Grand Floridian shouldn’t allow non hotel guests

[Genie+]

I get both sides of this. Personally it is a thorn in the resort experience just not enough to push me away. Along the lines of what could be done? Maybe blocking only those worst periods of time could keep everyone happy. I wouldn't be upset if the resort boats and resort monorail posted a limited set of hours where a tapstyle scanned MDE via MB, KTTW card or phone for guest resort/TS reservation. People would quickly get accustomed if the resort boat/monorail operated normally 95+% of the time except those peak cuckoo times like holiday evenings. Non-guests could plan around it instead of the resort guests needing to plan around it. It would make little difference to me times we are non-guest and make a meaningful difference times we are. I’d plan our visit during the hours those modes of transport are open to all when not staying/dining there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There’s no squabbling, and I never said that non-resort guests should be denied access to the monorail. Do you really think people stay at the Grand Floridian simply because "that was the only availability"? As you may know, Tokyo Disney is owned by the Oriental Land Company, and they also restrict access to the new Fantasy Disney Springs Hotel for non-guests, unless they have a dining reservation. The basic principle is that, in any resort experiencing overcrowding of a particular hotel amenity (whether it’s a bus, monorail, Skyliner, pool, etc., at a Deluxe, Moderate, or Value resort), guests who are paying for the experience should be given priority.

The fact that you saw slight over the usage of squabbling is telling. People have been going back and forth on this thread over just who should have access, priority, and cabin space on the monorail; it's squabbling over a mode of transportation and from the perspective of 1 of the 3 resorts on the monorail.

The fact that you honed in on availability is telling. I merely gave that as an example because it's the truth. There is no universal reason why people book any resort. It varies from person to person. Who are you to assume that people are saying there for the same reasons you are or for that matter that they care about the same things you do when it comes to where they are booked? If I was wanting Deluxe because of the evening extra magic hours benefit (which is something quite a chunk of posters on this Board have been doing since that was limited to just Deluxe) and Grand Floridian was the only option that fit what I needed it to fit (room type, dates, etc) why would that not be a valid reason? If I was wanting a monorail resort but only the Grand Floridian was the only option why would that not be a valid reason?

As far as Tokyo, this might be the time to tell you that I went to Japan about a month and a half ago and did go to Disney there for multiple days...trust me I'm in the know on that one To that end restricted access is not a definitive feature of Fantasy Springs, by that I mean it's in place now with the land and hotel only having been open for less than 6 months. Starting March 2025 they are removing the 1-day Fantasy Springs Passport which was only bookable to Fantasy Springs hotel guests and those with Vacation Packages. This means those unlimited ride access for those type of guests will be no longer. What the OP is talking about is an implementation of restriction of access for specific times of the year assumedly in perpetuity, quite a lot different than a new land with a new hotel. Same goes for Epic Universe and Helios hotel.

 

[Chuck S]

Also remember, that the Disney monorail system was reclassified a few years ago as public transportation, just like the resort bus system, rather than a "ride," and as such, it would be difficult to put priority restrictions upon it.

 

[808blessing]

Just a personal observation as a once a year WDW visitor. This is the first year I noticed boarding times longer while using transportation due to visitors needing to load with special assistance, lift (mears) or ramp etc. I felt there were 3x people needing this than in the past. (Won't speculate why here) The extra wait time needed for those with ECV and wheelchairs adds both more wait time and more pain to those who are needing to wait for additional buses/boats etc. because of limited spaces. The transportation issue is separate and prioritized over a crowded lobby.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's not a "perceived ownership" of the monorail and boats, it is the ONLY way resort guests of the GF can get to the MK since there is no bus service. Sure, you can walk, but that is not an insignificant distance on a trip that already includes a lot of walking and why should the people who pay the very high rates to stay at a monorail resort for close access to the MK have to walk just to get to there?

I have seen a lot of complaints on the DIS over the years from people staying at all resorts about long waits to get back to their resorts at the end of the night, but this was ALL DAY from every park to get back to the GF last December. No matter what time we left a park, if we were lucky enough to get on the first bus that came, it was almost definitely standing room only and jam packed.

As I said above thread, I would never want Disney to limit access to the resorts because we love to visit all of them, but there has to be better solutions for the crowds for transportation and quick service restaurants during busy times.

I was talking about the monorail as that has been discussed majority as far as the modes of transportation but it goes the same for boats. They aren't any one resort's exclusive transportation meaning that only those guests of that particular resort can use them. That would be like saying guests who stay at the Contemporary cannot go to the Grand Floridian nor Poly and must only use them to get to and from the parks and not to each other. Even though the line is shared people have been making the argument there should be priority access for those at one resort, in this case Grand Floridian.

If the issue is guests crowding the lobby, crowding the monorails and boats then you cannot make exceptions for other hotels that share those modes of transportation because at the end of the day you don't know how many of those guests who are causing the traffic problems are from those monorail resorts and who is from the parks, or who are from people staying at other Disney resorts or off-site guests. And Disney isn't at least at this time interested in trying to segment out people like that. And Disney doesn't have a dedicated line for each of the monorail resorts. Disney really does want to connect more resorts together. With the Skyliner they got 4 resorts tied together by one mode of transportation that goes to and from those resorts and the parks. I don't see them backpedaling on using modes of transportation to increase access to their resorts.

I think everyone has an understanding that it sucks to have crowded spaces but to take it a bit further MK is a particular pain point because of how it is set up in an isolating way. If people could actually park at MK entrance like the other 3 parks that would have likely gone a long way to reducing the amount of guests using the monorail and even though it may not reduce the number of people visiting the Grand Floridian to enjoy the holiday atmosphere it would have helped with the transportation problem.

As far as better way not that I don't disagree with you that it would help but Disney isn't going to add more monorails by purchasing new ones, there was a rumor for years they were supposed to but that never materialized. The existing monorails are aged and limping along and the infrastructure is as well and unfortunately they are on borrowed time much to my dismay. Financially I'm in doubt that it would make sense to portion off monorails to Grand Floridian guests, I'm not seeing how that would lead to increased profits for Disney as opposed to a loss of revenue by means of loss of guest foot traffic to the resorts. The boats are hard because realistically adding additional docks could help there but not sure if they have the room plus the Poly Bungalows are already impacted by the boats being right there but there could be room to add a 3rd maybe. The boats are only going to get you to the TTC/Poly area and you'll either need to walk or take a monorail from there to the Grand Floridian.

 

[Chuck S]

If Disney really sees the non-guests as a problem at GF, and concludes the Christmas decorations/Gingerbread House to be the draw, they would be more likely, IMO to simply NOT build the gingerbread house in future years, or may find a location for it within Magic Kingdom, than try for any kind of transportation restrictions.

They've already been cutting back a little on the Christmas Decorations at other resorts for the last few years, nevermind the popular icicle lights on Cinderella's Castle being gone.

 

[SL6827]

Dam!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Grand Floridian guests in line for a boat or monorail ride back to their hotel….

 

[AstroBlasters]

Bay Lake Tower guests walking back to their hotel….

 

[808blessing]

Do the MK DVCs chip in a flat fee for monorail/transportation use or is it an estimated per room/capacity? Was the VGF dues line increased or decreased with resort room expansion and is Polynesian going up commensurately?

 

[nuhusky123]

I will say this, the debate has been lively with lots of comments and views to this thread thus far

7k views and 209 comments

 

[DisnEElove]

If Disney really sees the non-guests as a problem at GF, and concludes the Christmas decorations/Gingerbread House to be the draw, they would be more likely, IMO to simply NOT build the gingerbread house in future years, or may find a location for it within Magic Kingdom, than try for any kind of transportation restrictions.

They've already been cutting back a little on the Christmas Decorations at other resorts for the last few years, nevermind the popular icicle lights on Cinderella's Castle being gone.

I think they began building gingerbread structures at other resorts to help disperse some of the traffic at GF. If they think changes should be made, they'll implement. Who knows what can happen next year.

 

[Genie+]

Do the MK DVCs chip in a flat fee for monorail/transportation use or is it an estimated per room/capacity?

It is estimated per capita. Resorts that sold alot more points pay much higher total transpo budget. Like BCV has under 3 million points and AKV is over 7 million. The transpo breakdown of each resort is different though. Like BWV and BCV chip in for boats and buses. Surprisingly not for skyliner. Poly chips in for boats, buses, monorail.

Was the VGF dues line increased or decreased with resort room expansion and is Polynesian going up commensurately?

Yes the total dues budget at PVB has nearly doubled with the addition of the tower. Dues per point went down slightly due to things like having lower maintenance cost at the tower, and addition of premium room categories that use a higher amount of points per capita. Ill check when i get home but transportation line of dues likely doubled once the entire 4 million point tower gets added to the original 4 million longhouses and bungalows.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Good afternoon from The Grand! Just moved over from AKL!


Guys, this lobby is INSANE right now. By the looks of the lobby and the parking lot, they are sticking to the rule that if you are not staying here or having dinner here, you cannot park here. The line for the monorail goes all the way back, almost to Enchanted, Rose!!!!!! I typically love sitting here and just enjoying the atmosphere, but today that is not happening. The piano player is playing, but I believe it’s just too much chaos to enjoy it.

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Just borrowing this from the DVC Resort VGF thread from today…I’m just saying a dedicated GF guest queue would certainly make me feel a bit better than waiting in this line multiple times a day (visiting guests only have to deal with this once, those staying there will have to deal with this all day long, every day of their holiday trip). Frankly, Poly and CR should have one too, though I don’t think it gets nearly as bad as this. It’s not even the crowds for me. I know it was mentioned that they can’t do that because the monorail isn’t considered a ride, but there’s got to be something.

We have family staying at VGF, Poly and we’re at CCV next week, I’m going to have to time it to see how long it takes for everyone to get to the park on our MK days, maybe the boat will be better. For Epcot, I might just have those staying at VGF uber than battle this.

 

[matt and beth]

As a BWV owner/guest could care less about Skyliner and would be frustrated chipping in for something that benefits other resorts

 

[nuhusky123]

Just borrowing this from the DVC Resort VGF thread from today…I’m just saying a dedicated GF guest queue would certainly make me feel a bit better than waiting in this line multiple times a day (visiting guests only have to deal with this once, those staying there will have to deal with this all day long, every day of their holiday trip). Frankly, Poly and CR should have one too, though I don’t think it gets nearly as bad as this. It’s not even the crowds for me. I know it was mentioned that they can’t do that because the monorail isn’t considered a ride, but there’s got to be something.

We have family staying at VGF, Poly and we’re at CCV next week, I’m going to have to time it to see how long it takes for everyone to get to the park on our MK days, maybe the boat will be better. For Epcot, I might just have those staying at VGF uber than battle this.

Another great perspective of how bad it is from @mrsap

To to the monorail to Epcot. If they leave in the am getting to ttc won’t be too bad. But anything past noon especially towards dinner hour uber/drive

We typically drive to all the parks but last week we thought the Epcot lot would be all the way to the back. As fate would have it Epcot lot was near empty and the monorail just sucked

So to all the no never take away gf from non paying guests. How do you rationalize the line in @mrsap photos and how is it ok paying guests wait in that?

 

[hockeydad21]

I understand your point. However, WDW transportation is available to everyone in WDW because it is necessary to navigate such a large area with so many different offerings. Suggesting that transportation to the Floridian should be limited to guests and paying visitors only is ridiculous in my opinion. What about the Skyliner? I'm sure people staying at those resorts are frustrated with long lines of people riding the Skyliner without being a guest at one the hotels, having reservations or visiting Epcot/HS. Should that be limited too? What about the buses? Should Disney Springs be limited to only people who intend to spend money there?

I know how much it costs to stay at these deluxe resorts and how much we shell out for DVC dues. However, I understand that millions of people visit WDW every year from all over the world. I would never expect an 'exclusive' experience just because my family is privileged enough to stay at the deluxe resorts. WDW resorts are intended for 'tourists' to pop in and out just to see them. Similar to the Vegas strip. People walk in and out of Vegas hotels every day just to see them. Resort hopping at WDW is the same as walking the Vegas strip. It is part of the experience.

Vegas wants you to pop into their casino resort so you can gamble your house away. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Another great perspective of how bad it is from @mrsap

To to the monorail to Epcot. If they leave in the am getting to ttc won’t be too bad. But anything past noon especially towards dinner hour uber/drive

We typically drive to all the parks but last week we thought the Epcot lot would be all the way to the back. As fate would have it Epcot lot was near empty and the monorail just sucked

That’s helpful advice. Wish I could make this crew do anything remotely “early” lol it’s the trade off to having a bunch of family come: lots of fun but absolutely chaotic and disorganized. I’m fighting for my life trying to plan lightning lanes right now

 

[RMDVC24]

Vegas wants you to pop into their casino resort so you can gamble your house away. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart

Seems like you missed my point

 

[Sandisw]

Do the MK DVCs chip in a flat fee for monorail/transportation use or is it an estimated per room/capacity? Was the VGF dues line increased or decreased with resort room expansion and is Polynesian going up commensurately?

They cover their share and occupancy levels is one way that shared expenses are covered.

The dues for PVB went down with the new addition of the tower as it is so point heavy…I didn’t actually expect that. For VGF, there was bit any noticeable difference.