Are the disney hotel prices out of control or what?

[erinz]

IMHO, I think that once the price tag hits $300, the room, no matter which resort, should be the size of the CR rooms.

 

[luvdmouse]

My dh is not a disney fanatic like the rest of our family and yet we still manage to get him to disney every other year. We are in the process of planning for next March and have found the prices to be over $300 at the deluxes. We are holding the CR with AAA rates with hopes that there maybe a promotion as we get closer to our trip. This past weekend we went to our local Six Flags theme park for a fun day. Halfway through the day my husband exclaimed that Disneyworld is way cheaper than Six Flags! Small soft drinks were over $3 each. Theme park tickets were not much cheaper than WDW. We all decided that we'd rather save our money and enjoy the beauty and magic in Florida

 

[Hieatt]

I have always been a die-hard, stay on site in a Deluxe guy, until we went down this year and stayed a week in a time share that my mother in law let us use free (couldn't argue with that price). It was the Embassy Grand Beach Resort (owned by Sunterra). I was not looking forward to the trip as much as prior trips to the Dolphin, but I was really surprised at how little a difference it made to us. In fact, I had to reluctantly acknowledge that the amount of space in the 3 bedroom, 2 full bath condo we had, with full kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry, DVD player, balcony, etc. outweighed the minor inconvenience of driving to the parks. The grounds and facilities were great. And I found out you can rent a unit like the one we were in for under $200/night! That's the rock bottom low end price of a plain old hotel room in a Disney Deluxe, with suites going for $1000-$2000/night. Even the "Home Away From Home" (i.e., DVC) resorts go for 3-4 times that nightly rate. I will stay at the Dolphin again if I have SPG points to upgrade to a suite, but off-site is not nearly as bad as I expected. Travel to the parks in our car was a piece of cake, although I did miss walking to/from the Boardwalk area and Epcot from our room.

 

[srfrgrl07]

The last time I checked on dates (about a month ago) that I thought I could go in November (not the week of Thanksgiving), the cost of the moderates was basically double what I paid last year for the same thing (last year I paid $88 per night including tax and the same week this year for the same resort/room was $164 including tax). I don't want to pay double for the same thing...Lastly, the time of year I used to go to Disney was in the offseason (Nov/Dec - not during holiday weeks). Now my Nov. dates are considered in the regular season which is BS and apparently to justify additional money

November has become regular season due to the Food and Wine Festival and then the Thanksgiving holiday travel time, combined with the 50th anniversary and increase in travel. Not to mention the popularity of Super Soap weekend, IMO. Last year with a rate of 88.00/night you would have had a discounted room. So chances are that you could actually get a rate lower than 164.00/night but probably not 88.00. Keep checking for the discounted rates and see if the value is there for you. It seems more and more people are trying to travel during off peak times, and therefore occupancy is higher year over year now.

 

[shellybaxter]

I don't know if Disney resort rooms are outrageous or not, but if they are they have plenty of company with other resorts. I'm paying the same amount per night at the Grand Floridian as I am at Paris Las Vegas. BTW - While I wouldn't turn down a lower rate, I'm not upset by the rates I've got either

 

[Tiffany]

Disney used to be very reasonable but it seems that the they are getting way to expensive for the average family (especially for the deluxes and moderates) what do you think?

Disney's prices are what the market will bear. Nothing more or less. The only way you will see the rates come back down will be if travel takes a dip again. Travel is up so Disney is going to try to fill as many rooms at the highest price possible and will only discount if neccessary. I have an AP rate for our upcoming Nov stay at POR of $109 a night plus tax and I think that is a fair price.

 

[Jamie77]

It is alot of money, but here's another way to look at it.

What's the average day pass at Epcot cost? A single day pass is now about $60. With a 7 day MYW pass, it comes out to about $30. So, let's say $45. That means, Illuminations is paid for after the first 844 guests walk through the turnstiles at Epcot. How long does that take - 20, maybe 30 minutes, if that.

Point being, expensive, yes. But certainly won't make a very big splash in Disney's bucket.

That being said, the option is out there to stay at a Value (which is what I do) for under $100 a night. And I have a heck of a lot more fun at a Disney Value Resort than I do at any other 5 star hotel that cost that much.

That certainly clears things up for me, alot.

 

[chiconh]

Not looking for Flames but I must chime in on this topic. Disney is a business first and foremost. A beloved business in the opinion of most of us on this board, but a business none the less. The purpose of a business is to make $$. Yes, we all want to be able to afford to go as often as we want and we want to spend the least $$ possible.

However, Disney can charge what they do because they will get it! They only reduce price or offer "specials" when they are not getting customers. Why reduce price when the hotels are full? It does not make good business sense. A good example is the recent GM promotion for their cars. Business was slow, so they deeply discounted the price and sold a ton of cars. If the rooms were not booked, you would see reduced prices, that simple.

Until that happens (yeah...when you know what freezes over ) you will not see any deep discounts. Until then, go and enjoy what you get for your money. When you add it up, you still get a lot more at DW then a lot of other vacation options. JMHO.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I think they are decent prices. We just paid $189 a night for a very average Holiday Inn in San Diego. And that was a discount. Full price was $250 a night! Hotel prices are high every where, I think.

 

[lynn71092]

As long as people pay the big dollar for the deluxes they'll continue to charge them.
I personally only stay in the Value resorts during Value season, this way I can take more than one trip per year.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I don't think Disney hotel prices are out of line. The resorts are high to me, but I think that at any "deluxe", not just Disney. The rooms at the resort hotel at Hershey Park in PA are I think, $350 a night. Resorts with spas and cool pools and things like that are high all over.

As for the Values and Moderates, they seem in-line with other places to me.
We just stayed at a no name roadside motel in Presque Isle, Pennsylvania and it was $110 a night and I mean we are talking, NO ammenities, a tiny pool and they locked up the lobby at 11pm.

You can always stay cheaper off property, or even at one of the DTD hotels, but believe me, once you do, you'll see paying a little more to stay on site is worth it!

 

[dr2004]

I think it really depends on wher you live. I'm from the Northeast and the prices at Disney to me are not overtly expensive. A decent hotel room in Boston or NYC can run $300 a night, and the hotels generally charge between $20-$40 a day to park in addition. A room at the Jerey Shore in Prime season can run over $200 a night for a All Star caliber room.

Also, I do not think you can compare Disney to vegas. The goal in Vegas is to get you in the hotel by any means. They will comp you if you gamble enough, its a different mindset.

I wish they had the codes of the last 2 years, but it is a business. If they can sell a room at $245 a night they are not going to give out codes. Disney's jon is to make the hotels profitable not make them affordable for us, and Disney will charge whatever they can get away with. This is going to sound harsh, but if you think the rates are too high, don't go. If enough people follow suit prices will come down as they did the last few years.

That said, I could really use a code for December!!!!

 

[bonnielynn]

A simple case of supply and demand. They charge it, because people will pay it.

Amen!

 

[PamNC]

Jamie, my thinking is that you heard wrong or was giving incorrect infor concerning cost of the fireworks. If they did indeed cost that much (BILLIONS), Disney would stop them because this would be an instant boost to the bottom line profit for the company. Even thou we all go there for fun, it still is a business who answers to stockholderat's s.

I don't know about, "billions" but I will tell you that as an ex-cast member I was told that Illuminations costs approximately $25,000 a night to run.

That's just Illuminations.

PamNC

 

[cinjam]

We just spent several days at Hershey, PA. We stayed at the Hershey Hotel and paid almost $400 per night - nothing special about the room either - and this didn't include park tickets or meals. When I was checking in and paying the balance, DH exclaimed, "Holy cow, we could have gone to Dinsey and saved money"

 

[dzneelvr]

The rising price of hotel rooms is not limited to WDW. We stayed in a normal Holiday Inn Express near Dollywood in Tennessee over July 4 and paid $159+ per day! For that price, I can book ASMo 3 days at WDW. Sure got my DHs attention when I showed him our bill for the Tennessee Vacation. He just assumes WDW costs more in all categories. But the Values are an excellent buy even during peak season. DD and DS are dying to stay at the Poly some trip, but with the $300+ per day rate there is NO way. For a little more, we can stay 10 days at ASMo. See you next summer Mighty Ducks

 

[barbeml]

Room rates are up all over. I am an event planner by profession. In April, my group paid $180 per night (single) for a modest independent hotel in Washington DC. That was an extremely "preferred rate" discounted from their usual $220 per night. That does not include parking, $20 per night. It goes without saying that the hotel did not provide free transportation around DC, there was no possibility of towel animals, and I didn;t hear any music!

The Westin in Princeton quoted me $199 per night group rate for a standard room in October! (I don't think so).

Disney resorts are not "cheap", but I consider them a great value.

 

[joepoe]

I was thinking along those lines while at WDW last week. On the way up the ramp after finishing the Pirates ride at MK I said to my friend, "You know, this place must have a very high electric bill. Perhaps that is why they charge so much for the hotels per night." Before the Spectromagic parade, Fantasmic, etc. they sold these whirlydads that light up which are very expensive but they know kids will pressure their parents to buy them. So I'm guessing they have to make their money anyway they can.

Then I thought about the fireworks every night at three of the parks(sometimes two shows per night - like Fantasmic -) which costs a few billion a year (if I heard right). We definitely are paying for the magic.

I think the theme parks have to pay for themselves, and the reosrts have to pay for themselves. Seperate profit and loss. Hotel prices are set by demand, what the market will bear, and Disney works within that budget.