NO MORE free valet parking for DVC members.

[Dean]

I may be confused by what you are saying, do you mean that you don't think members who did not use the free valet would care if their fees were increased to cover the cost of valet parking for others.

That is not at all related to what I was trying to say so let me try again. My points were:

That no matter how many people actually used the valet, it was still a minority of the guests at that given time, a minority of the owners at that resort and a minority of all owners. And that in reality this issue was not a major component of any decision that was made.

That unless it was a significant MAJORITY of the guests at a given time, it would not make sense for DVCMC to roll this charge into the fees in ANY way in the absence of a significant volume discount which my info suggest would not have existed at the time. That situation may or may not exist going forward.

Sorry to not have been more clear.

I think they are gathering info as to how many cars are using the lots that are not resort guests. Gaylord Palms charges you to park in their lots. If you dine, see ICE, shop, you get a voucher for a discount on the parking. I truly think eventually Disney will go to something like this.

As I've noted, I think this is very possible going forward. Most locations with similarities to what WDW does charge for self parking an amount around what the valet currently is and charge MORE for valet. LV is the big exception but each hotel group is competing with the others for your $$$ and hoping to get far more out of you than the parking fee would be.

 

[uncw89]

Ok, I haven't read through the thread....but there is definitley no free valet parking for DVC members anymore, right? I'm going to be staying at AKV starting this Sun and I will just park my own car now if they are charging for valet parking.
Thanks!

 

[tjkraz]

I think they are gathering info as to how many cars are using the lots that are not resort guests. Gaylord Palms charges you to park in their lots. If you dine, see ICE, shop, you get a voucher for a discount on the parking. I truly think eventually Disney will go to something like this.

Forget the resort lots for a moment...the parking situation at Downtown Disney has been spiraling downward for years now and Disney has yet to do anything about it. Although it's impossible to quantify, the assertion is that many guests park at DTD and catch a bus from there (or SSR) to avoid Disney parking lot fees. Between that and the DTD lots getting worse and worse, I can't believe Disney hasn't implemented some sort of fee system.

I'm still waiting for that shoe to drop before I hold out any hope they will address resort-specific problems.

Ok, I haven't read through the thread....but there is definitley no free valet parking for DVC members anymore, right? I'm going to be staying at AKV starting this Sun and I will just park my own car now if they are charging for valet parking.
Thanks!

Correct. As of right now DVC members must pay the full $12 per day rate to valet park at any resort. Tables in Wonderland members can valet park for free if they dine at the resort and have a receipt to prove it.

 

[uncw89]

Tim, Thanks for responding so quickly. That is a shame that they took this perk away. Maybe, they will bring it back again someday!

 

[tjkraz]

Tim, Thanks for responding so quickly. That is a shame that they took this perk away. Maybe, they will bring it back again someday!

No problem.

Since you didn't read the thread, the Cliff's Notes version is that the valet parking vendor (which is not owned by Disney) was providing the service for free and they made the decision to begin charging DVC members. Until October '09 members truly paid nothing for the free parking, but a fee being imposed was apparently unavoidable.

DVC looked at rolling the cost into annual dues but then dues would have gone up even more than they did, and thousands of members who never used valet parking would be paying for it. At the annual meetings 2-3 weeks ago Jim Lewis stated that they have made some attempts to negotiate a discounted rate for members but nothing has come of it yet.

 

[Sammie]

That is not at all related to what I was trying to say so let me try again. My points were:

That no matter how many people actually used the valet, it was still a minority of the guests at that given time, a minority of the owners at that resort and a minority of all owners. And that in reality this issue was not a major component of any decision that was made.

That unless it was a significant MAJORITY of the guests at a given time, it would not make sense for DVCMC to roll this charge into the fees in ANY way in the absence of a significant volume discount which my info suggest would not have existed at the time. That situation may or may not exist going forward.

Sorry to not have been more clear.

As I've noted, I think this is very possible going forward. Most locations with similarities to what WDW does charge for self parking an amount around what the valet currently is and charge MORE for valet. LV is the big exception but each hotel group is competing with the others for your $$$ and hoping to get far more out of you than the parking fee would be.

Thanks for the explanation, too much food today has muddled my thinking.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Some of your information is incorrect.

Item #1 is completely incorrect. Valet parking is not included.

Item #3 has a 3 hour limit.

I expect that Disney will start to enforce their parking policies. A week ago while staying at BLT, Security was taking down vehicle license numbers if a parking permit wasn't displayed. I don't know what they did with the info but they spent many hours walking the parking lot.

Bill

Disney has often stormed the lot at the Contemp around Christmas/busy times. Obviously being walking distance to the MK and having conventions it has unique issues. What goes on there is no indication of future activities anywhere else.

I've almost had a cavity search to get into the Contemp parking lot while on the same day shot over to the Poly and had the guard shack be unmanned.

I expect Disney to start enforcing their parking policies when enough people complain about it to where it becomes a major issue or it starts to cost Disney money. Until then, I expect Disney to do nothing.

 

[Brian Noble]

Between that and the DTD lots getting worse and worse, I can't believe Disney hasn't implemented some sort of fee system.

They've done this for years at Anaheim's version of the DTD surface lots---free parking for 2-3 hours, and then validation for longer periods if you're spending money with DTD merchants.

 

[RoutemanDan]

Some of your information is incorrect.

Item #1 is completely incorrect. Valet parking is not included.

Item #3 has a 3 hour limit.

I expect that Disney will start to enforce their parking policies. A week ago while staying at BLT, Security was taking down vehicle license numbers if a parking permit wasn't displayed. I don't know what they did with the info but they spent many hours walking the parking lot.

Bill

Never, ever since I've been going to WDW has anyone ever told me there is a 3 hour limit when using valet parking. That is a crock made up by dis users. I use valet all the time, even have told them I may be longer and they DON'T CARE.

I repeat, if you are using valet, THEY DON'T CARE how long you are parked there.

Why does that constantly get repeated as fact around here? Maybe some people don't want a great secret let out to everyone.

 

[perdidobay]

Some of your information is incorrect.


Item #3 has a 3 hour limit.

Bill

On the information sheet WDW gave me when I bought my TIW card, nowhere does it mention a 3 hour time limit for free parking when dining at a resort with the card.
It only says:

"Resort valet services is complimentary to members. This privilege will only be extended to one vehicle per membership card with a dining receipt at the Valet Stand upon retrieving your vehicle."

 

[disneynutz]

On the information sheet WDW gave me when I bought my TIW card, nowhere does it mention a 3 hour time limit for free parking when dining at a resort with the card.
It only says:

"Resort valet services is complimentary to members. This privilege will only be extended to one vehicle per membership card with a dining receipt at the Valet Stand upon retrieving your vehicle."

That may be so, but when we used our card a couple of weeks ago, we found a 3 hour pass on our dash when we picked up our car.

Bill

 

[Brian Noble]

Never, ever since I've been going to WDW has anyone ever told me there is a 3 hour limit when using valet parking.

Sometimes, you are given a three-hour limit when you self-park at a resort at which you are not a registered guest. I was given such a limit at CR several years ago, but my experience is that even that isn't very common. When you valet park, you are generally allowed to stay as long as you like, though there can be exceptions if the lots are unusually full.

 

[crisi]

I'd assume BWV would remain a little higher than BCV, the lower points standard view result in lower dues recieved per room

Someone did the math, and when you factor in the fact that Standard View rooms take so few points - the discrepency is almost all taken care of.

Transportation costs for BWVs are a lot higher - that has to do with how Disney allocates bus funding. It seems like they charge each resort - regardless of size a single fee. So Y&BC, a resort with more rooms, gets charged the same as BW with fewer rooms. Then the resorts allocate their total transportation costs back to DVC proportionally - Y&BC is a huge resort, but BCV is small. BWV/BWI is a largish resort - but BWV is half the resort. So BWV pays half the transportation fees for BWV/BWI and BCV pays something like 20% of Y&BCs.

 

[Deb & Bill]

That may be so, but when we used our card a couple of weeks ago, we found a 3 hour pass on our dash when we picked up our car.

Bill

We had the same thing at GF last time we used TIW there for dinner.

 

[Mary Lou in Ohio]

If this is true, there darn well better be a space for me in the self park at BWV when I stay there. There have been times I've gone round and round and just gave up and valet parked.

I have been away from these boards for quite awhile. Yesterday I went to Boardwalk to have lunch with my daughter who was in town for a conference. I showed my DVC card at the gate and the guard told me that I would have to self-park ACROSS THE STREET and if I wanted to use the valet it was $12. We turned around and went to Downtown Disney to eat instead. I must say I was quite ticked that I couldn't even self-park at my "home" resort AND that they did not offer any type of shuttle from the parking lot across the street. Would there have been a place for me to self-park if I was checking in? I hope so, as I will be staying there in March and neither option of parking across the street or paying $12/night is acceptable to me.

Mary Lou

 

[tjkraz]

I have been away from these boards for quite awhile. Yesterday I went to Boardwalk to have lunch with my daughter who was in town for a conference. I showed my DVC card at the gate and the guard told me that I would have to self-park ACROSS THE STREET and if I wanted to use the valet it was $12. We turned around and went to Downtown Disney to eat instead. I must say I was quite ticked that I couldn't even self-park at my "home" resort AND that they did not offer any type of shuttle from the parking lot across the street.

A shuttle would be a waste of money, IMO. Assuming it's the lot they typically use for overflow (other side of Epcot Resorts Blvd), the walk is barely longer than the distance from the other self-park lot.

From the lot you are familiar with, you walk across a bridge and up to the resorts.

From the alternate lot you cross the street and walk in front of the conference center. It really isn't noticeably further, in my opinion. Honestly unless you hit DTD on a slow day, you probably had to walk much further from the parking lot there to your final destination.

Would there have been a place for me to self-park if I was checking in? I hope so, as I will be staying there in March and neither option of parking across the street or paying $12/night is acceptable to me.

That's why there are re-routing non-guest traffic--so that actual resort guests have first priority on available parking.

 

[Dean]

I have been away from these boards for quite awhile. Yesterday I went to Boardwalk to have lunch with my daughter who was in town for a conference. I showed my DVC card at the gate and the guard told me that I would have to self-park ACROSS THE STREET and if I wanted to use the valet it was $12. We turned around and went to Downtown Disney to eat instead. I must say I was quite ticked that I couldn't even self-park at my "home" resort AND that they did not offer any type of shuttle from the parking lot across the street. Would there have been a place for me to self-park if I was checking in? I hope so, as I will be staying there in March and neither option of parking across the street or paying $12/night is acceptable to me.

Mary Lou

Since we do not get day use privileges, home resort doesn't really matter unless you're staying there. I know that in the past members have been able to valet park or park for meals, but the loss of free valet parking has put more pressure on the self parking areas. Across the street is appropriate for this situation.

 

[DebbieB]

I have been away from these boards for quite awhile. Yesterday I went to Boardwalk to have lunch with my daughter who was in town for a conference. I showed my DVC card at the gate and the guard told me that I would have to self-park ACROSS THE STREET and if I wanted to use the valet it was $12. We turned around and went to Downtown Disney to eat instead. I must say I was quite ticked that I couldn't even self-park at my "home" resort AND that they did not offer any type of shuttle from the parking lot across the street. Would there have been a place for me to self-park if I was checking in? I hope so, as I will be staying there in March and neither option of parking across the street or paying $12/night is acceptable to me.

Mary Lou

If they are holding the closer spaces to those staying at BWI/BWV, I am happy to hear this. If it was already full from people going to Epcot, that's not good news.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

If they are holding the closer spaces to those staying at BWI/BWV, I am happy to hear this. If it was already full from people going to Epcot, that's not good news.

Your going to BWV soon? Please report back your valet experience, I am very interested to hear your info.

 

[DebbieB]

Your going to BWV soon? Please report back your valet experience, I am very interested to hear your info.

No, I was there the beginning of December. I did post a report somewhere on this thread, we had major issues finding a space when we arrived on Saturday afternoon. The rest of the week was OK.

I don't have another trip until the last week of October.