How do Florida Residents/Passholders feel about the new date specific room rates?

[nifty48]

Date specific room rates are going to change my trips to Disney. My daughter and I plus grandchildren are Passholders/Florida residents. Our visits to Disney are generally 3 or 4 weekends a year with maybe a day here or there. We love being able to run up for a weekend staying at a Disney resort but now with the new weekend rates (little or no discounts) we will have to eliminate our weekend getaways. I’m not sure if going for a day here or there will make it worth renewing our Season Passes next year. Does anyone else feel like I do?

[magicofdisney]

I'm a home-schooler and my mom is retired so we have much more flexibility than the average park goer. I'm disappointed in the new rate structure. I do enjoy the long weekends (less rescheduling of our schooling) but I'll take what I can get. If I had to depend on weekends only, I probably wouldn't renew our passes.

[amorillo]

Yes, I too was a little disappointed. Doesn't seem very fair. We usually try to make our week-long trips include two full weekends... not this year.

[DisneyTwirler13!]

I am sad about the changes, but it doesn't bother me that much, because we live so close. But this might not bode well for our annual end-of-school/start-of-summer camping trip/hotel stay.

[mickeysworld]

nifty48, we are in the same boat! DH works during the week, kids are getting older, making it harder and harder to take them out of school during the week, so when we are able to go it's usually for a very quick weekend trip. The new rate structure really stinks for us as well.

[DDuck66]

Luckliy we live close enough that we can go for a lot of single days, so we will probably renew our passes. I went every year two or three times a year before I was an AP holder, so it will not change my mind that much either way. The price of the value resorts is still a good value when compared to resorts off of Disney.

[ILoveLegos]

I don't see the value in a AP for us anymore, we let our Annual Passes lapse in October of this year. We'll strictly do day trips from our house now, maybe I'll get a new AP next year, but then again maybe not. It's only a 140 mile round trip drive, we can make it to WDW in about an hour and the play 3-day pass is a good deal and it's upgradeable too if we choose to return to being AP holders!
A couple of years ago we let our AP-es lapse and spent more time seeing other attractions, like Cypress Gardens, Seaworld, Bush Gardens and even ventured out to Hawaii twice and Texas. Seeing other places keeps things fresh and new for us anyway, as much as we love Disney World.

[Kathie_WE]

Hmm.. what a bummer! We have been mulling the idea of becoming DVC members... this may be the extra incentive we needed to go for it.

No doubt it will effect the number of FL residents who go to Disney for a get a way weekends. Guess they have decided they don't need to give that incentive....

[DizneyRox]

DVC has been like this forever, and most other hotel chains I can think of do the same. I don't see any problem with it.

Hopefully now I'll actually be able to find a room for those quick weekend getways. It's always been hard to get rooms last minute, if this helps, then I'm a happy camper!

I really don't see the increase as much of a deterrant. With everything else I need to pay for for those quick getaways, it's a non-issue really...

[TheRustyScupper]

My dear (now past) friend, Harry Chapin had a phrase in his song, 30,000 Pounds of Bananas. For those of you who know the song, the phase fits quite well.

[jedigrrrl]

It's SUPER ANNOYING and makes me sad. We always go long weekends.

[magicofdisney]

My dear (now past) friend, Harry Chapin had a phrase in his song, 30,000 Pounds of Bananas. For those of you who know the song, the phase fits quite well.

"...make it a dream." That's the only phrase that I find fits well.

[JPL]

This is all a byproduct of record attendance figures. Disney figures people are coming anyway so we can get them to pay more this way. They have been cutting back on certain areas for the past few years and attendance keeps going up. The cutbacks and icreased attendance equals more profits. Until this trend stops and people speak up by not going and profits dropoff this trend will continue.

[SallyP]

I don't see any problem with it....

Are you a FL resident? Maybe that's why you don't see any problem with it?

We have become Swan Dolphin 'stayers'. They offer passholder rates and internet specials and give you points for future stays. The latter of which Disney hasn't ever offered to me.

[Flower]

Are you a FL resident? Maybe that's why you don't see any problem with it?

We have become Swan Dolphin 'stayers'. They offer passholder rates and internet specials and give you points for future stays. The latter of which Disney hasn't ever offered to me.

I am not a Florida resident, but I am an AP holder and this past year we will have spent about 3 months in Florida (Thank god for mat leave!) Of that, over 4 weeks will have been spent on Disney property.

As Disney Rox said, Most hotel chains already do this, and in fact I cannot think of another hotel chain that does NOT charge extra over the weekend. DVC has done this all along - charging extra 'points' for weekend stays.

Personally, I would rather stay at a Value Resort to get extra nights on property. Yes, I would love to be able to stay at GF every trip, but I will settle for longer stays at a value. DH will not buy into DVC so that is not an option for us.

Our upcoming trip we got an AP rate of $49 a night, can't beat that! We have decided now to split our stay between POP & POR for $99 a night with the AP rate. $99 is still a great rate for any hotel room.

[DizneyRox]

Are you a FL resident? Maybe that's why you don't see any problem with it?

No, a passholder (because of park admissions, NOT discounts).

And for the record, just because I don't have a problem with it, doesn't mean I'm happy with it. Yes, it means I will pay more for my weekend getaways. But, the bright side is, I hope to have more availability because others may not want to pay more.

In the grand scheme of things, a few bucks here and there isn't going to break the bank for me. Unfortuantely, Disney realizes this, which is why you see these changes.

[goofygirl67]

I have a seasonal pass, so I don't go during peak times when it's more expensive anyway. I do however take weekend and week trips. My weekend trips have always been moderate or value resorts while the week trips could be deluxe. For me I guess this means I won't be doing much deluxe trips or I will have to go to more than 1 resort to save money.
But it won't stop me from going.

[DessertDivaFL]

I don't like the change but I understand why they are doing it.

We do not get the AP, rather we get the FL resident 3-day Play Pass. We usually take a few days out of the week and check out Saturday morning and beat the rush. That is what we are doing in two weeks.