Disney considering nightly resort fees...would that apply to DVC owners

[kgeary]

Interesting story here on Disney considering $15 a night resort fees for Magical Express, Magic Bands, wifi, extra magic hours and theme park parking. While plenty of resorts charge this fee obviously Disney has not done this...at least in the time I have been going back to WDW.

I wonder if DVC owners or anyone staying on DVC points would have to pay this if in fact it was enacted.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/wal...a-nightly-resort-fee-to-its-resort-hotels.htm

 

[Tiggerette]

Purely speculating... so grain of salt n' all that...
DVC purchased room only, so it's possible (in layperson's theory) to say that additional "conveniences" such as in-room wi-fi, transportation (even though that's included in the DVC fees?), parking and so on are in addition to the room.
However, isn't a magic band required to access the room now-a-days? Therefore, wouldn't a magic band be inclusive of the DVC cost since it's required to access your purchase? Do they still use room cards?

I despise the resort fees. One cannot opt-out of the fees even you do not plan to use the amenities provided. I simply add it in to the per night cost of the room. That said, when we stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek about a year ago the resort fee was waived because we used points to stay there. Perhaps it was also a function of the loyalty card status, or maybe a clerk was being nice to me that day.

 

[tjkraz]

Most of those items are already included in member dues. Magical Express, MagicBands, wifi and resort parking (security, parking lot upkeep) are undoubtedly charged to owners. If Disney were to add some sort of resort fee for owners, they would have to remove those items from dues.

Highly likely they would just make DVC stays exempt.

 

[granmanh603]

If I am paying for parking at BWV in Oct I am getting cheated... half the state of Fl parks there and I have to walk forever to get to my room. Last Cct I happened to have a room facing the parking lot and there was going to be a free Halloween Party on the village green. At about 6PM the stream of cars was amazing. the lane our room faced was blocked at the end so cars had to come in facing us and turn around. In on 1/2 hr span maybe 75 cars came down the lane. There were no spaces because is was the weekend on top and Food and Wne too and we know how that fills the parking lot every day. So now they want to add another fee on..... I think that might be the straw that breaks the camels back for me, either rent out points or sell outright.

 

[CGrieger]

I can't imagine they could charge a resort fee to owners. All of the required items are covered in dues. "resort fees" should just be rolled into room costs since it is not an optional Item. They are just a way for hotels to disguise the true cost of rentals and since dvc is not a rental I can't see them applying.

 

[hakepb]

Currently, GCV and Aluani points reservations include free parking for DVC while cash guests pay.

DVC owners got "free" high speed Internet years before cash guests received free wifi.

I'm absolutely not paying more to park at SSR when my dues already pay to maintain those parking lots.

 

[DebbieB]

The Swan & Dolphin have a $25 per night resort fee plus $18 for self parking. I don't see where the article mentions a separate charge for parking for Disney resorts.

 

[Sammie]

Could they charge them to guests booked on your points?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Could they charge them to guests booked on your points?

That should be no different than for an owner. The points are paying for the room and the dues on the points pay for the costs associated with the room - and with DVC - cost of the resort. They'd have to remove the costs they have currently for ME, parking lot, MB's etc. and dues would drop. Only then might they be able to charge the resort fee to cover those same items to point stays.

 

[Brian Noble]

I wonder if DVC owners or anyone staying on DVC points would have to pay this if in fact it was enacted.

There is only one way to know for sure.

 

[tjkraz]

That should be no different than for an owner. The points are paying for the room and the dues on the points pay for the costs associated with the room - and with DVC - cost of the resort. They'd have to remove the costs they have currently for ME, parking lot, MB's etc. and dues would drop. Only then might they be able to charge the resort fee to cover those same items to point stays.

Or they might be able to make non-members pay and apply the proceeds as a credit to annual dues. That would be an interesting roadblock to point renters, while benefitting owners to some degree.

 

[CMNJ]

Or they might be able to make non-members pay and apply the proceeds as a credit to annual dues. That would be an interesting roadblock to point renters, while benefitting owners to some degree.

That would be interesting-as an owner I can see the potential benefit to owners (possibly lower dues) and to Disney (increased revenue) but legally can they charge twice for the same expenses? I know they charge the $95 exchange fee to incoming RCI guests but if the member books the room for family (or renters since DVC wouldn't have anyway to know for sure) can they charge them for those expenses again? Though I guess maybe they could call it something else like a "DVC guest check in fee" allow them to have access to these amenities as a non-owner just like RCI trades.

 

[sgtdisney]

A number of years back Disneyland Hotel had a resort fee, but when I stayed there on DVC points, they waived the resort fee. Two years ago, we went back to DL hotel and the resort fee was no longer there, but the DL Hotel was charging 15.00 a night parking. Again, that was waived since we were staying on points. I am thinking, if Disney does try to implement any fee (parking or resort) that DVC members, staying on points, would probably be waived from any fee.

 

[kphamousbr]

We chatted with cast member yesterday about resort fees . They said DVC members do not have to pay resort fee staying on DVC resorts.

 

[DenLo]

Does Disney think their hotels are worth paying a resort fee? Aulani, perhaps, the rest of them, no.

I agree that our DVC dues already pay for the transportation expenses. And in this day and age I don't get why any hotel charges for WiFi that is just being cheap. It's not like they are paying for satellite time like the cruise ships have to do.

Regarding parking at a WDW hotel, guests staying the resort should always have free parking at that resort. Disney should comp 2-3 hours for dining at a resort restaurant, and then charge a price that is higher than the cost of parking at the theme park. I expect since more of the Florida resident APs now cover parking at the theme parks it might help the resorts too. WDW is not really short on land space, they could improve parking lot size.

 

[PBB]

DVC owners got "free" high speed Internet years before cash guests received free wifi.

I am sorry have to respectfully disagree with you on the comment above. We did not nor do we get free internet. Our annual dues pay For the ISP service and equipment. For them to charge us a fee would be double dipping. I believe they would have a challenge with parking as well since it was defined in the owners agreements when we purchased the points.

 

[hakepb]

I am sorry have to respectfully disagree with you on the comment above. We did not nor do we get free internet. Our annual dues pay For the ISP service and equipment. For them to charge us a fee would be double dipping. I believe they would have a challenge with parking as well since it was defined in the owners agreements when we purchased the points.

Correct, member dues covered the Internet charge (at a presumably lower bulk price) than the resort line item fee paid by cash guests.

I was just pointing out 2 examples of extra resort charges that are included in DVC dues.

 

[bumbershoot]

We chatted with cast member yesterday about resort fees . They said DVC members do not have to pay resort fee staying on DVC resorts.

Well, currently *no one* has to pay resort fees staying on WDW property. Random CMs aren't going to know how it all comes together in the future IF they choose to do this. (and all it was was a question on a survey...I got a question on a Universal survey 4 years ago about a Lord of the Rings attraction, and I have yet to see that happen)

 

[DisDadDVC]

We chatted with cast member yesterday about resort fees . They said DVC members do not have to pay resort fee staying on DVC resorts.

Yeah, I would doubt any CM would know anything about this proposed fee yet.