Will Disney remove resort parking fees to encourage lower bus transportation numbers.

[barney 1314]

We arrive at Disney Allstar Sports on the 30th October for 14 days after a week visiting other Orlando attractions, where we have car hire. We had decided not to keep the car at Disney as we didn't want to pay over $200 in resort charges and were going to use the bus transportation system.
With the changes that are happening at the moment with Covid 19 would it not be a good idea for Disney to drop the car parking resort charges to encourage more people drive and less people to use the Bus Transportation system, helping with social distancing.

 

[patty57]

It might be a good idea, but it wouldn't be like Disney to remove a charge that brings them revenue.

 

[cakebaker]

Honestly, I don't see $20 a day or less in savings to be a huge factor in whether someone brings a car on property. If you drive your own car, you're bringing it on property regardless. If you aren't considering a rental car, you'd pay more in rental fees than you save in parking fees. They'd basically just be giving a discount to people who are going to park anyway. We have almost always driven to WDW but never used the car to get to the parks. We wouldn't on this next trip either unless Disney transportation turns into a nightmare.

 

[mom2rtk]

Given the circumstances, I can see the total cost being a consideration in whether to rent a car once we arrive. It would be nice for Disney to waive those fees to encourage more car rentals, but I agree with the poster above who said I don't see them removing a revenue stream.

 

[rwdavis2]

Any answer is pure speculation until Disney announces something.

 

[loves to dive]

We always drive down and so have always had a car. We park that puppy at the resort and never get back in it again until we leave. While it was a pain when they started charging for parking, it didn't really make that much difference. Most every other resort/hotel I've ever stayed at anywhere else charges for parking so it was kind of normal. We have been staying at Dolphin the last 6 years or so and they have always charged for parking, so again, not that big of a deal. I've found it hit or miss with WDW. We tend to do split stays with a night or two at a value or moderate before moving to Dolphin/Epcot resorts and we have been charged for parking maybe half the time. I always tell them I have a car because I need to know the best place to park it. Crowded buses are the least of my concerns as far as WDW, I'm thinking even at half capacity in the parks it's still going to be next to impossible to keep 6 feet apart from anyone.

 

[Sue M]

We arrive at Disney Allstar Sports on the 30th October for 14 days after a week visiting other Orlando attractions, where we have car hire. We had decided not to keep the car at Disney as we didn't want to pay over $200 in resort charges and were going to use the bus transportation system.
With the changes that are happening at the moment with Covid 19 would it not be a good idea for Disney to drop the car parking resort charges to encourage more people drive and less people to use the Bus Transportation system, helping with social distancing.

$200 in resort parking fee plus rental cost IMO makes it an expense I don’t want to add on. Including cost of rental it could bring up cost to $400. We go to other places before WDW too, where we have a rental. I rent from Alamo and after WDW check in I return rental to the onsite WDW Alamo location.

 

[MICKIMINI]

No one likes paying for parking, however your idea is valid to encourage car usage, at least temporarily. Transportation has been designed to alleviate traffic, but running at 25% or 50% will have less cars on the WDW roads. I hope Disney reads this thread. Suspending parking fees until they get back up to 100% should relieve some transportation crowding and be safer. It will take lots of brainstorming to get back to any type of new normal.

 

[barney 1314]

Honestly, I don't see $20 a day or less in savings to be a huge factor in whether someone brings a car on property. If you drive your own car, you're bringing it on property regardless. If you aren't considering a rental car, you'd pay more in rental fees than you save in parking fees. They'd basically just be giving a discount to people who are going to park anyway. We have almost always driven to WDW but never used the car to get to the parks. We wouldn't on this next trip either unless Disney transportation turns into a nightmare.

Hi
All I would say is it does make a difference to some folk who are on a budget and also have long haul flights to pay for. Also we are staying for 14 nights, so it does add up. The car I'm hiring for our first week is $45 per day and we have decided not to continue with the car because of the extra resort fees. So there are folk out there like me where cost is an issue. But to go back to the point if they lifted the fees we would continue with the car and not use the bus transportation that may help with the social distancing. Even if 25% of people did this I believe it would help.

 

[Sue M]

Hi
All I would say is it does make a difference to some folk who are on a budget and also have long haul flights to pay for. Also we are staying for 14 nights, so it does add up. The car I'm hiring for our first week is $45 per day and we have decided not to continue with the car because of the extra resort fees. So there are folk out there like me where cost is an issue. But to go back to the point if they lifted the fees we would continue with the car and not use the bus transportation that may help with the social distancing. Even if 25% of people did this I believe it would help.

Exactly. We fly from the west coast of Canada and flights aren’t cheap. So rental fee + parking fee is a big deal. We stay 2 weeks In WDW.

$45/day is steep. We rent thru Costco web site. But even if you don’t have Costco membership keep checking prices. They go up and down all the time. I like Alamo. Some of those so called budget car agencies really ding you in extra costs like tolls. With Alamo you only pay for the days you use a toll. With some others Even if you only use toll once they attach the service fee for entire rental period.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We're DVC owners so don't pay parking at either the resort or the parks. Just an FYI as no one seems to know this, but you should consider taking Magical Express (in the future) and pick up your reserved rental at Alamo Car Care Center near MK. I stalk prices daily so I make a reservation, get a better deal and make that reservation and then cancel the original. I can start at $500 and end up around $225. You can call the Car Care Center from you resort and they pick you up free! You drop the car off and they drop you off anywhere on property. Two person counter, sofas to rest while you wait, great service, nice people!

 

[barney 1314]

Exactly. We fly from the west coast of Canada and flights aren’t cheap. So rental fee + parking fee is a big deal. We stay 2 weeks In WDW.

$45/day is steep. We rent thru Costco web site. But even if you don’t have Costco membership keep checking prices. They go up and down all the time. I like Alamo. Some of those so called budget car agencies really ding you in extra costs like tolls. With Alamo you only pay for the days you use a toll. With some others Even if you only use toll once they attach the service fee for entire rental period.

 

[barney 1314]

Exactly. We fly from the west coast of Canada and flights aren’t cheap. So rental fee + parking fee is a big deal. We stay 2 weeks In WDW.

$45/day is steep. We rent thru Costco web site. But even if you don’t have Costco membership keep checking prices. They go up and down all the time. I like Alamo. Some of those so called budget car agencies really ding you in extra costs like tolls. With Alamo you only pay for the days you use a toll. With some others Even if you only use toll once they attach the service fee for entire rental period.

Exactly. We fly from the west coast of Canada and flights aren’t cheap. So rental fee + parking fee is a big deal. We stay 2 weeks In WDW.

$45/day is steep. We rent thru Costco web site. But even if you don’t have Costco membership keep checking prices. They go up and down all the time. I like Alamo. Some of those so called budget car agencies really ding you in extra costs like tolls. With Alamo you only pay for the days you use a toll. With some others Even if you only use toll once they attach the service fee for entire rental period.

Thanks for the tips Sue. I'll keep an eye out.

 

[barney 1314]

We're DVC owners so don't pay parking at either the resort or the parks. Just an FYI as no one seems to know this, but you should consider taking Magical Express (in the future) and pick up your reserved rental at Alamo Car Care Center near MK. I stalk prices daily so I make a reservation, get a better deal and make that reservation and then cancel the original. I can start at $500 and end up around $225. You can call the Car Care Center from you resort and they pick you up free! You drop the car off and they drop you off anywhere on property. Two person counter, sofas to rest while you wait, great service, nice people!

That's an exellent tip. Thankyou.

 

[nkereina]

I would imagine the number of people that would decide to rent a car or keep a rental car solely because the parking cost is dropped would be minimal. At least minimal enough where it wouldn't promote the proper social distancing on buses, if that's still a requirement when WDW opens. In my own experience, I haven't noticed much difference in the crowds on buses since parking fees were even implemented.

 

[cakebaker]

I would imagine the number of people that would decide to rent a car or keep a rental car solely because the parking cost is dropped would be minimal. At least minimal enough where it wouldn't promote the proper social distancing on buses, if that's still a requirement when WDW opens. In my own experience, I haven't noticed much difference in the crowds on buses since parking fees were even implemented.

That was my point- there would be a ton of people saving money but not all that many actually changing their transportation plans because of it. There's really not much incentive for WDW to lose revenue that doesn't give them significant results.

 

[enchantedpixiedust]

We're DVC owners so don't pay parking at either the resort or the parks. Just an FYI as no one seems to know this, but you should consider taking Magical Express (in the future) and pick up your reserved rental at Alamo Car Care Center near MK. I stalk prices daily so I make a reservation, get a better deal and make that reservation and then cancel the original. I can start at $500 and end up around $225. You can call the Car Care Center from you resort and they pick you up free! You drop the car off and they drop you off anywhere on property. Two person counter, sofas to rest while you wait, great service, nice people!

I didn't realize they would pickup/drop-off, that's a game changer for us. I was figuring by the time we got a Lyft back and forth to get a rental a couple times it wouldn't be worth it. Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Julie Amber]

I think parking fees stay. You guys are forgetting one of the main reasons Disney has "free transportation" between the airport and Disney, and then within the parks. The main reason for doing this is to keep people ON Disney property. If they make it difficult to leave, then people are more willing to spend ALL their vacation bucks at Disney. This is also why parking fees were instituted. Not only to bring in cash, but to discourage having a rental car at all. Once Harry Potter lands opened at Universal, theme park dollars started getting shared that direction a lot more than in the past. So, Disney HIGHLY encouraging coming to Disney and STAYING at Disney.

That's why they penalize having a car. They don't want you to have the freedom to pop over to some other park like Universal or Sea World. That's also why "the longer you stay, the less you pay." If adding another day onto your Disney ticket costs an extra $25 and transportation is all included, then likely when you have one more day to spend on your vacation, you're just going to extend staying with Disney. The alternative: Rent a car (that you wouldn't have rented) or take an Uber/Lyft to your new theme park of choice, buy new tickets that cost $135-$250/day. If you have a family, that one night hotel plus $25 per person to do an extra day of Disney just went from maybe an extra $250 (Value resort plus tickets) to around $600-$1000 to hit a different theme park.

I know my family took one day and went to Universal last trip. It cost us an extra $1000 to do that day at Universal instead of Disney. No joke.

 

[Sarahslay]

Even if I drive I don't drive to the parks, I park and don't touch my car until we leave, so removing parking fees would do nothing to encourage me not to ride the bus/other transportation.

 

[WDWTRAVELLER]

We have rented a car in the past and only use for it for off Dinsey use. (mall, Wal-mart). we always use the disney transportation.