Just back, one aggravation

[RobDoc]

Nowhere is it posted that the boat is strictly for OKW members.

Nor does it need to be . As long as no OKW guests are forced to wait while others ride, there is really no problem. The boats run every 20 minutes and are often empty- so a few non-guests doesn't really hurt anything. (Yes, I know that some park at DD and use OKW to ride to parks and that's another issue.)

As I mentioned earlier, OKW Cm's do check to make sure their guests are riding ahead of others. I don't know if they are consistent in doing this, but it is done.

 

[one_cat]

There is a line and I think it's pretty clear to everyone where it is. If a person has a valid park pass - takes a bus to OKW to eat at Olivias then takes the boat to Downtown Disney I don't think there is any problem. It's the people who are taking advantage of the lax oversight by Disney who cause problems. Obviously a lot of people park at Downtown Disney then take the bus to the parks to not pay the parking fees at the parks. They may even eat breakfast or Dinner at Downtown Disney and think that makes it ok. The one year we stayed off-site we payed for parking all week. We just figured that's the rules so we abide by them. It's a shame that so many people in our society challenge themselves to break rules to save a few bucks. There's not much difference between not paying for parking or getting into MVMCP for free and actually stealing merchandise from a dept store.

 

[PamOKW]

I think OKW got its reputation as a free parking lot when they were selling DVC. Of course, they couldn't restrict people when they wanted to them to come and take the DVC tour. Now, they can and should be a little stricter about who is coming into the resort and why. Even more than a regular WDW hotel, the condo atmosphere lends itself to mischief or worse by people to looking to cause trouble. Even beyond cracking down on freeloaders they need to know who is coming in and out.

 

[sueg]

I always wonder what message is being sent to children who are part of planned trickery. Do the parents simply say: "We will park here?" or are the kids primed w/ lies so that if anybody asks, they know the right answer to give. Do they parents brag that they are beating the overpriced parking system and any lying is a necessary part of that? We always emphasize the importance of DSs telling the truth, no matter what. As part of this DH & I have become very conscious of little white lies that adults use all the time. We try to monitor ourselves and as DSs get older, they are very aware of monitoring us too.LOL

 

[DancingBear]

As I understand this scenario, this family apparently parked at Downtown Disney and used the combination DD/OKW ferry and OKW/MGM bus service to avoid paying the $6 to park at MGM.

My first comment is that seems like a lot of trouble to save that amount of money.

But also, why do we assume that these people were knowingly engaging in unethical behavior (and teaching this to their kids). If there are no signs posted regarding the use of the OKW ferry being restricted, and no signs or ID checking on the busses, then how would they know that their plan for saving the $6 is "cheating?"

Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but there are plenty of money-saving tips exchanged on the DIS boards every day that don't necessarily have ethical overtones (is it ethical to fill up your cooler from the resort ice machine?) Was any other guest inconvenienced by this "park at DD to avoid the parking fee" strategy?

Was it unethical to park at the GF and ride the monorail over to MK for the day before they posted the policies and put up the guardhouse?

On the other hand, the folks that were described at MVMCP obviously were cheating, and teaching their children to cheat.

As with the parking situation at the resorts, WDW will respond to this situation when it inconveniences the other patrons and enough people complain about it--until then, it is just not cost-effective to enforce every rule to the max. If you are peeved about something, please let WDW know. In particular, let them know about the MVMCP cheats, because I'd like this problem fixed before I return next December!!