Free Water Park for 2025 Stays

[sethschroeder]

Think this is directly related to Universal nothing else.

Likely more coming this is just the first thing that was approved fully.

 

[LAX]

I wonder if this offer would entice more people to do split stays.

LAX

 

[TCRAIG]

So....people will spend more money during a day at Blizzard Beach than at the resort itself or....a shopping and dining district? You must buy a lot more towels and sand buckets than we do.


Rooms already don't have to be ready until 4pm. Housekeeping staff works 8-5 schedules per the CBA, with incentives to leave early if their assigned rooms are completed. This will undoubtedly reduce requests for early room access, but it doesn't change the staffing needs to prep the rooms.


This is such a cynically bonkers take. People complain that Disney doesn't offer enough on-site perks. And then when they announce a pretty dramatic new perk, so much effort goes into looking for ways to undermine it.

As they say in S.C. - “Don’t confuse me with the facts, I done already made up my mind”.

 

[Bearval]

Not sure this will get used much… are there many people who like to get off a plane and go straight to a water park?

This will be a perk that I will have no use of. We drive down from PA, leave at 2am and arrive at 8pm.

 

[Bearval]

You are posting on a DVC board. Rooms are promised by 4 PM…. waits are sometimes later. Cleaning a villa with a full kitchen is not the same as cleaning a hotel room.

While I don’t see myself using this on my “fly in” day, I can well imagine families who would welcome the opportunity. As an AP holder heading into a park the day I’m changing resorts on a split stay isn’t costing me any extra. But I definitely would consider a WP as an alternative.

Cut and pasted this from the Disney web site. DVC rooms are not promised by 4pm, they are promised by after 4pm which could mean in an extreme case 8pm.

Q: What time is Check-In and Check-Out at Disney Vacation Club Resorts?
A. Check-In is after 4:00 PM (please notify Member Services if you're planning a late arrival), and Check-Out is by 11:00 AM.

 

[Bearval]

Did you even bother to appreciate it for 5 minutes first, or just immediately look for ways to spin a nice new perk into a failure on Disney's part?

To be honest with you, this might just be exactly that. When people complain their room is not ready yet (especially if they arrive way before 4pm ) the CM can now say " we can give you free water park passes while you wait and we will text you when you room is ready". I am sure they are getting tired of giving out "free" genie passes or meals when guests rooms are not ready until 6 to 8 pm or later. I was the recipient of both once when room was not available until close to 9pm. (The reason I was given for the room being so late was they had to fix a door)

 

[Bearval]

Two of the top three points from this internal meeting were likely involving off setting the ability of housekeepings ability to get work done on time and the ability to generate more revenue at the waterparks.

I am not so sure they were thinking about getting more revenue from the water parks with this. I think they were looking for ways to get housekeeping more time to turn over the rooms without costing more money by hiring more staff even if they could. The water parks are usually not overly crowded and most guests wouldn't buy a ticket for them on arrival day even if they planned on going there during their vacation. So giving free water park passes on day of arrival is most likely not costing Disney any lost revenue.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

So....people will spend more money during a day at Blizzard Beach than at the resort itself or....a shopping and dining district? You must buy a lot more towels and sand buckets than we do.


Rooms already don't have to be ready until 4pm. Housekeeping staff works 8-5 schedules per the CBA, with incentives to leave early if their assigned rooms are completed. This will undoubtedly reduce requests for early room access, but it doesn't change the staffing needs to prep the rooms.


This is such a cynically bonkers take. People complain that Disney doesn't offer enough on-site perks. And then when they announce a pretty dramatic new perk, so much effort goes into looking for ways to undermine it.

You can't pick early arrival times any more its just before 4pm or after 4pm. Most people will likely still say before 4pm if getting to the area early and going to a water park. I really don't think the water park thing has anything to do on housekeeping.

 

[Debbie Jean]

To be honest with you, this might just be exactly that. When people complain their room is not ready yet (especially if they arrive way before 4pm ) the CM can now say " we can give you free water park passes while you wait and we will text you when you room is ready". I am sure they are getting tired of giving out "free" genie passes or meals when guests rooms are not ready until 6 to 8 pm or later. I was the recipient of both once when room was not available until close to 9pm. (The reason I was given for the room being so late was they had to fix a door)

Well shoot! I’ve been missing the boat on this for sure… in the 20 years I’ve been a member I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve waited long after 4 for my room to ready. I’ve pitched a couple of not so nice fits at CM’s who probably couldn’t do anything but it never occurred to me to ask for stuff! LOL

 

[Mle8308]

Many of the stores and restaurants in Disney Springs are not owned by Disney. Disney may receive rental fees from them but not share in their profits.


Rooms must be ready at 3pm, not 4pm at non-DVC. If the housekeeping CBA states they can leave when their rooms are clean, why would Disney not reduce the size of their staff to cut costs when they renegotiate their contracts to clean the same amount of rooms? No need to have extra employees leaving early when rooms do not need to be ready until 3pm.

I am being realistic, not bonkers. I agree this is a great perk, which I will take advantage of. Nothing in the world of business is a free perk. There is always a motive that is to Disney's advantage. Disney makes decisions that will benefit their brand.

Because the CBA also limits how many rooms a housekeeper can clean, dependent on whether its a stayover or a checkout. They use a point system and there is a max a housekeeper can reach unless they volunteer to do more. I do not see the union agreeing to a higher number of points, it's a lot as it is (depending on the resort, it can be up to 18 rooms in one regular shift).

 

[Simba's Mom]

I wonder if this offer would entice more people to do split stays.

LAX

Assuming the perk applied, it would sure entice me to do split stays more!

 

[Bearval]

Well shoot! I’ve been missing the boat on this for sure… in the 20 years I’ve been a member I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve waited long after 4 for my room to ready. I’ve pitched a couple of not so nice fits at CM’s who probably couldn’t do anything but it never occurred to me to ask for stuff! LOL

I never asked for anything but I am sure my cranky and crying daughters helped.

 

[pinkxray]

I think this is a great perk. We are traveling during spring break. Our flight arrives at 8am on Friday. We are only staying at a value one night bc we move to Bay Lake Tower for the rest of the week. I wish this was available now bc we will be homeless most of Friday and again Sat.

I do hope they finally have both water parks open at the same time. I’ve never made it to Typhoon Lagoon yet.

Right now, we have plans to go to Aquatica at least one day since it is included in our Seaworld tickets.

 

[zavandor]

Cut and pasted this from the Disney web site. DVC rooms are not promised by 4pm, they are promised by after 4pm which could mean in an extreme case 8pm.

Q: What time is Check-In and Check-Out at Disney Vacation Club Resorts?
A. Check-In is after 4:00 PM (please notify Member Services if you're planning a late arrival), and Check-Out is by 11:00 AM.

No.
If checking is after 4pm, then at 4 and one second I expect to be able to check in. It doesn't say "rooms could be ready anytime after 4pm", but that "check in can happen anytime after 4pm".
If your interpretation is correct, then every DVC room could be ready at 11:59pm. That's not how it works. It means that the expectation and the goal is to have rooms ready at 4pm, like hotel rooms should be ready at 3pm. And in both cases, an issue might cause a delay, but it should be an exception, not the rule.

It was very sneaky of Disney to add the "after" some year ago, because officially they can say they haven't changed anything, while being ambiguous enough that some people will accept any delay. But it's a trick, we should keep DVC up to the standard of having the vast majority of rooms ready by 4pm and not accept anything just because of a sneaky word added to the website.
And to be honest, I do think the vast majority of rooms are ready by 4pm, otherwise these forums would be in flame with people complaining.

 

[jade1]

As a local AP and DVC, we occasionally grab a DVC room for an escape.

This will be perfect for when our Grandson (or anybody) visits, as long as its a smaller group of course. I think a lot of studios now allow 5, even though we wouldn't all stay the night. He would love a water park we would probably otherwise never pay for.

Of course we get plenty of Park visits so we can do that the next day and the rest of the week, so this will be a fun change up, at no extra charge.

 

[Bearval]

No.
If checking is after 4pm, then at 4 and one second I expect to be able to check in. It doesn't say "rooms could be ready anytime after 4pm", but that "check in can happen anytime after 4pm".
If your interpretation is correct, then every DVC room could be ready at 11:59pm. That's not how it works. It means that the expectation and the goal is to have rooms ready at 4pm, like hotel rooms should be ready at 3pm. And in both cases, an issue might cause a delay, but it should be an exception, not the rule.

It was very sneaky of Disney to add the "after" some year ago, because officially they can say they haven't changed anything, while being ambiguous enough that some people will accept any delay. But it's a trick, we should keep DVC up to the standard of having the vast majority of rooms ready by 4pm and not accept anything just because of a sneaky word added to the website.
And to be honest, I do think the vast majority of rooms are ready by 4pm, otherwise these forums would be in flame with people complaining.

I do agree with you that the room should be ready at 4pm, however I have been told by a CM on more than one occasion when the room wasn't available right after 4pm ( I gave them until like 4:30pm before i went up and asked) that check in is "sometime" after 4pm and that my room should be ready soon.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We would take advantage of this perk for sure. One reason we DON'T go the water parks is because we literally NEVER stay at one for an entire day, and paying full price is a waste of money. At best, maybe 3 or 4 hours. So, for us, we'd be more inclined to take advantage of the water park for a couple of hours on arrival day, knowing it isn't costing us anything.

 

[BarlowFamily]

I sure hope all of you saying this is a perk very few will take advantage of are right. Our family loves the waterparks. We buy park hopper plus tickets and already like to go to a water park on check-in day and between split stays. It's nice because there is no rush to "rope drop" and can be a relaxing day in the lazy river or more high speed on the water coasters. I think it's a great way to increase attendance at the underutilized waterparks while decreasing stress to have rooms ready early. A great business decision imo.

 

[zavandor]

I do agree with you that the room should be ready at 4pm, however I have been told by a CM on more than one occasion when the room wasn't available right after 4pm ( I gave them until like 4:30pm before i went up and asked) that check in is "sometime" after 4pm and that my room should be ready soon.

Please push back against this. It's nonsense.
What would happen if DVC changes the website into "check in is sometime before midnight"? Pitchforks would be drawn! Because that would be the real meaning of that interpretation.

 

[Sandisw]

I do agree with you that the room should be ready at 4pm, however I have been told by a CM on more than one occasion when the room wasn't available right after 4pm ( I gave them until like 4:30pm before i went up and asked) that check in is "sometime" after 4pm and that my room should be ready soon.

I have given them a little leeway as well, but if my room is not ready by 4:20 to 4:30 pm, then I have spoken to a manager and in all cases, they have granted me something small.

One time, we didn't get our room until close to 5:30 pm at BLT...had dinner reservations for 7 around 6:00 pm...we didn't have time to shower and get ready and so the manager gave use a $250 room credit to cover the bulk of that meal.

While things can happen, we also need to make sure they know we, as owners, expect them to have things ready and if they can't, then a gesture of goodwill should happen.

We have been very fortunate and that 95% of the time, we have been ready much earlier...but IMO, after 4:30 pm is not okay for anyone who has arrived, especially when there are plenty of guests who don't arrive until much later....

But, we are getting off topic from the thread...so let's try to go back to this new benefit!