Paid parking is coming to WDW resorts March 2018

[captain america 2003]

Emails sent

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I told them that Disney used to be the leader and not the follower, and it was frustrating that we spend so much money at their resorts and they still follow other resorts. She was polite, but I didn’t get the impression anything would be done.

Boom.

I emailed Chapek's office but didn't include my phone number because I have no desire to be told that they don't value my business or opinion.

 

[JaxDad]

I just spent two weeks at the Yacht Club and many times came back to the resort to a full lot and had to park way over by the convention center. Not cool considering how much this place costs. If they plan on charging me for parking, they better make sure that I have a spot every time I return. I will refuse to pay otherwise.

Hmmm...I see another opportunity for an additional fee. Reserved parking! Pay an extra $5 and you can park closer to your resort.

 

[Aron1012]

I am sure they had a meeting about this a few days ago and they all have been prepared for the emails and outcry. Nothing will change until they feel the pain from it.

Maybe, but maybe not. In my profession we have a lobbying group that works with both state and federal legislators to make sure the laws written or amended are reasonable. In one instance a legislator had proposed something that was poorly thought out. They asked us to send letters to him. Few days later the legislator calls our group and asks them to call off the dogs he would reconsider. They asked how many letters he got and the answer was....10.

That's an extreme example but everyone has a perception. If the people in his department perceive that lots of WDW customers are upset about this it might change the thought process. They may not change course here but it might alter the next decision.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

For years I have dreamed of retiring to the Orlando area so I can visit fun, nice restaurants and beautiful resorts daily. That will not happen with a parking fee at every resort. I will have to set my sights (and my funds) on a new dream.

Mr. Chapek, I have fallen in love with Disney specifically BECAUSE it is not like other places. You seem to be working hard to make it exactly like every other place. Why on earth would you do that? Set it apart from others. Don’t follow others’ lead.

My Disney dream is dying before my eyes.

You can visit all the resorts you want as long as you don't stay overnight.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Boom.

I emailed Chapek's office but didn't include my phone number because I have no desire to be told that they don't value my business or opinion.

I didn't include my number either...they called anyway.

 

[Scifidiner]

For years I have dreamed of retiring to the Orlando area so I can visit fun, nice restaurants and beautiful resorts daily. That will not happen with a parking fee at every resort. I will have to set my sights (and my funds) on a new dream.

Mr. Chapek, I have fallen in love with Disney specifically BECAUSE it is not like other places. You seem to be working hard to make it exactly like every other place. Why on earth would you do that? Set it apart from others. Don’t follow others’ lead.

My Disney dream is dying before my eyes.

exactly.

We will hopefully retire in about 10 years if everything goes as planned. We've actually set up our retirement to include traveling several times a year. We planned on going to WDW once a year as one of our trips. However, if prices continue to increase at their current rate we may reevaluate that. We should be able to afford trips to WDW, but will we still want to?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I totally understand that argument, and not to beat a dead horse, but just as an example: I looked up hotels in the Times Square area in New York (my local city). The Marriott Marquis, $297 for the night I'm looking at, has valet parking (hotels in the area with onsite parking are valet only) for $90/night. The Courtyard by Marriott, 6 blocks away (further from 'the action'), $195/night, charges $52/night for valet. My point is, with so many arguing that charging for parking is perfectly normal, fees do vary based on the quality of the hotel and its location. The experience your car is getting? Is exactly the same. If you're going to argue that charging for parking is standard practice, you can't also expect hotels of different classes to pay the same rates for said parking.

(ETA info)

That's true - though the plot of land the garage is on in NYC would cost more (and the rent would be higher) depending on location which is not true for the different location in WDW

Like I said, I can see arguments both ways but am not surprised they did it the way they did

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Boom.

I emailed Chapek's office but didn't include my phone number because I have no desire to be told that they don't value my business or opinion.

seriously, I get to hear that from my wife every day! Hi-yo!

 

[Turn the Page]

Windsor Hills frequently has 2 -3 bedroom condos for $450 a week. They are a 4-5 minute drive to the park, in fact they're faster than using Disney transportation most of the time. Compare that to an average of $900 for a week in a tiny overpriced value resort room. Even if you spend $ 110 in parking for 5 days at the park, you're still saving $340. And then of course the really big savings, comes in with the savings on food. There are tonnes of condo resorts in the area that are significantly less expensive than Disney.

Sure but if you have to rent a car for the week when you otherwise wouldn't have that really cuts into the $350 savings also. I agree, the really big savings come in on food if you can have things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks in the room which you can do in a value room now since they all have mini fridges. It ends up coming down to what you want more, space or convenience.

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Boom.

I emailed Chapek's office but didn't include my phone number because I have no desire to be told that they don't value my business or opinion.

I didn't include my number but they still called me..

They must have used my email address to find my disney experience account

 

[Skippyboo]

Sure but if you have to rent a car for the week when you otherwise wouldn't have that really cuts into the $350 savings also. I agree, the really big savings come in on food if you can have things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks in the room which you can do in a value room now since they all have mini fridges. It ends up coming down to what you want more, space or convenience.

Not if you live in the Southeast or East Coast and can drive to the parks. No need for rental car.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

You can visit all the resorts you want as long as you don't stay overnight.

Is it clear that they intend to implement this only for overnight guests?

So one can eat at an on property restaurant and not pay anything for parking, yet one who is spending much more to be there overnight does have to pay?

I’d be surprised if they do it that way, but if they do, it would be an additional incentive to stay off property when we visit for a week and drive to the resorts to enjoy the resort amenities (except the pools, of course).

 

[ITALIANNYC]

Is it clear that they intend to implement this only for overnight guests?

So one can eat at an on property restaurant and not pay anything for parking, yet one who is spending much more to be there overnight does have to pay?

I’d be surprised if they do it that way, but if they do, it would be an additional incentive to stay off property when we visit for a week and drive to the resorts to enjoy the resort amenities (except the pools, of course).

I see this as bus lanes on streets. We cant drive in them, but they can come into our lane anytime...

 

[tlmadden73]

Certainly get that angle - the flip side is the concrete isn't any better at the Deluxe's, the cars aren't covered/in the shade so why should it cost more? The rooms at the deluxe's cost more because they are larger, the amenities are nice, better location, etc. but there is no difference to the parking spot
Not saying one side is right and the other is wrong, just two sides to the argument (looks like Disney split the different by having tiering but not varying it all that much)

Agree
By this logic (if you are staying at a Deluxe you can afford more) .. shouldn't the Disney Dining Plan cost more if you are staying at a Deluxe? Shouldn't ticket prices cost more if you are staying at a Deluxe? I mean . .they can afford it, right?

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

Is it clear that they intend to implement this only for overnight guests?

So one can eat at an on property restaurant and not pay anything for parking, yet one who is spending much more to be there overnight does have to pay?

I’d be surprised if they do it that way, but if they do, it would be an additional incentive to stay off property when we visit for a week and drive to the resorts to enjoy the resort amenities (except the pools, of course).

That is the way that the new policy reads. Overnight parking fee was fairly specific.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Is it clear that they intend to implement this only for overnight guests?

So one can eat at an on property restaurant and not pay anything for parking, yet one who is spending much more to be there overnight does have to pay?

I’d be surprised if they do it that way, but if they do, it would be an additional incentive to stay off property when we visit for a week and drive to the resorts to enjoy the resort amenities (except the pools, of course).

Yes, it says that complimentary self-parking is available for guests dining, shopping, etc at resorts.

 

[runwad]

Anyways, will be interesting to see the many work-arounds people come up with, and how Disney responds.

Well you won't read about it here, this board doesn't allow discussion on work arounds that circumvent Disney's policies

 

[Mac30188]

More than anything this just makes me sad. It just seems seedy for some reason. You are getting absolutely nothing more for the additional cost. You are now paying more for something that was free last month.

I do think there is an interesting human behavior about value in the outcry. Disney has raised the cost of many things periodically for years and people generally are ok with it, however the charging for something that was previously free drives them crazy. If you had taken the same $24 a day and tacked on to Poly / GF / Yacht club room rates, no one would have even noticed or cared, but by calling it a parking charge, it is an outrage.

I believe the lesson is people do not put any value on something given to them for free. Person A stands inline for 4 hours and drops $200 on a concert ticket, they will move heaven and earth to make the concert. If for some reason they can't make it and hand the same ticket to Person B for free, they may or may not make the concert. It is still the same event, but since person B received the ticket for free, they really don't value it as like the person who made the value/cost decision to buy it.

We had a slightly different problem at a company I previously worked. Upon our companies inception, leadership made a poor decision to give a key service for free to their initial customers. Over time, the cost of providing that service became severe, the company started to lose money, and people were losing their jobs. The company was in danger of going under do to the poor business model. Eventually they changed and told the customers that we were going to have to charge for this service that they had been getting for free for years. Customers nearly lost their minds. They just didn't see they were getting any value for this new charge, because this service had been provided to them for free for years. We even showed them that our rates were going to be lower than all our competitors and it was not gouging the consumer, but they still were seriously considering going to a competitor to pay more for the same service. In their mind, the competitor's service had to provide more value because our competitors had always charged for it where ours had always been free.

 

[jlwhitney]

Yes, it says that complimentary self-parking is available for guests dining, shopping, etc at resorts.

They need to define overnight as any car staying longer than 3 hours. 3 hours is long enough to eat your meal and walk around. There isn't that much to do at resorts if you aren't staying there.