Where will the next new fee be...let's make a list!!

[Haley R]

I recently benefited from a class action lawsuit against a retail shop, Justice. The lawsuit alleged that Justice misled shoppers by marking items “40% off” when this price was in reality the regular price. Justice ALWAYS had 40% off, so there was never a higher retail price. They lost over 50 Mil in the case. I didnt have to do a thing to get $120 in vouchers since they had my info from my method of payment.

This is very much sounding like Disney...they set a price, but ALWAYS have a sale/promotion.

Aside from that note.... my prediction for next new fees are:

A fee do to check in in person
A convenience fee to do check in online
Automatic 18% gratuity to the gate guard to bill the parking fee
Fast Pass fee for the monorail
Transaction fees for purchases
FL Alligator Rescue Fund
Fee for character photos with upcharge for autographs

Sounds a lot like Kohl’s...

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

I'm not sure why you guys are trying to give Disney any ideas, lol. I think they already have a full-time task force on this issue, figuring out what new fees to start next.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

I have zero doubt that they'll soon be charging for magical express. They already charge for busses to port Canaveral to their cruise ships. And it is express after all.

Magic bands? Monetize them.

Fee to charge to your room, like credit card industry standard.

Fee to have purchases sent to your resort.

Basically anything that's a convenience and now seems free will become an extra charge while not decreasing rack rates and/or ticket prices thus double dipping in every guest's wallet.

Rest easy... the wdw co. is a mega-professional global think tank of ways to make money that our little consumer pea brains haven’t even thought of. Bob Iger isn’t reading this thread while maniacally laughing We’re just having fun with the pain.

But when you think of Bob Iger, don't you picture him maniacally, and evilly, laughing somewhere? I know I do.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Just thought of the best fee ever....

A fee to change your dining reservation! Cha-ching !!!

 

[cwis]

I would love to pay for a “room selection fee”.

Let's see how this could work: a few days before you check-in, the system sends you an email with a link to MyDisneyExperience, where a map shows a few rooms that are available for your trip. Your select up to 5 rooms, by order of preference. On the day you check in, if your request can be fulfilled, you get billed for your “room selection fee”, and if not, nothing happens.

Given how many people are struggling with making room selection requests, that would make sense… it would also somehow help with the “partial savannah view” requests at the AKL, mentionned by @anneboleyn!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I would love to pay for a “room selection fee”.

Let's see how this could work: a few days before you check-in, the system sends you an email with a link to MyDisneyExperience, where a map shows a few rooms that are available for your trip. Your select up to 5 rooms, by order of preference. On the day you check in, if your request can be fulfilled, you get billed for your “room selection fee”, and if not, nothing happens.

Given how many people are struggling with making room selection requests, that would make sense… it would also somehow help with the “partial savannah view” requests at the AKL, mentionned by @anneboleyn!

Wow, the Hilton hotels let you select your room in advance for no extra charge, if you're a member of their free club.

 

[BK2014]

I'm not sure why you guys are trying to give Disney any ideas, lol. I think they already have a full-time task force on this issue, figuring out what new fees to start next.

Maybe the OP does work for Disney, and was just too lazy to come up with his/her own ideas?

After all, the OP did say:

While this is tongue in cheek, I have 100% confidence that somewhere, in a board room, every one of these ideas has been listed. And many more. And probably many we will be seeing in the future.

How could they be so confident if they aren't in on it?

 

[cwis]

Wow, the Hilton hotels let you select your room in advance for no extra charge, if you're a member of their free club.

Oh I see. Then, let's hope for Disney that some other major hotel chains will charge for it, so that they can pretend “everyone does it”.

 

[leebee]

I think we are going to start being charged for magic bands, for Magical Express, for pool towel service. At some point I expect there will be a "transportation package" that will incorporate DME, bus service, parking. Priced per night? Who knows... but they will get there.

 

[Kevin355]

Oh I see. Then, let's hope for Disney that some other major hotel chains will charge for it, so that they can pretend “everyone does it”.

Clean sheet fee.

 

[Tink-osophy]

Clean sheet fee.

Or, you'll arrive to an unmade bed with a pile of sheets folded and ready for you to make up yourself. Unless, you pay the extra...

And, now I'm thinking in terms of youth hostels, there could, also, be a chore allocated to each room, like vacuuming the hallways!

 

[nekonekoneko]

Seems the way Disney is going, the next one might be:

A fee to wait in standby!

Think about it, 4 hours waiting for FoP means 4 hours not buying stuff!. They need that money, too!

 

[cwis]

Seems the way Disney is going, the next one might be:

A fee to wait in standby!

Think about it, 4 hours waiting for FoP means 4 hours not buying stuff!. They need that money, too!

You mean, they could break the attractions into different tiers, and you could ride only the attractions for a specific tier, if you have tickets left for that tier, with the added option to buy more tickets for a tier if you've run out. Let's call “E-Tickets” the one we would need for 7DMT or BTM!

*s

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Seems the way Disney is going, the next one might be:

A fee to wait in standby!

Think about it, 4 hours waiting for FoP means 4 hours not buying stuff!. They need that money, too!

Nah, they'll just start adding some drink, snack, and merchandise kiosks throughout the standby lines to entice people to buy stuff. Then they can put lockers at all of the rides for all of the crap people buy in line and charge for them instead of allowing people to bring stuff with them on rides as they do now.

Instead of charging for under 3 year olds, they could charge a stroller fee. If you bring your own, you're charged the bargain price of $25, $40 for a double. Since probably 98% of people with toddlers bring a stroller, plus a good chunk of those with older kids (and even some without kids), they would make bank.

Also paid "VIP" bus lines that guarantee you a seat on the bus and make it so no one has a seat unless they pay for the "VIP" experience.

A charge for the campfires and movies and pool parties at the resorts.

To use the waterslide at you resort will be $2 per ride, or you can get a daily wristband for $20.

An added fee for the new security checks (mandatory of course), and instead of money back for opting out of Mousekeeping, it will be $10/ night to have it for the values. $15 for mods, and $20 for deluxe.

Use of the baby centers will be $5 per visit.

If you want the standard soap, shampoo, and coffee in your room, they will be priced like it is for DVC- no more for free.

CMs will carry around a magic band scanner and charge your MB for every pic they take with your phone. Anyone who pays with cash or card for anything will be charged a $3 service fee per transaction (and no CM will provide change if you use cash).

 

[Darklord77]

Or, you'll arrive to an unmade bed with a pile of sheets folded and ready for you to make up yourself. Unless, you pay the extra...

And, now I'm thinking in terms of youth hostels, there could, also, be a chore allocated to each room, like vacuuming the hallways!

I once had a handyman joke with me and say he would put light fixtures in for me for $100, but if I wanted it done correctly it would cost $150. I think Disney is getting to that mentality now.

 

[Kevin355]

Or be like NYC...fee for sugar drinks, fee for salt. You know, a healthy living fee.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that we are already on the way to a paid FP system. IMO, the Club level option of paying for FP at 90 out got me to thinking. I saw a lot of offended folks here ont eh DIS complaining that they were being left out. Disney to the rescue!!! We heard you!!! Stay onsite? For a fee you can purchase your three FP at 90 days. DIsney still had the 60 free FP for onsite and good neighbor hotels, however now everyone onsite can have the ability to buy their FP.

I do not think that DME will be a paid service. I believe tht Disney does not want anyone using a vehicle on property if it is at all possible to avoid it. I think the parking fees are an incentive to get folks to stop renting cars when they travel by air because a guest who drives in can always drive out for groceries, shopping, meals, other tourist attractions. Nope, they want as many people trapped onsite as possible.

A few years ago there was a rumor floating around about resort fees. It tanked. I think that while Disney may raise rates, they saw all of the negative feedback regarding the fee and backed it out. For me, this is my line in the sand.

I tend to believe that Disney is trying to capture as many people as they can, and while some people saw the changes to the dining plans to be a negative, I bet more saw them as positives. They loosened up the restrictions that they had been strictly adhereing to for years, added alcohol or specialty beverages to both CS and TS meals, and got rid of including those silly CS desserts in exchange for an additional snack.

Personally I think the parking fees are a mistake and will backfire. I would love to know how the folks who roll these "ideas" out keep their jobs. I would have offered a gift card to guests who do not leave a vehicle onsite overnight, and then watched while people clammored to get their gift card. It woudl have cost Disney vey little, and I think woudl have reaped the intended result: More guests who fly in would consider skipping vehicle rental, would allocate all of their vacation money to Disney.

My family has committed to trip in December, and I am a bit shocked at the cost at this point. We are going, but I will faint if I do not see discounts released. I am already a bit in a snit over the entire FP debacle, and to me it is a debacle. We pay a premium for onsite accomodations, yet for now good neighbors also have the oppotunity to book that within the same timeframe as me. I think that the houskeeping offer of gift cards in lieu of daily cleaning is a prelude to some sort of increase becuase of the staff shortag, however I am not sure how they manage that. The parking fee will result in increased resort pricing when that little fiasco fails, and if there are resort fees, this is my last rodeo.

 

[Hisgirl]

Maybe the OP does work for Disney, and was just too lazy to come up with his/her own ideas?

After all, the OP did say:


How could they be so confident if they aren't in on it?

I can 100% assure you I don't work for disney. Gov't contractor here.

 

[MomOTwins]

Disney Cruise Line already charges transfer fees, so Magical Express seems like a soon-to-be victim.

More amusingly, I once had to pay for the privilege of using the restrooms at an upscale department store in London. It was a very nice bathroom, I have to admit. But does that make it "industry standard" now such that we can expect pay-to-pee to be making its way to WDW? A friend told me on a visit to another country she had to pay a fee to a staff member for each square of toilet paper she wanted to take with her to use in the stall. So maybe that would be next! You even could pay extra for a "premium" experience of upgrading to 2-ply embossed with a mickey ears silhouette.

 

[snappy]

I can just imagine having a CM in costume acting as an attendant in a WDW bathroom handing me my paper towel with a basket for tips on the counter. Ugh.