Josh D'Amaro claims recent positive changes not due to "leadership change"

[fla4fun]

The not charging for parking thing honestly makes me roll my eyes.

Disney straight up was not checking who was parking in their lots the last time we visited.

We're DVC and brought a rental car during our last visit (Dec 2021). We asked the front desk if we needed to provide them with the car info so we wouldn't get charged or towed from the lot. The CM said they didn't need that info. So I mean, unless Disney has an EZ-pass level system of cameras monitoring their resort lots, the only way they'd know to charge you for parking would be if you voluntarily offered that information at check in.

I don’t know about other resorts, but they had cameras at Pop Century at license plate height to monitor tags going in and out. I didn’t notice them until after the fees were in place. Whether they used the cameras for the parking lot fee I could not say, but they certainly could do so.

As far as Genie+ (which I refuse to pay for), for resort guests they could set it up so that once you arrive and have either tapped in at a park, the front desk or your room door, it would allow you to purchase Genie+ for your entire stay at once (either a length of stay, or by the day) so that resort guests don’t have to get up early every single day to purchase it. By not unlocking that ability until you are physically on property, they would still have enough knowledge of occupancy to have surge pricing for heavier days that they didn’t have when people booked it so far in advance, but the guest wouldn’t be as inconvenienced as they are now.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

they had cameras at Pop Century at license plate height to monitor tags going in and out.

I think they do but they were quite inconsistent (I mentioned this on a DVC thread actually today) in charging. They would charge people who didn't have vehicles and not charge people who did. It was overall not very well run. For something they touted as "industry standard" they sure couldn't figure out how to be like other hotels that do.

 

[ChipnDale79]

To me, the most laughable upcharge at the moment is MagicBand+, which is more expensive and has very little integration into the parks. When you compare it to the Nintendo World wrist bands, which track "coins" you earn through park interactions and rides and then have a score leaderboard for guests, MB+ is pretty underwhelming.

this crap...i already pay enough to get through their gates, now they want me to charge me more so i can access the gate.

i cant believe people pay for these things.

 

[Jrb1979]

I went to DW a couple of times in the 90s and then not again until the pandemic. So this question is pure ignorance on my part. How did they manage before park reservations? Were the parks so completely full that it was unbearable to manage every day? I've seen the wait times over the past couple of years and I don't see that the reservations have made lines shorter.

It has nothing to do with guest satisfaction. It's more to do with labor costs and making every park equally crowded.

 

[fla4fun]

I think they do but they were quite inconsistent (I mentioned this on a DVC thread actually today) in charging. They would charge people who didn't have vehicles and not charge people who did. It was overall not very well run. For something they touted as "industry standard" they sure couldn't figure out how to be like other hotels that do.

I think the reason many other hotels do it more efficiently is that any hotel I have been to that has paid parking asks for your tag number at check in, gives you a parking permit to display in the car, and then has someone patrolling the lot comparing tags and parking permits to a list. They also allowed day parking for free. Granted, I try to avoid hotels with paid parking any time I can, so my experience is limited. Disney was trying to do it on the fly 24 hours a day and I don’t think they checked the lots at all. They’re probably way too large to make it worth the money hiring the staff to do it. Add in a camera system that may or may not be tracking people, and it is no surprise they couldn’t get it right.

I read somewhere that the hotel rack rates went up when they released the discount packages recently. I wonder if part of that was rolling the parking back into the room rate? Of course, we will never know for sure, but the timing is slightly suspect. I doubt Disney is really giving up any revenue.

 

[StarCruzer]

I don’t know about other resorts, but they had cameras at Pop Century at license plate height to monitor tags going in and out. I didn’t notice them until after the fees were in place. Whether they used the cameras for the parking lot fee I could not say, but they certainly could do so.

I think they do but they were quite inconsistent (I mentioned this on a DVC thread actually today) in charging. They would charge people who didn't have vehicles and not charge people who did. It was overall not very well run. For something they touted as "industry standard" they sure couldn't figure out how to be like other hotels that do.

Really interesting! I suppose the scanned the plates then used either RFID/MDE tracking to match a car to a guest. Seems like as the second poster said, it could be a system rife with tracking issues, especially with rideshares becoming more common.

 

[ChipnDale79]

It has nothing to do with guest satisfaction. It's more to do with labor costs and making every park equally crowded.

there's another way to make each park equally crowded...but it costs disney boatloads of money. They need more attractions at 3 of the parks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

it was something that I'm sure plenty of guests avoided paying anyway

From what I remember there were def. people who moved off site because of the fee or rather more a cumulation of stuff around that time. Then a few years later when DME stopped it further pushed off site but it also increased people doing rental cars so there were people paying for parking. For people who ordinarily would do rental cars financially it still may not have made sense to switch to uber/lyft especially if they were staying at Values where the fee was the least. With rental car prices as high as they have been that comparison would probably have to be looked at more carefully. The hardest hit people are those who drive to Disney.

 

[RivShore]

Most of the stuff we saw was people just in general more understanding at Universal waiting line. Yes Universal has way less scheduling and planning, there's less conflict in whatever plans you make when it comes to Universal. That will often make people more relaxed although the type of person who says "I won't wait in an hour line" it's not about having other things to plan, they just don't want to wait that long.

As far as shopping I'd say eh....try being in Harry Potter areas Shopping is very big in Universal but much more concentrated in Harry Potter merch. You'll see a lot of people in Harry Potter robes and such, the wands obviously being a big sell. Other merch...hmm..most of what I would see if Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts.

I'm going to disagree with the PP regarding free FP. I don't think it was necessarily that FP was free. It was just that they had a system in place that everyone had access to but that which not everyone knew and utilized (it wasn't as well known as Genie+ is). It was a system that Disney utilized as a gesture of goodwill when things went wrong or someone complained--they would hand out FPs. People did get used to it but more than anything over the years people got used to waiting less when utilizing it. Paying for it only amplifies that feeling but it has been a feeling by Disney guests for years.

When you're at Universal there's not really an expectation to get through the lines in 10-20 mins with Express Pass. You'll probably find enough times you're getting through pretty quick but if you're waiting 45mins in an Express Pass line it's not a nuclear meltdown that you'd see over at WDW. Hogwarts Express is one that you could find yourself waiting for a while even with Express just by the nature of the attraction. When we were there in May on slower times for Flight of the Hippogriff they were running 2 trains of Express Pass users to 1 train of Standby, when it got busier they were doing 1 to 1. A person in the Express Pass line would still get through faster generally speaking because there are less people in the Express Pass line on average.

I think Disney sorta has this Pandora's box that is too difficult to put back in. If they had started with a paid system (whatever it was) before legacy FP was around although it really ramped up with FP+ but set a way different expectation about line waiting I suspect at least some of the gripes would be less. You still hear things every now and then at Universal but it's just not on the same level at all like Disney.

Edited: correct word ordering

Good stuff, thanks for the details!

We have not been to Universal since before HP so did not think about that being a big shopping draw, but to be fair, that is just one "land" whereas it is everywhere at Disney, from the 4 parks to hotels to Springs to water parks.

I think your right about how people feel about the loss of FP. So many of our issues are because of the way things used to be...

 

[Mle8308]

The not charging for parking thing honestly makes me roll my eyes.

Disney straight up was not checking who was parking in their lots the last time we visited.

We're DVC and brought a rental car during our last visit (Dec 2021). We asked the front desk if we needed to provide them with the car info so we wouldn't get charged or towed from the lot. The CM said they didn't need that info. So I mean, unless Disney has an EZ-pass level system of cameras monitoring their resort lots, the only way they'd know to charge you for parking would be if you voluntarily offered that information at check in.

Agreed! And we didn't have a car but were charged for 10 nights of parking! I did catch it before we left so I was able to get it fixed on site. And with online check in, if you never go to the front desk, there is no way for them to know who has a car or who is dropped off by a rideshare or shuttle. We arrived by Mears so it wasn't because the security host gave them our name and plate number. Wasn't one to give!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the reason many other hotels do it more efficiently is that any hotel I have been to that has paid parking asks for your tag number at check in, gives you a parking permit to display in the car, and then has someone patrolling the lot comparing tags and parking permits to a list. They also allowed day parking for free. Granted, I try to avoid hotels with paid parking any time I can, so my experience is limited. Disney was trying to do it on the fly 24 hours a day and I don’t think they checked the lots at all. They’re probably way too large to make it worth the money hiring the staff to do it. Add in a camera system that may or may not be tracking people, and it is no surprise they couldn’t get it right.

I read somewhere that the hotel rack rates went up when they released the discount packages recently. I wonder if part of that was rolling the parking back into the room rate? Of course, we will never know for sure, but the timing is slightly suspect. I doubt Disney is really giving up any revenue.

I agree although we've been to places that just simply ask if you have a vehicle but don't take down your license plate number nor have a parking permit. Actually very few places have I been to in recent years actually has parking permits/things to still in your window. But I also agree we try to find places without parking fees if we can help it.

Over at Universal they do have gates and you use your hotel key card IIRC.

I also read about the rack rates going up with the food card (I assume that's what you're talking about). It seemed like those upper resorts probably benefited the most as people were weighing the increase in hotel costs but also getting the most per night in the food gift card. It's entirely possible at least in part some of it was hidden in there with estimates for what no longer collecting the parking fee would get them.

 

[RivShore]

I think the reason many other hotels do it more efficiently is that any hotel I have been to that has paid parking asks for your tag number at check in, gives you a parking permit to display in the car, and then has someone patrolling the lot comparing tags and parking permits to a list. They also allowed day parking for free. Granted, I try to avoid hotels with paid parking any time I can, so my experience is limited. Disney was trying to do it on the fly 24 hours a day and I don’t think they checked the lots at all. They’re probably way too large to make it worth the money hiring the staff to do it. Add in a camera system that may or may not be tracking people, and it is no surprise they couldn’t get it right.

I read somewhere that the hotel rack rates went up when they released the discount packages recently. I wonder if part of that was rolling the parking back into the room rate? Of course, we will never know for sure, but the timing is slightly suspect. I doubt Disney is really giving up any revenue.

Most hotels I have stayed at, including one at Universal, charged for parking via a ticket and gate system. Those are annoying as heck and would be a nightmare at the large Disney hotels. (BTW, we stayed at Universal Dockside, got a great resident rate for 1 night that we needed. Nice moderate type hotel but they did not do a good job of disclosing the parking fee ,so we were surprised at checkout).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Good stuff, thanks for the details!

We have not been to Universal since before HP so did not think about that being a big shopping draw, but to be fair, that is just one "land" whereas it is everywhere at Disney, from the 4 parks to hotels to Springs to water parks.

I think your right about how people feel about the loss of FP. So many of our issues are because of the way things used to be...

Oh gosh you gotta go for HP!

Yeah def. WDW has the shopping in the sense that popcorn buckets will net you multi-hours wait to get them but people absolutely shop at Universal. One thing to keep in mind is Universal does still have where you can send your purchased to pick up at a central location, Disney stopped doing that. Plus Universal also delivers to your hotel room, Disney stopped doing that.

 

[StarCruzer]

Oh gosh you gotta go for HP!

Yeah def. WDW has the shopping in the sense that popcorn buckets will net you multi-hours wait to get them but people absolutely shop at Universal. One thing to keep in mind is Universal does still have where you can send your purchased to pick up at a central location, Disney stopped doing that. Plus Universal also delivers to your hotel room, Disney stopped doing that.

Do they still do purchases to your resort at Disney? I know I was able to do that a few years ago (2019?). What was annoying is that I bought something in the park, had it sent to the resort, then had to wait two days to actually pick it up at the resort's store (at Pop Century). Weird system.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

they did not do a good job of disclosing the parking fee ,so we were surprised at checkout).

I have to disagree there. We stayed at Endless Summer Surfside for 2 nights and 1 night at Royal Pacific in May 2022 and I felt the parking fee was advertised. It's in the information about the hotel itself.

 

[RivShore]

Oh gosh you gotta go for HP!

Yeah def. WDW has the shopping in the sense that popcorn buckets will net you multi-hours wait to get them but people absolutely shop at Universal. One thing to keep in mind is Universal does still have where you can send your purchased to pick up at a central location, Disney stopped doing that. Plus Universal also delivers to your hotel room, Disney stopped doing that.

I forgot about the loss of on property package delivery - how have they not brought that back when it encourages more spending? So annoying from a consumer and shareholder standpoint!

 

[RivShore]

I have to disagree there. We stayed at Endless Summer Surfside for 2 nights and 1 night at Royal Pacific in May 2022 and I felt the parking fee was advertised. It's in the information about the hotel itself.

I think our stay was early 2021 so maybe something changed since then? I usually do a good job of checking the fine print but I completely missed it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Do they still do purchases to your resort at Disney? I know I was able to do that a few years ago (2019?). What was annoying is that I bought something in the park, had it sent to the resort, then had to wait two days to actually pick it up at the resort's store (at Pop Century). Weird system.

I forgot about the loss of on property package delivery - how have they not brought that back when it encourages more spending? So annoying from a consumer and shareholder standpoint!

We had that in 2017 where it was the gift shop, from what I remember sometime before that they had stopped delivering to your actual hotel room.

From online it still shows as Merch pickup and Delivery as unavailable. I want to say they started doing something called a virtual locker but with a fee attached. That option I don't know if it's listed online or not or just more word of mouth.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think our stay was early 2021 so maybe something changed since then? I usually do a good job of checking the fine print but I completely missed it.

It could be. Most of the time hotels seem to put it in their hotel policies or their hotel information spot/link

Truly it could be more in your face about it like a disclosure while you're checking out but Disney doesn't do that and I don't think most hotel companies do either.

 

[Captain UP]

Starting to wonder if Josh may be more of a Chapek guy than an Iger guy.