Disney parking fees for RCI exchanges. What is the verdict?

[chriskre]

Bumping in hopes that someone can answer this question.

Do you have an exchange already?
If so print out the confirmation where it does not mention the new fee and more than likely if they charge you and you bring it to management's attention they will waive it "just this once" as a courtesy. I find that Disney is very accommodating if they change the rules mid stream and you didn't get the memo. You have nothing to lose by asking.

 

[wed100105]

Do you have an exchange already?
If so print out the confirmation where it does not mention the new fee and more than likely if they charge you and you bring it to management's attention they will waive it "just this once" as a courtesy. I find that Disney is very accommodating if they change the rules mid stream and you didn't get the memo. You have nothing to lose by asking.

Thanks, I have an exchange for Aulani, so I am not worried about this year. I was just on tug for the first time in a long time, and wanted to bump the thread. We will go back to WDW next summer.

 

[Dean]

Do you have an exchange already?
If so print out the confirmation where it does not mention the new fee and more than likely if they charge you and you bring it to management's attention they will waive it "just this once" as a courtesy. I find that Disney is very accommodating if they change the rules mid stream and you didn't get the memo. You have nothing to lose by asking.

This has not been my experience. For DVC members I'd say it's pretty safe even for an exchange, but if they do decide to charge exchangers, I doubt the confirmation will help. I'm reminded of the valet parking change where some checked in before the change and left with a charge with no notification.

 

[chriskre]

Thanks, I have an exchange for Aulani, so I am not worried about this year. I was just on tug for the first time in a long time, and wanted to bump the thread. We will go back to WDW next summer.

Aulani does charge for parking as well.
I went 2 years ago so don't remember the exact amount but
it was like $25 or $35. Similar to HHV.

 

[chriskre]

This has not been my experience. For DVC members I'd say it's pretty safe even for an exchange, but if they do decide to charge exchangers, I doubt the confirmation will help. I'm reminded of the valet parking change where some checked in before the change and left with a charge with no notification.

Was it because they didn't notice the valet parking charges?
If so, I imagine going back after check out after the fact they wouldn't waive it.
Or was this on check-out that Disney would not waive it?

And I agree with you on us DVC members would definitely not be charged this fee
even on an exchange. Not that they couldn't but I think they know it would piss
off the members and they are all about selling us more points with "perks" like
discounts on things that used to be free or included anyway like parking!

This past month they gave us a 20% discount pretty much everywhere on property.
Of course the prices are no longer on anything but it's all color coded.
One of the employees told me because they doing a yield management type thing now.
I was buying 2 beach towels. One day it was Buy 2 get them for $20.
Next day I decided to buy and now the price is Buy 2 get them for $22.
So that 20% discount wasn't much when they raised the price on me
but hey they seem pretty generous with that discount.

 

[silentg]

We live in Central Florida, when we have family or friends staying at Disney, we meet them over there. None of them have a car if staying on Disney property. If they do have a car the usually are staying off site at resorts , Orange Lake especially.
My sister and family stayed at Reunion in April. We went over there and picked them up and rode to Disney with them, since we get free parking with our Disney pass.
Silentg

 

[Firepath]

Thanks, I have an exchange for Aulani, so I am not worried about this year. I was just on tug for the first time in a long time, and wanted to bump the thread. We will go back to WDW next summer.

Wow, you got an exchange for Aulani! I've not heard of anyone who got that. If you don't mind my asking was it thru RCI and for which month?

 

[Dean]

Was it because they didn't notice the valet parking charges?
If so, I imagine going back after check out after the fact they wouldn't waive it.
Or was this on check-out that Disney would not waive it?

And I agree with you on us DVC members would definitely not be charged this fee
even on an exchange. Not that they couldn't but I think they know it would piss
off the members and they are all about selling us more points with "perks" like
discounts on things that used to be free or included anyway like parking!

This past month they gave us a 20% discount pretty much everywhere on property.
Of course the prices are no longer on anything but it's all color coded.
One of the employees told me because they doing a yield management type thing now.
I was buying 2 beach towels. One day it was Buy 2 get them for $20.
Next day I decided to buy and now the price is Buy 2 get them for $22.
So that 20% discount wasn't much when they raised the price on me
but hey they seem pretty generous with that discount.

No notification to anyone, it just went into effect on a given day and went on the website the same day. No sign saying, no call the the rooms and as far as I know, they did not waive the fee even when some complained though Disney is nothing if not inconsistent. Valet is a separate company, they would likely have had to pay it if themselves if they'd waived it. I tend to discount the "members will complain" or the "class action suit" angle.

 

[Mcduck]

We have an exchange coming up in september. I have called and verified with DVC and they said there would not be a parking fee. I asked a couple of times as I almost always rent a car and wanted to make sure. I already think we are trading down but it will be fun. I have never stayed at Saratoga springs and hope its up to HGVC standards.

 

[Panina]

We have an exchange coming up in september. I have called and verified with DVC and they said there would not be a parking fee. I asked a couple of times as I almost always rent a car and wanted to make sure. I already think we are trading down but it will be fun. I have never stayed at Saratoga springs and hope its up to HGVC standards.

It is different but nice. I own HGVC and my overall experience was just as nice. Actually I loved
it.

 

[bendadin]

Okay, so MS at DVC just read me a blurb about RCI. RCI inbound exchanges are NOT charged the parking fee, so it seems as though you do not need to be DVC as well to get free parking.

 

[paxsarah]

Wow!

 

[Lisa P]

Thank you for posting this!!!

 

[Dean]

Okay, so MS at DVC just read me a blurb about RCI. RCI inbound exchanges are NOT charged the parking fee, so it seems as though you do not need to be DVC as well to get free parking.

I’m not surprised, I think that was the overwhelming likelihood. However, they could if they wanted and Disney is nothign if not inconsistent. I’d expect it to change at some point, likely without warning.

 

[Southerngirl528]

Aulani does charge for parking as well.
I went 2 years ago so don't remember the exact amount but
it was like $25 or $35. Similar to HHV.

Aulani parking is $37/day(for either self parking or valet according to their website). Parking on Oahu is pretty pricey everywhere as real estate is pretty limited. I know Maui has parking charges too, but they are quite a bit less per day than Oahu's charges. DVC members staying at Aulani do not pay parking for up to 2 cars per rez. My concern is when we stay in a GV there next year and will have a big group with 4 couples, all on 1 rez since we are staying in a 3 bedroom, so we will have at least 3 cars......

 

[icydog]

Aulani parking is $37/day(for either self parking or valet according to their website). Parking on Oahu is pretty pricey everywhere as real estate is pretty limited. I know Maui has parking charges too, but they are quite a bit less per day than Oahu's charges. DVC members staying at Aulani do not pay parking for up to 2 cars per rez. My concern is when we stay in a GV there next year and will have a big group with 4 couples, all on 1 rez since we are staying in a 3 bedroom, so we will have at least 3 cars......

Here’s my experience with Aulani and parking. I made a complaint when I was charged $35 a day to valet park because they didn’t have any handicapped parking spaces near my room. So what did they do at Aulani? They moved my room and then charged me the extra points for a marginally better view room. They acted as if I was my fault, even though the HC parking was way across the hotel from my original room..

I called Disney Vacation Club the next day and the $35 a day parking fee was waived. They also returned the extra points for the new room (42 points) to my account. I never received an apology from the staff. In fact, I think they were even nastier to me than the day before! I really think that the cast members in Aulani need a refresher course in Disney hospitality management school

 

[icydog]

Okay, so MS at DVC just read me a blurb about RCI. RCI inbound exchanges are NOT charged the parking fee, so it seems as though you do not need to be DVC as well to get free parking.

thank you so much for posting this information. My daughter and granddaughter are staying there on RCI points in July.

 

[mj2vacation]

Here’s my experience with Aulani and parking. I made a complaint when I was charged $35 a day to valet park because they didn’t have any handicapped parking spaces near my room. So what did they do at Aulani? They moved my room and then charged me the extra points for a marginally better view room. They acted as if I was my fault, even though the HC parking was way across the hotel from my original room..

I called Disney Vacation Club the next day and the $35 a day parking fee was waived. They also returned the extra points for the new room (42 points) to my account. I never received an apology from the staff. In fact, I think they were even nastier to me than the day before! I really think that the cast members in Aulani need a refresher course in Disney hospitality management school

Sorry to hear that! I was a cast member for 10 years and typically, a boneheaded move like that is one to three people who don’t get the big picture.

Usually, the company bends over backwards, even when not at fault. Anything less is disappointing.

Glad they fixed it.

We were just at Aulani last week for the first time since a hard hat tour prior to opening. I was extremely impressed with the cast at Aulani. It took some time as a vast majority of the cast were new to the company. I had looked into transferring, but in most cases, cast had to resign and reapply. They did not want to pay relocation expenses.

I am a fanatic when it comes to service, and they nailed it. Did not interact with anyone who was not enjoying their job (or at least acting like it).

 

[icydog]

Sorry to hear that! I was a cast member for 10 years and typically, a boneheaded move like that is one to three people who don’t get the big picture.

Usually, the company bends over backwards, even when not at fault. Anything less is disappointing.

Glad they fixed it.

We were just at Aulani last week for the first time since a hard hat tour prior to opening. I was extremely impressed with the cast at Aulani. It took some time as a vast majority of the cast were new to the company. I had looked into transferring, but in most cases, cast had to resign and reapply. They did not want to pay relocation expenses.

I am a fanatic when it comes to service, and they nailed it. Did not interact with anyone who was not enjoying their job (or at least acting like it).

I hope your experience is the new norm at Aulani. I know I’ll never go back. I absolutely love Marriott's Ko Olina Resort right down the street from Aulani. When, or if, I go back to HI I’ll be at staying at that resort. I love the open area at Ko Olina. I love that we could sit under a gorgeous palm tree by the pool rather than being jammed in, chair after chair, in the pool area.

I recognize that Disney did a great job with the Aulani Resort's topiary and scrubs. These worked as a natural barrier and a great crowd disperser and they funneled people along the paths. I liked that.

I think Aulani is a the type of resort that you love very much, or one you decide to pass by. I’m in the latter category.

But thanks mj2vacation for your supportive post! I’m sure you were an absolutely incredible cast member!

 

[Dean]

Sorry to hear that! I was a cast member for 10 years and typically, a boneheaded move like that is one to three people who don’t get the big picture.

Usually, the company bends over backwards, even when not at fault. Anything less is disappointing.

Glad they fixed it.

We were just at Aulani last week for the first time since a hard hat tour prior to opening. I was extremely impressed with the cast at Aulani. It took some time as a vast majority of the cast were new to the company. I had looked into transferring, but in most cases, cast had to resign and reapply. They did not want to pay relocation expenses.

I am a fanatic when it comes to service, and they nailed it. Did not interact with anyone who was not enjoying their job (or at least acting like it).

Historically there are things Disney and DVC have done well and things they haven't. IMO what they do well as a rule is respond to bigger issues, what they don't do well is plan to avoid certain issues where possible and in being consistent when issues do happen that are somewhat predictable. They also don't handle day to day issues well like maintenance and supply issues. I'd point you to the valet parking fiasco (though I agree with the large picture decision) and several refurbishment issues where they had to relocation guests from highly sought after 11 month options mostly to SSR with extreme variability in how it was handled. Specifically they passed the decision and implementation on to AKL for 2 occasions who did it poorly. I'm not approaching this from an emotional standpoint as I'm frequently the one defending issues like poor refurbishment, someone has to get the dumpster view. I'm in a number of timeshare units a year usually with DVC, Marriott, Wyndham and Bluegreen. IMO DVC handles day to day issues like supply, minor maintenance and minor complaints dramatically more poorly than the other 3.

As for the attitude of individual cast members, I'd say it's generally been very good at every step along the way and where it hasn't, it's often not employed people like non Disney restaurants though to a degree those are still representing Disney. However, what would you think if someone told you to "Have a Disney Day".

 

[mj2vacation]

Dean,

Agree.

Here is the thing. Marriott has thousands of resorts, including the hotels. Yes, MVC split off, but I will get to that in a minute.

Marriott’s bench of resort operations and leadership is insanely deep. They do a good job of retention, so many have been involved in numerous parts of the machine. A GM has typically been with the company for at least 5 if not more years.

Post split, that diminishes, but MVC still has 30+ years of team development. Essentially, every job at MVC revolves around a head in a bed.

DVC is a tiny part of a relatively small resort operator. Running a theme park is vastly different than running a hotel, which I think Universal gets more than Disney.

Further, look at DVC leadership. Jim Lewis was a finance guy for Pepsi. Came to Disney in finance, then running DVC. Ken Potrock was running Run Disney (just sounds funny) and Disney Springs. New lady is also a finance person.

They don’t come from a hotel background, don’t stay long, and generally don’t change much.

There is also something I came to refer to as the Arrogance of Disney. The Dream is a perfect example. Add a thousand more people, no more pools, build a sports bar with no refrigerator, etc.

The B-itchen at BLT was one that many of us tried to point out before construction even started. Combing a bathroom sink with a kitchenette sink a foot away.... uh, no!

Aulani opened with too few pools, no quick service restaurant (Ulu cafe was actually a grand villa, hence the 6 hotel rooms that are now available to DVC Members), assumptions that were built around selling Aulani from the east coast where the vast majority of members were located, and of course, the dues issue.

The valet parking debacle actually had a real issue between the vendor and DVC. However, DVC bungled it, and hence got the blame. If WDW did not outsource valet, it probably would not have been an issue.

There were many of us that were pointing these things out, but it is hard to get leadership to listen.

That being said, Disney does do a great job on many aspects in spite of itself. Dedicated cast members will literally build a callous from face planting, but still make magic happen.

As for the Disney day thing, I don’t know how much of that is an urban legend and how much was based on the legend. It’s like hearing chowda Head in Boston or fuggetaboutit in NY. Most people don’t really talk like that, but if feeling theatrical, I have been known to deploy one or the other.

 

[Dean]

Dean,

Agree.

Here is the thing. Marriott has thousands of resorts, including the hotels. Yes, MVC split off, but I will get to that in a minute.

Marriott’s bench of resort operations and leadership is insanely deep. They do a good job of retention, so many have been involved in numerous parts of the machine. A GM has typically been with the company for at least 5 if not more years.

Post split, that diminishes, but MVC still has 30+ years of team development. Essentially, every job at MVC revolves around a head in a bed.

DVC is a tiny part of a relatively small resort operator. Running a theme park is vastly different than running a hotel, which I think Universal gets more than Disney.

Further, look at DVC leadership. Jim Lewis was a finance guy for Pepsi. Came to Disney in finance, then running DVC. Ken Potrock was running Run Disney (just sounds funny) and Disney Springs. New lady is also a finance person.

They don’t come from a hotel background, don’t stay long, and generally don’t change much.

There is also something I came to refer to as the Arrogance of Disney. The Dream is a perfect example. Add a thousand more people, no more pools, build a sports bar with no refrigerator, etc.

The B-itchen at BLT was one that many of us tried to point out before construction even started. Combing a bathroom sink with a kitchenette sink a foot away.... uh, no!

Aulani opened with too few pools, no quick service restaurant (Ulu cafe was actually a grand villa, hence the 6 hotel rooms that are now available to DVC Members), assumptions that were built around selling Aulani from the east coast where the vast majority of members were located, and of course, the dues issue.

The valet parking debacle actually had a real issue between the vendor and DVC. However, DVC bungled it, and hence got the blame. If WDW did not outsource valet, it probably would not have been an issue.

There were many of us that were pointing these things out, but it is hard to get leadership to listen.

That being said, Disney does do a great job on many aspects in spite of itself. Dedicated cast members will literally build a callous from face planting, but still make magic happen.

As for the Disney day thing, I don’t know how much of that is an urban legend and how much was based on the legend. It’s like hearing chowda Head in Boston or fuggetaboutit in NY. Most people don’t really talk like that, but if feeling theatrical, I have been known to deploy one or the other.

I don't see DVC as a small part of Disney any more than I see DW as a small part. Truthfully, without DVC, I'm not sure the parks would have survived in the same format we have today. IMO you can't be great if you don't do the small things well and often they don't do the small things well, esp with DVC. The shame is that where DVC falls down is all on the things they have direct control over. They have great resorts and overall great people, they just don't provide them with the proper leadership IMO. I'd point out that their response years ago to getting rooms ready was to change the check in time from 4 pm to AFTER 4, like the government changing the definition of inflation. I've seen lots of positive examples like the French quarter CM that was was chatting with my friend and her twin granddaughters on check in then when they returned the next day they each had signed framed pictures of they favorite character. Historically they haven't had a plan on refurbishment and the resorts have suffered accordingly, I think that has changed somewhat though. I'll again reference the valet parking change, the ultimate decision was spot on, there was no other reasonable choice but it was done very poorly.

As for DVC leadership I think the VP in charge gets too much credit and too much blame. I don't think Jim Lewis did as bad a job as many would assign him or Claire B. really much better, it's like being the quarterback on a football team. Companies in general don't take as much of a long term approach as they used to, it's all about this quarter's or this years profit.

To be honest this is hurtful to me not only because I own DVC but because it was my first lover in timeshares. And everything I see as negative related to this discussion they could fix tomorrow with little real cost, just effort and leadership, they just have to decide it's important. If they keep jacking up the costs AND adding on other costs, they will hit a breaking point somewhere along they way.

 

[mj2vacation]

Jim did some good things, but that was overshadowed by his abusive leadership style.

He also did a lot of insanely stupid things.

His reign has has done a lot of damage to the growth prospects of DVC. They will be selling Aulani until 2050 at this pace.

As for my “relatively small” comment, it’s in relation to a company Like Marriott or Hyatt.

They can execute much better, but sometimes, they calculate the cost benefit analysis of a few points +/- on guest satisfaction ratings vs the financial cost.

 

[Dean]

Jim did some good things, but that was overshadowed by his abusive leadership style.

He also did a lot of insanely stupid things.

His reign has has done a lot of damage to the growth prospects of DVC. They will be selling Aulani until 2050 at this pace.

As for my “relatively small” comment, it’s in relation to a company Like Marriott or Hyatt.

They can execute much better, but sometimes, they calculate the cost benefit analysis of a few points +/- on guest satisfaction ratings vs the financial cost.

I still don’t see the size as an issue. Sometimes bigger is worse but for Bluegreen and Marriott, they are actually smaller. For a company who reports to be better and above it all, they don’t demonstrate that IMO. Wyndham is bigger overall.