Is it just me, or has Disneyland Hotels gotten ridiculously expensive?

[Malcon10t]

And I think the 'something extra' for onsite guests should be a 'magic ticket' that would permit an 'up the exit' entry to any ride. Maybe one per day? Over a 5 night stay, that would take care of most of my 'must-dos'.

So, between the 3 hotels, there are approx 2400 rooms, with an average of 3 people per room. DL park capacity is in the neighborhood of 55K. You are basically saying that roughly 15% of the people in a capacity crowd should be allowed to enter the exit of 1 ride each day.

I think for value. It seems that is lacking. The struggle with Disney is that the notion of value is lacking. And "getting what you pay for" doesn't cut it anymore because so many of the good things of the past have been cut to increase profits. I agree that, yes, Disney is a business, but what it was founded on was not. That causes the clash.

You are saying value is lacking, however, the hotels are running at capacity. This weekend is showing no rooms available thru Tues. It appears many are finding value in the hotels.

And the "what Disney was founded on" was not a business is incorrect. Walt very much wanted to make money. He didn't want to go bankrupt on this. He made his business pitches to investors letting them know how this could make money. This is very much supply and demand. Currently, there is so much demand for the hotels, Disney is adding a 4th hotel. Investors don't invest just to be told "We want to give this away."

 

[Westcoastwild]

So, between the 3 hotels, there are approx 2400 rooms, with an average of 3 people per room. DL park capacity is in the neighborhood of 55K. You are basically saying that roughly 15% of the people in a capacity crowd should be allowed to enter the exit of 1 ride each day.

You are saying value is lacking, however, the hotels are running at capacity. This weekend is showing no rooms available thru Tues. It appears many are finding value in the hotels.

And the "what Disney was founded on" was not a business is incorrect. Walt very much wanted to make money. He didn't want to go bankrupt on this. He made his business pitches to investors letting them know how this could make money. This is very much supply and demand. Currently, there is so much demand for the hotels, Disney is adding a 4th hotel. Investors don't invest just to be told "We want to give this away."

Exactly. I wish I had a dime for every time someone said Walt wasn't in it for the money. That would fund my next trip.

The fast pass system is also not really for the consumer. It's an attempt to disperse the crowds. To give "freebies" on that scale would hurt the system. And it would also devalue the freebies they give out as apologies or "pixie dust".

 

[dshimel]

So, between the 3 hotels, there are approx 2400 rooms, with an average of 3 people per room. DL park capacity is in the neighborhood of 55K. You are basically saying that roughly 15% of the people in a capacity crowd should be allowed to enter the exit of 1 ride each day.."

Pan has a capacity of about 500-600 people an hour. 2400x3 = 7200 people = 13 hours of Pan's capacity. On a 12 hour day, NO ONE but hotel guests could ride, and not even all of them.

 

[dshimel]

As for crazy expensive, going to be staying a night in Las Vegas, so did a hotels dot com search for rooms under $100. Nothing within 100 miles of the strip... NOTHING! Up it to $150. Start getting some 2.5 guest satisfaction ratings hotels. I have had bad experience with anything under 3, and really 3.5 to be safe. So up it to minimum 3.5 guest satisfaction. NOTHING under $150 within 20 miles of the strip. $190 for 5 miles off the strip for the cheapest 3.5+ guest satisfaction. Oh, plus $30 a night for parking and resort fees for that "cheapest" room.

So I figure something big must be going on. Look all over for vegas events. Nope. Not a thing. This is the new "normal" for a spring Saturday night in Vegas.

 

[MouseOfCards]

In case it hasn't been mentioned here, you can rent DVC points and save quite a bit. For example, if you go through DVC rental brokers (might even be cheaper finding an owner directly through these forums), you can get a Grand California studio villa for $289 for September. But you probably need to do this 11 months in advance as GC rooms book up fast.

 

[Westcoastwild]

As for crazy expensive, going to be staying a night in Las Vegas, so did a hotels dot com search for rooms under $100. Nothing within 100 miles of the strip... NOTHING! Up it to $150. Start getting some 2.5 guest satisfaction ratings hotels. I have had bad experience with anything under 3, and really 3.5 to be safe. So up it to minimum 3.5 guest satisfaction. NOTHING under $150 within 20 miles of the strip. $190 for 5 miles off the strip for the cheapest 3.5+ guest satisfaction. Oh, plus $30 a night for parking and resort fees for that "cheapest" room.

So I figure something big must be going on. Look all over for vegas events. Nope. Not a thing. This is the new "normal" for a spring Saturday night in Vegas.

That's a new normal for any Saturday night in Vegas. I've researched road tripping through there at various times of the year, and Saturday nights are crazy expensive.

The resort fees infuriate me, though, so it's hard to give any of them my money.

 

[pmaurer74]

In case it hasn't been mentioned here, you can rent DVC points and save quite a bit. For example, if you go through DVC rental brokers (might even be cheaper finding an owner directly through these forums), you can get a Grand California studio villa for $289 for September. But you probably need to do this 11 months in advance as GC rooms book up fast.

This is what I did. I rented points last June for this June. $300 per night for GCV.

 

[onlyoneash]

In case it hasn't been mentioned here, you can rent DVC points and save quite a bit. For example, if you go through DVC rental brokers (might even be cheaper finding an owner directly through these forums), you can get a Grand California studio villa for $289 for September. But you probably need to do this 11 months in advance as GC rooms book up fast.

I tried doing this 7 months ahead, but yes, they were all sold out and the advice was given to book much earlier. Glad I know for the future!

 

[Aladora]

$250 for the Grand Californian 2 years ago? You must have access to better discounts than I do.

I'm not sure where you got a $250/night price at Grand Cali. I know prices have gone up, of course. But 4 years ago I got a deal PPH on Orbitz for about $230/night (before taxes/fees). The only time I've seen Grand Cali at $250/night was for Dapper Days back in early 2015. Now it's over $300 for Dapper Days.

As for the surrounding hotels, that's where I've seen the price increase. I can't believe people pay $200 or more for Camelot or Tropicana or even Park Vue. I know they're close, but they're motels! Even the new Marriott with waterpark is ridiculous at a minimum $260/night, and usually quite a bit more. These places have gone up as much as the Annual passes.

I was able to get the GCH in February 2015 for $229/night through Orbitz.

 

[StormyCA]

In case it hasn't been mentioned here, you can rent DVC points and save quite a bit. For example, if you go through DVC rental brokers (might even be cheaper finding an owner directly through these forums), you can get a Grand California studio villa for $289 for September. But you probably need to do this 11 months in advance as GC rooms book up fast.

I'd love to be able to do this! Unfortunately my BFF can't plan that far in advance due to the way her employer schedules advance leave plus it's hard for her to know her budget that far ahead, too. Normally the furthest out she can plan a 'big' trip (6 nights) is 5-6 months. We'll keep trying though and maybe one of these times we'll luck out.

 

[mummabear]

But if they put in a lot of A-C ticket rides, people complain about the "six flags" quality of the rides (see Paradise Pier).

If they put in high quality rides, those cost $100 million+, and you will only do that if you're adding 1 million visitors a year, which is more new visitors than the attraction can absorb... especially with FastPass leaving half the riders out of the line.

And where are they going to put all these new rides?

Well at WDW they have more than enough room. Anaheim less so.
Instead of looking to just draw new people in with new rides they need to think about how tubare getting people to return, if the trip is all "the place was packed and the wait for anything was ridiculous" people won't return and can put potential new visitors off.
The only real way of dealing with crowds is by dispersing them is with what they have come for-attractions.

Disneyland opened with 20 attractions, between the 2 parks they now have 88.
But how much has attendance increased?

As for crazy expensive, going to be staying a night in Las Vegas, so did a hotels dot com search for rooms under $100. Nothing within 100 miles of the strip... NOTHING! Up it to $150. Start getting some 2.5 guest satisfaction ratings hotels. I have had bad experience with anything under 3, and really 3.5 to be safe. So up it to minimum 3.5 guest satisfaction. NOTHING under $150 within 20 miles of the strip. $190 for 5 miles off the strip for the cheapest 3.5+ guest satisfaction. Oh, plus $30 a night for parking and resort fees for that "cheapest" room.

So I figure something big must be going on. Look all over for vegas events. Nope. Not a thing. This is the new "normal" for a spring Saturday night in Vegas.

Looking in Sept for us looking at 2A and 2 C we have loads on the strip for under $200 a night. In fact we can get circus circus for $84 for 2 nights including resort fees! Sure it's not a flash place but on the strip....

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I haven't read the many posts before mine, but I have to say, the resort hotels do not hold the value they once did for me. When I was younger, I never stayed off site. But, as prices have increased over time, I find myself at other hotels in the area more and more frequently. I suspect I will try out the new resort hotel that's suppose to be in the works and I will probably stay at PPH or DLH for a special occasion or when we really want EMH, but otherwise, it just doesn't make sense for my family to spend $400-$600 per night. Now, if we ever become wealthy, that might change...Honestly, to each their own. We used to love the on site hotels, but for us, it's not a great value anymore. Obviously a lot of people still enjoy them though and we would, too, if we could afford them.

 

[DDhunter]

I really wanted to stay at DLH for our August trip, but the price was at least double of the hotel we decided on. You spend 90% of your time in the park anyway, I'd rather splurge on other things.

 

[toonaspie]

A very interesting discussion. A few random thoughts to add:

GCH prices:
It's amazing that Standard View rooms are $600/night even with the ongoing renovations and pool closure. Club Level rooms are $1000/night, and the lounge will be temporarily relocated (location unannounced) for several months. Once the renovations are complete, I would not be surprised to see $700/night Standard View rooms in 2018. Star Wars Land will certainly push prices even higher...

Onsite Hotel Perks:
Some great suggestions have been posted, but with high occupancy there seems to be little reason for Disney to add more perks. One perk I do expect to return is the 2 fastpass (per guest, per stay), which has been offered many times. I first experienced this perk when Little Mermaid and Star Wars 2.0 opened in June 2011. These fastpasses could be used on Little Mermaid, although that attraction does not have "regular" fastpass. These fastpasses allowed onsite guests to experience the 2 new (and heavily advertised) rides without waiting for hours. Similar fastpasses (or other perks) will likely be offered to assist onsite guests with the 2 Star Wars attractions.

VGC:
DVC salesmen describe purchasing a Disney timeshare as paying "today's prices" for vacations in the future. Amazingly, this has proved to be true (considering the reputation of timeshare salesmen is below used car salesmen). I purchased VGC in 2010, when $250/night was a common discounted GCH rate -- and used that price to very roughly compute the value of DVC ownership. Resale prices for VGC are very high, but can still allow new owners to pay "today's prices" for future DLR vacations. Check out the DVC Forums for more information.

I think they should do something similar with what Universal Orlando does and give the guests at the upper crust hotels FP access for free. Crazy idea but since their 4th hotel is apparently going to be MORE expensive than the Grand Californian, it would make some sense to give this perk to guests at GC and the upcoming 4th Disney hotel. Or give a certain number of FPs to certain Disney hotel guests based on what hotel they're staying at.

 

[dshimel]

I think they should do something similar with what Universal Orlando does and give the guests at the upper crust hotels FP access for free. Crazy idea but since their 4th hotel is apparently going to be MORE expensive than the Grand Californian, it would make some sense to give this perk to guests at GC and the upcoming 4th Disney hotel. Or give a certain number of FPs to certain Disney hotel guests based on what hotel they're staying at.

Increasing demand even more, and pushing up prices that much more.

It is a supply and demand issue. More people want to stay there, that are willing to pay more. Prices will increase until enough people decide to stay somewhere else, to bring down demand to he supply.

You can't "fix" that, and make it worth it to you, by adding perks, because the pricesw HAVE to go up until it is NOT worth it to you!

 

[Nonsuch]

I think they should do something similar with what Universal Orlando does and give the guests at the upper crust hotels FP access for free...

Perhaps MaxPass is being created to give a "free" benefit to onsite guests that other guests need to buy.

 

[onlyoneash]

Perhaps MaxPass is being created to give a "free" benefit to onsite guests that other guests need to buy.

Except if they allow annual pass holders to add on max pass (and I suspect many would buy it if they do allow it) Then staying at a resort in Disneyland won't have that added benefit to annual pass holders. Only those who are visitors buying 2,3,4 etc... day passes. Disney has historically catered to the locals. But if they don't allow a maxpass to be added to annual passes then that would be a great perk.

 

[dshimel]

Except if they allow annual pass holders to add on max pass (and I suspect many would buy it if they do allow it) Then staying at a resort in Disneyland won't have that added benefit to annual pass holders. Only those who are visitors buying 2,3,4 etc... day passes. Disney has historically catered to the locals. But if they don't allow a maxpass to be added to annual passes then that would be a great perk.

More likely, it will be included for free on the signature, giving people more reason to upgrade to the $850 pass instead of the $600 pass. Unless you go Saturdays in spring/summer, there is little reason to upgrade the entire family's passes. I know several people that upgraded just 1 of the passes for the family, and that gets them the free parking, free photopass and higher discounts. With MaxPass needing to be on each ticket, it would give reason to upgrade all the tickets of the family.

Besides, it has been said the $10 per person per day is bundled with photopass, and Signature already gets that.

Then they can increase the price of the $850 pass to $950.

 

[agamble]

Looking in Sept for us looking at 2A and 2 C we have loads on the strip for under $200 a night. In fact we can get circus circus for $84 for 2 nights including resort fees! Sure it's not a flash place but on the strip....

Glad you got a good price by booking ahead. Circus Circus is ON the strip as in on Las Vegas BLVD, but it's not really near the other major casinos. It's a good 25 minute walk to Treasure Island from there and about an hour to the MGM. It's like saying the Anabella is "across the street" from DLR. It is across the street, but not across from the entrance. Have a great trip.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

I don't mind paying for Deluxe hotels at WDW, but I was floored at the prices at DL. We are staying offsite, which is across the street. But, it's still $$$$ for our dates. Over $300 a night for a Springhill Suites, which is INSANE! Luckily we have a lot of Marriott reward points.