I agree. Just adding $24 a night to a week long stay is not cheap and needs to be evaluated with planning costs. My room at Bay Lake Tower is more expensive than a room at the Four Seasons. It'll probably be my last stay on property for a while. I just don't understand why they didn't just increase the prices of their hotels. People expect those to go up and wouldn't have complained at all, but doing it this way makes the charge in your face and a ton of people are complaining to them
When you look at the booking engines and compare prices, you might know it's there (like sales tax or airline extras), but it's not the first thing that pops out at you. If Disney increased the price of it's (already very expensive) room rates, they would look even worse compared to the off-site competition. I'm sure Disney has been frustrated for years that other hotels get away with parking charges and resort fees. But I hate that trend of semi-hidden fees, and just because others are doing it, doesn't mean I want Disney to do the same.
Also, it basically adds to the price of a rental car for people who fly in. I guess they're hoping that people will not bring a car in order to save $13-$24/night... but then make up for it by buying extra expensive meals on-site and staying away from other Orlando area attractions.
I am guessing Disney is doing this because Universal Orlando is doing it. They have different prices for parking at their hotels. Remember, they want to follow industry standards. So I guess the old statement WWWD (What Would Walt Do) is now WWUD (What Would Universal Do). Who knew Disney would be following Universal's lead?
Seriously! Universal was the first to start with tiered pricing (with upsells for shorter wait times) and demand pricing (at various times of the year). Disney has been letting Universal experiment with this stuff first before jumping in, whereas they used to be the leaders and Universal would match Disney.
Disney did charge for WiFi at first. It was about $10 a day.
Denise
I had always wondered why expensive hotels could get away with charging for wi-fi, whereas any old roadside motel gave it away for free. I heard a podcast about this and the answer was obvious: because they can. Cheap hotels know their customers won't pay it, and it has nothing to do with the cost of providing the wi-fi. Also, in expensive hotels, you have business travelers whose companies will definitely shell out the money to make their workers more productive. For now, at least, they probably calculated people wouldn't be willing to pay for wi-fi. But if we prove our willingness to pay, they would definitely take our money.
As an update. I just received a phone call from George Kalogridis' office. The woman I spoke with did not try the industry standards line with me, likely because I had extensively refuted that claim in my email, she mostly just apologized to me that I had such negative feelings over this, and wanted to let me know how much we are valued as WDW resort guests. I was very kind on the phone, but I was firm that this did not in any way make me feel valued, and that I would not buy any of the excuses that I have previously heard laid out. I was very clear that I feel that WDW properties lag behind industry standards in many ways, and that this was only diluting the overall product. It was nice to receive a call, and she let me know that my letter was extremely extensive and provided many thoughtful points. She said George reads all his correspondence and that she would also share this call with him. Not exactly satisfying, but I didn't expect to bring about change either.
I also just received a call from George's office. The secretary was very nice and had obviously read my letter. We had a nice chat. I told her that I had been coming to WDW since before Epcot was built and I hate seeing the magic disappear. She never once mentioned industry standards but I also had mentioned that in my email. She hoped that I would be coming back soon. I told her that since the magic was being dwindled away little by little that I would probably take my vacation dollars elsewhere. She did say that they are getting a lot of calls and emails. I do feel like they at least have heard me, nothing may change on Disney's end, but they are listening.
I'm really glad you all talked with the executive offices. More than most businesses, Disney execs do actually worry about guest feedback which is why they also invest so much money into surveys. You're right that nothing might change (as I'm sure the analysts have also given their calculations), but at the very least, next time there's a decision like this you'll have added to the chorus of voices that are a counterbalance to what the finance department probably says. Also, when a decision like this is made, it isn't just one person. In a huge company, rarely is any big decision one-sided and unanimous. Your feedback will give those people who disagreed with the parking fees more ammunition in future discussions about fees. (Source: I work for a big company, and have used customer feedback to influence decisions.)
I did get an email asking if they could call me for whatever that is worth, I don't think they will enjoy the conversation.
Maybe they will enjoy the conversation! It's not personal for them (as long as you're respectful and don't make it personal). The fact that they want to talk to you shows that people do care about what you have to say.
Not unless they make some significant improvements to their onsite transportation.
Absolutely and if history is a guide, I don't expect to see Disney do anything to fix the issue either.
Not to mention, industry standard pricing.
$31.50 Resort Fee last I checked. That said, The Swolphin is usually significantly cheaper than comparable Disney resorts even with the added fees. I've even seen both under $100/night (before the taxes and fees) on random days (orphan rooms between conventions/events). Plus, I earn starpoints and status with SPG/Marriott there. I have already stayed 4 nights at SPG Hotels completely free this year on points earned from paid stays at SPG Hotels and my SPG Amex.
I love SPG too and the Swolphin is one of my favorite places. I still hate the industry trend of resort fees, but I have also found those random sub-$100 rates. Sadly, I haven't found those bargains lately.
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guest.services@disneyworld.com'; '
George.kalogridis@disney.com'; '
robert.a.iger@disney.com'. Agreed, thanks to the poster who posted these previously. That is where i obtained them as well. I did mention in my email and conversation that this was increase was on top of so many other impactful decisions this year (increase in resort rates, increase in park tickets) and degradation of services (bus route changes, amenities). One of the things really egregious is that the parking fee varies depending on the resort classification. He said that it was due to the fact that deluxe resorts have less parking overall. Not a good answer IMO.
Yeah the only reason they charge more is because they think people are willing to pay more. There's just no nice way to say that, so they have to make it about something else.