Are Disney Resort Fees A Possibility?

DizneyRox;2480775 wrote: They have always charged more for less citing all these perks of staying on site as the value add. They will become just a commodity where lowest price wins, and Disney won't compete on price (they will not accept lower earnings so those that do go will see even less value than before)...

I agree. While I don't sometimes mind resort fees, Disney already charges over inflated prices for basic rooms. And honestly, like I said in a previous post, when we stay off site at Seralago [our go to!] they have a movie night, shuttle service to the parks, etc. Now granted it may not be on the same scale but for over half or 2/3 the price per night for a bigger room, with a kid's suite, it's well worth their $7 fee per night.
If I'm paying $150 a night for a value resort room, all that stuff should already come with it. I mean it cost pretty much nothing to show a movie. And those prizes from pool side games [which my boys did love!] are just cheap Oriental Trading/Dollar Tree items that I can buy!

Easy solution for Disney-drop the "resort fee" line and just bump up the nightly cost of the room. That way Mickey still gets his money but people won't complain as much.

DonaldDuck1117;2480834 wrote: Easy solution for Disney-drop the "resort fee" line and just bump up the nightly cost of the room. That way Mickey still gets his money but people won't complain as much.

They should do the same with concert tickets.

Yeah, I don't get it. Is the "benefit" of advertising lower prices and taking the PR hit on the below the line fees (aka nickel and diming) really worth it? Everyone seems to do it these days and it's probably one of the biggest gripes that everyone has.

If you just bundle it, sure there's a little backlash on prices going up, but the nickel and diming just comes off as a money grab and tarnishes your reputation more IMHO.

Maybe it's a product of our society when lowest price usually wins. That's not my mindset usually. I'm capable of evaluating those "intangibles" and they do help decide. I've warned folks for years to make sure you include things like rental car and parking fees into your off site expenses as they actually do bring the true cost up a lot closer to Disney prices. But I think that may not be the case anymore.

There's something to be said for true "all-inclusive" pricing. We went to an "all-inclusive" Caribbean resort for our honeymoon years ago, and while it was expensive, it included everything, and I mean EVERYthing, including gratuities. All activities, meals, shows, room service if you wanted it, one price paid for all. It really created a true "luxury" atmosphere. In the end, it cost us less that going to a different place with lower nightly rates, but where you would have had to pay for all the extras separately.

Even if I add the fee for parking to the rates outside the world, it is much cheaper to stay off the world. With an added fee it becomes simple math for me, since we always travel with our hotel room. The cost to stay at Fort Wilderness would become, at the least, twice as much as staying off property. Now, I like to splurge on our vacations, but there is a line and this added fee would cross it.

I hate that this has become the norm in the entertainment industry. I hate seeing a price, then all these extras added on. Service fee, resort fee, parking fee, convenience fee, etc. just add that all into the price. I know I end up paying the same, but this way I don't feel taken advantage of. Plus if you are the business you get the added bonus of saying all those extras are "included."

DonaldDuck1117;2480834 wrote: Easy solution for Disney-drop the "resort fee" line and just bump up the nightly cost of the room. That way Mickey still gets his money but people won't complain as much.

That's "raise-the-price-checkers." "Raise-the-price-chess" involves increasing hotel rates AND adding the resort fees.