New Overnight Parking Fees for Disney World Hotels
Walt Disney World has announced that it will charge hotel guests for overnight parking. Rates will vary by resort tier, with Vale Resorts charging $13/night, Moderate Resorts will be $19/night, and Deluxe Resorts $24/night. Valet parking at Deluxe/Villa resorts will increase to $33/night. Disney Vacation Club guests staying on points or paying cash at Deluxe Villas will not pay for overnight self-parking.
Note that this does not impact free parking for Annual Passholders at the theme parks, nor does it impact those visiting a resort hotel for dinner or shopping. (Although we wouldn’t be surprised to see purchase validation soon required for resort visitors.) Guests staying at campsites in Fort Wilderness will not pay for overnight parking. It’s presently unclear whether drivers with valid disability parking permits will be charged (we’ll update the post later about this once we receive clarification).
The new Walt Disney World parking charge applies to guests who book reservations on or after March 21, 2018. The one positive in this news is that if you book a reservation today or in the next week–even for a trip in December–you won’t be subject to the new parking cost. So that’s at least one way to postpone the sting of this new fee for a little while longer.
Walt Disney World has indicated that this change is to bring their Florida hotels more in line with industry standards. Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels, the Swan & Dolphin, Universal Orlando on-property hotels, and most Orange County Convention Center area-hotels charge for overnight parking.
During our recent stays at the Disney Springs hotels, we noticed pricing around $20/night (+/- $5), which was fairly surprising given the surplus of space. The swamps of Florida are not exactly San Francisco or New York City, where the space is limited and has a high per square foot real estate value.
Known for its “blessing of size,” Walt Disney World fans have long thought that there are certain lines Disney wouldn’t cross, with parking and resort fees being one. We can empathize with the many fans who are frustrated by this, but to them we’d also say that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is basically a license for Walt Disney World to print money. We’ve said that before, but perhaps it needs to be reiterated. It will draw historic crowds to Florida, many of whom will be first-time visitors or lifelong Star Wars fans willing to pay just about any price to live out childhood dreams. As demand is about to soar, you can expect prices for just about anything at Walt Disney World to increase.
This is particularly true with supply-limited items, such as hotel rooms, parking, and theme park capacity (tickets). Obviously, we’re not fans of paying more to visit Walt Disney World, either, but it’s a reality we all must face.
While we’ve historically been quite averse to Walt Disney World’s various cash-grab up-charge offerings, we’re actually becoming a bit amenable to them, as they represent optional ways to pay more, rather than necessary ones that impact all guests equally.
If Disney management has certain revenue projections that they are attempting to hit (and they certainly do) through a mix of optional and mandatory price increases and upcharges, we prefer the ones we can avoid. This is sort of where we’re at with the parking fee: it makes us cringe, but at the same time, if it’s in lieu of an across the board hotel rate increase of, for example, $10/night, we’ll take it.
Since Walt Disney World operates by the same laws of supply and demand and consumer price sensitivity as every other business, it stands to reason that this fee will impact both future rate increases (slowing them slightly) and guest behavior (pushing more people off-site or causing them to skip rental cars). The latter means a decline in hotel demand–but that will be more than offset by the coming increase in demand once Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens.
As such, we’re sure there are still significant hotel price increases coming between now and 2020, but minimizing those to the greatest degree possible via optional fees (in other words, not resort fees, which are anti-consumer and really should draw more scrutiny from the FTC) would be our preference.
We’ve written articles (here on page 2 and here) that delve into the current hot economy and its impact on Walt Disney World, so we won’t rehash those here. Suffice to say, record-high consumer confidence and new projects that will be huge guest draws is a perfect storm for higher prices at Walt Disney World.
Interest in those additions is unlikely to subside until well after Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary in 2021, but the same cannot be said for the economy. That cooling off has its own set of negative ramifications for guests, but one silver lining is that it will also cool off Disney’s pricing trends.
Other than that, we don’t really know what else to say about this news of overnight parking fees for Walt Disney World guests. It’s understandably frustrating, especially for long-time fans who have experienced a noticeable shift in policies and practices. While Disney has always been a business, there’s was a time when it felt like a responsible one that tried to balance shareholder interests with guests ones, adding value that was commensurate with added costs. Maybe that was never the case, and maybe it still is.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about the new overnight parking fees at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I think this fee is only about greed disney used to be affordable. SOOO SAD!!!!
looks like i will be skipping a year until my next visit. what’s next- sidewalk privilege fee? how about a wake up call fee? i agree with the theory that Disney is excluding the middle class and relying on the upper class to pay the difference. I love Disney but i also believe that I have to be financially responsible to my family also. This will mean we go every other year and save up our money in between.
Our last trip to WDW is March 31-April 1 and then we will be taking a longgggg break. Our kids are now 17 and 13 and, even though we all love WDW, we have noticed too many negative changes recently. The resort self parking fees are the last straw! I imagine we will return once we have grandchildren but that shouldn’t be for at least 10-15 years. I am certainly not looking forward to the crowd that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will draw. People who have no interest in anything Disney crowding the parks, complaining about lines, being rude to the cast members; I’m having flashbacks of my last, and only, trip to Six Flags. This is such disappointing news as they are taking the “happy” out of the Happiest Place on Earth. =(
agreed! Maybe Passholders could get a break from the fees. I live in Orlando and am a passholder. We go all the time and even stay at least 4 or more times a year with our 5 grandchildren. I try to keep cost down at resorts as much as possible but this is making it tougher. Not a fan of this parking fee!!
I never thought Disney ever followed the “industry standard”…believing they set the standard instead of following it….silly me. This is the age of gouging. So once my family spends our vacation there this year – already booked for fall without any discounts – this will be the reason we will just be spending less INSIDE Disney and going there much less often. Vacation budget money has to come from somewhere…. I feel cheated that after allowing over $10,000 for a vacation to an entertainment facility we are expected to even fork over more….
Hello, can you book for 2019 now and avoid paying parking fees?
Nope. As always, once the up-charge is announced there’s no way of avoiding it.
If you read the announcement, or this article, stays booked before March 21 will not have the fees. But that does require reading the text…
His article says that the change in parking charge begins the 21st of March. I would think if you book for 2019 before the 21st you should not have that charge included… But I could be wrong, just going by how the article reads… Good luck. Glad we already have our Dec trip booked…
Its a shame that Disney is charging for overnight parking. We are from Toronto and travel by car always. To pay $24.00 per day for a deluxe hotel parking is absurd. Especially if you stay for 12 days. That is a lot of money to waste. We might stay outside.
If you are staying 12 nights at a deluxe resort, you can afford the extra $288.
Technically if you’ve ever been to Disney someone else can say “if you can afford to go to Disney you can afford to give X to Y.”
Just because someone has the money to do something doesn’t mean they have to be charged more, or that they no longer have the right to statements of value or what they are willing to pay.
That argument is ridiculous.
Its ridiculous to spend $300-400+ a night at a deluxe resort and then complain about an extra $24, but I only come at this from the standpoint of complete jealousy, as i will never get to stay at a deluxe.
I understand the perception that “if they can afford deluxe what the heck is another 230 bucks?”, but we actually don’t have an income that supports going deluxe. We planned for 2 years to do one more “big” disney trip with our teens and this one time wanted to go deluxe. We just escaped the parking fees, but we are in an every penny counts situation BY going deluxe. We actually factored the savings of parking fees into the expensive price. When you are overpaying by that much to stay at a deluxe disney resort (we could of had a 2 bedroom suite w/feature pool for 100+ less a night off property) the amenities should be a part of it.
ps: it’s not $24, it’s $33 a day which is high! It all adds up.
Says who? You??? Just a rude, un-needed comment Aaron. You will not stay at a deluxe resort because you’re too ignorant to hold down a job that pays well enough to afford it. So in the meantime kindly shut it.
Yes, unneeded comment, you are correct. I will just shut up and dribble.
John – no need to respond with an ignorant comment. I think he realizes his comment doesn’t make sense. Just because someone can afford an extra fee doesn’t make it right.
We stayed 4 nights at a deluxe once, because I got an limited time (good for 2 days from the email date) email offer from Disney to upgrade for $45 a night from the moderate we were booked at (it was shortly after the unfortunate gator incident near the Grand Floridian). Don’t assume everybody staying at a Deluxe WDW resort is made of money.
It’s a shame the way Disney has started charging for hotel parking as an annual pass holder I stay about 25 days a year and stay at moderate resorts which will now add a large cost to my trips I am 4 hrs away I will rethink my pass and wait till Disney runs specials for residents I will not go as much as usual there loss
I think they said annual passholders are the one exempt group. You should be okay.
No it is only DVC members that are exempt. Stan is correct. Annual passholders have free parking at the parks but not the resorts. If they stay at a resort they will pay the parking fee like everyone else. I feel bad for them because they are more likely to pay the fee because passholders usually live closer to be able to go more often and tend to drive there. It decreases the value of an annual pass.
$20 more for a ‘Deluxe’ Resort parking spot than a Value Resort. They must be really nice. Maybe they give the car a massage. We don’t bring a car to Disney and this year will be our last for a while since I’m sure prices will sky rocket and promotions will be scarce once Stars Wars opens.
This January we stayed at a disney hotel. The lack of parking fee was determinant when we decided not to split our stay between a disney and universal resort. Next time, we’ll have to rethink that. I suppose there are many like us, and this will result in less guests at disney resorts.
I hope you are right because that is the only way this insanity will stop. Right now Disney has been making record profits. They don’t need to charge parking fees to make more. They are just being greedy. I know this will be my last trip. I was thinking of going when Star Wars opens but by then it will probably even more ridiculous. I think that is what they are betting on. I hope it backfires and their hotel occupancy rates decrease because of this. One can only hope.
This marks the end of my Disney trips. Having grown up in S. Cali and also owned houses in FL, I have been going Disney my entire life, been an annual pass-holder and stayed at just about every resort on property. The greed that is now Disney is utterly reprehensible. I will NEVER go back….Those that do, hope you enjoy your 3 hour lines while paying $24/day to park your car in a lot that has hundreds of empty stalls. But then you can always enjoy an $18 burger and $13 beer while you regret having rented a car, because otherwise you could have gotten a second round rather than pay to park it….
I couldn’t agree more Chris!!! We started our love for Disney over 25 years ago when we first visited for our honeymoon. We have visited Disney nearly every year since then taking our children and making them Disney fans as well. However, the last couple visits, we have noticed a dramatic difference in many things….too many to list here. I am just sick at the Disney execs GREED! I agree, there will be many that think our opinion is ridiculous and that’s fine! I certainly have a lot better things to do with my money than pay to park at a resort that I’m already paying an astronomical amount of money for. I’m sooooo disappointed in Disney!!! Shame on them!!
I don’t think you’re being ridiculous. I’ve stayed with my family in Disney resorts and we are absolute addicts. That said, 14 nights at $24 a night is $336, about the same as a flight from London to Orlando. We were there last in October last year and like you noticed many not so good changes noticeably the inaudible announcements on the now infrequent Disney transportation buses. I really can’t see us going back again as we cannot justify the extra costs.
I agree 100%. I have a trip booked and won’t pay for parking but this is definitely the straw for me. I already sent an email to guest services telling them so. If more of us do that maybe they will listen. I doubt it but it is worth a try. I suggest if you haven’t done so to contact Disney and tell them you won’t be back. Just a thought. I am not disappointed. I am angry at Disney. This is an unnecessary added cost because they can. That is the only reason. Consumers are not that stupid. We need to tell them with our pocketbooks.
I feel that it’s terrible. Very disappointed. No need to charge overnight for self park.
I’m not surprised by any of this. Hotel rates continue to climb, park ticket prices increase – it was only a matter of time before Disney got rid of free parking.
And guess what?
People will STILL vacation at Walt Disney World. People will still stay on Disney property. Executives at Disney know this.
I am wondering at what point does Disney outprice the middle class?
They already have if you are a SMART middle class consumer!
I think they’re getting pretty close depending on what your definition of middle class is- they are already not a cheap vacation, we go every other year and work at saving the money. We have our reservations for next year already so we escape the fees until 2021…maybe we’ll find another place to go then, Hawaii? It’ll probably cost about the same at that point.
Hawaii makes Disney seem pretty inexpensive. The hotels there all charge resort fees, and parking fees. They will run approx. 25 to 70 per night resort fees, and 15 to 30 self parking fees, not to mention they charge you for Wi-Fi per day. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Yes Disney is being a bit greedy, but you can avoid the fee, and not drive.
Joale Your missing the point. How many middle class families travel to Hawaii? The answer is not many. The ones that do have saved a long time or have gone into great debt. Disney used to be a place families could go to annually and stay on property. It is becoming a once in a lifetime kind of trip if you want to stay on property. That is what Hawaii is to most people. Julie is right. I think they have out priced Disney for the middle class. They keep making it harder and eventually it will affect their bottom line. Right now they have enough new customers that they don’t care about repeat customers anymore. When those repeat customers stop coming as often or at all it will affect their bottom line. Right now they are trying to squeeze as much money out of people as they can. Sooner or later the discounts will be back because the economy and their outrageous prices will make people stop going and they will have to do something to attract people. Until then I am done.
There must be a huge demand for Disney hotels if they are confident that this measure won’t encourage people to stay off site to save money. If you have to pay to park in the hotel overnight you may as well stay elsewhere and pay the park charges when you visit. Is it possible that free resort parking will be used as a promotion and Disney dining gradually withdrawn?
It’s highly likely that they will do away with the free dining, except maybe they will go to something like 7 meals free per person per night, and they will be quick service. The reality is exactl y what Tom said. They are simply meeting industry standard. Most hotels charge a parking fee, plus a resort fee, and in Hawaii they charge per day to use the in room Wi-Fi. It doesn’t matter where you go. If it’s a tourist destination they will charge. They do in California, Hawaii, outside of Disney in Florida, in New York, in San Antonio TX. in West Yellowstone MT. If you stay off site for Disney you have to pay 22 dollars to park, plus you may also pay a resort fee, and unless it’s Disney Springs you also don’t get extra magic hours.
You also aren’t paying the extremely high room rates that Disney charges at it’s hotels. The local hotels are cheaper even with the extra fees. We stayed at both Disney and Universal in Dec 2017 and the Hard Rock Hotel Club level room was over a thousand dollars less than the Contemporary standard room with a theme park view. Even adding the $20/day for parking it still would have been $1000 difference.
Hawaii is an island. Space is at a premium. So comparing it to Disney doesn’t make sense. I can’t speak to California but I have stayed in both NYC and Boston and have gotten 4 star hotel rooms with parking for less than a deluxe room at Disney. I also have stayed at 3 star hotels for less than a moderate with better amenities and nicer rooms than Disney.
Using industry standard to raise prices is just an excuse. It is like our Mom’s used to say. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you have to. Disney used to be a leader. Now they are just another greedy corporation that uses excuses to raise prices to increase profits. They think consumers are dumb but all of us are not as I can see by reading the comments here.
As families, or couples, we all have to count the cost wherever we travel. As a serial champagne-taste person on an imported beer budget, I work very hard to make ends meet and have extraordinary experiences. The thing is, disney is charging a premium already and disney resort guests like to feel they are getting special amenities by staying on property. For example, free parking in park was an amenity I valued. Our family has stayed in luxury accomodations around the country: Yellowstone to ski resorts to beach resorts and by patience and hard work (and exhaustive research!) all have costed less than what we will pay a night to stay on property at a deluxe resort this fall. There are always deals waving resort fees etc if you look hard enough. Hawaii however is probably one exception, which may be why it’s a destination we’ve taken a “pass” on!
as we are from the uk and stay in Disney port Orleans the cost of the holiday has go up $266 for a car that will sit in the car park for 7 days as we use the Disney transport system
so is it time for a rethink if we return to port Orleans Disney will make$266
if we do not return Disney will lose accommodation/Disney parks tickets/ and Disney dineing and all we spend as well
I don’t mean to be rude, but why would you even waste money on a car? Why not just use the Disney Magical Express to get to and from the airport? If you want to go to another location, such as Universal, just use an Uber or Lyft. Save yourself a lot of money, and stress. There are lots of options for avoiding the cost of rental cars. A good travel agent should be able to help you with that, and many only get paid through commission, they don’t charge the client a fee.
We live in a nearby State that means we don’t need to fly. We always have our car on disney trips.
Walt would be spinning in his grave. I love Disney and always stay on property but this is not the Ine Mans Dream that. Walt had.
He wanted a place for all kids that everyone could afford and not the big profiteering business that Disney has become.
Charging guests for resort parking is one thing that they did not need to do and actually now removes one of the points of difference between Disney and Universal!
Walt sold his name to put on every cheap piece of merchandise that existed at the time. I think his ‘One Man’s Dream’ was to have a successful business, which vy all accounts the Disney Company is today. He would approve of these fees.
At least they have to Do some Customers Survey about this Parking Fees. Otherwise Some Customers Will be in favor and some will oppose it
Ok…just to clarify for myself here. I have made and already paid for a 5 night stay at the Poly for late September of this year so I WON’T have to pay parking fees? Or since my trip isn’t until September, I had better budget in the parking fees?
Thanks for the help!
That’s the way I read it:
“The new Walt Disney World parking charge applies to guests who book reservations on or after March 21, 2018. The one positive in this news is that if you book a reservation today or in the next week—even for a trip in December—you won’t be subject to the new parking cost. So that’s at least one way to postpone the sting of this new fee for a little while longer.”
We already booked for January so we shouldn’t have to pay them either.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Disney has not given us a free ride all these years. The cost of transportation (busses, monorails, watercraft), parking, and resort fee has been baked into the room rate for the last 35 years or so. They just never broke it out like that. There is a reason the wilderness lodge is $150 cheaper than a monorail resort other than no view of castle. Disney in their greed (maybe to make up for subscription losses in cable and ESPN, or to keep ppl on property by making them more dependent on Disney for transportation) has decided to tack on another fee on top of their cost baked in room rate, because well they can.
I choose to call it a locals tax. If you are flying in you can use the magical express (which I think is a great value). However, if your like me who lives 3 hours away your going to drive. Over the course of a year I make 5-6 trips and stay around 25 nights. I stay at moderate and deluxe resorts. That’s on average about an extra $500 a year. In full disclosure I’m DVC but some of my trips I don’t use points and I have family that don’t have DVC. In the future my cash trips will be at bonnet creek or swan/dolphin. Even after resort and parking fees they offer a much better value in my opinion.
I completely understand the frustration! As a DVC member and almost always fly won’t effect me yet! My only silver lining comes from the fact that we better get ready!!! The Millennials are finally coming into their own and they are the biggest demographic ever! They don’t have the effect of Winning WW2 but ready or not here the come and the economy is about to roll regardless of who’s “running the country”. If you remember or study the 50s and 60s from an economic standpoint here comes those times again. Traditions like Disney we all remember will keep folks coming back no matter these costs cause they’ll want the kids to enjoy WDW like they did in the 90s and with wage growth about to pick up they’ll pay! Disney can keep their political nonsense but like it or not the attract best and brightest and they would not start charging for parking if they thought attendance would drop, they feel popularity is baked in and will pay! Tom if you read these it may be time to really look at Value of DVC based on inflation and extras. I for one feel hotel rates and charges like these will rise faster than dues!
Ok Mr. Economist. You said “Value of DVC”. How can you even put value and DVC in the same sentance??
If you read the articles on this blog or break out a calculator you will find that if you ever plan on staying deluxe, and go every other year, or plan on staying deluxe twice and go yearly, you will likely at least break even.
The issue is having the money to put in up front.
In general DVC actually is a good value IF you plan on staying in deluxe 1-2 times regardless AND are okay with tethering yourself to Disney.
That doesn’t factor in any of the discounts DVC gets, so just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s not a good value.
Cost and value are not the same thing.
Disney is bargaining on the popularity of Star Wars. The problem is, less people care about that. Gen X is the Star Wars generation, and our kids are the younger millenials. They are the ones who are strapped with extreme amounts of college debt, the high cost of living, rising house prices, low employment, and medical costs that are through the roof. No, they won’t be spending much at Disney for a while. I think the market will force them back to reasonable.
The good news for us is that we’ve already booked our trip, so this charge won’t impact us, this time. We’ve stayed at properties all over the resort in the decades since and never, ever was there a lack of parking space.
I’m glad to see that free parking at the theme parks for resort guests who drive remains free (though that option has suddenly become a question mark).
Florida has a lot of land. I’d be unsurprised if someone didn’t open a long-term parking business with shuttles to and from the parks. It’d be ideal for the large percentage of people who drive in and then mostly use the internal transportation system.
The last time we were there, we drove, as usual, and then took advantage of the free theme park parking, because driving was just so much faster than taking buses (the only push was Magic Kingdom, since if you park, you have to take either the ferry or monorail to get the park, while buses drive directly to the park).
I just see the Law of Unintended Consequences coming into play and biting the Mouse on the posterior, unfortunately affecting guests as well. The bus transportation system is pretty well saturated, and has been for a long time. We all hope the Skyliners project brings some relief, but this new policy could easily result in more people relying on the internal transportation system, which could result in the system being overwhelmed, even with the Skyliners online.
It also makes staying offsite that much more attractive, even with having to pay resort and/or parking fees, at least those which have a shuttle service (of course there’s also Uber & Lyft).
Disney has discarded one of the advantages it had over offsite properties, but the potential impact on the internal transportation system may make this a decision that is regretted.
I don’t see them regretting this at all. If you stay off site it just means less stress on the internal system, and more on site open rooms. Personally, I think it will become a situation where they will begin to close up the parks to those staying off site if you are not a Florida resident. They are expanding their resorts, so it stands to reason that they will find a new avenue to encourage on site stays, and discourage the use of facilities that are not at least within the Disney Springs area.
I disagree. This will bite them in their wallets. Disney is being arrogant right now because of record profits, Star Wars and their anniversary coming up. When that wave is over I think this mistake will come back and hit their bottom line. The rest of your statement makes no sense. Cutting off outside guests? In what world would that work? That will just alienate more people. As far as open rooms that is not their goal, I don’t know why people think that? It is to make more money without having to spend any. They already have plenty of rooms sold so they are phasing out discounts. If this opens rooms they will need discounts to fill them. That is counterintuitive if you ask me.