When will the hotel bubble pop?

[Bossy22]

I love Disneyland, truly love it! We went this past summer (drive for 22 hours each way), spent 5 days in the parks and 9 days in the area. This was the trip that was cancelled twice due to covid! We were so excited to go and although we still had a great time it was so crowded, hated genie plus, and never got so little done (and yes we did rope drop and we did stay till close, the 2 best times to get lots of rides in). It seemed like everyone was in the parks!!! The side effect of that is the cost of hotels!!! We stayed at 4.5 stars in various states on the drive down and home (went up the coast). It blows me away how much hotels at DL are going for and I'm assuming it is supply and demand. Do you think people are getting caught up on the post covid trips and things will slow down and prices will go back down to just high, not atmospheric high? Or do you think this is the new norm? With the not soo great park experience and the high hotel prices there is no way my wife will even think of another trip!!! What say you Disney Experts?!!!

 

[OlliePop27]

I love Disneyland, truly love it! We went this past summer (drive for 22 hours each way), spent 5 days in the parks and 9 days in the area. This was the trip that was cancelled twice due to covid! We were so excited to go and although we still had a great time it was so crowded, hated genie plus, and never got so little done (and yes we did rope drop and we did stay till close, the 2 best times to get lots of rides in). It seemed like everyone was in the parks!!! The side effect of that is the cost of hotels!!! We stayed at 4.5 stars in various states on the drive down and home (went up the coast). It blows me away how much hotels at DL are going for and I'm assuming it is supply and demand. Do you think people are getting caught up on the post covid trips and things will slow down and prices will go back down to just high, not atmospheric high? Or do you think this is the new norm? With the not soo great park experience and the high hotel prices there is no way my wife will even think of another trip!!! What say you Disney Experts?!!!

Disney faces the same economic circumstances as every other company right now. There's lots of uncertainty swirling around. The only observation I can make is that people are clearly paying the high hotel prices, that's why they're charging what they do - basic supply and demand. Until people aren't willing to pay, the prices will not go down. Disney is offering a lot of discount rates on weekdays right now, which is an indicator of potentially softening demand. I have found that Disney often doesn't lower rates for things once they're raised, but they will offer discounts (i.e. hotel rates, SoCal tickets).

As to the parks, I just returned from a trip this month and had a great experience. I hope you have a better experience next time too. I went during a time of year I have never gone before (January), and it wasn't my first choice, but it ended up being a great time of year to visit. Yes, there were no holiday decorations and a couple of rides were down for refurb, but the overall park experience with rides and crowds was blissful. It's Disneyland, so it's always crowded, but there are still better times to visit.

 

[BobaFettFan]

I got my reservations 12 months ago. If I made those same dates today, it's $50 more a night now per night which is a %25 increase.


I can only imagine other hotels are following suit.


I should add that, if needed, I would pay that new price.

 

[ParkHopper1]

It is supply and demand IMO...as long as people keep showing up and paying, they keep charging. My take is that people that did not have an economic downturn from the pandemic shutdown still have a lot of disposable income to burn since vacation travel and entertainment was shuttered for a year +...if and when the recession comes I think there will be dramatic turn in the other direction as people tighten their belts...but the whole economy is based on consumer spending and people are still spending like crazy at places like Disneyland and hotels which IMO is why the impending doom that has been predicted has not some to bear regardless of stock market indicators...I believe we are indeed in a bit of travel "bubble" still as folks are still mentally recovering from the shutdown.

Or it could just be the new normal, but that will likely not be sustainable if incomes do not increase as well.

 

[xipotec]

It will end rather soon and rather abruptly. Once all that extra cash saved during covid dries up, and the greed/inflation kicks in on a daily basis for the majority of folks, vacations funds will be the first to go.

 

[OlliePop27]

I agree with the general sentiment about the sustainability of high hotel prices and the long term feasibility of the same, but all I can say is that people are currently gobbling up the rooms at the exorbitant price points. I never would have imagined people paying $800 per night for the GCH, but it is happening regularly right now.

One caveat to demand being that Disney is becoming more aggressive with discounted hotel rates for Visa, MK, and general public - a potential sign of softening demand.

One unique thing about DLR also is that it is very local driven. Even if out of town tourists aren't visiting as much, there's still a massive local pool of people for DLR to draw from, including people who may have vacationed elsewhere but now might consider staying at the GCH or another on site hotel (rather than maybe a trip to Hawaii or Mexico or somewhere else requiring a flight). This is different than WDW where it is so dependent on out of towners flying in (and a significantly larger on site hotel capacity to fill up).

 

[BobaFettFan]

I apologize, everyone.


I didn't put the correct dates for my hotel.


12 months ago, my reservation was $215.


For the same dates now, its $330.


That's a 50% increase. Not 25%.

 

[StormyCA]

I don't think they'll come down by much, if at all. I think 'rack rate' prices will stay inflated and there will be more frequent 'special rates' offered if they see reservations are slacking off.

 

[lalasmama]

I don't think they'll come down by much, if at all. I think 'rack rate' prices will stay inflated and there will be more frequent 'special rates' offered if they see reservations are slacking off.

This is exactly what I think will happen too. For example, Grand Legacy prices are often in the $250 range for so-called rack rates. That's way out of our budget. However a few months ago they sent out a special for those who get their emails. I jumped on it, and am paying $109 for a deluxe room (premium? can't remember the exact name; appears to be 1-2 steps up from their basic room). I haven't seen $109 anywhere in ages, even in non-peak times!

 

[crystal1313]

This is exactly what I think will happen too. For example, Grand Legacy prices are often in the $250 range for so-called rack rates. That's way out of our budget. However a few months ago they sent out a special for those who get their emails. I jumped on it, and am paying $109 for a deluxe room (premium? can't remember the exact name; appears to be 1-2 steps up from their basic room). I haven't seen $109 anywhere in ages, even in non-peak times!

That’s an awesome rate!

 

[amyg1975]

Grand Legacy is where we stayed last time, and again in April. We are on their email list so we here about their deals. BWPPI used to be our go-to, but that is out of my price range for a basic hotel. Even Camelot and Tropicana have gone up a lot. It seems I can't get a hotel room under $200 anymore (we can only go on weekends/holidays). We are trying out Candy Cane Inn next month because they haven't raised prices tremendously... yet.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When families used to take a family vacation no matter if it was to an amusement park or a just a weekend getaway or visiting relatives for a week it used to be that the motel or hotel was the most important part of the vacation that people never worried about the cost of because people especially families needed the space and comfort for the kids but when motels and hotels started getting pricey and too expensive many families stayed at their relatives house rather than a motel or hotel. In Anaheim the same thing is happening as well because when you're a city like Anaheim you have one top draw and that is Disneyland and when you look at the general picture a lot of the big hotels in Anaheim have raised prices because they like to promote Disneyland a lot by giving guests free Disneyland shuttle service and the Disneyland ticket kiosks in the hotel lobbies that enable guests to purchase park tickets and much more. But when you look at it the motels in Anaheim are the ones that are cheaper because they offer better deals and you can get the same deals as the big hotels. It's no secret why the successful motels in Anaheim such as Castle Inn And Suites and Candy Cane Inn offer deals all the time during special events at Disneyland and people go there because it's inexpensive. But some of the small motels in Anaheim such as Super 8 and Kings Inn are favored by many people because Disneyland is just a short drive away from those motels. But in my eyes what really hurt hotels and motels and is still hurting motels and hotels was the pandemic and when Disneyland closed in 2020 a lot of those hotels and motels were really affected by this but when Disneyland reopened in 2021 the motels and hotels slowly returned to making money but raising prices for rooms and yet with Anaheim building new hotels all the time the old hotels have become forgotten about because people like the new hotels. Another example of how Anaheim hotels and motels get so pricey is they will offer deals for rooms and then sell out fast when they have special events such as conventions and Anaheim Angels baseball games and if you go during a Anaheim Angels game the hotel prices will skyrocket making at difficult to find a hotel room much like Steve Martin's character in the movie Planes Trains And Automobiles. But as more events and happenings at Disneyland occur Anaheim will always raise the prices for motels and hotels for years to come. But my advice to anyone is if you can't find a hotel in Anaheim go look in the next city and you'll find a cheaper hotel there and you can easily drive to Disneyland quickly

 

[StormyCA]

"...but when motels and hotels started getting pricey and too expensive many families stayed at their relatives house..."

Yup. Now that my DL visits are 'solo' I've been going for a day or to when visiting relatives. They're only a 30 min drive so pretty convenient. I usually go down to visit for about 2 weeks and do 1-2 days at DL.

 

[pindecisive]

I love Disneyland, truly love it! We went this past summer (drive for 22 hours each way), spent 5 days in the parks and 9 days in the area. This was the trip that was cancelled twice due to covid! We were so excited to go and although we still had a great time it was so crowded, hated genie plus, and never got so little done (and yes we did rope drop and we did stay till close, the 2 best times to get lots of rides in). It seemed like everyone was in the parks!!! The side effect of that is the cost of hotels!!! We stayed at 4.5 stars in various states on the drive down and home (went up the coast). It blows me away how much hotels at DL are going for and I'm assuming it is supply and demand. Do you think people are getting caught up on the post covid trips and things will slow down and prices will go back down to just high, not atmospheric high? Or do you think this is the new norm? With the not soo great park experience and the high hotel prices there is no way my wife will even think of another trip!!! What say you Disney Experts?!!!

DL is definitely harder to do with points, so we fly in in the morning (with miles), and fly out in the evening (with miles) so we only pay for transportation, ticket, and food. In 2018 I was able to do a trip by myself for $300 in total.

WDW is easier for us if you can believe it, because the Marriott hotels are partner hotels with Disney so we can use points for our stay. So not only is our flight free, our hotel is free too and it's like a 15 minute walk to Epcot so we only pay for transportation, ticket and food as well.

This upcoming DL visit we're shelling out for one night at GCH because we got the room for like $500 and I had an old two day ticket I needed to use. Our previous trip we stayed at PPH out of pocket and quite honestly, it's just not worth it to stay onsite for us. I much prefer day trips with a park hopper.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Sadly unless demand for the parks go down then the hotels can charge what ever people are willing to pay.

I just find the cheapest hotels within walking distance that have normal reviews, as long as they dont have bugs/rats and the room has a bed I'm good. I'm in the parks 90% of the time if I'm not sleeping so all I need is a bed and a place to park my car. Seeing rooms going for over 200 bucks to me is insane when they don't offer much

 

[Pluto468]

. I never would have imagined people paying $800 per night for the GCH, but it is happening regularly right now.

Sometimes I look back at old GCH threads and people talk about the hotel being close to $300. Imagine finding that rate now?

 

[mich311e]

I think it depends on where you stay. We usually stay at Desert Inn or Grand Legacy, whichever is cheaper. We had Magic Keys last year and stayed at Grand Legacy more than DI last year due to their great email rates. (We had 6 Disney visits, and 1 stay was at the Alpine Inn just for one night since we added it to an LA trip. The other 5 were purely Disneyland.)

This post made me look and see what rates would be for Desert Inn next year for a trip, we're considering January or April. $180 a night at Desert Inn after AAA for January seems fair to me but I bet the rate is good because it's a year out. I need to discuss which month we want to go with my family and book it but I'll keep an eye out for Grand Legacy emails.

I always check rates at other hotels nearby, we like to be within walking distance. But Desert Inn & Grand Legacy are our go-to's. I don't care about free breakfast, I just want a clean and convenient room.

 

[joseph821]

Sadly unless demand for the parks go down then the hotels can charge what ever people are willing to pay.

I just find the cheapest hotels within walking distance that have normal reviews, as long as they dont have bugs/rats and the room has a bed I'm good. I'm in the parks 90% of the time if I'm not sleeping so all I need is a bed and a place to park my car. Seeing rooms going for over 200 bucks to me is insane when they don't offer much

I agree, as long as visitors are willing to pay the rates the hotels will charge as much as they can. Only when a recession hits and it will eventually, will hotel prices move down when demand is much less and discretionary spending decreases.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I belong to a few Disney social media groups and I recently saw someone recently report that they stayed at the DLH and did not have use of the bathroom in their room due to construction issues. They had to use a public bathroom in the hotel building. They complained and were offered two LL passes. They didn’t like it but accepted it and moved on.

Had that been me, I would have demanded to be moved or a full refund and I never would have let it go until they made a right. A hotel room needs to come with a useable private bathroom inside. Especially a $500/night hotel room.

As long as people keep paying out the nose while also accepting mediocrity Disney can charge as much as they like.

 

[pindecisive]

I think it depends on where you stay. We usually stay at Desert Inn or Grand Legacy, whichever is cheaper. We had Magic Keys last year and stayed at Grand Legacy more than DI last year due to their great email rates. (We had 6 Disney visits, and 1 stay was at the Alpine Inn just for one night since we added it to an LA trip. The other 5 were purely Disneyland.)

This post made me look and see what rates would be for Desert Inn next year for a trip, we're considering January or April. $180 a night at Desert Inn after AAA for January seems fair to me but I bet the rate is good because it's a year out. I need to discuss which month we want to go with my family and book it but I'll keep an eye out for Grand Legacy emails.

I always check rates at other hotels nearby, we like to be within walking distance. But Desert Inn & Grand Legacy are our go-to's. I don't care about free breakfast, I just want a clean and convenient room.

I remember staying at Good Nite Inn Buena Park in 2011, which was a verrrry budget offsite hotel. The nightly cost was $42.