And The Beat Goes On!

[cabanafrau]

Seems pretty clear they will get their money either way. Either raise room rates and average of 15, or collect the resort fee. What I think they are REALLY trying to determine is which of the two people will be less offended by. Either way, it's an extra 15 a night.

Keep in mind we're talking about Disney, which has mastered the art of taking concepts synergisticly across all segments of their business. Therefore they'll take their $15 on both ends please -- for starters, for this round of price increases thank you very much. They'll be certain to get back to you for the next round of increases. Have a Magical Day!

 

[wisblue]

I haven't stayed offsite for about 10 years, so I don't know the answer to this. But, is any of this a response to what some of the competition in the Orlando area is doing? For example, for any of you have have stayed at the Universal resorts, do they charge anything extra for things above the base room rate that they advertise? I thought I heard once that at least some of their resorts have daily charges for things like self parking and connecting to wifi in your room. Is this true?

 

[JimmyV]

If you force everyone to pay $5 to rent a floating noodle, whether they use it or not, it is a core cost of renting the room.

Not if you used to charge for it separately. If on Monday, you charged people $3 to rent a floating noodle, $2 for a bottle of water from an ice bucket in the lobby and $150 for their hotel room, then there was no way that the $5 charges for the noodle and water were core costs of renting the room. On Tuesday, if you charge the guest $150 for the room, $5 for the resort fee, and tell them that the use of pool noodles is included in the cost of their resort fee and that they should help themselves to a bottle of water, you have changed nothing. From an accounting standpoint, you can place the money in any column you choose. But you have changed nothing. There is no magic wand that turns Monday's costed amenities into Tuesday's core room costs.

 

[freediverdude]

Any more difficult than the sell for other resorts? I don't think that Disney cares if it is a difficult sell. They already have the DVC owner's money. They can, and will, do what they think that can get away with.

I think they might have a hard time selling the parking fee to DVC, since our fees partially cover the upkeep of the parking lots. The other ones, though, are mostly parks expenses- the magicbands, fp+, EMH, they might be able to charge those to DVC reservations. The Magical Express I'm not sure about, would have to look into that one further. So I think with DVC it would be messy, where we would get exempted from some fees but not others.

 

[freediverdude]

I haven't stayed offsite for about 10 years, so I don't know the answer to this. But, is any of this a response to what some of the competition in the Orlando area is doing? For example, for any of you have have stayed at the Universal resorts, do they charge anything extra for things above the base room rate that they advertise? I thought I heard once that at least some of their resorts have daily charges for things like self parking and connecting to wifi in your room. Is this true?

I just stayed at Hard Rock Hotel at Universal last week, and they charge $20 for self parking, but no resort fee. The wifi is also free. They do put two very expensive bottles of Fiji water in your room hoping you will drink them and get charged, just don't take the bait, lol.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just stayed at Hard Rock Hotel at Universal last week, and they charge $20 for self parking, but no resort fee. The wifi is also free. They do put two very expensive bottles of Figi water in your room hoping you will drink them and get charged, just don't take the bait, lol.

So I'm assuming you could completely avoid the fee if you didn't have a car?

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I think they might have a hard time selling the parking fee to DVC, since our fees partially cover the upkeep of the parking lots. The other ones, though, are mostly parks expenses- the magicbands, fp+, EMH, they might be able to charge those to DVC reservations. The Magical Express I'm not sure about, would have to look into that one further. So I think with DVC it would be messy, where we would get exempted from some fees but not others.

I don't think they'll ever charge fees to DVC owners. Exchangers and renters already pay a $99 fee for the week, from what I understand.

 

[freediverdude]

So I'm assuming you could completely avoid the fee if you didn't have a car?

Yes, they ask if you have a car, and can avoid the fee if you don't.

 

[sretav]

I may have missed it but I haven't seen anyone discussing the fact that these things (60 day FP, Magical Express, Magic Bands and Free Park Parking) are supposed to be the incentives for booking a Disney resort over staying offsite. If they institute a resort fee that we now all know is you PAYING outright for those things then what will entice the masses to book onsite?

At a quarter the price for four times the space and the choice of 5 or 6 pools, we're staying at WBC for the second time in 2 years. 16 days for $1800. With four kids, staying at any Disney resort is near impossible. I've never experienced this Disney bubble so many speak of but I'm pretty sure I'd still choose offsite.

 

[crazymomof4]

Well from the Swan and Dolphin you most certainly can walk to Epcot as well as HS. And they have bus service to all of the parks. Other offsite hotels have pretty decent bus service to each of the parks as well. Not all of those bus options are great but some are pretty decent especially when comparing costs.

ETA: And I realize S&D does charge a resort fee but their cost for location is still far better than the other deluxes in those areas.

Dolphin (because it can sleep 5) is at the top of our "plan B" list. We like BC mainly because of location and pool. But if Free Dining is not released (will pay food oop) then BC is out of our budget. Dolphin seems the logical 2nd choice. Where might I find the best rates? Something like Expedia?

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I may have missed it but I haven't seen anyone discussing the fact that these things (60 day FP, Magical Express, Magic Bands and Free Park Parking) are supposed to be the incentives for booking a Disney resort over staying offsite. If they institute a resort fee that we now all know is you PAYING outright for those things then what will entice the masses to book onsite?

At a quarter the price for four times the space and the choice of 5 or 6 pools, we're staying at WBC for the second time in 2 years. 16 days for $1800. With four kids, staying at any Disney resort is near impossible. I've never experienced this Disney bubble so many speak of but I'm pretty sure I'd still choose offsite.

Mentioned many times in this and the other thread.

 

[dfb]

I think they might have a hard time selling the parking fee to DVC, since our fees partially cover the upkeep of the parking lots. The other ones, though, are mostly parks expenses- the magicbands, fp+, EMH, they might be able to charge those to DVC reservations. The Magical Express I'm not sure about, would have to look into that one further. So I think with DVC it would be messy, where we would get exempted from some fees but not others.

What happens when I use my points to stay at Vero Beach or Hilton Head, do we have another conditional situation? If you do have a car you do or don't get charged for parking, if you don't have a car you don't or do have to pay for transportation, If you stay but don't go to the parks do you still have to pay for the MB/FP+ and so on and so on?

 

[prestoncaldwell]

What happens when I use my points to stay at Vero Beach or Hilton Head, do we have another conditional situation? If you do have a car you do or don't get charged for parking, if you don't have a car you don't or do have to pay for transportation, If you stay but don't go to the parks do you still have to pay for the MB/FP+ and so on and so on?

Thus the trial balloon to survey whether people would rather have pay-per-use surcharges or a net resort fee.

 

[dfb]

Thus the trial balloon to survey whether people would rather have pay-per-use surcharges or a net resort fee.

I didn't see the survey offered an either / or option. The only clip I saw looked like a partial survey question. Reading these post I'm not even sure the survey was real?

 

[Mikie]

I didn't see the survey offered an either / or option. The only clip I saw looked like a partial survey question. Reading these post I'm not even sure the survey was real?

Since the threads have been merged, you may not have seen all the posts - several have been actual screen shots of the survey in MDE and at least one poster typed out a detailed excerpt that asked about individual fees as opposed to lump sum resort fees.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

I'm surprised that the emotion that I feel most right now not is not anger or aggravation, but sadness.

I really, really miss the "old" Disney, where quality mattered over quantity, and where the higher prices were always justified by a superior experience.

Over the past ten years or so, we have paid an ever-increasing amount of money for a dramatically decreased experience...from the sardine-esque MVMCPs to the quality of the overpriced merchandise...from the cookie-cutter restaurant menus to the disenchanted CMs...I literally could write paragraphs about all the ways that the whole "Disney Magic" mindset has been (for me) whittled away. I will happily pay higher prices for a higher-quality product, but I can't justify higher prices for a mediocre product that is only skirting by because it bears the Disney name.

I was once Disney's biggest cheerleader, and would very vociferously defend Disney's high expense to family/friends who would complain about the cost of a Disney vacation.

I won't/can't do that anymore, and it makes me so sad.

 

[jsmla]

I'm surprised that the emotion that I feel most right not is not anger or aggravation, but sadness.

I really, really miss the "old" Disney, where quality mattered over quantity, and where the higher prices were always justified by a superior experience.

Over the past ten years or so, we have paid an ever-increasing amount of money for a dramatically decreased experience...from the sardine-esque MVMCPs to the quality of the overpriced merchandise...from the cookie-cutter restaurant menus to the disenchanted CMs...I literally could write paragraphs about all the ways that the whole "Disney Magic" mindset has been (for me) whittled away. I will happily pay higher prices for a higher-quality product, but I can't justify higher prices for a mediocre product that is only skirting by because it bears the Disney name.

I was once Disney's biggest cheerleader, and would very vociferously defend Disney's high expense to family/friends who would complain about the cost of a Disney vacation.

I won't/can't do that anymore, and it makes me so sad.

This. I was still in full on rant mode when my husband got home and he commented that WDW was making more unhappy than happy these days.

 

[Lisann]

I'm surprised that the emotion that I feel most right not is not anger or aggravation, but sadness.

I really, really miss the "old" Disney, where quality mattered over quantity, and where the higher prices were always justified by a superior experience.

Over the past ten years or so, we have paid an ever-increasing amount of money for a dramatically decreased experience...from the sardine-esque MVMCPs to the quality of the overpriced merchandise...from the cookie-cutter restaurant menus to the disenchanted CMs...I literally could write paragraphs about all the ways that the whole "Disney Magic" mindset has been (for me) whittled away. I will happily pay higher prices for a higher-quality product, but I can't justify higher prices for a mediocre product that is only skirting by because it bears the Disney name.

I was once Disney's biggest cheerleader, and would very vociferously defend Disney's high expense to family/friends who would complain about the cost of a Disney vacation.

I won't/can't do that anymore, and it makes me so sad.

Well. Said.

Believe it or not, there is a point at which the whole thing tips...and not in Disney's favor. I guess it hasn't gotten to that point yet. But they need to be careful about biting the hand that feeds them...

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I don't think they'll ever charge fees to DVC owners.

I disagree. They are having no problems selling DVC, and keep expanding it - even converting existing resort rooms to DVC to lock in revenue. Once they have tapped out DVC revenue growth through expansion, they will grow revenue in other ways, like fees.

 

[larryz]

But they need to be careful about biting the hand that feeds them...

They'll just go find some other hands to bite...