UPDATE: Garden Grocer, Other Resort Grocery Delivery Services to Not Be Affected by Third-Party Delivery Policy Changes at Walt Disney World

Alicia

UPDATE: Garden Grocer, Other Resort Grocery Delivery Services to Not Be Affected by Third-Party Delivery Policy Changes at Walt Disney World

Earlier this morning, news broke that Walt Disney World Resort Bell Services would no longer be holding goods delivered from third-party vendors for guest pick-up or in-room delivery. This includes strollers, mobility aids like ECVs, and groceries.

In light of these events, the popular grocery delivery company, Garden Grocer, came out on their Facebook and made a statement that their delivery services will not be affected by this change:

Other popular grocery companies, such as Instacart and Amazon Prime, have not spoken as to whether their grocery delivery services will be impacted or not. (Garden Grocer has catered to WDW resort guests for years, so it may be that they’re just more aware of these impacts.)

It’s important to note that this policy change will go into effect as of October 1st, 2019. Reservations and delivery arrangements made up to that date will be honored. The Walt Disney World Mail Services Q&A has yet to be updated with this information.

Given the greater popularity of delivery services in recent years, it’s strange to see so much pushback from resorts, but it could be becoming too much for Bell Services staff to take on in addition to luggage. This is a developing story, so be sure to check back for WDWNT for more updates.

2 thoughts on “UPDATE: Garden Grocer, Other Resort Grocery Delivery Services to Not Be Affected by Third-Party Delivery Policy Changes at Walt Disney World”

  1. This makes sense since Disney doesn’t sell real food. Even in the gift shop the food is limited. But the parks do rent strollers and scooters and these third parties are cutting into their prices. I see why they have done away with this, but there is one flaw. Usually when people need the strollers or the scooters, they have mobility issues, the problem is the Hotels don’t address these issues and can’t help until the person gets to the park, and then when you rent a scooter or a stroller you have to give it back at the end of the park, how will the people get to and from the buses, boats, and monorails without this assistance. How will they get from their rooms to the buses, boats and monorails. They are sacrificing experience to make a buck. Hotels will need to keep scooter rentals and EVC’s on hand to help this issue

  2. It sounds like it’s a space and staff problem and possibly a liability problem, as opposed to a money making problem. Those items are large and with more people taking advantage of these services (if you haven’t been recently than you’d be amazed at how many scooters are rolling around the parks). These items also present a potential liability issue if they were to get lost or damaged or a guest tried to blame damage on Disney instead of owning up they’re open mistake. But, mostly I think it’s all issue of space. They can’t just build more storage space for something that doesn’t contribute to their profit.

    As stated in my comment on the original story, I suspect that the delivery companies will be able to easily implement a just in time delivery system, especially given the large numbers they pickup and deliver each day. Factor in advance reservation information and guests arrival calls and it became trivial to manage the logistics of such a service. (I work in the shipping industry, on this scale it’s not that hard).

    Hopefully grocery, UPS and US Mail deliveries will be unaffected. I for one think the previously implemented handling charge was fair, especially after utilizing the service recently and seeing first hand just how busy they get, yet they still stay very organized.

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