Resort Survey ... on Resort Fees

[thought_bubbls]

Not to mention that all of the increases are coming when two of their four parks are under major construction and not worth the price of admission right now, at least in my opinion. I wouldn't consider either AK or HS even a half day park right now. In September, we hopped in, rode a couple of rides and hopped right back out.

 

[momof2n2]

I just took the survey from WDWmagic from the link rteez posted:


View attachment 155637
So I would say it def.has people thinking..sure you will have people who will end up staying on-site no matter what but if this pans out you've got people reconsidering the benefit especially if the resort fee is for things they don't want to use (not speaking personally just from other coments made on this thread).

I will be fully transparent here and say I have never, in all our WDW trips, stayed onsite. I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think it stinks they are pulling yet another nickel and diming tactic. It's not the first. I doubt it's the last.

BUT - here is what is kind of interesting from a non-onsite-person's POV.

It's $15/day. So $105 total for a week. (It's not per person, right?)

That kinda-sorta doesn't seem like a lot overall.

Like I said, I'm not an onsite person. But WDW has done WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY more unpleasant things in the last three years that this. (I won't mention any by name but the worst IMO has the initials F.P.)

 

[rteetz]

Not to mention that all of the increases are coming when two of their four parks are under major construction and not worth the price of admission right now, at least in my opinion. I wouldn't consider either AK or HS even a half day park right now. In September, we hopped in, rode a couple of rides and hopped right back out.

Really? AK? AK didn't lose anything more than some meet and greets in camp Minnie Mickey. The majority of the construction at AK is out of the guests way. They have only added things continually at AK. It's definitely at least a half day park of not already a full day park.

DHS that's another story.

 

[AnnaKat]

The backlash from a resort fee add-on could be significant! I suppose the Disney bean counters have run out of ways to force guests to pay way more than inflationary increases for the resort rooms! It's NOT enough that over the last few years, guests have seen big room price increases from year to year. One year, a guest's STD view FQ room overlooked a courtyard, & was booked @ 11 months out with a AAA discount. The next year, the bean counters placed that same courtyard view room into a NEW garden/courtyard category. So the annual price increase, plus the re-categorization of the previously STD view room made the same room maybe 20% more! THEN no more AAA discounts.
@ AKL, they created a new savanna category just for Arusha View.
The bean counters ALSO made weekend nights more expensive than weekdays, & carved out a season for Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, etc. They even turned a lower priced week--the week before the week before Christmas--into an almost PEAK season. Rates jumped like 30% from one year to the next!
SO IF they add the resort fee, it's like saying " HERE is your (gouge-you-for-every-season & view) base-priced room. Disney will make your on-site stay MAGICAL by giving you such & such Benes for $15 per night. We can upgrade your MAGICAL stay to A Magic -Your -Way Room Pkg by allowing you to resort park for $15 per night of stay. We can THEN upgrade your stay to a Deluxe Magic-Your-Room Pkg by adding EMH Benes for a mere $20 per night of stay. "
And not that long ago, Disney changed their room reservation modification rules. You could proactively book a STD room @ rack rate @ say 11 months out, & then once airline Tix become available, could be forced to drop a night. By THEN, the STD view rooms could be gone, & the required NEW booking policy means that you have to upgrade to a water view to stay @ the same resort, or change resorts, etc., to force you to give Disney MORE money beyond your budget, & otherwise make it an unnecessary hassle.
Disney going to a resort fee, after all the above-mentioned changes(& more!) over the last few years, IMO is a move that will
push former ( Non-Dvc) guests off-site, AND FOR GOOD.

 

[thought_bubbls]

Really? AK? AK didn't lose anything more than some meet and greets in camp Minnie Mickey. The majority of the construction at AK is out of the guests way. They have only added things continually at AK. It's definitely at least a half day park of not already a full day park.

To be fair, I've never liked AK. I ride Everest a couple of times and I'm done

 

[LSLS]

I will be fully transparent here and say I have never, in all our WDW trips, stayed onsite. I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think it stinks they are pulling yet another nickel and diming tactic. It's not the first. I doubt it's the last.

BUT - here is what is kind of interesting from a non-onsite-person's POV.

It's $15/day. So $105 total for a week. (It's not per person, right?)

That kinda-sorta doesn't seem like a lot overall.

Like I said, I'm not an onsite person. But WDW has done WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY more unpleasant things in the last three years that this. (I won't mention any by name but the worst IMO has the initials F.P.)

Depends on your budgets. If you are staying in 1 bedroom suites at the GF for $800 a night, then I agree, it's not. But if your budget is more along the value resorts, you are essentially paying for an extra night at the hotel. Or at a moderate, you are paying over half the price for another night at the hotel. That can be significant.

 

[Emcg]

And now this:
Walt Disney World has raised prices for their Disney Dining Plans, effective today, March 9. The number of meals and snacks included in each plan have not changed.

The Quick Service Plan still includes 2 quick service meals and1 snack per night of stay and 1 refillable mug. Previously the plan cost $42.84 for adults and $17.47 for children (ages 3-9); the new costs are $44.13 for adults and $19.04 for children.

The Regular Dining Plan includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal and 1 snack per night of stay, plus 1 refillable mug. Previously the plan cost $61.84 for adults and $20.96 for children (ages 3-9); the new costs are $63.70 for adults and $22.85 for children.

The Deluxe Dining Plan includes 3 table service meals (these can also be used at quick service locations) and 2 snacks per night of stay, plus one refillable mug. Previously the plan cost $111.73 for adults and $32.56 for children (ages 3-9); the new costs are $115.08 for adults and $35.49 for children.

The new prices amount to a 3% increase.

 

[rteetz]

To be fair, I've never liked AK. I ride Everest a couple of times and I'm done

We'll just have to disagree there then. AK is my favorite park.

 

[momof2n2]

Depends on your budgets. If you are staying in 1 bedroom suites at the GF for $800 a night, then I agree, it's not. But if your budget is more along the value resorts, you are essentially paying for an extra night at the hotel. Or at a moderate, you are paying over half the price for another night at the hotel. That can be significant.

I do agree that everyone has a different budget. Definitely.
But I have also read these boards since 2007 and very steadily since 2013, and while this is such a lame cash grab, I think it is just one more item in a long list of things WDW has been doing to depreciate their product. They are making it next to impossible to get a good ROI PERIOD.
It's just intriguing to me that this piece is garnering so much attention.

 

[wisblue]

The object of this is a money grab, nothing more.

Your original premise would hold if they didn't ALSO increase the price of rooms. But of course they will do both.

Interesting you see a problem with them doing this to DVC owners, though there is nothing in the contract to stop them from doing so.

The reality is that Disney has, consistently, charged more for their rooms and has highlighted that those rooms were worth the extra cost BECAUSE of things like DMH, DME, Busses, etc. Adding a service charge for these, when the company is posting record profits, making cutbacks etc, is pure greed.

My point has nothing to do with what is and isn't pure greed. I'm just saying that, as a consumer, all I care about is the final price, not how they get there.

I don't like feeling nickel and dimed any more than anyone else. But, if one airline charges me a $100 fare with a $20 bag fee, and another charges $150 with no bag fee, all else being equal, I'm going to choose the former.

I'm going to be the same way when we visit WDW. Where we stay and what kind of tickets we get (or even whether we visit at all) is going to depend on the bottom line price, not whether the tickets are seasonally priced or the room cost has a resort fee component.

Although we are DVC owners, we don't always use DVC points for our visits. So, this fee has the potential to affect us just like everyone else. I don't see why the fact that I only care about the net price should be taken as if I am somehow defending huge price increases.

Maybe I should change my original example to make it clear that I am not naive enough to think that the addition of a resort fee will mean that the base rate won't be increased. Just like I was not naive enough to think that seasonal pricing would mean that prices for some dates would be lowered. If Disney decides to increase a room rate from $450 to $500, I don't care if they get there by increasing the base rate to $500 or increasing the base rate to $$475 and tacking on a $25 resort fee.

 

[ArwenMarie]

$15 dollars to me sounds like what they are starting with. I wouldn't expect it to stay there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I will be fully transparent here and say I have never, in all our WDW trips, stayed onsite. I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think it stinks they are pulling yet another nickel and diming tactic. It's not the first. I doubt it's the last.

BUT - here is what is kind of interesting from a non-onsite-person's POV.

It's $15/day. So $105 total for a week. (It's not per person, right?)

That kinda-sorta doesn't seem like a lot overall.

Like I said, I'm not an onsite person. But WDW has done WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY more unpleasant things in the last three years that this. (I won't mention any by name but the worst IMO has the initials F.P.)

I'm not an on-site exclusive person either and in fact this next trip will be my first (at least that I can remember) on-site but I made the decision to stay on-site due to the benefits provided. The thing that people can forget is that all sorts of people go to WDW.

Currently two rooms (4 adults including 2 very loud snoring in-laws with only 2 double beds per room means we need two rooms) for 9 nights under 2016 prices for Mid-September at All-Star Movies is $2,458.88 which includes tax. If the assumption is $15 across the board (which maybe they used a tiered structure (might as well get us used to it)) so for me that's $270 for two rooms bringing my total now to $2,728.88 and increases the per person amount by $67.50. Now you might think that's no biggie but that is not going to be the only increase per person that will occur.

Something to keep in mind that $105 you are speaking of is:

1) may not seem a lot to you but to others it is
2) depends on who you are going with (my next trip is 4 adults ergo the cost is spread out equally by 4, but with kids the adults will eat up those costs)
3) as I pointed out with my other post here it's just the wrong time. I mean people CAN learn to deal with and adjust their vacation plans and budget needs if thrown a curveball but when you're thrown so many at once then even just a small adjustment can be the last straw

I understand your point because I was an person who stayed off-site but even if this next trip I was still staying off-site I would understand the irritation and impacts to people who are staying on-site. And yes I can agree things have changed a lot since my last trip in 2011 there are a few that have added a stress factor to my vacation which I do not like.

Now of course it is a rumor at this point but still.

ETA: The above amounts are rack rates of course but for budgetary reasons I plan on no discounts and call it a bonus if I can get one.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'm not an on-site exclusive person either and in fact this next trip will be my first (at least that I can remember) on-site but I made the decision to stay on-site due to the benefits provided. The thing that people can forget is that all sorts of people go to WDW.

Currently two rooms (4 adults including 2 very loud snoring in-laws with only 2 double beds per room means we need two rooms) for 9 nights under 2016 prices for Mid-September at All-Star Movies is $2,458.88 which includes tax. If the assumption is $15 across the board (which maybe they used a tiered structure (might as well get us used to it)) so for me that's $270 for two rooms bringing my total now to $2,728.88 and increases the per person amount by $67.50. Now you might think that's no biggie but that is not going to be the only increase per person that will occur.

Something to keep in mind that $105 you are speaking of is:

1) may not seem a lot to you but to others it is
2) depends on who you are going with (my next trip is 4 adults ergo the cost is spread out equally by 4, but with kids the adults will eat up those costs)
3) as I pointed out with my other post here it's just the wrong time. I mean people CAN learn to deal with and adjust their vacation plans and budget needs if thrown a curveball but when you're thrown so many at once then even just a small adjustment can be the last straw

I understand your point because I was an person who stayed off-site but even if this next trip I was still staying off-site I would understand the irritation and impacts to people who are staying on-site. And yes I can agree things have changed a lot since my last trip in 2011 there are a few that have added a stress factor to my vacation which I do not like.

Now of course it is a rumor at this point but still.

That's an 11% room cost increase - that's huge, especially on top of all the other increases...in a year with LESS THAN 1% inflation rate!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That's an 11% room cost increase - that's huge, especially on top of all the other increases...in a year with LESS THAN 1% inflation rate!

Yup..that's why a "Oh it's $15 per night" isn't exactly what it boils down to for all who go to WDW..plus my trip isn't until September 2017 so I know that the resort pricing will only be higher. I started planning in August 2015 so I used September 2016 for a base rate for budget reasons.

I can certaintly appreciate that $15 a night isn't a big deal to all but to some any increase is cause for frustration/annoyance.

 

[JenSop]

I think this is a horrible move on Disney's part. You want to INCENTIVIZE folks to stay on-site, and this is NOT the way to do it. We all know staying on-site costs more than off-site, but there have always been benefits built into that on-site stay. If anything, Disney should be ADDING to the on-site benefits without adding a resort fee.

 

[Ballmomof2]

Check out this survey this guy got and just posted -

https://twitter.com/ScottGustin/status/707404345210372096

Yea, in Gulf Shores/ Orange Beach a one Bedroom condo will run u $275.00 a day. Then u have to pay a parking fee, cleanup fee, resort fee, booking fee.. And these resorts are nowhere as nice as the ones at WDW... But people are always so quick to jump on the hate ban wagon!!!

 

[LSLS]

I do agree that everyone has a different budget. Definitely.
But I have also read these boards since 2007 and very steadily since 2013, and while this is such a lame cash grab, I think it is just one more item in a long list of things WDW has been doing to depreciate their product. They are making it next to impossible to get a good ROI PERIOD.
It's just intriguing to me that this piece is garnering so much attention.

True (and I admit I haven't been on the boards nearly that long, though been going to Disney for a long time), but it's almost hitting like a last straw for a lot of folks. Keep in mind this also comes on the heels of cutting a lot of things around the resort. But I do think it's a mental thing. You are used to getting something included, and then you get a $15 hit for what used to be free, people revolt a lot more. On a bit of a smaller scale, I think if you saw a Wendy's or McDonald's decide to no longer include a coke with value meals you would see much more anger than if they raised the price of the value meals by $1. How often do people go crazy to get the free dining plan even though the resort discounts may actually save them more money? You add things and charge, people understand. You take current free amenities and make people pay, they get much more upset. I do agree, it's interesting to see the anger roll. You have to think Disney will get wind of all of this backlash eventually.

 

[Ballmomof2]

Yup..that's why a "Oh it's $15 per night" isn't exactly what it boils down to for all who go to WDW..plus my trip isn't until September 2017 so I know that the resort pricing will only be higher. I started planning in August 2015 so I used September 2016 for a base rate for budget reasons.

I can certaintly appreciate that $15 a night isn't a big deal to all but to some any increase is cause for frustration/annoyance.

If u are planning that far in advance. You need to probably be aware that ticket prices go up every year.

 

[mom2rtk]

But, if one airline charges me a $100 fare with a $20 bag fee, and another charges $150 with no bag fee, all else being equal, I'm going to choose the former.

And if the airline charges you $200 plus a $50 bag fee?

 

[grimley1968]

The amount itself is important, certainly, but the fact that they would do this at all (if it comes to pass) is troubling to me.

In the past, we went to WDW knowing that we'd pay a bundle up front, but would have a "magical" trip in the most magical place on earth. Recently, though, that "magic" has eroded to the point that we have no interest in going to WDW, and I'm someone who's been going since spring of 1971. It's taken a lot of negative things to make my family lose the "magical" feeling and even the pleasant nostalgia of past trips can no longer overcome the negatives of recent trips in our minds. Among the negatives are: the combination of FP+ and 180-day ADRs making us feel we have to plan our trips to the minute, skyrocketing prices for everything, including moderate resorts compared to offsite costs, constant cross selling of DVC, upcharge events, etc. in the parks and resorts, and loss of many favorite attractions with no appropriate replacements for years, if ever. Some of the "magical" aspects of WDW are disappearing with those attractions.

WDW seems to be going back to the early days of MK where park entry only gained you entry and a few rides, and then you'd have to pay for tickets to keep riding rides like at a carnival. Doing away with that was one of the best things WDW ever did, though it meant a large ticket price increase. I feel like a "resort fee/parking fee or combo of all the above" is sort of like a return to the ticketing concept used in MK in the 70's, but for the resorts, and without the resorts getting one penny less expensive. It seems cheap of WDW, IMO. It's a money grab, no more and no less. They can certainly try this, but I can go to parks much closer to me and get the same degree of "magic" I've felt from WDW in the last few years, if not more.