What will be your breaking point? Resort fees?

[SteveH]

They lost me with the resort parking fees.

This isn't directed at the OP, but I looked at the parking fee is a bit of a hope that Disney might just see a measurable drop in attendance at the resorts or the parks, and reverse course with all the new fees and rate hikes. But reality is that probably won't happen, they have done their research and calculations and know how many they will 'lose' but they know how much more they will make up with all the fees. With all the construction going on, it tells me they know how much they are making and will continue to make.

So for us, my last stay at WDW was at CSR for a conference. We'd already discovered the value staying at the Swan/Dolphin. With our SPG and earning points both those stayed cost us nearly nothing, plus we had the benefits of Disney. Our last stay was at the Swan too, through Costco. While I'd love to go back, when I look at the costs; cross country flights, hotel, average quality of food at an expensive price, and very expensive entry fees I really don't know when we will go back.

I really have to question the value of Disney properties when the key features like ADR and FP are available to non-Disney resort guests. Let's face it the theming of Disney hotels isn't what it once was, the costs are well over that of similar non-Disney hotels, parking fees are similar or more about all that is missing is a resort fee, but that's really built into the price now.

So my hope is that people begin to walk away from Disney, but I just don't think it will happen.

 

[rkstocke5609]

I wonder, could you Uber from Sanford to MCO and then use Magical Express — yes, getting back to Sanford would be harder. Or, how about just using Uber or Supershuttle to just go from Sanford to the resort? This way one could avoid rental car & parking fees. I find a car at Disney senseless— I have even been to CA twice and just used Supershuttle and treated it like a personal ME (granted, it costs $120 round trip, but that’s the cost of going to Grand Californian as opposed to a Florida resort). I can’t pay for a car to sit let alone rent one when I am enjoying parks and resorts and we have no issues with Disney transportation. Now, if I drove instead of flying in the parking fees would anger me. But, I’m DVC, so I don’t think I have to pay parking fees..

 

[AliceIn]

I've reached my breaking point with Disney at this point. The last couple of stays that I've had have seen a reduction in quality with each and every stay. My family has stayed in deluxe on club level for the majority of our stays. The cost is not the factor that drove us away from Disney. It was the tearing down of the small details combined with the annoying fees on top of it that set it over the edge for us. I had a lackluster visit last year to AKL, and the addition of the parking fees plus some other annoying things that irked me last trip caused me to cancel our Disney plans entirely for this year. The maintenance at the parks was shoddy, trashcans overflowing, poor quality food, etc. At this point we have no plans to return. My family was spending large sums of money at Disney each year, well into the 5 figures. I assume Disney doesn't care, and we'll take our money elsewhere for the premium experience we expect at that price point. Disney is no longer providing it.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Allowing pet dogs to stay in some resorts was a dealbreaker for me at those resorts. I haven't ruled out the other resorts, but due to climbing costs, parking fees, possible disturbances by room inspections, and removal of room theming as each resort is refurbished, a large portion of my trips is now spent staying offsite.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Allowing pet dogs to stay in some resorts was a dealbreaker for me at those resorts. I haven't ruled out the other resorts, but due to climbing costs, parking fees, possible disturbances by room inspections, and removal of room theming as each resort is refurbished, a large portion of my trips is now spent staying offsite.

Removing the theming and making the resorts more uniform is disappointing to me. I'm not saying Pop did or didn't need an update, but the rooms were unique because of the information on the decades and the fun atmosphere. Everything is starting to get that sanitized wash out of black and white. I work in a sterile environment. I need color in my life!

 

[suddenwhale42]

Our breaking point was the room checks. We are often in the rooms mid-day and don't need the annoyance! We'll be at the Swan next time as it's a milestone anniversary trip and we want a bit of that extra magic, but we have often done offsite trips in the past and will gladly do so again.

 

[Stigsmom]

Our breaking point was the room checks. We are often in the rooms mid-day and don't need the annoyance! We'll be at the Swan next time as it's a milestone anniversary trip and we want a bit of that extra magic, but we have often done offsite trips in the past and will gladly do so again.

If the bit of extra magic you hope for is any recognition of your special occasion, check out another recent thread about how many people’s celebrations went unrecognized at the parks and resorts. But maybe at the Swan it will be better attended to than the WDW official hotels.

I think that may be it for me. In old times the employees really paid attention to recognizing your special occasions but now that is falling away. I’d prefer our more local vacation favorites where we know we get personalized attention (like champagne sent up for anniversary).

That, the rising costs, and the room checks- we are leaving in about 2 weeks and this is my first trip with room checks. If our vacation rest is ruined, in a hotel we’ve paid over 5 figures to stay, I will not return.

 

[suddenwhale42]

If the bit of extra magic you hope for is any recognition of your special occasion, check out another recent thread about how many people’s celebrations went unrecognized at the parks and resorts. But maybe at the Swan it will be better attended to than the WDW official hotels.

No, it was more just wanting to be fully "in the bubble" for a special trip - closer to the parks, no self-parking unless we want to, emh if we want, package delivery from the parks, etc.

But I agree that special occasion recognition has really dropped off in recent years! Honestly, it's something that I never would've expected them to do, but it used to be *everywhere* and really did make you feel special. Constant good wishes from CM's, Mickey glitter on a table, a "phone call" from Mickey and Minnie to congratulate you...all simple and inexpensive stuff, but it was nice! And its near-total absence now is stark.

 

[desertbloom]

Yesterday I booked an offsite hotel for a quick getaway this fall. I never thought I would be saying that. They started to lose me with the early ADR's and Fastpasses for non resort guests and then the final straw was the parking fees. For years I have watched the crowds get larger, people becoming more rude and impatient, and a lack of the magic that my family has always loved. We still have a special place in our hearts for Disney but with the kids grown it's time for my husband and I to start exploring other destinations. The world is a large and fascinating place and I want to explore it.

 

[Planogirl]

Unless I run into an amazing deal I think that my onsite stays are over. I just don't see the advantage particularly considering the cost.

 

[DebbieB]

Allowing pet dogs to stay in some resorts was a dealbreaker for me at those resorts. I haven't ruled out the other resorts, but due to climbing costs, parking fees, possible disturbances by room inspections, and removal of room theming as each resort is refurbished, a large portion of my trips is now spent staying offsite.

I stayed at AOA last month and didn’t see any dogs.

 

[Arielfan98]

I'm going to be honest for a good month I had a fit about the new resort parking fees and even emailed to complain. Sadly, I found myself still craving another Disney trip. The new parking fees don't make or break my family vacations because we are from NY and always fly. We enjoyed renting a car, but we only have to make due with the buses now which isn't asking a whole lot. I'm not sure if I will have a breaking point with WDW vacations. Crunching the numbers with what my family does, WDW vacations cost the same as any other type of vacation we would do and honestly nothing else besides a Norwegian Cruise entices me for vacations. We are paying for the experience and memories, which cannot be found anywhere else for my family.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I think they are charging for parking to reduce people renting cars, more taking magical express, therefore keeping you in the bubble the while time you are there. I admit we are bubble people. I love ME and use it every trip. I have predicted for a while they may start to charge for ME, even something like $20 roundtrip.
But keeping people without cars keeps them spending more money on overpriced food and avoiding them going to the outlets or the cheapie souvie places on International Drive

I find WDW still affordable when I do a value with free dining. I think the deluxe resorts are grossly overpriced. I travel a lot and get to stay in really really nice hotels all over the place, and we splurged on YC a few years ago. I couldn't justify the cost after going back to a value the next year. I actually preferred a mod or value over YC, as there was no food court and just the mods and values had a more fun vibe. We also were not at the resort enough to justify it. I think I spent about $325/night when we went on a good deal they were having.
I would love to stay at a monorail resort, but can't justify thousands of dollars to stay in them. $500++++ a night???? I can afford it, but refuse to pay it, as I don't see value in it.

We are going on a DCL cruise and then staying 7 days in WDW with free dining for less than if we booked 6 nights at the Poly. I tend to spend about $5000-$6000 for a 2 week vacation for 2 of us every year. I do remember when I could do it on $3-4000 though!

I think my breaking point will be when the values are overpriced to the point where it just isn't worth it. I think Pop is going to get a huge price jump once the new transportation launches.

I recently reached my breaking point with Disneyland on a trip we took 3 weeks ago. It was last minute, booked 2 weeks out on a whim. $720 for 2, 3 day hoppers with the paid maxpass (fastpass). That is about $900 Canadian - so I spent $300/day for 2 of us in the theme parks. The first solid hour of our day was spent in a security line up. It was insane. An hour just to get into the park itself for smoke and mirrors security. I think this is what really put me off the most - an hour for security!!! Kids were in bad moods before they got them into the parks. I ordered 2 ice cream sundaes that were not much bigger than McDonalds sundaes and didn't really look at cost. Then was told "That will be $24.98". ***! Churros were 5.99 for the new special flavours, a coke was $4 and a bottle of water $3.50. Yes I know I can bring my own water in and did, but just pointing out prices are out of control.
Not to mention the park is under major construction at DCA, so its not only an eyesore, but takes away 2 great rides, and foot traffic is cut off, so people are not exploring some of the areas as much. Was not our best trip at all!

We won't be back to DL for a long time. I am getting a week at WDW with free dining for less than I paid for a quick 4 day getaway to DL!

 

[Nancyg56]

I think they are charging for parking to reduce people renting cars, more taking magical express, therefore keeping you in the bubble the while time you are there. I admit we are bubble people. I love ME and use it every trip. I have predicted for a while they may start to charge for ME, even something like $20 roundtrip.
But keeping people without cars keeps them spending more money on overpriced food and avoiding them going to the outlets or the cheapie souvie places on International Drive

I find WDW still affordable when I do a value with free dining. I think the deluxe resorts are grossly overpriced. I travel a lot and get to stay in really really nice hotels all over the place, and we splurged on YC a few years ago. I couldn't justify the cost after going back to a value the next year. I actually preferred a mod or value over YC, as there was no food court and just the mods and values had a more fun vibe. We also were not at the resort enough to justify it. I think I spent about $325/night when we went on a good deal they were having.
I would love to stay at a monorail resort, but can't justify thousands of dollars to stay in them. $500++++ a night???? I can afford it, but refuse to pay it, as I don't see value in it.

We are going on a DCL cruise and then staying 7 days in WDW with free dining for less than if we booked 6 nights at the Poly. I tend to spend about $5000-$6000 for a 2 week vacation for 2 of us every year. I do remember when I could do it on $3-4000 though!

I think my breaking point will be when the values are overpriced to the point where it just isn't worth it. I think Pop is going to get a huge price jump once the new transportation launches.

I recently reached my breaking point with Disneyland on a trip we took 3 weeks ago. It was last minute, booked 2 weeks out on a whim. $720 for 2, 3 day hoppers with the paid maxpass (fastpass). That is about $900 Canadian - so I spent $300/day for 2 of us in the theme parks. The first solid hour of our day was spent in a security line up. It was insane. An hour just to get into the park itself for smoke and mirrors security. I think this is what really put me off the most - an hour for security!!! Kids were in bad moods before they got them into the parks. I ordered 2 ice cream sundaes that were not much bigger than McDonalds sundaes and didn't really look at cost. Then was told "That will be $24.98". ***! Churros were 5.99 for the new special flavours, a coke was $4 and a bottle of water $3.50. Yes I know I can bring my own water in and did, but just pointing out prices are out of control.
Not to mention the park is under major construction at DCA, so its not only an eyesore, but takes away 2 great rides, and foot traffic is cut off, so people are not exploring some of the areas as much. Was not our best trip at all!

We won't be back to DL for a long time. I am getting a week at WDW with free dining for less than I paid for a quick 4 day getaway to DL!

I tend to agree with you in regards to the parking fees madness. Disney could have simply raised the rates per night and no one would have been able to break out where the additional fee was allocated to. I have always felt that Disney is attempting to create an all inclusive feel to a vacation that is anything but all inclusive. DME is a wonderful way to get folks to stay onsite without a vehicle to take them shopping or dining away from WDW. It would have been effective to add the option of dining plans for offsite guests, but that still would not have solved the shopping and additional spending that guests who are not locked into the WDW resort would take elsewhere. Add the ability to hit the area attractions with your vehicle, and BOOM!!!! Disney has lost that money.
Disney has relaxed rather than continued to tighten the restrictions on the dining plans, adding the ability to share with people not on the plan. That was a huge faux pas in the past. I firmly believe that by breaking out the parking fee Disney hopes that people will not rent rentals to avoid that fee, and in doing so will trap more money onsite.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

This isn't directed at the OP, but I looked at the parking fee is a bit of a hope that Disney might just see a measurable drop in attendance at the resorts or the parks, and reverse course with all the new fees and rate hikes. But reality is that probably won't happen, they have done their research and calculations and know how many they will 'lose' but they know how much more they will make up with all the fees. With all the construction going on, it tells me they know how much they are making and will continue to make.

So for us, my last stay at WDW was at CSR for a conference. We'd already discovered the value staying at the Swan/Dolphin. With our SPG and earning points both those stayed cost us nearly nothing, plus we had the benefits of Disney. Our last stay was at the Swan too, through Costco. While I'd love to go back, when I look at the costs; cross country flights, hotel, average quality of food at an expensive price, and very expensive entry fees I really don't know when we will go back.

I really have to question the value of Disney properties when the key features like ADR and FP are available to non-Disney resort guests. Let's face it the theming of Disney hotels isn't what it once was, the costs are well over that of similar non-Disney hotels, parking fees are similar or more about all that is missing is a resort fee, but that's really built into the price now.

So my hope is that people begin to walk away from Disney, but I just don't think it will happen.

The prices for Values (especially with the parking fee) have hit the breaking point for me. This upcoming stay will be my last onsite stay unless I suddenly come into some money. There are plenty of much cheaper options offsite.

I think they are charging for parking to reduce people renting cars, more taking magical express, therefore keeping you in the bubble the while time you are there. I admit we are bubble people. I love ME and use it every trip. I have predicted for a while they may start to charge for ME, even something like $20 roundtrip.
But keeping people without cars keeps them spending more money on overpriced food and avoiding them going to the outlets or the cheapie souvie places on International Drive

I can see the benefit [to Disney] of keeping people onsite, but it really hurts those of us who are close enough that we can't fly (I drive to Orlando when I fly since it is much cheaper than the closer "Regional" airport), but far enough that staying overnight makes sense. I have to wonder if they could have achieved the same result by doing the parking fee and not raising room prices or even dropping them a little since we have lost some benefits (free parking, reduced EMH, etc...)

 

[juuuliebeth]

The only thing I think that could get me to give it up would be if they start to change the parks too much. I don't mean adding new attractions and so forth, I always love exploring something new. I mean doing things that don't make sense just for the sake doing it. Like Star Wars in Disneyland instead of CA Adventure. MAYBE if it was in Tomorrowland, but space didn't allow for that, I assume? That is something that I'm having a really hard time with, to be honest. Star Wars just does not fit in a castle park. And I'm not sure how many Disneyland trips are in my future once that opens. Maybe it'll be fine, I'll give it a shot. We'll just have to see.

• Guardians in Future World? Hmmm. Not sure. Depends on what this means for FW in the long run
• IPs in World Showcase - Not a problem with it, to be honest. Attractions in WS would break up the long, hot walk around.
• Star Wars in Hollywood Studios - Go right ahead. Great fit.
• Pandora in Animal Kingdom - Strange to me at first, but hey. They did a good job with it. Proved me wrong.

So long as they keep making new things and they do it well, and they honor the iconic attractions and shows, I'm totally game. The joy I feel when I'm there is totally worth it. I do wonder how many new attractions we have in our future not connected with IPs. Are those days behind us?

(Also, I'm saying this as someone who only has to fund herself. Not a whole family. I think it would be interesting to see how breaking points line up with those who pay for 4+ people and those who pay for 1 or 2.)

 

[cindyfan]

This may sound petty and ridiculous to some.... but.... my breaking point...
When they re-did the MK hub and removed all the park benches! this was the beginning of feeling that "it's not magical anymore!"
One of the best things about WDW was being able to relax and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy being away from "reality".
After doing rope drop and hitting the big attractions, I always looked forward to relaxing by sitting on one of the benches listening to the castle show, eating a Mickey bar or popcorn. It was heartbreaking the first visit with the benches gone! Only concrete to sit on... in the hot sun... with people fighting to see the castle, etc

Then.... followed the price increases.... one after another! I used to get an AP almost every year, now it's priced out of my budget!! I've had to settle for every other year and so we do less visits and shorter visits! Used to do 10 day visits, now it's 6 or 7.

And the continuous decline in the true feel of it being the happy place! Great guest service and happy CMs are now rare!
It's sad to have watched this decline... heartbreaking!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I think my breaking point might have been the parking fee...

 

[SL6827]

I stayed at AOA last month and didn’t see any dogs.

Do you know if there is a certain area at AoA that are the "dog rooms"?

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I will also add that I miss the 'value season' where you could almost walk on rides. We would go for 10 days and ride everything multiple times and really feel we got our moneys worth.
Now on the slower seasons they added in things like marathons.
We always went early January and it was so quiet. We flew 8 hours to get there. Spent a lot of money, and felt it was so worth it. Quiet parks, easy to get dining reservations (sometimes walk in) and very enjoyable.
Now it is long lines anytime of year it seems. We actually will skip some rides just because we can't be bothered to stand in line that long and waste our time. If we can't get a FP and line is over 20-25 mins, we skip it.
Now we tend to only do WDW for 5-7 days per trip, combining it with a week on a cruise. Gone are our 10-12 day WDW trips, because i just can't do heavy crowds for that many days. It is simply not relaxing.