Hi all, can someone tell me please, if there is a resort fee charged at WDW? When we stayed at the DLH in Anaheim, we had to pay $11 a day on top of our hotel rate, as a resort fee. I was never really sure what this was for... We are staying at the wilderness lodge for our trip in jan/feb and i suddenly wondered if i have to budget an extra $150 for that. and while i am on that, i am planning to take my laptop which I believe i will be able to hook up to the internet in the room - does anyone know what the charge is for that, or is is included in the resort fee? thanks!

While I do not believe there is a resort fee, sort of speak, you will obviously have to pay taxes on top of the nightly rate. This in of itself can add add up quickly over a longer stay. This is why when comparing any resort and any vacation package from any travel agent, compare apples to apples, including any applicable taxes.

And when it comes to taxes, some resorts have to charge more because of what county they are in. Granted, there is not a huge difference between the countys but again, it adds up.

Internet access - I believe its $10 for 24hrs. If you do a quick search, you will find other related conversations regarding fees, availability, etc.

ETA: Re: Resort Fees... If I recall correctly, there was some sort of class-action lawsuit against several Florida (non-Disney) resorts for charging a resort fee but not disclosing such up front when the price was quoted. While I could be wrong on this, I do believe the rule now is that if a resort fee is charged, it must be disclosed beforehand. Of course, I will yield to anyone with more accurate information.

thanks gusman. we have not fallen into the tax trap in a while now; in NZ and Australia, all taxes are required to be incorporated into quoted prices for everything and the first couple of times I visited north america, the addition of taxes and tips really stressed me out. but now i always make sure that i am quoted the entire price including tax so i know what i am up for. the resort fee - why do they charge it in LA but not in Orlando, do you know? It seems a bit odd!

the resort fee - why do they charge it in LA but not in Orlando, do you know? It seems a bit odd!

Generally, it's a tax levied by the City or County. There's something similar in West Yellowstone, Montana. There is no sales tax in Montana except in West Yellowstone where there is an 8% sales tax applied to everything (levied by the city). Some places make more specific taxes to apply only to hotel rooms. They can do it as a percentage or as a flat, per-room, fee but that all depends on how the law or ordinance is worded in each particular situation.

When I ran a hotel in West Yellowstone, we all trained our front desk people to always say "your room rate will be $XX.XX per night not including tax" that way we gave people the opportunity to ask what the tax was. I imagine anyone at reservations should be able to answer questions about exactly how much tax (and which taxes) will be applied to your total...if not, call the front desk of the hotel you want to stay at directly! (If I recall correctly, there actually is a slight difference between individual WDW hotels as well because some are in a different county from the others or something like that...this is where FL locals should be chiming in and correcting any gross inaccuracies of my memory)

There is a huge difference in my mind, though, between resort fees and taxes. The state/county/city 'gets' the tax money, and it's generally a percentage of the cost of the room, often going to fund local sports arenas and the like.

The resort fee goes to the hotel, and it's just a way of charging more, but making the room rate seem smaller. I'm not sure why some areas charge a resort fee and others are just honest about it upfront and include it in the price of the room. It's not like it's optional and if you decide to 'opt out' that you'd get less services! Some hotels I think do it to get the expedia/priceline/whatever price down, too.

There is a huge difference in my mind, though, between resort fees and taxes. The state/county/city 'gets' the tax money, and it's generally a percentage of the cost of the room, often going to fund local sports arenas and the like.

The resort fee goes to the hotel, and it's just a way of charging more, but making the room rate seem smaller. I'm not sure why some areas charge a resort fee and others are just honest about it upfront and include it in the price of the room. It's not like it's optional and if you decide to 'opt out' that you'd get less services! Some hotels I think do it to get the expedia/priceline/whatever price down, too.

After looking it up online, I see that you are right, and I was WAAAAY off. I forget that I was involved with an honest hotel. I actually hadn't heard of that as such and am somewhat surprised that it's legal. I thought the original poster was referring to a bed tax or something similar... (I guess I never look to closely at my final bill because the room and fees were already taken care of with the package...) Regardless of who it goes to, though, the people at reservations, or at least at the desk of the hotel, should know what the amount of this fee will be.

ETA: Hey GusMan: would saying "The room is [for example] $100/night plus taxes and fees" qualify as disclosing it up front, or do you have to say "The room is $100/night plus taxes and a $10 resort fee"? (just curious if you know because I could see how someone could still be sleazy with it if they wanted to be...)

When we stayed at the DLH nothing was mentioned about the resort fee at all, when I booked or when I checked in. It turns out that if you look closely, there is an asterisk somewhere that mentions it. So when the bill arrived it had the room rate, then the taxes, and then the 'resort fee' - all and all, it was about an extra $45 a day on top of the room rate we had been quoted, which was quite a shock when it came to settling up. i am wiser now and make sure to ask about everything up front! and it seems dishonest to me too, the resort fee that is, because you can not opt out (I asked) and it covers things (use of the gym, newspapers) that are usually either part of the room rate or which you can pay for separately if you want them. my guess is its a psychological thing, they think that guests will be more willing to stay if the room rate is lower.... weird.

ETA: Hey GusMan: would saying "The room is [for example] $100/night plus taxes and fees" qualify as disclosing it up front, or do you have to say "The room is $100/night plus taxes and a $10 resort fee"? (just curious if you know because I could see how someone could still be sleazy with it if they wanted to be...)
I think laws are changing these days to help curb hidden charges so that consumers know, within a reasonable variance, what their total costs will be.
With that said, some places will disclose it up front - maybe by choice, maybe by law. At the same time, the more devious practice would be for a resort to not fully disclose it thus putting the ownership on the guest to read and question the fine print.

The bottom line - make sure you get a total estimated cost, including any taxes and fees, before you make your reservation. Also, an unrelated but just as important tip: Make sure you know and fully understand the cancellation policy for the resort. Standard cancellation may be before 5 or 6 PM the day of arrival, but for some resorts, it may be 3 or 4 days before arrival.

Oh, and GusMan's post just reminded me - car rentals are NOTORIOUS for having additional charges. Make sure you get the 'total' price when doing comparisons!

Oh, and GusMan's post just reminded me - car rentals are NOTORIOUS for having additional charges. Make sure you get the 'total' price when doing comparisons!
Oh, so true. And when possible, get it in writing!
A car costing $39/a day can have many little fees tacked on. On top of that, in many locations they are taxed big time since their main draw are business customers.

I'm staying at a DTD hotel that charges a resort fee. What bugs me the most is that they don't charge this until after your stay. This means that I need to mentally budget for an addition $70 or so when I thought the hotel bill was all taken care of. Why not include this with upfront charges? Is it a law that says the services must be rendered before charged? It doesn't seem likely since you can pay for your stay before hand even though you haven't been stayed yet.

Anyone?

Is it a law that says the services must be rendered before charged?
Actually, if you think about it... the way you describe this, if the charge is not rendered until after you check out, then technically, the services were rendered before you were charged.

Like I mentioned earlier... make sure you get a total estimated cost, including any taxes and fees, before you make your reservation. Then regardless of when you are charged, the total will still be what you expected.