Small Orlando hotels fear Disney resort expansion

The travel time is really comparable to staying off property though. On my recent trip it took about 30 minutes to drive to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, park, walk or take the tram to the Ticket and Transportation Center, then hop on a monorail over to the MK; maybe even longer than 30 minutes actually.

If you were just going to do Disney World or almost entirely only Disney World, there would be little reason to rent a car either, so that's an even bigger savings. Hmmm...think I'll have to give that place a try next time.

I buy annual passes...which includes free parking...but then again I go more than the average visitor. For the record...$60 is way more than I EVER pay...except the rare occasion I get snooty and look for pampering (then I go to Universal and stay there)! I usually only go at Christmas and Spring Break...not exactly down times. You can ALWAYS get discount rooms in Orlando...there is just so much competition. At $45 per night you can get a clean room. If you know people and strategies...you can go lower. Use weekly rates to your advantage...people!

Jeff brings up a good point about "value" and "convenience!" For a lot of people it just takes one trip using the god awful bus service to realize...it aint worth it.

I've no doubt that other motels are worried. Any time you add 4000-5000 rooms there is more market saturation. My point is that those hotels charging less (like they do already)will probably survive on the same strategy.

I understand and respect that many of you have high class taste. On the flip side...there are a ton of travelers out there...many who could afford better...who see a room as nothing more than a place to sleep. This type of traveler does not comprehend spending 2-5 times as much as he has to in order to get crappy bus service and overpriced fair food.

The real question is how many of these rooms will be occupied by first-timers versus veterans...? A lot of Disney veterans have figured out how to maximize their experience and dollar. Typically this is not by using a Disney "value" resort. For "value" it is done much better off property. If you talk about Monorail properties, etc...the story changes. But this story is not about building high end Disney properties with first class service.

Anyhow...it is not the low end chains that need to worry. It is the $100/night establishment.

I love any new competition. It gives me another bargaining chip when negotiating weekly rates.

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Anyhow...it is not the low end chains that need to worry. It is the $100/night establishment.

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You're dead on with that comment! :)

I still maintain that if a property is selling it's rooms for $50* that they're cutting corners somewhere (or a very old property) and it scares me to think of the ways you would cut costs at a hotel. :)

*note: that means $50 across the board, not the occasional Priceline or extended stay visitor or other 'heads-in'beds' techniques.

Its funny, I used to work for Disney, so I lived in the general vicinity of the park. A friend asked me the other day to recommend an off-property hotel to stay in. I couldn't even come up with one. LOL!! Needless to say, they ended up staying on-property and LOVED it. I see no reason to ever stay off-property if you don't intend to do any other area attractions. Plus, the hotels outside of Disney wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Walt's dream. So, if they can't compete, boo hoo for them.