Disney Resorts to start charging parking fees....

[HopperFan]

Value and Moderate Resorts are switching over to shampoo and body wash dispensers in the bathrooms instead of receiving bottles.

Ew, really? I hope they are also leaving the light on for us like Motel 6.

Instead they could charge $12/night shampoo VIP Bottle service.

This is POP. We just put a grocery bag over it and used our own.

Also reported at CSR and POR ... am sure it will find it's way throughout.

Yes, but those who stay at deluxe resorts will be charge $24/night to park. Theme-park parking is *only* $22/day.

BUT, you can't leave your car at the parks 24 hours like your resort except for a few nights a year like NYE where it might be safer not to drive home. So it's kinda an hourly thing .......

They say handicapped will still receive free self parking too

I've only heard this via "Disney Phone CMs" ......... until it is implemented I don't think we know for sure. And if they are keeping to the "industry standards" excuse, most brands that usually waive parking fees for HA vehicles, DO NOT waive it in the Orlando area.

On top of that we have a difficult time finding a HA spot when we return from parks so ............ do I park in a "pay spot" and hope my tag keeps me from getting towed?

Probably. Theme Park Parking just increased from 20/40 to 22/45. 13 goes to 15 really easily.

Kinda like the extra adult fee just jumped up recently and they reduced the nightly gift card for passing on housekeeping ...

This will be the talking point, and the response is that we have already been paying for parking, it was just lumped in as part of the room rate. If they want to make that argument, then unbundling the parking rate would mean a reduction in the underlying room rate. Who's expecting that to happen?

Until your resorts are PRICED at "industry standards" then this is a mute point. Next excuse?

 

[wdw4rfam]

True. If they offer discounts on room rates, you will be paying the same parking fees regardless of how much you can snag a room for.



People can do that, but then they will be without their cars. Not everyone enjoys using the Disney transportation system.

I dont like to be without my car either. But for a difference of $20 per day I might consider dumping it at the airport. Realistically, when we stay at the poly, we usually only use our car for 2 parks and Disney springs. So I’d pr probably consider it. Although right now, offsite or Disney springs resorts are looking more appealing.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

So to my understanding, and looking for any type of legitable confirmation. I booked our stay for August in October. Therefore I don't have to pay for parking, correct? Additionally, I think at this point, people with any type of AP should get complimentary parking at their resort. Otherwise they're going to lose a lot of AP holders.

My concern with this is, I made my reservations a few months ago for August, but was going to wait for discounts to come out (maybe add in my tax refund - haven't filed yet) with the hope of upgrading to a nicer "resort" at that time. But, I suspect this change would be considered a "new" reservation and trigger the parking fee. Unless they come up with some really great Passholder rates, this will prevent me from upgrading (I was eyeing PORR).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Well just got another phone call from the office of George Kalogridis in resposne to the letter I sent. Surprised it came so quick. Again nice professional conversation with the gentlemen I spoke with. Standard in the industry, the resorts outside of our gates charge for it. Told him I feel we pay a premium to stay on Disney property already and with the reduction in value it was a breaking point to have to swallow another fee. In regards to it being the "standard in the industry" I just told him that when Disney World was first built Walt was the trendsetter. How about Disney continue to set the trend and not charge onsite guest parking at their resort just because others do it.

Standard - geez!

The "standard" for most resorts who charge is to charge everyone coming in and parking, not just the ones already paying a ton to stay there. And to charge convention guests to park too. Some conventions might negotiate to have the parking fee included into their charges which of course would be passed on to their attendees. Some places then decide to allow validation for parking but they have to produce a receipt - often for a certain amount.

It's in no way "standard" to only charge overnight guests parking fees.

 

[kittyab]

Maybe they will increase the amount of free dining to keep encouraging people to stay on property?

 

[Nole95]

Standard - geez!

The "standard" for most resorts who charge is to charge everyone coming in and parking, not just the ones already paying a ton to stay there. And to charge convention guests to park too. Some conventions might negotiate to have the parking fee included into their charges which of course would be passed on to their attendees. Some places then decide to allow validation for parking but they have to produce a receipt - often for a certain amount.

It's in no way "standard" to only charge overnight guests parking fees.

Or to charge people differently based on what resort they are staying at. I mean the concrete lot at Pop or POR is the same as BC/YC, Poly, etc. It is just ridiculous.

It should be a flat fee to park no matter where you are staying. I still would not like it, but at least it would be the same for everyone.

 

[sgtdisney]

Or to charge people differently based on what resort they are staying at. I mean the concrete lot at Pop or POR is the same as BC/YC, Poly, etc. It is just ridiculous.

It should be a flat fee to park no matter where you are staying. I still would not like it, but at least it would be the same for everyone.

It's really ridiculous. People staying in Deluxe are already paying a premium. This whole thing seems to be really poorly planned out. It's not April 1st, is it?

 

[vinotinto]

I have paid for parking at many resorts, but at all of those, I have seen them validate parking for day guests for 1-2 hours, under certain conditions. I wonder if they will go to that system, or allow any guest saying they are going to "shop" to park onsite for free.

The $25/night is not going to be, on its own, what makes me stop from visiting Orlando. But, WDW also just recently, very quietly, raised resort prices on some dates, which also goes to impact budgeting. At first, I didn't believe it because I have never seen Disney raise rates after they were set for the year. But, sure enough, it is true.

And they are reducing staffing/capacity at rides. And they seem to be providing less CM training (which affects a whole host of things, from not being able to ask appropriate questions to determine if a guest is trying to bring a non-service dog into the park) to getting inconsistent service/answers.

So, it's not one thing, it's the slowly chipping away at the entire guest experience that is annoying.

 

[sbd78]

Really? It was already one of the most expensive vacations there is.

Yes, really. Although Disney prices are high to begin with, they never charged parking or resort fees like many of the offsite hotels. Many offsite hotels stopped looking so enticing once you added in the parking and resort fees. (I know Disney doesn't charge resort fees YET, but since they are taking the everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't we approach...) Disney also SUPPOSEDLY prides itself on excellent customer service, so this really rubs me the wrong way. I feel when I'm paying big money to stay in a hotel, I shouldn't be charged to park my car as well. (The exception being big cities like Chicago and New York where parking is a premium because they just don't have the space.) Disney has plenty of space, this is pure greed.

I went to Vegas recently and booked a time share resort with no parking or resort fees instead of one of the big casino resorts because I didn't like all their ridiculous fees.

 

[vinotinto]

Standard - geez!

The "standard" for most resorts who charge is to charge everyone coming in and parking, not just the ones already paying a ton to stay there. And to charge convention guests to park too. Some conventions might negotiate to have the parking fee included into their charges which of course would be passed on to their attendees. Some places then decide to allow validation for parking but they have to produce a receipt - often for a certain amount.

It's in no way "standard" to only charge overnight guests parking fees.

Thank you, this is *EXACTLY* what is bothering me. If they just have a parking fee for all, then they have a parking fee. But this is the FIRST time I hear that a hotel will only assess a fee to the guests of the hotel. In fact, most hotels have a "special" rate for the overnight guests (say $20), which is better than the per hour fee (say $4/hour).

 

[Roy Disney]

I have a question. The hotels and tickets increase every year. Will this mean this will increase every year too?

Of course it will. It will be automatic just like everything else.

 

[DISNEY1975]

They have plenty of parking for hotel guests. It’s the people who shop/dine/park at the resorts to avoid paying at the parks that cause the problem.

I will say that when we stayed at WL last year, we never had a problem finding a spot. It wasn’t always a close spot, but a spot nonetheless.

That is not the case at the Poly with the flood of people to dine at Ohana for breakfast and dinner. In addition, all the guests for the luau at night and Trader Sams Not to mention the few other guests who just park there to hop the monorail to the MK, or drink around the monorail loop.

At the Contemporary, the parking is good for the walk to the MK, Chef Mickey and the popular Cali Grill at night.

Both resorts are very difficult to find any parking when I come back around 5pm from a waterpark or HS/AL just to shower and change for dinner. And now I have to pay for the aggrevation?

Last year at the Yacht Club the first 4 - 5 nights, they had a convention with many business rental cars. It was also very difficult to find parking those days. One say I had to park at the Beach Club and walk to the Yacht Club. When the convention goers left, it was a lot better.

As I stated above, if Im not guaranteed immediate parking, I for sure will march to guests services and ask for my $25 back each time Im driving around 10 - 20 minutes waiting for some free parking diner to leave.

 

[Nikred513]

Or to charge people differently based on what resort they are staying at. I mean the concrete lot at Pop or POR is the same as BC/YC, Poly, etc. It is just ridiculous.

It should be a flat fee to park no matter where you are staying. I still would not like it, but at least it would be the same for everyone.

I agree, it does seem strange that it is tiered - why? We already have our next trip paid off and rental car paid as well. I have one night at Hilton Lake Buena Vista Palace before checking in at Disney. I will see how well I like it considering it is close, and may book there for entire trip next time - and take the shuttle over. I can't imagine Alamo on property likes the resort parking charges, or most of the MCO car rental counters - if people want to avoid the fee, they won't rent a car. I do used some of the bus transportation, but [refer to drive where I can. Gondola's won't be done for a year or so, less folks using personal/rental vehicles means more on the buses - they would need to up the amount of buses to accommodate.

 

[WLSILVERCREEKSPRINGS]

I give Disney a F (failure) for this move, just on principle, this along with taking out slow dark rides and replacing them with thrill rides, is making me think our next trip may be my last. I respect Disney's right to run their business the way they think is best, but I will exercise my right and vote with my feet & wallet. Will miss it, but have been slowly losing the love

 

[Roy Disney]

They say handicapped will still receive free self parking too

Is that only for day parking to hotels or overnight too ?

 

[UncleMike101]

Our strategy will be to forego dining at any of the sit down venues at WDW.
This will save us more than the extra $200.00 charged for resort parking.
We can get along on burgers and such to keep the greedy #!&*# at Disney from raping us on mediocre, but expensive, food along with holding our car hostage while we spend large sums of hard earned money to keep Iger & Company in caviar and champagne.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I have paid for parking at many resorts, but at all of those, I have seen them validate parking for day guests for 1-2 hours, under certain conditions.

It is my guess (they haven't said yet) that something like validation for resort day guests (just visiting) is coming. Otherwise, I'm staying at the Beach Club but I go tell All Star Sports that I'm visiting, park my car back in the boonies there, get an uber/lyft back to BC and leave it there for a week. (I'm DVC, I wouldn't have to do this, but it's an example)

 

[Disneyliscious]

Disney better build more handicapped parking lots because every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to bring Uncle Joe's disability placard now so they can park for free. Unless they plan to verify everyones placard to make sure it is assigned to someone in the group. They don't verify ADR's so I can't see them verifying this.

 

[Roy Disney]

Disney slowly but surely nickel and diming the very people who made it what it is. The everyday,working and middle class families who (in some cases) save their $'s all year long so they can take their family to the Magic. Its being turned into a destination for the elite and wealthy. I think Walt would turn over in his grave if he saw what was happening.

Exactly how I feel !
It’s a disgrace

 

[Disneylover99]

As I stated above, if Im not guaranteed immediate parking, I for sure will march to guests services and ask for my $25 back each time Im driving around 10 - 20 minutes waiting for some free parking diner to leave.

I would complain to the front desk at the resort and have that noted on my reservation everytime that happens to me. It's my understanding that you're not charged for the parking until you check out? Or maybe I made that up. I thought I read it somewhere.