I LOVE OUR DVC, BUT THIS I HAVE TO POST :(lengthy)

[Deb & Bill]

At the VGF, they give you parking pass if you are a registered guest. I think if you don't have a parking pass, you should have to pay to park.

Not always. We didn't get one last May.

 

[Disney & ME]

We too are DVC and tried to check out other resorts when we were staying at Poly for F&W this past October. We were turned away at the Ft. Wilderness gate but at Wilderness Lodge where we were going for a Copper Creek tour we were just told parking might be an issue.

When we stayed at BW last year we parked our car and didn't move it. We had read how parking was at a premium even back then.

 

[thelionqueen]

Personally, I am glad that they are limiting non-resort guests to park at deluxe resorts. There is just too much opportunity to abuse it and guests with reservations need to be the priority. I understand the original poster's frustration and disappointment but don't think it was worth the confrontation with the manager. There were other ways to still be able to visit the Boardwalk. Parking at Boardwalk has been an issue for a long time...not surprising to me at all.

I agree completely! As a guest who always rents a car, priority should be given and defended for guests staying on site. I also hope they don't reduce valet parking as I use that often for convenience as well.

 

[kittyab]

Not always. We didn't get one last May.

Strange we got one on our last visit.

 

[DeeCee735]

Consistency on their part is part of the problem

 

[crisi]

Consistency on their part is part of the problem

It is also part of the magic. You won't get towel animals every time (we never have with DVC) but when they arrive they are magical. You might not every get a cast member to give your kid something special and free (we got a pin once), but when it happens its magical. You might never wander into one of those special character moments - where they are where they aren't necessarily advertised to be and no one is around - but when it happens, its magical (for us, its often at the International Gateway). You may never get a room upgrade (and very rarely with DVC), but when it happens its magical.

And Disney doesn't like to say no unless there is a good reason for saying no. If they can say yes, and not have it have repercussions for other guests (or their business), they like to say yes. Parking is one of those things - when they know that the lots aren't full with guests of that resort, letting someone park there costs them nothing and makes someone happy. The issue becomes when they have to enforce rules that have often been enforced inconsistently, or say no because that's just the way it is - then they are likely to get a repeat guest who says "but we've always gotten an upgrade to Savannah view!"

 

[tjkraz]

Consistency on their part is part of the problem

If you want Disney to be slaves to consistency, then the experience is only going to get more generic and watered-down. In this particular instance, it doesn't make any sense to bar visitors from all resorts--or even select resorts--if it's only a problem a small percentage of the time.

(Regarding the printed parking ID slip, Disney did experiment with eliminating them but seems to have abandoned that.)

As you pointed out, the real issue here seems to be with clarity of communications--an issue many organizations struggle with. On days when a resort is at 100% capacity, hosting a convention & a wedding and lost dozens of spaces to accommodate nearby construction: "I'm sorry but today we can only accommodate registered guests and those with dining reservations. You're welcome to use Disney transportation to visit the resort, or please try us again on another day."

 

[robinb]

Me too. Didn’t see a sign stating so.

And as I stated previously, I wrote this off as could have been handled better on all our parts. We have no intention of resort hopping anymore. We’ll keep our money in our pockets or spend it at the place we’re staying at or off property from now on. It’s just not worth it. The resort restaurants are a nice experience but we haven’t had outstanding food or service in years so we just won’t bother anymore. We’ve done it all enough.

I'm also a BWV owner and have had to walk a long way because the lot is full of "visitors". That being said, I'm on your side. If there was no sign then the attitude of the security guard was uncalled for. If you are there to visit the BWV demo rooms they should offer you a 2-hour pass. Can you imagine them turning away someone who is really interested in buying DVC? Insane! You should not have had to escalate it to the manager to get that pass. Now ... I probably wouldn't have gone to the front desk and I do think that's what made a bad situation worse. I would have taken my hard won 2-hour pass and enjoyed it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not always. We didn't get one last May.

Just stayed at GFV for princess, and they said they could print a pass but it wasn’t necessary as the band gets us in. I hadn’t yet picked up the car and said I’d stop by later. Forgot to.

Bonafide GFV guest, no paper pass.



Oh, can’t remember if I mentioned, but on our recent Princess visit we had a Bon Voyage ADR on the Saturday after the 10k. Pulled in, asked IF I could park there (I had time to change the plan if needed), guard said yes, directed me, I parked, we had brunch, it was all good. NO mention of 2 or 3 hours limit (we hop for food often and I’ve never once been told of a time limit on parking), just “yes”.

Because on that day it was fine.

 

[Chuck S]

Just stayed at GFV for princess, and they said they could print a pass but it wasn’t necessary as the band gets us in. I hadn’t yet picked up the car and said I’d stop by later. Forgot to.

Bonafide GFV guest, no paper pass.



Oh, can’t remember if I mentioned, but on our recent Princess visit we had a Bon Voyage ADR on the Saturday after the 10k. Pulled in, asked IF I could park there (I had time to change the plan if needed), guard said yes, directed me, I parked, we had brunch, it was all good. NO mention of 2 or 3 hours limit (we hop for food often and I’ve never once been told of a time limit on parking), just “yes”.

Because on that day it was fine.

I think a lot of the pass/no pass inconsistency has to do with whether or not the resort has an automated gate that can be activated by the magic band of a resort guest. OKW, at least on my last trip, did not. There was one entry lane used by all guests and busses, so it had to be activated by a guard, making the passes helpful. In resorts with a magic band compatible gate, it is not necessary to have a parking pass, as non-resort guests will have their MB scanned by the guard, and most resost guests will use the automated lane.

 

[Judique]

BWV owner here. I was there for food and wine Nov 2017 and then in January 2018.

The valet parking lot is what bugs me the most. All those empty spots all the time.

That said, I've never failed to find a spot and I don't leave my vehicle parked all week or weekend. Maybe I've just been lucky. I've been able to get in and get out without issue, other than knocking down the parking sign accidentally that they put up to give the no parking message that 'only people staying at BW can park today'.

I did not get parking passes at BW last trip. I do like to get them for when I drive to Animal Kingdom which I frequently do as I get waved through the parking thingy and don't have to wait for the guy to come around and click my magic band.

CM's are also parking in guest parking at BWV. I've seen them. At least they moved the preferred spaces for Disney vehicles in the limited guest parking.

The 150 spaces taken up by construction is making some people walk further for parking. I'm not happy but if I can no longer walk, then I'll probably qualify for handicapped, right? Just kidding - the longer I can do my own walking the happier I'll be.

OP gets kudos from me for accepting some of the responsibility for the incident - hopefully the manager also rethought how she handled the situation. Customer service is not easy - I know from experience. And being a customer AKA guest is also a position where you expect to be catered to, not dismissed. Glad I didn't post my initial reaction which wasn't favorable until after I finished reading the 8 pages - often best to hold your opinions sometimes.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

At the VGF, they give you parking pass if you are a registered guest. I think if you don't have a parking pass, you should have to pay to park.

Paid parking would help with people parking there to go into the parks, but if most people who park there would qualify for free parking, then it wouldn’t be cost effective for Disney to add personnel to collect the small amount of parking fees.

 

[kittyab]

Paid parking would help with people parking there to go into the parks, but if most people who park there would qualify for free parking, then it wouldn’t be cost effective for Disney to add personnel to collect the small amount of parking fees.

If I was a paid guest at a resort I would not be happy if I could not find a parking spot. So there needs to be some fair ground rules. Maybe, this side of the parking lot is for guests only, the other other is restaurants etc.

 

[Orangeman98]

DeeCee735,


I hope you felt better after venting, but your original post had an undergirding entitlement vibe. After being redirected for not having reservations, you opened your window and told your kids to get back in line IN FRONT OF THE Security Guard! That was bold -- then you took out your DVC Card, to no avail.

By now most people would have accepted their fate and moved on, but you then insisted that the Security Guard get on the phone with her manager because this was "unacceptable."

You further admit to "stressing my point strongly" to the aforementioned manager. Keep in mind, we're only getting your sanitized version of events. Who really knows what tone and word choice you truly used?

The manager, after taking the brunt of your strong words, had a human moment and probably rolled her eyes -- certainly not intending for you to see nor realizing your strong words and tone had attracted other members of your family to her.

Determined not to be upstaged or let this matter go, you then proceeded to return to the manager to further extract your pound of flesh by taking her name to be reported.

That's the very definition of entitled.

 

[crisi]

If I was a paid guest at a resort I would not be happy if I could not find a parking spot. So there needs to be some fair ground rules. Maybe, this side of the parking lot is for guests only, the other other is restaurants etc.

The problem is that the lot is not large enough to divide up into the three areas that are currently needed while leaving spare spots. Valet (which is often not nearly at capacity, but is entitled to their spots by contract), convention guests (who get parking as part of their booking contract), and BWI/BWV guests who bring cars. When there is no convention happening, there is ample parking for people to dine or stroll along the Boardwalk - but not to sneak into Epcot for Illuminations, Dinner, or Food and Wine.

It isn't difficult for Disney to project how full the lot will be on any given day. They know if they have a convention (or other event, like a wedding - I bet for $10k+ you get parking spaces if you book at BW Wedding) booked and about how many attendees. They know how many resort guests have cars - at least after check in. The math that they could give the guard is easy to do "you can let in 20 non-resort guests to visit the resort today, but no more." However, as a guest you'd have no idea if you were #15 on a day when they had 20 spots or #22 on a day when they had twenty spots, or #1 on a day when they are wondering where the convention guests and the wedding guests are going to park and still have room for the resort guests, and wondering if the event planner was high the day she booked the second event.

BWs other issue is Illuminations timing. Since its every night at 9 - and people are leaving Epcot about 9:30 - the BW parking lot can fill up with people parking for less than two hours - but during the time BWV/BWI guests are bringing their little kids back from a long day in the MK and want to put them to bed. To drive around the parking lot for an hour with sleepy/sleeping kids, only to watch it empty as Illuminations lets out (or end up paying for valet, and then watching the lot empty as Illuminations lets out) is maddening for a BWV guest.

We usually stay at the BW, but we've only had a car twice. Both times parking was at times difficult and inconvenient. At least once I've driven around the lot for 20 minutes looking for someone to vacate a spot, and at least once I've been way in the back back corner of the lot. And when we have a car, we tend to leave it parked, We check in and usually will take it to the water park. We take Disney transportation to the parks (we have driven to AK once) and a cab to dinner because we don't want to drive if we've imbibed, which we do on vacation over dinner.

 

[Chuck S]

They know how many resort guests have cars - at least after check in.

Maybe it would be a good idea if they ask the question at online check-in

"How are you arriving at WDW for your stay?"
1) Driving private car
2) Flying, using Magical Express
3) Flying, renting a car for length of stay
4) Using a taxi or public transportation

That way they'll get a good approximation of how many spaces they'll need without actually asking "Will you need a parking space?"

 

[crisi]

Maybe it would be a good idea if they ask the question at online check-in

"How are you arriving at WDW for your stay?"
1) Driving private car
2) Flying, using Magical Express
3) Flying, renting a car for length of stay
4) Using a taxi or public transportation

That way they'll get a good approximation of how many spaces they'll need without actually asking "Will you need a parking space?"

They can get a good approximation out of statistical modeling of historical data. They know your home address - it isn't likely that if you are coming from a few hours away you'd do anything other than arrive by car. They know how many ME trips are booked. And history gives them good data on how many of the remaining guests will be driving as opposed to coming in via a cab. They probably get better data by modeling than by asking the question, since people will figure out the purpose, and say they are going to have a car just in case they later decide to have a car to game the system.

But it really doesn't address DeeCee's issue anyway, because as someone who is simply visiting that resort, you wouldn't know if you were going to get turned away or not. Even calling wouldn't be effective since at the BW, four cars of DVC pool hoppers who all are doing a DIS meetup could arrive between the time you called and the time you arrived, or a family reunion of 30 going meeting up for ice cream at Ample Hills. Disney would know how many day guests to let in without inconveniencing priority guests, but for the day guest getting turned away after being let in on their last however many visits, it still looks capricious. (I have now used my big word for the day and can go to bed happy).

 

[sgtdisney]

Having a little flashback here, but this thread is making me remember Richyams. I can just imagine his posts on this topic.

 

[DeeCee735]

DeeCee735,


I hope you felt better after venting, but your original post had an undergirding entitlement vibe. After being redirected for not having reservations, you opened your window and told your kids to get back in line IN FRONT OF THE Security Guard! That was bold -- then you took out your DVC Card, to no avail.

By now most people would have accepted their fate and moved on, but you then insisted that the Security Guard get on the phone with her manager because this was "unacceptable."

You further admit to "stressing my point strongly" to the aforementioned manager. Keep in mind, we're only getting your sanitized version of events. Who really knows what tone and word choice you truly used?

The manager, after taking the brunt of your strong words, had a human moment and probably rolled her eyes -- certainly not intending for you to see nor realizing your strong words and tone had attracted other members of your family to her.

Determined not to be upstaged or let this matter go, you then proceeded to return to the manager to further extract your pound of flesh by taking her name to be reported.

That's the very definition of entitled.

I didnt get passed your first sentence or two because I told my kids to get back in line behind us not in front of security guard .

I'm done with the situation and have already moved on to planning my next trips. The DVC member satisfaction person and I had spoken a few times and left off on a very good note .Not that I need to explain that here . However you are entitled to your own opinion and I respect that . I hope you have a good night .

Dee

 

[Orangeman98]

Dee,

I was referring to your proximity to the Security Guard. You basically told your kids to disobey the Security Guard's order for them to leave the parking lot by having them return in line again -- all within earshot of the guard. Again, putting it nicely, that was a "bold" move.

Good day.