Paid parking is coming to WDW resorts March 2018

[jade1]

DD got free valet at S&D this week, but validation was at Shula's.

Not sure what S&D would consider the "minimum" for validation though.

 

[Doug M]

Shame on Disney, for making a profit? Really? Of course they are trying to make a profit, just like every other company. No one says "shame on Microsoft" or "shame on Apple"....why is Disney any different?

I think people are upset with the underhanded tactics like reducing staff levels to make timeframes appear to be "peak" and then charging more because its "busy" or other cost cutting measures to justify increases in pricing. We are getting less for much more.

They also throw out "industry standard" lines while protraying themselves as leaders in other campaigns.

 

[Arielfan98]

Shame on Disney, for making a profit? Really? Of course they are trying to make a profit, just like every other company. No one says "shame on Microsoft" or "shame on Apple"....why is Disney any different?

I also want to say shame on Disney for not being as discrete. They knew what they were doing. They're not stupid. They could have raised resort prices if they wanted to be "sneaky" about it. But no, they chose to bring out their "Scrooge" side. Not to mention as others have stated, the quality is going down. Also, I don't know too many people that can possibly live their lives without some sort of technology from Microsoft/Apple. At least with Disney it is a luxury, it is a vacation and we can live without it. I will take my money elsewhere.

 

[ifitzger]

Shame on Disney, for making a profit? Really? Of course they are trying to make a profit, just like every other company. No one says "shame on Microsoft" or "shame on Apple"....why is Disney any different?

Believe me...I run my current iPhone model into the ground...yes I give in and get a new phone, but I always go well over 2 years

 

[Lee Matthews]

Imagine if they turned around next D23 and announced a 5th gate and that was the reason for all the price hikes. It won’t happen but I bet all would be forgiven

 

[kiki02]

If you haven't watched Tuesday's DIS unplugged podcast on this subject, please do. Pete makes the case for families like mine who drive, and Ryno goes even further, bringing everyone to tears. It made me feel better knowing there are others who are not just angry about this, but sad about the direction Disney is going. I am not ready to let go completely, but I know that unless WDW dedicates itself to the quality experience it once was, my future trips are going to be planned with the rose-colored glasses off.

can you link it here? thanks

 

[mom2rtk]

Believe me...I run my current iPhone model into the ground...yes I give in and get a new phone, but I always go well over 2 years

Ours are just getting broken in after 2 years.

 

[pooh'smate]

can you link it here? thanks

 

[dreiwhit]

I questioned renewing my AP this past year. It may not get renewed again. Disney is losing the magical feel that guests used to experience and I think Walt would not be happy with that. Neither am I

My wife told me last night that she really wanted to start planning another Disney trip for next year.

I told her no. Our last Disney vacation wasn't relaxing and enjoyable to me. The parks were way too crowded to have a good time. To be honest, I had a better day on the one day that we didn't go to the parks and did other activities. I really don't want to go back anytime soon.

I don't begrudge Disney for wanting to make money. I do begrudge them for looking at my family and me as walking ATMs.

We've made three trips in the last two years. I can honestly see how the quality, the experience and perceived value has gone down from our first trip to the last trip. The whole while the costs have gone up.

As I said earlier in this thread, my 10 year old daughter told me, without me saying anything to her, "Disney used to be magical. Now its an overcrowded amusement park." Its pretty bad when a 10 year old, Disney loving, little girl says that.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I don't begrudge Disney for wanting to make money. I do begrudge them for looking at my family and me as walking ATMs.

It IS so sad that your little girl has the perspective of WDW that it used to be magical, but is now just an overcrowded theme park. As far as feeling like a walking ATM, I'm VERY concerned about them combining the retail aspect with the theme parks as discussed on the DIS podcast. It makes me question, how "in your face" will the selling be? IMO that could change the entire experience. Like they said, we ain't seen nothing yet. We certainly do not want to feel hasseled or hustled when visiting WDW. I really hope the Walmart-ization of WDW is not going to happen. I guess we'll see...but I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[danikoski]

Interestingly I was looking at dates in October, November (including Thanksgiving week), and early December. These dates, according to folks over on the resorts board and previous searches I've done, have been pretty booked up. As of yesterday, they weren't anymore. There were lots of rooms available, even over Thanksgiving. I don't know if it's because of the parking, or Disney released some more rooms, but I did find it interesting.

 

[zillayen]

Interestingly I was looking at dates in October, November (including Thanksgiving week), and early December. These dates, according to folks over on the resorts board and previous searches I've done, have been pretty booked up. As of yesterday, they weren't anymore. There were lots of rooms available, even over Thanksgiving. I don't know if it's because of the parking, or Disney released some more rooms, but I did find it interesting.

Maybe people switched around after they released discounts? Moving up to a preferred room or canceling if there wasn't a good discount offered?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Maybe people switched around after they released discounts? Moving up to a preferred room or canceling if there wasn't a good discount offered?

There aren't any discounts released (yet if they still do the discounts at all) for the time period the PP is mentioning.

The latest date right now is a summer offer that is through travel dates of 8/30/18 and that's for packages only. If you want room only it's through travel dates of 8/1/18. Those are at least the discounts available to the general public. There could be PIN codes or TA discounts for later than that.

There could be other things going on those for rooms to be available for the time period the PP is speaking of though but I am just responding to the 'discounts released' aspect.

 

[Rich M]

My wife told me last night that she really wanted to start planning another Disney trip for next year.

I told her no. Our last Disney vacation wasn't relaxing and enjoyable to me. The parks were way too crowded to have a good time. To be honest, I had a better day on the one day that we didn't go to the parks and did other activities. I really don't want to go back anytime soon.

I don't begrudge Disney for wanting to make money. I do begrudge them for looking at my family and me as walking ATMs.

We've made three trips in the last two years. I can honestly see how the quality, the experience and perceived value has gone down from our first trip to the last trip. The whole while the costs have gone up.

As I said earlier in this thread, my 10 year old daughter told me, without me saying anything to her, "Disney used to be magical. Now its an overcrowded amusement park." Its pretty bad when a 10 year old, Disney loving, little girl says that.

I agree with everything you said but just to play a little devil's advocate would you like to see Disney close to a certain capacity to make it less crowded? Would you rather see them price out some of the population in order to make it less crowded? Although right now there is so much construction and one park that looks miserable we all know there is a lot of exciting new things coming and they take time. Everyone is looking forward to SW and the new resorts and the new rides in Epcot and my favorite thing I am looking forward to is the Tron ride coming to Magic Kingdom so when all is said and done do we really see it getting less crowded at all. As I suspect it won't so what does Disney do to keep the magic and make everyones experience like that and not turn away everyone who wants to come and enjoy it?

 

[zillayen]

There aren't any discounts released (yet if they still do the discounts at all) for the time period the PP is mentioning.

The latest date right now is a summer offer that is through travel dates of 8/30/18 and that's for packages only. If you want room only it's through travel dates of 8/1/18. Those are at least the discounts available to the general public. There could be PIN codes or TA discounts for later than that.

There could be other things going on those for rooms to be available for the time period the PP is speaking of though but I am just responding to the 'discounts released' aspect.

Oh, whoops Missed the dates, thanks for the info!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree with everything you said but just to play a little devil's advocate would you like to see Disney close to a certain capacity to make it less crowded? Would you rather see them price out some of the population in order to make it less crowded? Although right now there is so much construction and one park that looks miserable we all know there is a lot of exciting new things coming and they take time. Everyone is looking forward to SW and the new resorts and the new rides in Epcot and my favorite thing I am looking forward to is the Tron ride coming to Magic Kingdom so when all is said and done do we really see it getting less crowded at all. As I suspect it won't so what does Disney do to keep the magic and make everyones experience like that and not turn away everyone who wants to come and enjoy it?

TBH part of what Disney can do is increase the space within the parks. Add more attractions (not close something down and replace it with something else) and areas to move and shift where clogged up areas become an issue.

Many people have reported (and in my experience as well) Pandora has made AK so much easier to be in. EE doesn't have the long waits anymore. Now yes many people funnel straight towards Pandora but it alleviated the stress of the other parts of AK and Pandora acts like a contained area to house people in. AK is however unique in that it's the largest,by far, of all the parks.

MK is just a tight park. It has the most I *believe* of attractions smushed into 107 acres. Now MK does have roads around it so those would have to be reconfigured should a larger expansion be done but still there is some land available for expansion:


Now adding more things can def increase the amount of visitors to the park so it is a double-edged sword but on the same token if done correctly additional 'lands' can spread out the crowds giving breathing room. People can easily 'feel' crowded just due to park layout.

Epcot is more space confined due to the parking lot and the other resorts right in that area but there is still room for actual expansion including Future World. It would require moving around of non-guest buildings and whatnot so feasibility-wise it's not as easy. World Showcase has a few extra spots for pavillions but the design of World Showcase (meaning the walkway that makes a circle around a body of water) means that there's not a whole lot that can be done to spread out more.

DHS doesn't have too much room for expansion but Disney is making due with Toy Story Land and Star Wars land however due to the design of DHS and the walk-ways, etc I'm not too sure the overall feel of the park will be enhanced from a crowd, spread out feel standpoint. I think a lot of that is going to depend realistically how long people will spend in Toy Story Land or Star Wars land to alleviate pressure on the other part of the park because there is quite an anticipation of increased number of visitors to DHS for the new lands.

Pricing structure and closing due to capacity are methods too but not the only methods; they are probably the least effort methods from a company standpoint. Obviously the above from Disney's point of view is an investment with financial costs but it is something Disney can do even if the possibility of them doing it is low and it's more of a dream.

 

[OSUZorba]

I agree with everything you said but just to play a little devil's advocate would you like to see Disney close to a certain capacity to make it less crowded? Would you rather see them price out some of the population in order to make it less crowded? Although right now there is so much construction and one park that looks miserable we all know there is a lot of exciting new things coming and they take time. Everyone is looking forward to SW and the new resorts and the new rides in Epcot and my favorite thing I am looking forward to is the Tron ride coming to Magic Kingdom so when all is said and done do we really see it getting less crowded at all. As I suspect it won't so what does Disney do to keep the magic and make everyones experience like that and not turn away everyone who wants to come and enjoy it?

I'd rather them add attractions instead of just replacing them, like every other park does. I'd also like for them to stop manufacturing lines by reducing staff levels on less busy days, making the parks feel busier than they are.

 

[Arielfan98]

I agree with everything you said but just to play a little devil's advocate would you like to see Disney close to a certain capacity to make it less crowded? Would you rather see them price out some of the population in order to make it less crowded? Although right now there is so much construction and one park that looks miserable we all know there is a lot of exciting new things coming and they take time. Everyone is looking forward to SW and the new resorts and the new rides in Epcot and my favorite thing I am looking forward to is the Tron ride coming to Magic Kingdom so when all is said and done do we really see it getting less crowded at all. As I suspect it won't so what does Disney do to keep the magic and make everyones experience like that and not turn away everyone who wants to come and enjoy it?

1. I just accept the fact Disney will always be crowded regardless. Sure it's annoying, but it's reality.
2. If you play your cards right and are a Disney veteran, you know how to get the most out of your vacation (FP, EMH, special tours, etc.). Not to mention going at least once a year allows room to do one thing during 1 trip and then do something else another trip.
3. If Disney wants to make an attempt at crowd control I would much prefer they raise ticket prices. Also, right now isn't the best time to evaluate crowds considering a lot of stuff is under construction, making the parks more congested in certain places.

 

[DisFanDad]

Shame on Disney, for making a profit? Really? Of course they are trying to make a profit, just like every other company. No one says "shame on Microsoft" or "shame on Apple"....why is Disney any different?

Sure they do, lots of people do. There is a difference between a healthy profit and greed. It's not a complicated nuance to understand. You can make a healthy profit and still offer a product that is accessible to a larger portion of the population. You can make a healthy profit and pay your workers a living wage. You can make a healthy profit and not squeeze every penny out of your customers that you possibly can. Not doing so is a choice, not a necessity. The world would be a whole lot better place if MORE people felt like this, complained and acted on those complaints regarding corporate greed.

 

[DisFanDad]

I agree with everything you said but just to play a little devil's advocate would you like to see Disney close to a certain capacity to make it less crowded? Would you rather see them price out some of the population in order to make it less crowded? Although right now there is so much construction and one park that looks miserable we all know there is a lot of exciting new things coming and they take time. Everyone is looking forward to SW and the new resorts and the new rides in Epcot and my favorite thing I am looking forward to is the Tron ride coming to Magic Kingdom so when all is said and done do we really see it getting less crowded at all. As I suspect it won't so what does Disney do to keep the magic and make everyones experience like that and not turn away everyone who wants to come and enjoy it?

In short - add capacity. Much of what they have done in recent years (and what they are doing now) doesn't add capacity. It replaces other rides with new rides.

Also, as noted, run your rides at full capacity regardless of the season. They are purposely understaffing and reducing ride capacity during slower times of year to make it SEEM like the parks are just as crowded, and indeed it jacks up the wait times on the rides.