Disneyland to end early entry for hotel guests

This is pretty lame IMHO. Disney can tout data all they want, but the fact of the matter is that staying on-site at Disneyland is obscenely expensive. Whether or not guests took advantage of Early Entry doesn't mean that they didn't find it a valuable perk the same as an unused fitness center or pool. The replacement perk of a single LLMP is absolutely insulting - spend $500+/night for your 3-night stay at the Grand Californian, here, have a LL for Pirates for the 2 guests in your room, sorry we can't possibly give you one for RSR, RotR, or a "top" attraction. Sure, it probably costs a lot for Disney to open the parks 30 minutes early for on-site guests (and others with special tickets that have early entry privileges), but it also costs nearly twice as much to stay at one of DL's on-site resorts compared to other similarly appointed hotels within walking distance of the parks. Early Entry was a perk that didn't necessarily level the playing field, but at least made you feel like you weren't getting completely ripped off by staying at an on-site resort.

For similarly priced hotels at Universal Orlando, you get unlimited Universal Express access every day for your entire stay. At Disneyland, you get one, single Lightning Lane entry per stay. Not per day, per stay. That says so much to me.

The previous two replies here are perfect for this story. This is insulting. Charging the ridiculous prices for their on site hotels and then this. SMH.

I wonder when Disney will realize that people aren't usually compelled to visit their hotels when there are so many cheaper ones out there.

"I wonder when Disney will realize that people aren't usually compelled to visit their hotels when there are so many cheaper ones out there."

It's not always about the bottom line price, because there is value in staying at an on-site Disney resort that justifies the typically higher prices compared to off-site alternatives. Proximity to the parks is one differentiator, which off-site resorts will NEVER be able to match. I can't tell you how much having an exclusive park entrance or being able to walk through the gates of Disneyland in less than 5 minutes from leaving my hotel lobby is worth, but I think for most that's worth "something" that justifies a higher price than off-site alternatives. The other on-site differentiator is being in a Disney-themed environment, which is a bit more difficult to quantify. I'm sure some folks will pay whatever it costs to stay within the "Disney bubble", but for other theme parks around the world that have on-site themed hotels, those resorts typically charge a 20-30% premium compared to similarly appointed off-site options.

So, it's reasonable to assume that the typical guest would be willing to pay 40-50% more for a Disneyland Resort hotel over a similarly appointed off-site option. However, DL Resort hotels are often priced 80-100% more than similar rooms at other options, including those within walking distance of the Esplanade. That's where the Early Entry came in to provide that extra incentive to stay at the Disney hotels, which made on-site guests feel truly special whether they chose to enter the parks early or not.

Again, as Robert has noted, Universal Orlando Deluxe Resort guests get Unlimited Universal Express for the duration of their stay for rooms that are similarly priced to those at the Disneyland Resort (I would say that the Orlando hotels are a touch cheaper on average). If it was costing too much for Disney to manage Early Entry, fine, but the consolation here doesn't cost a dime, so Disney went from spending quite a bit of money on an on-site guest perk to ZERO. I think that's what we should all take from this and how Disney values resort guests who are being asked to pay a significant premium to stay on-site.

My family stayed at Disneyland Hotel in May trip because we wanted EE. Irony being that due to various issues we never used it...

Russell nails it on why folks stay. Among reasons my family chose an on-site hotel (it was between DLH or Pixar Place) is that we do so a lot in WDW and we love how still the Disney feel when we get back to hotel. Also a lot easier to get there for a mid-day break for swim/lunch and such then ones further off. That helps a lot in folks wanting to enjoy on-site.

Most of the responses here assume Disney has crunched serious numbers and made a definitive decision. The opposite may be true. There's lots of moving parts when I am making a hotel decision (location, theming, quality, restaurants, packages, discounts). and there are lots of moving parts when a company makes a marketing decision that have to be tested. Maybe Disney has decided to try this for a few months to gauge the reaction. It would be easy to undo.

You know what I thought of? Limited Early Entry. Maybe Disney allows early entry on busier days and weekends so that people can get there before it gets really busy.

I completely buy that relatively few guests were using early entry at the Disneyland Resort, and I know it likely adds significantly to the park's operating costs. Unlike Florida, the parks in California usually open at 8 A.M., which means for most people it's going to be a 6 A.M. wake-up in order to take advantage of the offer, which just isn't something guests want to do on vacation (especially if they're also out at the parks until closing, which is often midnight). However, offering a single Lightning Lane access for the full stay as compensation is a pretty insulting substitute, and personally I'd say two per night (which must be used on the following day and can't be stockpiled) is more equivalent to the benefit early entry provided. I am totally fine with it being restricted to a multi pass attraction since the single pass attractions (Racers and Rise) are not among the standard early entry offerings.

I am quite interested in the data Disney is citing that justifies this decision. The % of hotel rooms utilizing early entry during their stay is quite different from the % of hotel rooms utilizing early entry every day--and perhaps the latter metric was the deciding factor.

I do wonder if in the future Disneyland may test the waters with paid Early Entry--like they do in Hong Kong Disneyland & Shanghai Disneyland. That might make some of the financial math work better and would open up the perk to any guest who might want it.

The list of perks that have been taken away by Disney is staggering.Where is our resident apologist?