Thanks for the info I read the thread and also read this very well done blog post:
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/individual-lightning-lanes-guide-prices-info/
Note the main takeaway from this blog post was that if you execute a very well-planned park visitation strategy (and have
Genie+), the $ILL for Star Wars is the only one worth getting.
My main takeaways are:
1. Effectively, ignore "Good Neighbor" status - it has no perks whatsoever.
2. Assuming there's a significantly higher costs at official WDW Hotels, the value is only worth it if you are going to get early magic hours each day. Otherwise, there does not appear to me to be any valuable enough perk at an official partner hotel to justify the cost unless it's worth the quality/location regardless of the perks. (Unless I'm still missing something?)
3. The perks for the Disney resorts are not that impressive. Seems it mainly boils down to getting one, yes just one $ILL (two if you park hop) before the park opens. Not impressed, especially considering the costs of those places. Although Dolphin/Swan appears the way to go if you really want the early $ILL access. Sounds like Extra Evening Hours are the only other significantly valuable perk that only resort guests get or Deluxe partner hotel guests?
I could have started a business 15 years ago being a Disney Vacation Planning consultant. Ended up taking the family to WDW 4 times and
Disneyland 6 over 15 years spending hours and hours planning the park strategy each time. Never paid anything extra for anything ride related. Never waited in a line longer than 20 minutes and did all the major/best rides within the day for that park. Miss the days of having the paper "Fastpass Ticket Runner" strategy. After reading the blog post I must say I'm not surprised, but sad and dismayed. While technically you can visit the parks without paying for Geine+ or $ILL, due to the basic laws of supply and demand, combined with stock prices being factored into corporate decisions, Disney Parks have become a total "Pay to Play" operation requiring a significant level of "user sophistication" to navigate the whole ecosystem properly from choosing where to stay to what $ILL to get. Your Blue-collar, middle-class family on a tight budget in my opinion has essentially been left behind. Walt would not be happy about this.
I was considering a college graduation trip this fall for my youngest son. The Grandparents usually always come too, but they have started to decline riding some rides (they are now in their mid-late 70's.) Taking a step back and looking at the nickle and diming it has evolved to, I'm having second thoughts that the total large sum of money necessary is better spent on another type of adventure (especially when your kids are now in their early 20's). I'm a huge Disney Park Fanatic (was a collectibles collector for years then sold it all realizing how materialistic it felt.) In addition, as the years have gone by the luster of the "magic" of Disney parks has gradually dulled over time mainly due the rising costs and pay to play strategies they've implemented. But it's a for-profit business, not a charity.
But I digress as this thread is more about the hotel perks. So seems the bottom line answer to my inquiry is the official partner hotels have no major perks other than Early Morning Hours (when they are available - and regular guests even at official partner properties don't get extra evening hours! Pathetic.)
