News WDW Resorts to add fees for parking

[Lensman]

We really showed them didn't we! All this griping and complaining really did a lot of good.
Resort occupancy is up 2% to 90% and guest spending is up. Don't be surprised when you see even more fees and price increases until demand drops.

With their movies continuing to do well and their actually investing in attractions, I think it's unlikely they'll see a downturn in demand unless a big recession comes along or a multi-year disaster in their media division. And I agree with you that the persistent high demand will just mean more price increases.

What fees have they added other than parking? And yes, I know that resort fees are looming due to industry and competitive pressure. I'm still hoping that they'll be able to resist that trend due to their getting so much of their bookings direct vs through agencies. And I'm really hoping for some action from regulators or the agencies to provide relief from resort fees. At least for the agencies, it's in their best interests to provide more transparency on resort fees in their search results. And this transparency will create reduce the incentive to hotels to move more of their daily room fee into their resort fee.

 

[Disone]

Ah but 90% of what?? There are a bunch of rooms that are no longer available either due to refurbs being done on them, or in the case of CSR and CBR being taken out completely to build new structures. There are a lot of room refurbs currently happening around the property, so what is the number of available rooms vs previous years when this was not an issue? 90% of 100 rooms is a LOT fewer than 90% of 1000 rooms. Just sayin' Marie

well, yes, with a section of rooms gone at both CS and CB, it was no doubt a contributing factor of that 2% rise in occupancy. However keep in mind these are massive resorts just by themselves.

 

[Lucky]

Ah but 90% of what?? There are a bunch of rooms that are no longer available either due to refurbs being done on them, or in the case of CSR and CBR being taken out completely to build new structures. There are a lot of room refurbs currently happening around the property, so what is the number of available rooms vs previous years when this was not an issue? 90% of 100 rooms is a LOT fewer than 90% of 1000 rooms. Just sayin' Marie

And conversions to DVC. (WL)

 

[wannabeBelle]

And conversions to DVC. (WL)

Exactly my point, I just think there are fewer rooms that are available versus a few years ago, so it is easier to hit that 90% occupancy. Plus how many people booked before the parking fees were implemented and are not affected or are using Magical Express so it isnt an issue? Marie

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Do you think they'll need to do any additional upgrades to the rooms or amenities at Pop or Animation to support these higher prices? They can't change the room size but people may *want* to pay more and get more luxury.

That said, the renovated Pop rooms look a *lot* better than the old Pop rooms. And the family suites at Animation sure have a lot of charm. I wonder if they'll create any Star Wars family suites for peeps who love Star Wars but don't want full immersion?

They wont do anything to the resorts.The gondola is an upgraded transportation option for the resorts instead of just bus transportation only. “Gondola ride to Star Wars Land”

 

[Lensman]

well, yes, with a section of rooms gone at both CS and CB, it was no doubt a contributing factor of that 2% rise in occupancy. However keep in mind these are massive resorts just by themselves.

Exactly my point, I just think there are fewer rooms that are available versus a few years ago, so it is easier to hit that 90% occupancy. Plus how many people booked before the parking fees were implemented and are not affected or are using Magical Express so it isnt an issue? Marie

We'll see if Iger says anything about the impact of the new parking fee on domestic resort reservations in the Q3 earnings call. Or rather, if he doesn't say anything.

In the Q1 2018 earnings call, Iger said:

So far this quarter, domestic resort reservations are pacing up 3% compared to prior year despite reduced room inventory due to conversions and ongoing room refurbishments. Booked rates are pacing up 13%, which reflects our strategy of improving the guest experience through better load balancing of attendance throughout the year, as well as the benefit of one week of the Easter holiday falling in Q2 this year, whereas the two-week holiday period fell entirely in Q3 last year. We estimate the timing of the Easter holiday period will shift approximately $35 million in operating income fromQ3 to Q2. This benefit will be partially offset by the impact of a 14-day dry dock of the Disney Magic, which will adversely affect Disney Cruise Line’s operating income by about $20 million.

In this Q2 2018 earnings call, Iger said:

Attendance at our domestic parks was up 5% in the quarter and reflects about a 2 percentage point benefit from the timing of the Easter holiday

So the 2% rise in occupancy to 90% in Q2 2018 could just be the result of the timing of the Easter holiday. We'll see what happens in Q3.

That said, the (absolute) 3% rise in domestic resort reservations despite the reduction in inventory means that demand is even stronger than it was last year.

Alternatively, the occupancy rate could be irrelevant since Disney presumably tries to manage occupancy to a target of 90% by offering specials and various incentives. So you'd need to look at the price they got for the rooms and the cost of incentives. Iger said that per-room spending was up 12%. I wonder if Disney includes all the park tickets and magic band spending in their revenue per occupied room (RevPOR)? Anyway, modulo that, it *could* be that they got more per room. I can't find Disney's revenue per available room, which would give us a view on their achieved average daily rate. At any rate, they have obviously been looking at per-room spending as a metric.

 

[Lensman]

They wont do anything to the resorts.The gondola is an upgraded transportation option for the resorts instead of just bus transportation only. “Gondola ride to Star Wars Land”

I was just wondering if, from a customer segment perspective, if they'd up the amenities in order to be able to attract the more spendthrift guests. You know, it's kind of like my friend who said that in his kitchen renovation, it was recommended that he get the $8000 48" wide counter depth refrigerator because a normal 36" one would make the house harder to sell. My goodness. He lives in a different world!

 

[DisAl]

Ah but 90% of what?? There are a bunch of rooms that are no longer available either due to refurbs being done on them, or in the case of CSR and CBR being taken out completely to build new structures. There are a lot of room refurbs currently happening around the property, so what is the number of available rooms vs previous years when this was not an issue? 90% of 100 rooms is a LOT fewer than 90% of 1000 rooms. Just sayin' Marie

It doesn't matter. ANY motel would be very pleased with 90% occupancy no matter the number of rooms. My point is that there is no impact due to continued price increases disguised as fees. The lemmings still keep coming....
Full disclosure: I am one of the idiots who continues to go to WDW, but if it wasn't for the grandkids they would be close to loosing my business. Just sayin....

 

[George]

I think that the days of pretending to be a day guest, or staying beyond a reasonable time for a meal or drink, just to get free parking at the resorts will be ending soon. There will probably be some sort of receipt (maybe even a card?) proving that you have actually purchased something that you will have to use to get it free - they would just have to add an exit reader - which is common in parking lots. The days of being allowed to just look around may be over, as too many people have used it as a way to avoid parking fees at the parks. Which has deprived the company of revenue while also having a negative on paying resort guests by making the transportation more crowded. Maybe more weight on the first reason.

I think they should start by charging day guests the same fees you pay to park at the theme parks if you don’t have a dining/room ressie. Limit the number of spaces that can be purchased...then close it to day guests. If you want free parking for shopping set the minimum purchase at $250.00. Room rates have always been expensive, but fairly transparent (taxes aside) at WDW. Continue that tradition.

 

[John park hopper]

I have to agree with DisAl if it weren't for the 3 grandkids almost at the age of enjoying WDW I'm not sure we would be going back. After my initial outrage over the parking fee (saying I was through) I have come to the conclusion 1. it was just a means to raise the room rate 2. It gives WDW 2 options to increase prices a. raise the room rate b. raise the parking fee. They can do one or the other or both. so be it. On my part i will spend less in the parks where we used to eat lunch and dinner we wiil bring breakfast food from home and return to the resort and eat lunch we bring. The money saved will more than compensate for the increased fees.

 

[pug]

Pretty sure cars at Disney Springs get towed a lot.

Probably not. They have to have signs up with the towing company’s name on it and you can go to Guest service and ask for the towing contract.

 

[pug]

I haven't gotten one in over two years.

Same last time I got one was in 2012

 

[pug]

You honestly think Disney is going to "ticket, boot and tow" cars for families on vacation? Nothing says family vacation like a Minnievan ride to the impound lot.

Exactly

 

[TrojanUSC]

We havent been issued one in the last few trips (2018), which made me wonder how they enforce or even know which guests are supposed to pay fr parking?

The parking passes weren't even for the actual parking at resort you were staying at. They were intended to provide parking at the theme parks and/or security kiosks at the resorts, so as to expedite entry. Nobody was going around at night checking parking permits.

 

[LAKid53]

The parking passes weren't even for the actual parking at resort you were staying at. They were intended to provide parking at the theme parks and/or security kiosks at the resorts, so as to expedite entry. Nobody was going around at night checking parking permits.

Precisely. We left our car at POR while we went on DCL. It was still there when we got back several days later.

 

[Lensman]

I'm sure Disney can come up with a simple interim system that is 90% effective at ensuring people are paying their parking fees. Even something simple like the paper parking pass would work. You'd just have to come up with some means of identifying day guests like a day-of-week colored pass with the date printed on it. It would take some amount of naughtiness to get around that.

Hey, isn't the parking fee already in effect for people who booked after March 18th? Has anyone heard any reports of changed procedures? Maybe Disney is just expecting everyone to tell the truth and use social engineering techniques like asking people for their license plate numbers on check-in. Either that or they can only give people a parking pass for the parks if they confess to having a car at check-in. Hey, I just realized that pretty much you either have to pay for overnight parking at the resort or pay for day parking at the parks. Also you'll have to do a lot of lying to the guard at the front gate if you're going in and out a lot.

I suspect there's not going to be any overnight inspections or towing needed.

 

[Lyman]

I find this topic extremely interesting and have spent a lot of time reading most of it. Every time I get close to catching up the next day a lot more pages pop up and I never catch up. I had already decided to cut the amount of stays to Disney. When we did go, we stayed off Disney because of the pricing. Stayed twice previously at value resorts and to pay that much for a motel 6 was not worth it. The main perk they advertised was EMH and free parking in the parks. Staying off Disney and paying the parking fees saved a lot of money and yes, we ate many meals off Disney and after our last stay where we ate at two Quick Service meals, we will probably eat more off property. It was horrible and even threw one of them away. I find it interesting that those that say this is ok because others do it are usually (I am not saying everyone) the same ones that say free parking in the parks saves all this money. Though their ad someone showed had free parking in the parks, it no longer saves me the money it did. I actually now save more money staying off parks, cause we are all paying for parking now. Thanks Disney for making that an easier choice to stay off property.

FREE the magic word.

My uncle's father had a grocery store. He had an item he wanted to get rid of. He puts at the front of the store at 33 percent off. No takers. He changes the sign to buy 3 and get the 4th free. It flew off the shelf. That was a 25 cent discount.

 

[larryz]

FREE the magic word.

My uncle's father had a grocery store. He had an item he wanted to get rid of. He puts at the front of the store at 33 percent off. No takers. He changes the sign to buy 3 and get the 4th free. It flew off the shelf. That was a 25 cent discount.

PT Barnum's famous "This Way To The Egress."

 

[Lensman]

FREE the magic word.

My uncle's father had a grocery store. He had an item he wanted to get rid of. He puts at the front of the store at 33 percent off. No takers. He changes the sign to buy 3 and get the 4th free. It flew off the shelf. That was a 25 cent discount.

Hmm. Maybe Disney would get less backlash if they had a volume discount on the parking charge? Buy 3 days get the 4th free! Buy 4 days get 2 free! Buy a week get the second week free! Ha!

 

[Grumpy4196]

Hmm. Maybe Disney would get less backlash if they had a volume discount on the parking charge? Buy 3 days get the 4th free! Buy 4 days get 2 free! Buy a week get the second week free! Ha!

2019's Big Promo will be "Free Parking" as opposed to "Free Dining"

Although I do think they are implementing this -backwards. Should be charging day guests for parking not resort guests.