Free Fridge At Value Resorts!?!

[deltachi8]

I think having to pay for a fridge at the value results is ridiculous when the cheapest of off-site motels offer them for free. Also, at $10/day, you could purchase one for your trip for less, if you're staying for any amount of time. When leaving ASMu a couple of weeks ago, we noticed a lady with a small fridge on the passenger seat of her car.

Of course, you can always choose to stay anywhere you wish. If a free fridge is important, by all mean stsay off site. I have done that several times to save on food expenses. Its a choice.

 

[Brygida]

Not at all. The Disney value resorts are value-priced based on the services, amenities and value they deliver. Including more amenities in them would simply increase their value, and that would of course increase their prices, again leaving many budget-minded guests without a viable offering from Disney. That wouldn't make sense in this economy.

I don't believe it was the cost of the amenity that precluded Disney from designing in a fridge in each room. They pay much more for many amenities that they do offer, I am sure! And many of those amenities are NOT offered by other hotels.

I think that most hotels offer a free fridge just like they offer a free bed. It is pretty much expected. I certainly expect it. It would be prohibitive IMHO to travel with a baby if the hotel did not offer a fridge.

So why did Disney not design in the fridge in their resorts originally? I believe it was because they wanted to preclude people from eating in their rooms, to make it difficult for them to do so, to make it easier for them to eat out.

I think that was a mistake on their part. Having or not having a fridge in my room does not make me eat out any less. I always eat out in WDW. I want the fridge for convenience (baby bottles, cold drinks in the middle of the night, etc).

 

[tlbwriter]

There are lots of reasons Disney might have chosen not to offer a free fridge in each room. Cost of the original equipment and repairs/upkeep. Extra electricity. These things add up. Quite honestly, probably the biggest reason is that they didn't have to. If people who want a fridge are willing to pay extra for it, why put one in every room? Like any for-profit business, they look at the bottom line. Are we going to get more people in our more expensive resorts if we give them this additional amenity?

 

[loriandmatt]

we swing by walmart after checking in and pick up an 3.99 syrofoam cooler (and a few goodies to keep in it). We leave it outside the door with a note that it is up for grabs or trash on our last day.

works for us and is not a big issue. i truely appreciate the savings that the value resorts provide while still being an onsite resort. we could not afford a moderate or delux resort.

- lori

 

[Lewisc]

Some hotels offer a free fridge, many don't. If that amenity is important to you than you should check before you make your reservation. Traditionally amenities like a fridge, coffee pot and even a microwave were offered in the lower priced hotels. The more expensive resorts have room service and min-bars in the room. The lower end chains frequently offer free high speed internet access but the more expensive hotels frequently charge extra.

I agree more hotels are starting to include small fridges but I'd hardly put a fridge it in the same category as bed.

I think that most hotels offer a free fridge just like they offer a free bed. It is pretty much expected. I certainly expect it. It would be prohibitive IMHO to travel with a baby if the hotel did not offer a fridge.

 

[bicker]

I don't believe it was the cost of the amenity that precluded Disney from designing in a fridge in each room.

I'm sorry -- I must not have made my point clearly enough. With a value-based pricing model, the price will reflect the customer's perceived value. Given that the objective of the budget resorts is to provide an offering for the budget customer, if the customers are price sensitive, increasing the value is counter-productive.

I think that most hotels offer a free fridge just like they offer a free bed. It is pretty much expected. I certainly expect it.

We'll have to agree to disagree about that. I do not believe it is appropriate to expect a refrigerator in a budget-priced hotel room.

 

[crisi]

It may be reasonable to expect it, but it isn't there. You get to control what you can control. You don't get to control what Disney offers at what price, merely whether you will choose to participate by buying it. Either a value resort, onsite, at whatever you are paying is worth it to you without a fridge, or it isn't, in which case, pay $10 extra for a fridge or stay somewhere else.

Perhaps someday, Disney will decide to offer a fridge in value resorts. They don't know.

 

[Schmeck]

I remember when the moderates had the mini-bars!

When is a bed 'free'? - you pay for the room, it comes with two beds, doesn't it? It sounds odd to consider renting a room for the night if it doesn't have any beds in it