Anyone ready to head to the parking lots...

[Nuclear Monkey]

No, they're going to use it to pay for the new Skyliner Gondola Line.

Everyone at Akv will appreciate that.

 

[Ben E N]

No, they're going to use it to pay for the new Skyliner Gondola Line.

I doubt it. Room rate increases will pay for that. They're going to use it to make up for ESPN's lagging cash flow. They need Parks to bring in tons more money to prop up their stock price. Resort fees will be coming soon enough, right before Star Wars land I bet.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

Resort fees? What would they charge for?

 

[Ben E N]

Resort fees? What would they charge for?

A bunch of bologna. The same as "industry standard". Access to Wi-Fi, gym on site, and other stuff that is already included.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Just a slightly different perspective--

Universal Orlando on-site hotels charge their guests a fee for parking and many other hotels in a variety of cities do as well. As long as it isn't outrageous ($40-50) per night, I'm not especially surprised Disney is charging guests a parking fee.

I do think they should do a better job of monitoring the parking lots, and it would be nice if hotel guests were charged less--and DVC owners nothing of course

This is more common in place with limited land - NYC, Boston, Venice - not so common in Florida - Disney World is the size of Rhode Island and only ~12% is developed. They have the space.

 

[Fangorn]

This is more common in place with limited land - NYC, Boston, Venice - not so common in Florida - Disney World is the size of Rhode Island and only ~12% is developed. They have the space.

Not only does WDW have the space overall, but all the resorts were originally designed with ample parking available for the guests of that resort, and a reasonable number of visitors. Charging for parking - especially for guests of that resort - is not in any way due to a lack of parking spaces.

Steve

 

[Ben E N]

Not only does WDW have the space overall, but all the resorts were originally designed with ample parking available for the guests of that resort, and a reasonable number of visitors. Charging for parking - especially for guests of that resort - is not in any way due to a lack of parking spaces.

Steve

Yep. It's their first "*#!# you" move that they have made in my mind. Every other move has had at least some sort of reasonability behind it. Ticket price increases are to keep crowd levels down, dessert parties are optional, even those dumb space mountain tents did little to impose on those who were not interested. Charging extra for parking, when there is no actual need to do so, just comes across as pure greed. Of course that's the job of a corporation in a free market society, but it will be real hard to hear cast members say "have a magical day" while handing someone a $150 bill for having their car sit in an almost empty lot for 6 days.

 

[BLLB]

I posted this on another thread:

I think the distinction is the amount of land available for parking at WDW vs. DLR vs. a major city. I do expect to pay for parking in a major city which is "land-locked" for lack of a better word. I would not expect to pay to park at a suburban mall or grocery store or WDW where land abounds. Barring a few exceptions, BWV/Contemporary/Poly, there are tons of parking spaces at most resorts.

In addition, I have stayed at many major hotel chains (Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn) either in inner-ring suburbs or near major cities and have never paid a resort fee or a parking fee.

 

[jimim]

-and start taking up a collection of nickels and dimes from the non-members to help lower our MF's? ; ) Seriously though, I am wondering if any of the new parking fee effect DVC dues or does the money only go to Disney? Will the parking fees paid by non-DVC members help us DVC folks by lowering our dues? Even if it is, I wonder if the amount wont be so small anyway, that it will have an almost negligable effect...

isn't it going to help pay for iger's 300 million salery?

 

[Pluto777]

Everyone at Akv will appreciate that.

Not sure why you wrote this, is there any talk of connecting AKV to any skyline or ANY other transport besides buses? I haven't heard anything like this.

 

[Nuclear Monkey]

Not sure why you wrote this, is there any talk of connecting AKV to any skyline or ANY other transport besides buses? I haven't heard anything like this.

It was a poor attempt at sarcasm.

 

[The Jackal]

This is more common in place with limited land - NYC, Boston, Venice - not so common in Florida - Disney World is the size of Rhode Island and only ~12% is developed. They have the space.

Not sure how small you think Rhode Island is but WDW was originally about 30,000 acres. Rhode Island is 776,957 acres. They have developed 7,100 acres of it, so yes they still have a lot of land. But a lot of it is wet and cannot be developed.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Not sure how small you think Rhode Island is but WDW was originally about 30,000 acres. Rhode Island is 776,957 acres. They have developed 7,100 acres of it, so yes they still have a lot of land. But a lot of it is wet and cannot be developed.

Much of Rhode Island is also water. Ocean. But you are correct, R.I. is larger than WDW. According to the internet, WDW is twice the size of MANHATTAN!

 

[Dean Marino]

Here is the canned EMAIL being sent to DVC owners...

"Guest Experience Services (Disney)
Mar 21, 10:07 AM PDT
Dear WhoEverYouAre,

Thank you for your email regarding our policy for overnight resort parking.

We value your membership with Disney Vacation Club and your continued loyalty to the Annual Passholder family! As you are aware, we are pleased to offer complimentary standard overnight self-parking when you stay at a DVC Deluxe Villa, whether you choose to use vacation points or another form of payment. As a Disney Vacation Club Member, you also will not be charged to park when using vacation points to stay at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel.

Our resort hotels fall into three categories: value, moderate and deluxe, and the self-parking rate is based on the category of hotel where the Guest is staying. Please know that overnight parking at our Resort hotels is reserved for Guests staying at the Resort. While Guests who intend to shop and dine at the Resort will receive complimentary parking, this will be closely monitored by our security team. As we do with any policy change, we will be assessing how this effects our operations and accommodating as needed.

Should you choose to book a room at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel without the use of vacation points, you may visit our website for information about overnight resort parking. Theme Park parking will remain complimentary for Resort Guests.

Complimentary parking will be available for all Guests who wish to dine, shop, enjoy activities or visit a resort for the day, and Resort Guests will continue to receive complimentary parking at our Theme Parks.

WhoEverYouAre, we appreciate you reaching out to us. We look forward to welcoming you home in the near future!

Warmest regards,

Dani
Guest Experience Services
Walt Disney World Resort"

We are not affected, being DVC Members. Data provided for those who are not. We never drive - no dog in this fight.

 

[Ben E N]

As we do with any policy change, we will be assessing how this effects our operations and accommodating as needed.

If you wrote this as a sample email, it seems well written. However, big concern if written by Disney public relations. Am I wrong in seeing that the word "effects" should actually be "affects"?
(Not trying to be the grammar police, but if it is going out as an actual form email from a major corporation then grammar mistakes are a bit of a sign that they really don't care.)

 

[Ed597]

-and start taking up a collection of nickels and dimes from the non-members to help lower our MF's? ; ) Seriously though, I am wondering if any of the new parking fee effect DVC dues or does the money only go to Disney? Will the parking fees paid by non-DVC members help us DVC folks by lowering our dues? Even if it is, I wonder if the amount wont be so small anyway, that it will have an almost negligable effect...

I think now that Disney is charging for it, it will never go away. It’s like the government and a tax. Disney has that revenue stream now so even if it wasn’t a charge for parking they would add it to the price of the room or just move the price increase somewhere else but it won’t really go away.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I posted this on another thread:

I think the distinction is the amount of land available for parking at WDW vs. DLR vs. a major city. I do expect to pay for parking in a major city which is "land-locked" for lack of a better word. I would not expect to pay to park at a suburban mall or grocery store or WDW where land abounds. Barring a few exceptions, BWV/Contemporary/Poly, there are tons of parking spaces at most resorts.

In addition, I have stayed at many major hotel chains (Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn) either in inner-ring suburbs or near major cities and have never paid a resort fee or a parking fee.

I've paid for parking at a Hampton Inn in Miami and the lot is gated at night. If you don't fit in the lot, you pay to park on the street.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Yes, a lot of hotels charge for parking, especially in big cities, but most of the time your only staying there for a weekend not a whole week like most people stay at Disney.

This new policy doesn’t affect DVC owners, and we fly in and use MDE so it wouldn’t cost us either way. But.... it just seems like Disney is going the way of the airlines and nickel and diming it’s guests everywhere they can.

Yes - IN A CITY - with limited land.

 

[DenLo]

Airlines charge extra fees on everything because they have to keep ticket prices as low as possible because of budgdet airlines and ticket price wars.
Disney can charge a premium for their service and now they also charge extra fees.

Airlines charge fees to avoid aviation taxes. We are talking pure profit. I am not sure why taxing authorities haven't figured it out.

Resort fees? What would they charge for?

A bunch of bologna. The same as "industry standard". Access to Wi-Fi, gym on site, and other stuff that is already included.

Access to pool and towels of course. We have stayed at many "resorts" versus hotel and the pool is really the only amenity most guests use. Add the name resort to a hotel and it often means resort fees. Why WDW could possible need to charge for parking is beyond me. Sure they need to make sure folks aren't parking at a resort to access a park. I can see that really happening at the values now to access the Skyliner.

 

[Gregowa]

The Gaylord Palms Hotel near Disney charges both a resort fee and for parking. It would not surprise me in the least if Disney decides to add resort fees and say it has become the “industry standard”. It creates a lot of extra revenue by charging an extra fee for each night to cover the cost of things that were originally part of a resort stay. Many of the things the fee covers likely would not be used by guests staying for only a night or two, especially since check in is at 4:00 pm and check out is by 11:00 am. It doesn’t leave much time to partake in the resort “amenities”. I think it is really greedy considering the high price you are already paying for the room. We stayed at Gaylord Palms for 1 night last December to see ICE prior to our Disney trip. The daily parking fee and resort fees added an extra $30+ dollars to our already pricey room!