And The Beat Goes On!

[mom2rtk]

So a room with 9 people would only pay $15.00 the same cost as a room with 2? That seems odd.

I agree. If it's about using up resort resources (MBs, EMH admission, seats on ME) then it really should be per person.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just can't keep up! We all know they will do (and are doing) JUST FINE without these fees. Please send me the survey to take Disney, I will be thrilled to give my opinion (as if it matters)!!

And if the survey says "Would you rather pay a flat resort fee or pay a al carte?"

That's the Disney equivalent of "How long have you been beating your wife?"

 

[Livvie]

I can't really think of any reason why DVC members wouldn't also pay for the magic bands, FP, bus services, or magic bands.

I do think the cost of wifi has been absorbed by maintenance fees though. So that would be a difficult sell.

Yes, I don't see DVC being exempt. There are plenty of timeshares that have resort fees.

 

[sunshine1]

I have always paid a resort fee at offsite hotels when i went to WDW.

As i couldnt afford to stay onsite up until last year i always stayed offsite.

I didnt realise the onsite hotels didnt do this. Not saying it is right that hotels charge this fee though.

 

[Jennasis]

We have no kids so we don't use kids activities.

We drive so we don't use ME.

Our phones have enough data that using the wifi isn't necessary.

We have magic bands from previous trips so don't need new ones, or we could just insist on being given a card instead.

So why do we have to pay the resort fee?

 

[Mikie]

"A standard room in a value resort such as Disney's All Star Movies Resort or Disney's Pop Century Resort with an average nightly rate of $120

Includes:

Unparalleled Guest service
Close proximity to the theme parks
Transportation to and from the parks
Online check-in
Complimentary WiFi

Optional add-ons:

$5 per person for a Magic Band
$20 per person, round trip, for Disney's Magical Express
$15 per night, per car, for resort parking
$20 per room, per length of stay, for priority Disney Fast Pass+ planning (up to 60 days prior to arrival)
$10 per room, per length of stay, for Extra Magic Hours."

. . . .

Now can't you just imagine Disney asking folks if they would rather pay a la carte prices for certain services or just pay an across the board nightly resort fee? What do you think folks will choose? Therefore, Disney CAN claim that their guests PREFER to have a resort fee added to their stay!

Thanks for sharing this version. I had said in a prior post how much this fee highlights that it's ridiculous to spend $XX overpriced rare on Disney hotels,when there are no "included magical extras". For my trip at Pop in fall 2014, rack rates were $138, fall 15% discount meant we paid $117. Paying these fees (depending on your choice of DME or a parking fee) would raise your total per night on a one-week trip back up to $139-150 for a family of four. Definitely highlighting the ridiculous! However, this is definitely an underhanded way to sneak in that total bill, as people will compare base fees to other options, possibly not knowing the features they're NOT getting, until some later screen where they have to choose these extras.

You're right, they can play with this survey so that it appears that guests prefer a $15 per night resort fee (over nickel-and-dime fees totaling $130-$150 depending on length of stay). Ugly.

 

[Minnesota!]

My kids wanted to play our standard "Disney Trivia" last night at dinner. I told them no, I am disenchanted with Disney and it was time we started learning about Universal. They were all for it. Score one for mom. C-ya WDW.

 

[cabanafrau]

Sorry for not answering this....

If you think about it, the only reason a hotel would EVER institute resort fees is to increase their revenues while advertising room rates that don't include that in the initial quote. All the things they say the fees pay for, WiFi, cable, pool towels, what have you, are hotel amenities. WiFi in particular has had a history of being surcharged for those who want to use it, but the rest of them are pretty standard hotel amenities. Their costs go in the Other Expenses block on the profit & loss statement. Traditionally, hotel revenues stood alone as the revenue line on a rooms division P&L. It makes perfect sense, to generate this much revenue, you need to spend X on housekeeping, Y on maintenance, Z on Front Desk and other service staff, A on the cable bill, B on pool amenities, C on toiletries, etc. Now, they are charging the guests separately for some of these costs, but if you look at the P&L, the expenses are in exactly the same place, and the Resort Fee Revenue is on a line right below Room Revenue in the Revenue block.

If you are on Travelocity, and you see a room rate for $115, you like it and book it. By the time you get to the screen that informs you that you will pay a $25 resort fee, you are already invested in the buy decision. If it listed for $140, you may have passed by and kept looking. The contrast is even starker in Las Vegas during slow season, when a $49 room special is actually running $74, 51% higher than the rate you think you are booking when you first click.

And one other supportive note: It has been mentioned that Las Vegas resorts now charge Resort fees. This is largely true. However, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas does NOT charge a resort fee, or at least did not when I worked there. The reason was strategic....The Cosmo wanted to position itself as the HIGHEST average room rate in the market to establish a sense of elite status to the property. So it wanted max room revenue in the revenue per room night calculation, even though a $165 Cosmo night and a $145+$25 MGM room night cost exactly the same to the guest.

Bear in mind, a $49 LV strip room special that runs $74 after resort fee is likely hands down a larger, plusher room by far than any offered at a WDW value, which based on pricing alone is the appropriate comparison. LV strip weekend prices are still a bargain compared to WDW resort prices with few exceptions -- with nicer overall rooms in LV.

 

[cabanafrau]

For the past ten years, Disney has been slowly adding costs "here and there." Slowly customer service has devolved. Disney room rates have always been over priced, but that was okay because you received exceptional service on everything. That is no longer the case. This corporate arrogance and greed needs to cease. Anyway, we have been going for the past twenty years, but we are no longer feeling valued as a Disney customer and will spend our hard earned money elsewhere. Hopefully, the corporate greed will cease when Iger leaves.......if he ever leaves.

Unfortunately I don't think it's as simple as a strategy flowing from the greed of one man. IMO the beast has developed an (voracious) appetite and will continue to forage and devour until the ecosystem is barren.

 

[Cotillard]

I saw something on twitter yesterday that leads me to believe this was a hoax/joke. I don't think it was a Disney survey. The tweet I saw has since been deleted but it did point to the fact that the avg cost of a room at Poly is more than $350.
I just looked and least expensive room at Poly is more like $500 (rack rate), and $450 at BWI (standard view rooms during Value season.)
I think we got Punk'd

 

[amg35]

My reaction to reading it went something like this:

What?!!!!??? That's ridiculous!!! How can they do this???...Ugh, I'll have to add a bit more to the budget...hmm, we can swing it...is it November 2017 yet?

Don't like an increase, for anything, but will still go next year. (as will many others, that's why Disney does it)

We've never been the go every year people, so these cuts/changes/increases don't "hurt" us as much as those of you who give a lot of money to Disney every year.

 

[tinkerbella16]

And if the survey says "Would you rather pay a flat resort fee or pay a al carte?"

That's the Disney equivalent of "How long have you been beating your wife?"

So frustrating. I cannot imagine this survey getting good results on their part. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[PghPixie]

I just completed the survey I received for my January trip. Despite the fact that I answered that I have an annual pass, have visited more than 20 times, use EMH, DME, and do advance planning, I was not kicked out of the survey. I stayed at All Star Sports, so the a la carte pricing was based on a stay at a value resort. The wording of some of the questions made me wonder if the prices would vary based on whether you were staying value, mod, or deluxe. I didn't do screen shots of the questions because I'm not computer savvy and wouldn't know how to incorporate them into my post, so I will just quote the main question about fees:

"A standard room in a value resort such as Disney's All Star Movies Resort or Disney's Pop Century Resort with an average nightly rate of $120

Includes:

Unparalleled Guest service
Close proximity to the theme parks
Transportation to and from the parks
Online check-in
Complimentary WiFi

Optional add-ons:

$5 per person for a Magic Band
$20 per person, round trip, for Disney's Magical Express
$15 per night, per car, for resort parking
$20 per room, per length of stay, for priority Disney Fast Pass+ planning (up to 60 days prior to arrival)
$10 per room, per length of stay, for Extra Magic Hours."


The question related to this information asked me if I would book a future stay at a value resort if these fees were implemented or if I would instead book a stay at a moderate resort, a deluxe resort, or if I would book offsite, or if I would not visit in the future.

I answered that I would not visit in the future.

Now can't you just imagine Disney asking folks if they would rather pay a la carte prices for certain services or just pay an across the board nightly resort fee? What do you think folks will choose? Therefore, Disney CAN claim that their guests PREFER to have a resort fee added to their stay!

I believe those are the same prices I was given and mine was based on a Deluxe resort stay. So it looks to be set prices across the board ... at least for now.

 

[mom2rtk]

So frustrating. I cannot imagine this survey getting good results on their part. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

It won't get good (as in sound) results. But it will likely get the results they were looking for.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I can't really think of any reason why DVC members wouldn't also pay for the magic bands, FP, bus services, etc.

I do think the cost of wifi has been absorbed by maintenance fees though. So that would be a difficult sell.

Any more difficult than the sell for other resorts? I don't think that Disney cares if it is a difficult sell. They already have the DVC owner's money. They can, and will, do what they think that can get away with.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We have no kids so we don't use kids activities.

We drive so we don't use ME.

Our phones have enough data that using the wifi isn't necessary.

We have magic bands from previous trips so don't need new ones, or we could just insist on being given a card instead.

So why do we have to pay the resort fee?

Guaranteed - they will charge per day to park a car on-site.

 

[TXStormtrooper]

We have no kids so we don't use kids activities.

We drive so we don't use ME.

Our phones have enough data that using the wifi isn't necessary.

We have magic bands from previous trips so don't need new ones, or we could just insist on being given a card instead.

So why do we have to pay the resort fee?

Assuming the photo of the survey is real, you'd be paying to use FP+. Well, at least to use it to schedule fast passes in advance.

 

[larryz]

I saw something on twitter yesterday that leads me to believe this was a hoax/joke. I don't think it was a Disney survey. The tweet I saw has since been deleted but it did point to the fact that the avg cost of a room at Poly is more than $350.
I just looked and least expensive room at Poly is more like $500 (rack rate), and $450 at BWI (standard view rooms during Value season.)
I think we got Punk'd

We've seen multiple threads from multiple posters talking about surveys they received from Disney after resort stays. I don't think this is a joke.

 

[PghPixie]

I saw something on twitter yesterday that leads me to believe this was a hoax/joke. I don't think it was a Disney survey. The tweet I saw has since been deleted but it did point to the fact that the avg cost of a room at Poly is more than $350.
I just looked and least expensive room at Poly is more like $500 (rack rate), and $450 at BWI (standard view rooms during Value season.)
I think we got Punk'd

I didn't receive the resort fee survey but I received the a la carte survey that summerlvr posted above. Unfortunately, not a hoax :-(

 

[Livvie]

I saw something on twitter yesterday that leads me to believe this was a hoax/joke. I don't think it was a Disney survey. The tweet I saw has since been deleted but it did point to the fact that the avg cost of a room at Poly is more than $350.
I just looked and least expensive room at Poly is more like $500 (rack rate), and $450 at BWI (standard view rooms during Value season.)
I think we got Punk'd

Too many others have reported getting a similar survey for it to be a joke.