Ouch! (Local slams the parks)

[Purseval]

This morning when I stepped out of my hotel room there was a copy of the Orlando Sentinel at my feet, courtesy of WDW, as a promo for the Food and Wine Festival. In the entertainment section they have a column called Ticked Off where people write in and complain about various things that bother them in life. Another part of that column is called The Flip Side where people write in to praise something they enjoyed. Today they had this blurb:

Thanks to our local communities for providing low or no-cost entertainmentfor us to enjoy with our families on weekends. These are truly "Florida Resident" discounts. With tight budgets we can't afford to pay $14 parking and then high ticket prices for a family of four.

No specific park was mentioned by name but it was an interesting insight to what the locals are thinking, at least the Sentinel thought it was.

 

[civileng68]

This morning when I stepped out of my hotel room there was a copy of the Orlando Sentinel at my feet, courtesy of WDW, as a promo for the Food and Wine Festival. In the entertainment section they have a column called Ticked Off where people write in and complain about various things that bother them in life. Another part of that column is called The Flip Side where people write in to praise something they enjoyed. Today they had this blurb:

Thanks to our local communities for providing low or no-cost entertainmentfor us to enjoy with our families on weekends. These are truly "Florida Resident" discounts. With tight budgets we can't afford to pay $14 parking and then high ticket prices for a family of four.

No specific park was mentioned by name but it was an interesting insight to what the locals are thinking, at least the Sentinel thought it was.

I totally understand it's expensive. However, for Florida residents you have several options:

A) Annual Pass (with free parking).

B) Season pass (pay for parking but costs about 100 bucks less than Annual.
AP is the best deal if you consider the parking prices.

C) Epcot's After 4 pass (which is pretty dirt cheap considering it gets you in the World Showcase area any night for a year).

I think the biggy is no discounts for ticket holders to special events. It wouldnt hurt also for locals (of say Orange County) to get free parking.

 

[kydisneyfans]

One of the TV stations did a poll during our visit 2 weeks ago and over 70% voted they would not go to Disney due to parking costs.

 

[safetymom]

That column always has people complaining about the smallest things that most people wouldn't think twice about.

I think Disney does do things to accomodate FL residents. How many times do you find people complaining that FL residents get discounts and they don't?

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

We live in Williamsburg, VA, parking is not cheap at any of the theme parks. Busch Gardens is $12.00, WDW parking fees are pretty standard with other parks.

 

[IlliniMouse]

Last summer we paid $20 to park at our local Six Flags. I'd much rather pay $14 to park at WDW. If I lived close to WDW, I'd be thanking my lucky stars that I didn't have to purcchase plane tickets and pay to park my car at the airport. With what I'm paying in airfare, I could pay for parking 56 days at WDW...and I got a deal on tickets!

If that many people are going to stay away, means less crowded parks, right?

 

[vettegirl]

Seaworld right by my house charges the same amont for parking and that place is always packed with locals.

 

[Schmeck]

Hey, it cost me +$40 to park for the day in my state to attend an event with my daughter - and I would have been much happier to pay $14 to be at WDW...

 

[khgreen]

I live in Atlanta and my husband took our son to the local Six Flags a while back for the first time....guess how much he paid for parking.....20 dollars, yep-20 dollars. Now granted it was special "up close" parking but still. Oh, and a few months ago my husband and some buddies went downtown to a soccer game. They paid 30 dollars for parking. Come to think of it...we pay 10 dollars to park at the local aquarium and 12 dollars to park at the Fox Theatre. So as bad as 14 dollars a day seems-it isn't really outrageous considering what other venues charge. I guess if you stay offsite and have to pay parking for multiple days in a row it really adds up but then again when I visit the aquarium or theater I am there a few hours-when I visit Disney I am there all day.

 

[eliza61]

Hey, Disney is expensive. I don't care how we try to sugar coat it and make it exceptable. Disney is expensive. Comparing it to other places doesn't make it any less expensive. I too think it stinks that Disney is constantly raising prices.

 

[tileman]

From FLA here only about 70 min to the gates of WDW and the $ 14.00 is well
right in line with parking around here.

We hold AP's so we do not pay to park.

I hear it every now and then at work I would like to go to disney but no free parking LOL I bet once they got there wow look at the food prices

So that just makes room for us guys that love WDW


Ron.

 

[snykymom]

Apparently these locals have never been to such things as a ball game at Fenway Park (and forget it if the Yankees are in town!) (parking runs about $40), a football game at Patriots Place, parking at Six Flags, etc. None of these places have "resident" rates. The guy who lives 2 miles away pays the same as the guy who comes in from out of town.

At least Disney does have deals for locals.

 

[TangaroaTiki]

Hey, Disney is expensive. I don't care how we try to sugar coat it and make it exceptable. Disney is expensive. Comparing it to other places doesn't make it any less expensive. I too think it stinks that Disney is constantly raising prices.

They do it because they can. I know raising prices won't keep us away

 

[jb01]

You can look at it all different ways, but parking costs are outrageous! $14/day x 30 days and Disney makes $420/month for a small piece of asphalt built over a swamp. I don't mind paying for the park for the day but I feel it is over the top to have to pay for parking. Just my opinion.

 

[Wall-E1]

As a native Floridian, I can understand the complaining. You see, its hot and humid over 300 days of the year in our state. This is only broken up my torrential rains and the occasional hurricane. Therefore, we have made an art of complaining about things of which we have no control over, such as the humidity, rising fees, and home owner associations. If not for the oppressive and spirit crushing heat, we would be a happier people, and have much less to complain about. In the end, all will be okay, just as long as they don't try to take away our senior discount.

 

[twokids0204]

I live in Toronto (Canada - not the Canada beside England, but the big one to the North of the US border). And it easily costs $20.00 a day to park downtown, and there are people who work there, paying that $20 every day - as part of their livelihood, not when they are out enjoying the world's most popular tourist attraction that happens to be a 5 minute drive from therer dinner table.

Waaaaahhhhhhh.... you got to pay for parking..... Waaaaaaahhhhhh!!!


When I go to Disney it costs me minimum $2500.00 but hey, parkings included. So I guess I win!

 

[DebbieB]

I travel alot for work and when I was in the Orlando office I was talking to people there. I figured they probably went to WDW all the time. Nope. People with teens actually preferred Universal. They just were not interested in Disney. I don't know if part of my attraction to it is that it's a "vacation", which it wouldn't be for them.

 

[Purseval]

My wife and I both worked for a company that had offices in Orlando. When we went down there on business we would be gushing about Disney and pretty much received a blank look in return. Very few of them ever set foot in any of the theme parks. I also once remarked to a cashier at Goodings across from DTD on how lucky she was to be so close and she replied that she had never been there. So even with all of the incentives offered to locals it apparently isn't that uncommon for folks to avoid them.

Another thing most of the replies seem to be missing is that the person wasn't just complaining about the parking, that was just the starting point.

 

[twokids0204]

As a native Floridian, I can understand the complaining. You see, its hot and humid over 300 days of the year in our state. This is only broken up my torrential rains and the occasional hurricane. Therefore, we have made an art of complaining about things of which we have no control over, such as the humidity, rising fees, and home owner associations. If not for the oppressive and spirit crushing heat, we would be a happier people, and have much less to complain about. In the end, all will be okay, just as long as they don't try to take away our senior discount.

With all due respect... no one is forcing you to live in a hot/humid climate over 300 days a year.

I live in a 4 season environment where today it is 7 degrees celcius (44 farenheit) and rainy. It's not even halloween and we are bringing out our winter coats, and we don't complain about it. In just a month or two we will be buried in 3 feet of snow, and the kids will have to walk in snow pants and snow jackets, while carrying school backpacks, and just trying to stay balanced with all the additional weight, and 30 mile per hour blistering winds nipping at there nose, all while not complaining. They do this because somewhere in the back of there head, they know that the payoff is one day we will get to go back to Disney World... where we don't need to where those snow suits, hats, gloves, and boots. And when we get there at least we don't have to pay to park, because we intend to stay on property. So again - We win!

 

[Metro West]

Um...I believe Wall-E1 was being sarcastic. But you're right...no one forces us to live here. Frankly having to deal with your cold weather doesn't sound like a win-win situation to me.