Paid parking is coming to WDW resorts March 2018

[Rich M]

What Disney SHOULD have done? You can buy bricks to build sidewalks around the resorts with your name on them. I know they've done this for EPCOT but what a PR disaster Disney has provided with this announcement.

That would have been kind of cool actually.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

What Disney SHOULD have done? You can buy bricks to build sidewalks around the resorts with your name on them. I know they've done this for EPCOT but what a PR disaster Disney has provided with this announcement.

Or your name in some rune that is part of the Star Wars universe and it be placed somewhere inside Galaxy’s Edge

 

[Skippyboo]

I was discussing the new parking charges with a coworker at my work. This woman is a Disney fanatic who goes multiple times a year. She told me she had a really bad stay at All Stars Music which she send an email about with photo documentation last Nov. Disney gave her 3 days stay at Art of Animation for free to make up for bad stay.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Wow! Parking fee or not ... the fact that people are getting PERSONALLY called back from a complaint e-mail is amazing to me.
A price increase stinks, but to get a call back (I just got my call from a Guest Relations cast member) is the customer service we expect to see in ALL aspects of the parks.
I got the "industry standards" and "be in line with other area resorts and hotels" and "to be consistent with our other parks across the world".

But what an awful excuse. Why does the #1 resort need to lower themselves to other standards? . Do we think Southwest Airlines will start charging for baggage fees because "everyone else does it"? I doubt it.
*shrug* .. I guess if you are winning the race by a lot you can slow down and still have a lead.

I told her that this is going now be part of my valuation of a Disney resort experience. When I schedule my next vacation I am going to look at the TOTAL cost of the hotel per night (I'm a smart consumer, some "on checkout" fee isn't going to trick me into thinking the cost is less than it actually will be) and see if the perks for staying onsite outweigh that extra cost. We'll see how my trip in November goes and if I feel I am getting value for my $140/night "Value" hotel.

What I tried to convey was .. it isn't the price increase. That stinks, but it is the perception .. the "feeling" the existing guests get for charging for something that was free. It comes across as just plain greedy .. and greedy isn't magical.

She told me they knew they were going to get hammered. So, I guess I just don't understand the decision. From a marketing standpoint, isn't it better to "bundle" things together so you can claim things as "free"? If income is needed, just raise the hotel rates across the board and continue to include "free parking" as a perk. Isn't that a better sell, than raising parking rates? It feels less slimy than after-the-fact fee that makes the cost per night "seem" low (until you add in the fees).

Why can't we (as a country) just get to straight up pricing. Include taxes, include all "fees", include all the cost of business into your price. Why do we have to spend so much time and energy trying not to be ripped off or baited and switched?

This parking fee won't change despite ALL the calls .. the negativity storm will blow over and us (and the new guests) will pay this and we'll groan every year when the parking fee goes up along with the tickets and the parking rates.

We're not going to pay to park at their over priced motels/hotels, we'll be staying exclusively offsite from now on.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I assume the website is screwed up again...

 

[MamaBelle4]

Or your name in some rune that is part of the Star Wars universe and it be placed somewhere inside Galaxy’s Edge

That would be AMAZING.

 

[Linkura]

Or your name in some rune that is part of the Star Wars universe and it be placed somewhere inside Galaxy’s Edge

Sorry, that's too good of an idea for Disney to do.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Seriously, that's what I do. I'm not driving 18+ hours with only a child, in my leased vehicle so I fly. I know people talk about the "dirt cheap" car rental rates in Orlando but I'm just not seeing it I guess. Maybe it's when I choose to travel or the fact I do not want to travel very far from the airport or trust a company I've never heard of. As long as my uber/lyft fares stay under $450 per vacation, I'll stick with them.

Rental car rates will def depend on what car you get too. We booked through rentalcars(.com) with Alamo but checked with Costco and they had a better deal and a larger car which was an intermediate with Avis (discount included a free weekday plus 25% off base rates). We picked up at the airport (the taxes and fees were nearly $70) too.

We also booked 5-6months in advance as well.

If you include the added day on the rental car that could not get any discounts added our total cost for 10 1/2 days worth was just over $254.00 (extra non-discounted time was over $56 by itself).

Obviously that's not a price you could count on but still.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I was discussing the new parking charges with a coworker at my work. This woman is a Disney fanatic who goes multiple times a year. She told me she had a really bad stay at All Stars Music which she send an email about with photo documentation last Nov. Disney gave her 3 days stay at Art of Animation for free to make up for bad stay.

I wonder if that “free stay” includes parking. Enjoy your free stay, Lady. That’ll be $39.

 

[dawgsgirl]

I have enjoyed reading all the comments. I rarely visit these boards anymore since I quit Disney a couple of years ago. The rose colored glasses come off and my Disney obsession came to an end. But I wonder how many of you will soon forget about this and just carry on as usual with your Disney trips?? For me, I just finally got sick of Disney's arrogant attitude. I think it has always been there, but they were very good at hiding it. Now they just don't care. The rising prices along with decreased services finally made me throw in the towel. I would expect more and more of these types of charges.

 

[disneydeal]

If you already have a reservation for later this summer your good. Here's the response I got on twitter.

 

[Roxyfire]

Rental car rates will def depend on what car you get too. We booked through rentalcars(.com) with Alamo but checked with Costco and they had a better deal and a larger car which was an intermediate with Avis (discount included a free weekday plus 25% off base rates). We picked up at the airport (the taxes and fees were nearly $70) too.

We also booked 5-6months in advance as well.

If you include the added day on the rental car that could not get any discounts added our total cost for 10 1/2 days worth was just over $254.00 (extra non-discounted time was over $56 by itself).

Obviously that's not a price you could count on but still.

I'm not looking for anything special, like a big SUV or Minivan. Just a compact or intermediate is fine. I still haven't found a rate that beats a few ubers here and there. It's really nice to not drive once in a while and I really appreciate that on vacation!

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Your wallet speaks louder than any email.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Or your name in some rune that is part of the Star Wars universe and it be placed somewhere inside Galaxy’s Edge

If I weren’t busy writing Igor emails and venting on Disboards about parking fees I’d be making up Star Wars names for my family for our Galaxy’s Edge rune!

You can get people to part with their money with a smile on their face while they thank you taking it or you can charge parking fees and watch the interwebs explode on you. You chose wrong this week, Disney.

 

[UncleMike101]

My post from another thread with an update;
OK........
Is the WDW website screwing up again or is this for real??????
The Parking information page now (3/16/18 11:10 Eastern) states:

Resort Hotels
Standard self-parking at Resort hotels is complimentary for Resort Guests. Valet parking is available at select Disney Deluxe Resorts for $25 per day.
I have it up on two separate taps from two different links and It's the same on both.
Edit: I closed both tabs and re entered the WDW web site.
I searched for "Resort Parking" and under the heading of Resort Hotels is the following;
Resort Hotels
Standard self-parking at Resort hotels is complimentary for Resort Guests. Valet parking is available at select Disney Deluxe Resorts for $25 per day.
Can anyone confirm or deny??????

 

[undone73]

The main Disney parking page has the fees gone again. The top lists the parking fees for the parks (no mention of resort guests parking free) and if you scroll down under resorts it says that standard self parking is complementary for resort guests. I’m sure it’s probably a glitch.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/

 

[undone73]

I was just posting the same thing. What the heck Disney??

 

[UncleMike101]

The main Disney parking page has the fees gone again. The top lists the parking fees for the parks (no mention of resort guests parking free) and if you scroll down under resorts it says that standard self parking is complementary for resort guests. I’m sure it’s probably a glitch.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/

The very top of the page now says there is complimentary parking for ; and all Resort hotels (for registered Guests).

 

[fluffykalie]

I thought I heard something about it stating on march 21st

 

[UncleMike101]

I thought I heard something about it stating on march 21st

Since yesterday the Parking site has stated the fees and that they were going into effect on 3/21/18.
Now there is no mention of fees and it states:

Resort Hotels
Standard self-parking at Resort hotels is complimentary for Resort Guests. Valet parking is available at select Disney Deluxe Resorts for $25 per day.