Walt Disney World does it again. They now hate people that drive

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/

Self-parking at resort hotels is no longer "included" in the price of the room. It'll now cost you from $13-$25 a night to park when you stay on property.

Discuss.

Obviously taking a cue from the Vegas properties who have gone to paid parking. Doesn't seem to have hurt the California drive-in market too much. In fact, most casino groups have raised the parking rates since the initial installation. I'm sure Disney was watching this closely and did the cost estimates to determine it would fly.

While it stinks, it is what most hotels in the area do so I can’t complain too much. It will not stop me from renting whenever I’m there during hurricane season for two reasons, one I view them as hurricane insurance that allows me to leave the area if a storm is going to hit and two, it’s a huge PITA to get to the Disney water parks on Disney transportation and would rather drive there.

Thing that gets me is that it isn't just a cost increase. It is billed as an incidental charge at the end of your stay. That might stop people from spending in the park itself because they've got a budget that now has to include a parking charge that they never had dealt with before.

I get why they're doing it, and don't have a problem with it, knowing it exists - but a fair amount of people are going to be surprised by it when they go to check out and have $150 charge to settle up.

I always figured that Disney was already charging a parking and resort fee in with their prices, and just not talking about it, making it seem like you were getting the best deal by staying with them.

I see what they're doing. They want to discourage people from driving or renting a car because getting shuttled around keeps them on property and creates a captive audience, and even the people who take transportation, stay in villas and have food and other items delivered have to pay Disney $5 per package - so the mouse is getting paid, regardless.

It was only a matter of time, because it's what hotels do in big tourist areas, but it'll be interesting to watch this play out.

I believe Universal does this as well, no?

Yes, but again that isn’t the point. It’s widely known and broadcast at most any place that charges a resort fee. Anybody who pays for an on-site hotel at Disney World has already been paying for this stuff in with their pricing. They just never broke it down. Now, they have, and made it more expensive - as a charge to
your room at the end of your stay.

A lot of people aren’t going to realize this is no longer “included” in their booking and I feel some people aren’t going to budget appropriately.

I, personally, don’t care too much because I’m aware of it, and I’m used to it at other places.

Now, if only they use this money to make some much needed improvements, like, say, a fleet of monorails that’s newer than 1989?

Do you still get comp parking at the parks when staying on property?

If so, I think it would have made more sense to change that rule than add this at the hotels.

If not, if you're staying at a moderate resort and driving to a park, you're now adding $41 per day to your ticket.

kpjb said:

Do you still get comp parking at the parks when staying on property?

No, but they're calling it a hotel parking fee. ;)

Seriously though, that's what this accomplishes. Now everyone is paying for parking.

It does seem weird when they don't just bump prices a little instead of calling attention to the fee, but that indicates, to me at least, that's there's potentially some sensitivity in the resort prices.

While this has never affected me personally, I do think it's kind of lame. It goes against their general lump-everything-together strategy that frankly allowed me to part with cash without thinking much about it. When you had room, dining and tickets together, you paid for it in advance, and then the amount you spent while actually there seemed inconsequential by comparison. Now there's a parking fee if you don't Magical Express it. And yeah, it always bothered me that Universal hotels did it, too. There's value in most everything else you pay for, but parking has no value proposition.

As a local, I wonder how this will affect parking at a resort to go to a restaurant/bar or just to walk the grounds without a dining reservation. It states that complimentary parking will be available to "day guests" - I am just genuinely curious how they will monitor this/what the protocol will be.

BrettV said:

It states that complimentary parking will be available to "day guests" - I am just genuinely curious how they will monitor this/what the protocol will be.

No one is monitoring the lot. Hence, no charge for "day guests"

The parking fee is added to your bill based on that resort's fee times the number of days you stay. (like every hotel I've ever been to that charges for parking)

That'd be my guess.

Yeah, they're not gonna get in the way of my Kona and boat rental habit. :)

I often times prefer a la carte pricing. If you drive a car, you pay for parking; if you don't, you don't. And the value is in having a vehicle there for your stay. If you want that, you are paying for that. If you don't find value in that you presumably will take cabs/Disney transportation.

Lord Gonchar said:

The parking fee is added to your bill based on that resort's fee times the number of days you stay. (like every hotel I've ever been to that charges for parking)

That'd be my guess.

The way Universal does it is by hour. You get a ticket (same as my work parking garage and any airport I have ever been to) and are then charged at the exit based on how long it has been since you got the ticket. Many times these systems will be free for the first half hour, full hour, etc. Hotels will typically add it to your room key so you don't have to keep getting tickets. I would imagine they would have to add something like this for day guests -or- divide the lots with free parking becoming a tow away zone after a certain time period. Otherwise, what's to stop someone from just saying they didn't bring a car when checking in?

Lord Gonchar said:

It does seem weird when they don't just bump prices a little instead of calling attention to the fee, but that indicates, to me at least, that's there's potentially some sensitivity in the resort prices.

My feeling is that they want to convince people to not rent a car and take the Magical Express instead. Sucks for those within driving distance but such is life.

The things I'm seeing the most outrage and confusion about are two-fold:

#1 - People are asking why it costs more to park at a deluxe vs a moderate vs a value. It's kind of obvious in a few ways - deluxe are close to the parks, and you can potentially park there for the day and go into the park whereas the other 2 aren't as setup for that. What is interesting to me, thought - is that there's a difference between moderate and value, but I guess it's just based off price of the room.

#2 - People are concerned that this now adds a non-prepaid cost to their trip. Much to Jeff's point, I agree there. I'm doing room, dining and tickets. I'll likely leave cash tips and use my Disney Chase card for souvenirs and whatnot because, 10% discount. If I don't charge anything to my room, there's nothing to worry about when I check out. (chances are good that I will charge things to my room, maybe even tips, but this is just an example) - my vacation is paid for except for drinks around epcot and the occasional flower and garden coffee mug/hat/t-shirt or whatever. Now, with this incoming, you're hit with a big incidental charge at the end of your stay for however many days you're parking. I don't necessarily like paying for parking, but it is what it is. It's like paying for shipping. It doesn't ad any value to me, but sometimes you don't have a choice. However, I wish I could just pre-pay that fee before I arrive and have it completely taken care of. That way, I can go about my mostly-inclusive vacation in peace.

Discuss.

Please please don't rent a car. Take our airport shuttle, so that you can't leave and spend money anywhere else.

Sincerely,
The Management

eightdotthree said

My feeling is that they want to convince people to not rent a car and take the Magical Express instead. Sucks for those within driving distance but such is life.

My first thought. It's a play for more revenue, but also another way to drive behavior that involves people *not* having a car on property.

As an occasional WDW guest I have definitely done that back of the envelope math a few times - rent a car vs. magical express while also consider how much I'm going to be traveling off property, how much Ubers will be, etc.

I'm waiting for the next step in the process where they start to charge for Magical Express.

I had to pay something like $50 round trip for the equivalent in California a few years ago, and that bus was all white without the fun decals or magical TV screens with a welcoming/goodbye movie.

I wouldn't say that's off the table anytime in the future.

What about pulling an airline type move and charging for your bags to be delivered/taken under the bus, but keeping the transportation itself free? There's plenty of ways that Disney is different from everyone else, but they can take them away at any second and start charging, should they so desire.

"People gotta park."