How Disney's Hotels Fake Luxury at Insane Prices

Cool video about the Disney hotel history but I wanted to know How Disney's Hotel Fake Luxury at Insane Prices

Gen X native Floridian. We had been annual pass holders and all in on the Disney Bubble prior to Covid. I have legitimately been to Disney World over 150 times in my life. We had been in the habit of going to Food & Wine Fest as Mom’s annual birthday trip but this year the price for a room and 4 day ticket were $5200. This was BEFORE transportation to get there and BEFORE all the $$$ we typically spend at food & wine. Also before all the photos and fast passes. We instead book a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean with a suite and complete food & drink package. It comes with complimentary hotel stays pre and post cruise and go port will take us from hotel to port. The hotels offer a complimentary breakfast buffet so in total we are covered for 10 days, all transport and food and drink and we’re at $3700. It’s insane, and I’m sad that I didn’t realize our last trip to Disney was likely our actual last time going there. It’s just priced us out. 😢

I think Disney has been riding the coattails of the goodwill and nostalgia they fostered in previous decades and coasting for a long time now. I truly think they’ve lost sight of what made them work and believe they can keep riding that residual wave well into the future. More and more people are catching on though, and they’re slowly but surely pricing themselves out of even “a once in a lifetime” family vacation. You talk about convenience costs but I think they’ve mostly eclipsed what the average person is willing to pay even for convenience, especially when a lot of those “conveniences” are becoming pay to play extras. You’re always going to have the outliers and the big fish but you can’t build a company like Disney off those potential guests especially when they’re more likely to know what true luxury is.

Disney is sitting on a maintenance timebomb in the parks because of its cash shortage.

I think we're already hitting that "house of cards" point at WDW. Attendance in July (I've been in the parks as a local all summer, not basing it off the flavor of the month of a blog or vlog) has been noticeably lower than in the past decade or so. The price for a vacation at WDW has been rising significantly while projects have been cut drastically both before and after COVID. We can try to keep blaming the COVID years for all the problems currently facing the parks, but post-COVID park attendance came back very strong. Unfortunately, not all the entertainment and offerings previously available came back with the crowds. Just my opinion.

I wish I could go back to 1980s Polynesian resort, that place was beautiful. And super affordable, it's crazy to think that my lower middle class family of 4 could stay there for a week (we did have to drive from Maine to Florida, but that I blame my dad for watching National Lampoon's Vacation too many times.)

I hate to be the guy that Brings Universal into the conversation and makes it another "Disney vs Universal" thing. But I just couldnt help but notice how much better and cheaper the Universal hotels were compared to Disney during my last visit. Like Cabana Bay had a WAY better Mid-Century Modern look than the Contemporary Refurbishment. And it cost one fifth the price, was cleaner, and had better service.

Not to mention the hypocrisy of the value resorts and how they are pretty much the cost of what moderates used to be for a lot less options

$800 to sleep, shower, and sh-- shave, no thank you. 😅

Having worked in 5 star hotels, I can assure you, this is all true! “Luxury” ski resorts charge $1,200 per night for a basic hotel room because they’re selling you an aspirational lifestyle. For starters, they pretend to be famed and legendary buildings, but they’re really just cheaply built, contractor grade buildings with some nice finishes. I have stayed at Hampton Inns that have much stringent cleaning standards, than most of these “luxury” destination resorts that are cleaned by international students who could careless if they use the same rag they used to clean the bathroom to wipe your drinking glasses. Oh and they tell their underpaid and overworked staff to go above and beyond and put the 5-star touch in every interaction and try to spend little to nothing to create memories for the guests that will keep them coming back year after year for their winter ski vacation. They’re short-staffed and over worked and they want you to write a nice note or send their kids a drawing drawn by you. They want you to use “elevated” language and exude class and a refined demeanor because it costs them nothing, rather than giving away free bottles of wine and charcuterie boards, or, god forbid, comp someone’s night!

I can’t believe there was no Disneyland until I was five years old, but actually, that was perfect timing. I went for the first time at ten when the park was so spanking new and the lines fairly manageable. It was affordable for the large middle class we had after the war, when the government was humming along and taking care of all our vets.

I was DVC member 2012-18. I miss coming home to Old Key West Resort every summer when my children were at ideal Disney age. Back then Disney gave us Magic Bands with a custom box with each of our names on the slot in the box and band. Magic hours midnight till 2 or 3 am. Free parking. Little did I know that was the last of Disney Magic. Now my children prefers Universal Studios and Dollywood. They don’t even like any of the new Star Wars movies or series. It’s sad but Disney is not the same anymore.

Disney "Deluxe" resorts do not compete with actual 5-* luxury resorts - they are playing on the prestige factor of staying on-property in a premier location. They are missing most of the "required" features of a true 5-* luxury resort. In addition, they keep "promoting" hotels up in stature. Wilderness Lodge started out as a mid-level hotel - inconvenient to get to, but very nicely landscaped. It is now, magically, a "Deluxe" resort with the corresponding silly prices - even though it does not even have a sit down [adult] restaurant on premise. Well, can't call them silly prices... people pay them, as did we. The Genie+ mess is what drove us away, well, and combined with the overbuilding of DVC with no corresponding theme park capacity. Visits are just an extremely expensive hassle, and you can't guarantee getting on the rides you want, and you certainly cannot get any decent restaurant reservations. We just don't go anymore at all. Universal is vastly cheaper, and a much more relaxing experience.

There's a difference between exclusivity and luxury. I reject Disney's contemporary strategy of exclusivity. But before the late 90s, Disney offered somewhat broadly accessible luxury, quality, and top of the industry service.

Never understood those Luxury hotels at all. They are nice most the time, but you don't exactly have the time to enjoy them do you? I mean the point of going to Disney World or what ever is to go to the park... not spend time in the Hotel pools or what ever activities they have.

The last time my husband and i went to disney, it was the last leg of a 2 1/2 week vacation. We spent several nights in various hotels along the way, and honestly, our room at Port Orleans Riverside (our resort for many years), was the worst for cleanliness, decor, and amenities of any room we booked during that vacation. It was by far the most expensive room we had and certainly not worth the price by comparison. We haven't been back since. Most of the perks for booking a Disney property are no longer available (for free) and it is just too sad to witness the obvious decline in standards for what was once a "magical" experience.

I'm a DVC member for 17+ years. Disney has cut back significantly their late magic hours. Back when we originally purchased DVC there was at least one park open late for resort guests every night. Now it's at best 1 night for MK and one for EPCOT. Late magic hours have been cut to 2 hours while the regular park hours ends earlier and earlier. No more resort or even front of the park package pick up or delivery, so we buy way less. No more magic express from the airport with luggage delivery to your room. Fastpasses now lightning lane has been heavily monitized. The parks are dirty and cast members aren't all 10s like they used to be. That's rare now. Parks are also pretty empty. They were in May for us. Disney needs to fix this or Epic Universe will be a death blow.

I was shocked staying at the The Grand Californian that the room was so basic and small for the $900 price tag. Next vacation was at UO staying at the HR where the price was $700 less, walking distance to the park and the room was bigger with the added perk of the unlimited express pass

The backstory about Gilded Age railroad tycoons and hotels isn't as laughable as you seem to think it is. Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway was basically responsible for the building of modern Florida, and Disney mentioning it is an appropriate nod to the state's history. The famous hotels created along the route were the beginning of Florida's critical tourism industry.

We are going to Orlando for the first time in early February. We will be staying at Sapphire Falls at Universal because it would have cost us over £1000 more to stay at French Quarter at Disney. We are dual income no kids, so if Disney is too expensive for us I can't even imagine how people with kids afford it.We will be visiting one or two Disney parks but will be concentrating on Universal because Disney is just so over the top expensive.