Why the high prices for Disney resorts?

[pyrophoric]

Spoken like a true cheap skate I am sure ...

Besides transportation and sending purchases back to your room, why the extremely high prices to stay at Disney resorts?

We were looking at staying seven days at either the Contemporary or Polynesian this year but never realized the price per night for a semi decent room. My real shock was looking at the amenities. You seem to get so much more for so much less at hotels outside the parks.

Are there things they aren't listing that I should be aware of when deciding where to stay?

Thanks

Edit: I guess the question should really be, are there hidden amenities or things not well known that would make a stay at a Disney resort a little more valuable?

 

[Master Yoda]

A lot of great information.

We are going to buy annual passes and go down for a single night to test out one of the Disney resort hotels. We might also drive around and look at the other resorts as well as check out Caribe Royal Orlando.

Sounds like a plan. Here is a short list of the resorts I would take a gander at. First and foremost check out Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is by far my favorite Disney resort. Many of us have talked about theming and separation from reality well IMHO AKL has more of that than any other Disney resort. The restaurants there are also some of best, most unique cuisine on WDW property. Second take a look at Port Orleans River Side and French Quarter (they are connected together. Both of these are moderate resorts and they will be considerably less expensive but their theming is still simply incredible. Lastly check out the three resorts (Contemporary, Poly, Grand Floridian) on the monorail loop. All three are quite different resorts but you are sure to find one that peaks your interest. For me that resort would be the Poly. Much like AKL you have a complete separation from reality and it to has some incredible dining.

 

[MMFanCipher]

We personally enjoy staying at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds. It's cheap, clean and very quiet. When we go back to WDW we're staying here. We loved it. :animwink:

 

[freediverdude]

The reason they are getting those prices for the deluxe Disney resorts is usually the location. The Contemporary is THE ONLY resort that you can walk right across the street to the turnstyles of the Magic Kingdom, the most visited theme park in the world. Thus the price. And similar story for the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, you're just a quick 5 minute or less monorail ride away from the turnstyles, with the monorails whisking people away every couple minutes. So that's a big part of what you're paying for with those.

If you stay offsite, you're looking at anywhere from a 10-30 minute drive to get to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, paying $12, parking, getting on a tram, riding to the monorail/boat station, then taking a monorail or boat to the turnstyles. So you're looking at approximately an hour before you're in the park a lot of times.

Disney's moderate and value resorts are somewhere in between these two extremes. They offer direct bus service to the theme park turnstyles from the hotels, with service running every 15 minutes or so. So with your wait time for the bus and the bus ride time, you're looking at about 30 minutes to be inside the park usually.

So the offsite hotels have to make up for the difference in parking fee, plus the distance to get to the parks (Disney World is very spread out, covers 10s of square miles, the Magic Kingdom parking lot is miles inside the Disney gate), plus not offering direct constant transportation all day to the parks.

 

[BrytEydBelle]

I have never stayed at one of the deluxe resorts, but in my opinion staying on site at one of the budget or moderate resorts improves the vacation enough to justify the extra money. Even at the lower priced resorts, the pool areas and general ambience of the hotels are so much more fun than HoJo or Holiday Inn.

Personally, the convenient Disney transportation system is the selling point. I adore the Disney buses. They run more frequently that the offsite hotels and save the cost of a rental car as well as the frustration of navigating through nightmarish Orlando traffic.

My Disney trip last Spring was a last minute thing, and all the Disney hotels were booked, so we ended up staying offsite and I will now be booking my Disney trips way in advance! I went with my little sister and we were not old enough to rent a car, so we relied on our hotels busing system...bad idea! It was so packed and poorly run that some people actually got into a shoving match at the end of a long day. Never again!

 

[scottnj1966]

Don't want to put the miles on my car, it's not in the best shape honestly. Besides, between renting on my credit card and my local insurance ... if anything happens to the car I am covered.

Besides, our car isn't exactly like 15 years old and it's nice to get in a newer/tricked out car for a week or two.

I tried my best to read all the posts. Im confused. You have a car that wont make it to WDW but you live in Florida, and you are thinking about staying at one of disney's most expensive resorts? I think you are over buying.

Just stay at a moderate. Port Orleans is beautiful. I just stayed there for 99 bucks a night being a Florida Residents.
Extra magic hours is a great benefit. Getting to stay at one of the parks for 3 more hours after many guests leave.
Not having to drive anywhere is always a great thing.

Disney has many deal for Florida residents. Just keep checking.