

Charge me to park my car I drove from home at All Star or Pop Century and I really start to re-evaluate my vacations. Maybe others are right and they aren't worried about retaining commited returning guests. I have a hard time believing that with this year's AP offering, but only time can tell.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Just for giggles I checked the parking policy at the HOJO across the street from DLR. We stayed there last summer, but we did not have a car. Even as a big of a headache parking is there the HOJO has free parking for their guests. Disney lots have a fee, understandably there. I would have to dig out my paperwork to see if we were charged a resort fee at the HOJO, but I was really satisfied with what we got for what we paid.

On occasion I shop for a WDW trip. I can tell you I would want to stay on site because I have no interest in having to deal with a car. Driving in busy places where I am unsure of where I am going bothers me. But, prices as they are already discourage me, so....

 

[Mary Kraemer]

I've been an EarMarked Disney travel agent for about 10 years, and one of my clients told me about this thread because they were worried about their upcoming vacation.

I looked through all my Disney travel agent resources...nothing. Usually, when something major is going to happen, we are notified so we can prepare our clients (usually, it's something like construction at a specific resort, which might impact the guest experience).

I checked with some other agents, to see if they'd heard anything. Nothing.

So, I spoke with a contact at Disney, and the word is: This is NOT HAPPENING. There are NOT going to be resort fees added to reservations, nor parking fees.

It is true, other hotels and resorts have such fees (I work with this situation all the time for my non-Disney clients, and it's not unusual, and I always notify my clients so they are not surprised by those fees).

There's a parking fee when folks who are guests at the three Disney hotels in Anaheim park their cars, but there's no resort fee. So, take a deep breath and relax. No additional costs like parking or resort fees are going to happen at WDW.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I've been an EarMarked Disney travel agent for about 10 years, and one of my clients told me about this thread because they were worried about their upcoming vacation.

I looked through all my Disney travel agent resources...nothing. Usually, when something major is going to happen, we are notified so we can prepare our clients (usually, it's something like construction at a specific resort, which might impact the guest experience).

I checked with some other agents, to see if they'd heard anything. Nothing.

So, I spoke with a contact at Disney, and the word is: This is NOT HAPPENING. There are NOT going to be resort fees added to reservations, nor parking fees.

It is true, other hotels and resorts have such fees (I work with this situation all the time for my non-Disney clients, and it's not unusual, and I always notify my clients so they are not surprised by those fees).

There's a parking fee when folks who are guests at the three Disney hotels in Anaheim park their cars, but there's no resort fee. So, take a deep breath and relax. No additional costs like parking or resort fees are going to happen at WDW.

And PUSH is still around.

 

[tissandtully]

Universal hotels are $15 a night which is kind of annoying but not $30 annoying. That's just robbery, as well as $5 an hour.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Pretty sure that this is a trol thread. Email Bob Chapek and when they call you to respond to your suggestions they tell you that he was confused as to where they got the rumor from. I trust TWDC way more than some random member saying that it was Chapek calling for more fees. This thread needs to be closed. Email Bob I dare you guys lol.

On a side note, they also took my Epcot FW lack of theme suggestions and are "reviewing" them. So definitely email them. You need a MyMagic+ account for them to find your info to call you.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Pretty sure that this is a trol thread. Email Bob Chapek and when they call you to respond to your suggestions they tell you that he was confused as to where they got the rumor from. I trust TWDC way more than some random member saying that it was Chapek calling for more fees. This thread needs to be closed. Email Bob I dare you guys lol.

On a side note, they also took my Epcot FW lack of theme suggestions and are "reviewing" them. So definitely email them. You need a MyMagic+ account for them to find your info to call you.

PUSH.