Paid parking is coming to WDW resorts March 2018

[Hoodie]

it absolutely does penalize those that drive - especially for locals or almost-locals where it would be silly (or not really even feasible) to fly ... if Driving is the best way for you to get there (for whatever reason) you shouldn't be penalized for that, and this policy does that

My point is that Disney wants people taking ME, they don't want you to have a car on property so from their point of view they would want to penalize people with cars and reward (not penalize) those that take ME because then you are captive to them and stuck on property (or at least, harder to get off property)

I still think they will charge for ME. It's just a matter of time. It's "industry standard" after all.

My guess would be a bit of an overhaul. for the small fee of $20/person, Disney will bring you right to the park! If you check in ahead of time, you will receive a text with your room number and after you have been magically whisked away to spend several hours in the park (buying things!) you will arrive to find your luggage in your room. No more wasting time actually at the resort first! Isn't this a great experience you are DYING to pay for?

 

[Linkura]

Yeah i get it, however our trip this year is something we've promised our kids. They're excited. I just can't pull a trip that's already planned and they are excited about because I'm pissed at disney.

Moving forward, i can adjust their expectations.

It's a good thing for me that I'm childless and my husband isn't as much of a Disney fan, so the decision in our household comes down to me. I totally understand wanting to still go for your kids even if you just aren't feeling it.

I get what you're saying. I was a charter member of D23. My membership lapsed during a period where my Dad passed away suddenly, less than a month after my Mom was diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer's, and I was out of town for a month dealing with arrangements.

After I got home and eventually realized about the lapse, I contacted D23 to see if they would reinstate my membership and charter member status. They said no. Period. It had lapsed, nothing they could do. Not so much as a "sorry for your loss" at least. I told them I would obviously pay for the lapsed period, but really wanted to keep the charter member status. I asked about speaking with anyone more senior, eventually got a call and was told the same. This would have cost them NOTHING, but the principle meant something to me. I absolutely get that they didn't owe it to me, but why not do it?

They didn't care about my circumstances, didn't care that we own a gazillion DVC points, are AP holders, have a Disney VISA, have been on a Disney cruise, do rD races in addition to annual trips, etc., etc. Didn't care in the least. I've never signed up for D23 again and never will. It took me a while before I wanted to think about anything Disney. In the end, we still enjoy our WDW trips, rD trips, etc., so we go on them. I have felt a tad different about Disney since then, though. Bottom line for me is that it's about whether we want to go to WDW, ALL things considered. We still do. If at some point that equation shifts enough, I'll wave au revoir!

This is awful. I'd probably boycott Disney altogether if this happened to me.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Oh my goodness, that is so sad my mouth literally just hung open as I read all that. I can't believe they would be so heartless. I am sorry you had to go through every bit of that (including what happened with your parents). I don't blame you for not signing up for D23 ever again, not after that type of experience.

Thx. I'm not usually one to play my violin (as my mom used to say!), but it was all pretty bad. My mom then passed away a few months later. Tough time to be sure, and a little kindness on their end would have gone a long way.

 

[PrincessV]

That is good to know - though I assume that wouldn't carry forward if you wanted to apply a new discount that came out (say, Free Dining) as that is more of a cancel/new reservation thing, correct? (I have seen a lot of questions about that - I guess people wanting to book something now before the parking fee goes into effect but then be able to add Free Dining when that comes out)

For me, it's a room-only res and would be a room-only discount rate, so no package conversions. BUT I just now changed online an existing reservation to a different resort - no changing from rack rate to discounted rate or anything like that - and received a new reservation confirmation number. That gives me pause; not at all sure the new number would show my original reservation date.

 

[Runner225]

That is good to know - though I assume that wouldn't carry forward if you wanted to apply a new discount that came out (say, Free Dining) as that is more of a cancel/new reservation thing, correct? (I have seen a lot of questions about that - I guess people wanting to book something now before the parking fee goes into effect but then be able to add Free Dining when that comes out)

That is what I was alluding to when I spoke with her and she was firm since the initial reservation was made prior to 3/21, we would not be charged.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I still think they will charge for ME. It's just a matter of time. It's "industry standard" after all.

My guess would be a bit of an overhaul. for the small fee of $20/person, Disney will bring you right to the park! If you check in ahead of time, you will receive a text with your room number and after you have been magically whisked away to spend several hours in the park (buying things!) you will arrive to find your luggage in your room. No more wasting time actually at the resort first! Isn't this a great experience you are DYING to pay for?

Obviously time will tell and also we can't put anything past them now. Personally I don't think they would ever got to a model where there is a charge (say $20/person) for taking ME as the *want* you to take ME

NOW, I could see them switching to a model where there is a more general resort fee of $50/night and that covers things that are included now (ME being one of them)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That is what I was alluding to when I spoke with her and she was firm since the initial reservation was made prior to 3/21, we would not be charged.

That is good to know - a bit surprising but good to know.

One thing I had complained to them in the past was when they would announce a change that negatively impacted people with existing reservations so perhaps they did listen since it seems like they are grandfathering in a lot for people with existing reservations (by no means I am trying to imply they listened to me personally, but I know a lot of people that complained at the same time about the same things so perhaps at least that aspect they did learn a bit from)

 

[Aron1012]

Thx. I'm not usually one to play my violin (as my mom used to say!), but it was all pretty bad. My mom then passed away a few months later. Tough time to be sure, and a little kindness on their end would have gone a long way.

And would have earned them loyalty and profits in return. Those are the types of things they can do that earn the reputation as the gold standard in customer service. Experiences like yours do speak more to "industry standard". Guess we know where the bar is now though.....

 

[Runner225]

For me, it's a room-only res and would be a room-only discount rate, so no package conversions. BUT I just now changed online an existing reservation to a different resort - no changing from rack rate to discounted rate or anything like that - and received a new reservation confirmation number. That gives me pause; not at all sure the new number would show my original reservation date.

She made it seem like we would be fine (which since its 3/16, you still should be anyway), but if you are feeling apprehensive a call to guest services couldn't hurt.

 

[lucas]

it absolutely does penalize those that drive - especially for locals or almost-locals where it would be silly (or not really even feasible) to fly ... if Driving is the best way for you to get there (for whatever reason) you shouldn't be penalized for that, and this policy does that

My point is that Disney wants people taking ME, they don't want you to have a car on property so from their point of view they would want to penalize people with cars and reward (not penalize) those that take ME because then you are captive to them and stuck on property (or at least, harder to get off property)

I totally agree.

We are the almost-locals. We live 200 miles south of WDW (in Boca Raton) and we always drive up. I don't want to be penalized for driving. And, we drive up several times per year for long weekend type trips.

 

[dreiwhit]

There are many people who are unhappy because they didn’t plan. Walk into the park aimlessly, don’t know about fast passes, and didn’t look at places to eat.
Sadly this was my friend going with her family. She didn’t do any planning. Left it up to her adult daughter and husband. I guess they dropped the ball. Sadly I didn’t even know she was going or I would have offered help. I was excited to hear about her trip when she got back. She hated WDW. Stayed offsite in rental home which was good for them due to multi family. But they never got to the parks till mid morning, complained about long waits for everything, didn’t have a touring plan, and couldn’t find anything to eat except hot dogs, hamburgers & fries.
It could have been such a different trip.

Just to throw this out. I'm a planner by nature, but I only plan in detail when i'm required to plan in detail. How many other vacation spots require the level of planning that go into a trip to WDW? In my experience, nothing else even comes close to it. Usually when we go on vacation, we pick a big thing for the day (whether or not we bought tickets in advance) and then decide we'll eat dinner out, but not where. The rest of it is just spontaneous or seeing something by the side of the road we want to look at or a "we might as well do this because we have time to kill" type thing. You can't do that at WDW!

I'll wager that most folks plan their vacations like that. I remember the DL and WDW of my childhood and my parents didn't have to plan like my wife and I do. On the last childhood trip, I remember the only planning was to get their reservations at the Contemporary and ticket books in advance. They didn't even make reservations at the Polynesian until they got to WDW. A successful trip to WDW, where you can do as much as possible for the expensive tickets that we've paid for requires a level of planning that is probably rare for other vacation locations. I joking tell my wife the closet thing to planning for a WDW vacation is planning for a military campaign!

So I can cut the folks a little slack because they didn't plan ADRs at 180 days or FPs at 60 or 30 days or know to have a detailed plan or use a touring plans site. They probably didn't know any of that if they didn't do a ton of research in advance. Even past advice we've been given on slow times to go is no longer valid.

But what should concern Disney is that the folks who show up once and swear they'll never come back are a lost opportunity for future revenue. Its the repeat sales that make you money, not the one time sale. Look at my family and I. If we would have had less crowded parks and not feel like we were constantly rushing around on our trip last month, we probably would have been looking for ways to make a trip next year or the year after. Now, who knows when we will return....

Honestly, I am feeling even worse after that phone call. She did not make me feel like my opinion would matter(despite saying she would pass them along) and gave the impression that what they were doing to their guests was right. So much for having a magical day (which she did not end the call with btw!)

To be honest, they probably don't care about the customer. Disney knows that most people will still come to the parks and resorts no matter what they do. They know they can raise prices or whatever and there will still be folks willing to fork over their money. They know that to some people, they can do no wrong.

The only way to get Disney's attention is to stop spending your money with them - vote with your wallet. Until a lot of people start voting with their wallets, Disney is going to keep on nickeling and diming us, raising prices, packing the parks, and taking away things we used to enjoy for free.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Has anyone mentioned how much this impacts large families? People with many kids tend to drive to WDW. We live in PA. It is significantly cheaper (even with the ridiculous cost of gas) for us to drive the 14 hours than it is for us to buy 7 round trip tickets. Whenever people talk about it not being that much more, I feel like they're neglecting the fact that when you have a family of 5 or more, the ticket increases are significant. The room increases are significant as you can't stay in a basic room and this is another nail in the coffin.

I'm just so angry about this and as a DVC owner it doesn't even really impact me (currently).

 

[Aron1012]

To be honest, they probably don't care about the customer. Disney knows that most people will still come to the parks and resorts no matter what they do. They know they can raise prices or whatever and there will still be folks willing to fork over their money. They know that to some people, they can do no wrong.

The only way to get Disney's attention is to stop spending your money with them - vote with your wallet. Until a lot of people start voting with their wallets, Disney is going to keep on nickeling and diming us, raising prices, packing the parks, and taking away things we used to enjoy for free.

You may be right, but I would think most people who frequent these boards fall into the can do no wrong crowd. We are their most loyal and engaged fans. So when the anger reaches this kind of level around here, you have to wonder about that mentality. Clearly Disney's biggest marketing arm is person to person referrals (particularly in today's marketing climate). Ticking their most loyal off by nickel and diming at every corner doesn't sound like a good strategy to continue this.

 

[over50visits]

I get what you're saying.

They didn't care about my circumstances, didn't care that we own a gazillion DVC points, are AP holders, have a Disney VISA, have been on a Disney cruise, do rD races in addition to annual trips, etc., etc. Didn't care in the least. I've never signed up for D23 again and never will. It took me a while before I wanted to think about anything Disney. In the end, we still enjoy our WDW trips, rD trips, etc., so we go on them. I have felt a tad different about Disney since then, though. Bottom line for me is that it's about whether we want to go to WDW, ALL things considered. We still do. If at some point that equation shifts enough, I'll wave au revoir!

Walt cared very much.

Tragically, the organization he left behind has morphed into an entity that does not care, period. It is all about money, dressed up in so many, many different ways. Absolutely resort fees are coming, along with even more fast passes for sale, many more “experiences,” ME charge, EMH charge, monorail charge, telephone booking fees, .....

I think I realized where they had gone a few years ago when a program on TV “Disney on a budget” (something like that) turned out to be just a Disney infomercial. They suggested you “save money” by buying a room/ticket/dining package at a moderate resort, and go see cirque du soleil one evening. Thousands of dollars for a few day visit. So sad.

 

[DUMBO67]

EMAIL NOW!

Robert.Chapek@disney.com

george.kalogridis@disney.com

robert.a.iger@disney.com

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just to throw this out. I'm a planner by nature, but I only plan in detail when i'm required to plan in detail. How many other vacation spots require the level of planning that go into a trip to WDW? In my experience, nothing else even comes close to it.

Honestly, a lot of vacations. Would you go to Paris and just show up without doing any planning? I can't think of a single vacation we have done that i haven't created a spreadsheet and planned out details for

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Has anyone mentioned how much this impacts large families? People with many kids tend to drive to WDW. We live in PA. It is significantly cheaper (even with the ridiculous cost of gas) for us to drive the 14 hours than it is for us to buy 7 round trip tickets. Whenever people talk about it not being that much more, I feel like they're neglecting the fact that when you have a family of 5 or more, the ticket increases are significant. The room increases are significant as you can't stay in a basic room and this is another nail in the coffin.

I'm just so angry about this and as a DVC owner it doesn't even really impact me (currently).

As a somewhat large family - 5 in my immediate family but we often travel with at least one or two grandparents (this coming trip we will have 9 people) - we have already been pushed off site as the Disney resort rooms that can accommodate more than 4 people are so expensive - we can get a multi-bedroom condo for the same or less (plus save more money by having a kitchen) so I suspect many larger families are like mine or use DVC (which is not impacted)

 

[cottontail]

Hi: We drive 22 hours from Canada to get to wdw. We drive because our daughter on the autism spectrum will not fly, she also gets bad migraines. We drive to the parks in our own car because buses trigger her migraines as sometimes a car does, but we can leave a park get to our car and get her back to the hotel when she is ill. We do only half a day in the park and always leave one or two oclock as she at that time has a migraine headache and has to lay down. I saw an ad for Disney on Ice today and the nice feeling the feeling that I used to get when I saw the word "disney" that draws me back to the disney park/resort in the past is gone and a feeling of annoyance and a sickening feeling from disney came across me. The magic and addiction to wdw is slowly leaving me.

Deb.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I had a call from Iger's office yesterday, and they said that they are getting a tremendous amount of negative feedback on this, more than they even anticipated, and that they are discussing all the input.

“Uh-oh, boys we actually reached the pushback point. Parking fees ... who knew?! Guess we’re going to have to be a little less obvious on next week’s new money grab. Hmmm do you think they’d get upset if we charge for towels at the pools? It’s an industry standard.”

On one hand Disney touts being better than their competitors, on the other hand they use the excuse of "industry standards" to justify a parking fee. So which is it Disney, are you better or just the same as everyone else?

My company plays this corporate double speak game all the time. “We’re a world class company with world class employees.” And when it comes time for raises it morphs to “We strive to meet the average market ratio so we stay competitive.” Which is it? World class or average? It’s one of the tools in the CEO toolkit these days.

 

[mswhittaker]

“Uh-oh, boys we actually reached the pushback point. Parking fees ... who knew?! Guess we’re going to have to be a little less obvious on next week’s new money grab. Hmmm do you think they’d get upset if we charge for towels at the pools? It’s an industry standard.”

they started charging for towels at the water park actually, if you aren’t staying on property.