NEW Changes to Disney's Magical Express

JPVonDrake

JPVonDrake

Well-Known Member
As of November 1st:

To take advantage of this free service, you must add a reservation for the Magical Express on your room / package reservation PRIOR to your arrival to Florida. The Disney Welcome Center at the Orlando International Airport will no longer be able to provide this service to guest who have not made an advance reservation. It is recommended that you book at the same time you book your room, and provide your flight information at least 30 days (or more) prior to your arrival to ensure the timely arrival of your Travel Documents. Remember you must add Disney's Magical Express through your original booking location only; meaning if you book your room with a travel agency you must contact them to add or change your DME.

Disney will no longer have Magical Express Greeters on the third level of the airport (the level you enter the Main Terminal from your plane.) Our DME Welcome Center is located on level 1, Side A in the main terminal. We will have some Greeters on level 2 on both A and B sides of the airport to help lost Guests.

If you arrive at the airport after 11 PM or before 6 AM (due to a flight delay or it's your originally scheduled arrival time) you will be asked to claim your own luggage and it will travel with you to your Resort to ensure timely delivery. Otherwise the delivery of your luggage to your room is estimated to arrive within 2 hours from your arrival at the airport. You are always advised to pack a day bag with medications and maybe a change of clothes to start your reservation, as you will not have immediate access to your bags.

Hope this helps! :sohappy:
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
bob0012

bob0012

Member
shoppingnut said:
Just because something is free doesn't mean you aren't competing with someone else. Pricing something for free just means you are prepared for that item to be a loss leader in competing with the next guy and you will make that money up someplace else. Just like supermarkets that offer the free turkey's for thanksgiving, it is a loss leader, because now you have to spend a certain amount of money in their store to get the turkey in the first place and you will probably also spend your money in their store to buy all thr trimmings and that is where they make money. So Disney takes the DME as a loss leader and makes it up by you eating all your meals on property and hopefully spending all your vacation dollars there when buying anything else.
Click to expand...

Yes, and once someone spends that certain amount of money at the supermarket and they earn a a turkey, they can go get it, reguardless of if the store down the street is selling them.
 
Upvote 0
shoppingnut

shoppingnut

Active Member
bob0012 said:
Yes, and once someone spends that certain amount of money at the supermarket and they earn a a turkey, they can go get it, reguardless of if the store down the street is selling them.
Click to expand...

But there are rules for getting the free turkey, you must pick it up by a certain date and it can be only a particular brand.
 
Upvote 0
bob0012

bob0012

Member
shoppingnut said:
But there are rules for getting the free turkey, you must pick it up by a certain date and it can be only a particular brand.
Click to expand...
Yea, and one of those rules isn't "You must notify us at time of purchase if you would like your free turkey" Cause that would be stupid.
 
Upvote 0
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
shoppingnut said:
So when did Disney buy the airport? They are required to operate within the rule of their agreement with the airport.
Click to expand...

I take it that you've seen those rules and can tell us exactly what they say?

If someone asks a DME agent how to ride the big bus outside with Mickey Mouse on it, they should be able to answer. I sincerely doubt the rules have addressed the fact that a customer asks a question but rather it may address solicitation. I have no problem with the DME employees not being allowed to hold up a sign saying "Ask me how to get to Disney for free" but they should be allowed to direct people to the service if they have reservations at a Disney resort.
 
Upvote 0
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
bob0012 said:
Yea, and one of those rules isn't "You must notify us at time of purchase if you would like your free turkey" Cause that would be stupid.
Click to expand...

I'm sure some would argue that point. You can only have the free turkey if you stand on one leg, jump up and down 4 times, and say the alphabet backwards.
 
Upvote 0
shoppingnut

shoppingnut

Active Member
So what you are saying is that if I go to pick up my free turkey on the 11th, but the rules of the free turkey dictate that I pick it up by the 10th, I should still be entitled to the free turkey because I spent the amount of money required.
 
Upvote 0
Gucci65

Gucci65

Well-Known Member
wannab@dis said:
Honestly, you are more than welcome to ignore threads that don't interest you. Not trying to be mean or anything, but it's within your power to click on the threads that interest you or not for the ones that you don't care to see.
Click to expand...

Not trying to be mean back, but I'm entitled to make comments as well as you. I have read the entire thread and during this WHOLE week it seems like everyone is bickering about making their point understand and accepted by all. If I feel like agreeing with HauntedPirate so be it. I never said a word about whether I thought your opinion was bs or not. Find someone else to fight with.
 
Upvote 0
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
Gucci65 said:
Not trying to be mean back, but I'm entitled to make comments as well as you. I have read the entire thread and during this WHOLE week it seems like everyone is bickering about making their point understand and accepted by all. If I feel like agreeing with HauntedPirate so be it.
Click to expand...

Sure you can make comments, but it usually accepted better if the comments have something to do with the topic.

Gucci65 said:
I never said a word about whether I thought your opinion was bs or not. Find someone else to fight with.
Click to expand...

Most people would find that unacceptable. :wave:
 
Upvote 0
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
My take on this (since my previous post was.... edited... ;) )

Disney and MCO made an arrangement. MCO is out to make money, so is Disney. So is every other company at the airport. Disney got creative in it's efforts to "bring the magic" to it's guests sooner. If the taxi services, limo's, etc. want to generate more revenue, they need to get creative as well. That's the free market system, which is the basis for our economy (BIG tangent there on government regulations, but I'm not going there right now ;) ). If you don't like it, there are several hundred other countries in the world you can go to.

IF Disney has violated the agreement, then they need to change what they are doing to come into compliance with that agreement. The DME program is supposed to be for guests at Disney resorts who pre-arrange for the service. That's it. I think that's pretty black-and-white. If they are stepping outside of those lines, then they need to be called on it.

Do I think Disney is getting some preferred treatment at the airport? You betcha. They paid for it, too. I bet there are a fair number of people who don't use DME who need transportation. Maybe the companies complaining should focus on those people and not on Disney?

Just my 2 cents.
 
Upvote 0
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
HauntedPirate said:
My take on this (since my previous post was.... edited... ;) )

Disney and MCO made an arrangement. MCO is out to make money, so is Disney. So is every other company at the airport. Disney got creative in it's efforts to "bring the magic" to it's guests sooner. If the taxi services, limo's, etc. want to generate more revenue, they need to get creative as well. That's the free market system, which is the basis for our economy (BIG tangent there on government regulations, but I'm not going there right now ;) ). If you don't like it, there are several hundred other countries in the world you can go to.

IF Disney has violated the agreement, then they need to change what they are doing to come into compliance with that agreement. The DME program is supposed to be for guests at Disney resorts who pre-arrange for the service. That's it. I think that's pretty black-and-white. If they are stepping outside of those lines, then they need to be called on it.

Do I think Disney is getting some preferred treatment at the airport? You betcha. They paid for it, too. I bet there are a fair number of people who don't use DME who need transportation. Maybe the companies complaining should focus on those people and not on Disney?

Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

You made a really good post and it's worth more than 2 cents! I agree with you, but I think that the major issue here is whether Disney has broken any rules and whether said rules even make sense.

My premise has been that I think Disney is towing the line on this and actually has went further than they really should by acquiescing to the livery groups. Not allowing people to jump on the bus without a pre-arranged reservation seems overkill since their resort reservations include DME transportation by default.

As I've stated before, the number of people that would arrive without previous arrangements is probably miniscule. So I guess that's why Disney agreed with them.
 
Upvote 0
LaughingGravy

LaughingGravy

Well-Known Member
JPVonDrake said:
Any request for gratuities by the drivers are a DIRECT violation of Disney's contract with Mears, and should be reported to Disney.
Click to expand...

JP,

OK, so who do I call or write to to report that our 5:15 bus from Pop to MCO on 10/10 not only had the video monitors completely turned off, but that they also had masking tape over every monitor with handwriting in print saying "Gratuities Appreciated".
I was actually looking forward to some sort of 'farewell' video, since we clearly had a welcome one for the ride to Pop on 10/3 with a very friendly bus driver.

The bus driver also stopped the bus at one of the terminals and people started to get off, only to be told to get back on because the driver never announced which airlines the stop was for. It appeared the passengers experienced with MCO were the ones telling us that it wasn't our stop.
Very annoying.
So, who do I write to or better yet, call?
 
Upvote 0
shoppingnut

shoppingnut

Active Member
wannab@dis said:
whether said rules even make sense.

My premise has been that I think Disney is towing the line on this and actually has went further than they really should by acquiescing to the livery groups. Not allowing people to jump on the bus without a pre-arranged reservation seems overkill since their resort reservations include DME transportation by default.

As I've stated before, the number of people that would arrive without previous arrangements is probably miniscule. So I guess that's why Disney agreed with them.
Click to expand...

First whether the rules make sense or not isn't for anyone to decide.

What have they acquiesced? Moving the people from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor where they should have been in the first place.

It is not overkill, if that is the way the agreement works that it must be pre-arranged, that is that. Cruise lines will not take you on board the bus to the pier from the airport if you don't have pre-arranged reservation and that is included in the cruise fare.
 
Upvote 0
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
shoppingnut said:
What have they acquiesced?
Click to expand...

First post is as follows....

JPVonDrake said:
As of November 1st:

To take advantage of this free service, you must add a reservation for the Magical Express on your room / package reservation PRIOR to your arrival to Florida. The Disney Welcome Center at the Orlando International Airport will no longer be able to provide this service to guest who have not made an advance reservation. It is recommended that you book at the same time you book your room, and provide your flight information at least 30 days (or more) prior to your arrival to ensure the timely arrival of your Travel Documents. Remember you must add Disney's Magical Express through your original booking location only; meaning if you book your room with a travel agency you must contact them to add or change your DME.
Click to expand...

Before this change (effective Nov 1), you DID NOT need to have pre-arranged reservations for the DME service. You could pick up your bags yourself and then go to the counter to get signed in for the bus.
 
Upvote 0
L

lewisc

Well-Known Member
wannab@dis said:
First post is as follows....



Before this change (effective Nov 1), you DID NOT need to have pre-arranged reservations for the DME service. You could pick up your bags yourself and then go to the counter to get signed in for the bus.
Click to expand...

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=1220865&postcount=1

No before this change Disney was violating their contract with the airport by allowing guests without a pre-arranged reservation to ride a DME bus. The FAQ on Disney's website said you were required to have an advance reservation. If Disney was allowed to do what they were doing they wouldn't have backed down.

Really no different than a gypsy driver that solicits business at the airport. It's against airport rules.

post edited to add this quote from the Disney press release that announced the service:

Disney's Magical Express must be booked at least 10 days prior to arrival through disneyworld.com, Disney Reservation Center by calling 407-W-DISNEY or a travel agent beginning Jan. 2, 2005. The service commences May 5, 2005.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
JPVonDrake

JPVonDrake

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
wannab@dis said:
Before this change (effective Nov 1), you DID NOT need to have pre-arranged reservations for the DME service. You could pick up your bags yourself and then go to the counter to get signed in for the bus.
Click to expand...

Correct. This was allowed in the original agreement with MCO and was advertised as such.

Per Disney's original FAQ's as released to Travel Agents, Disney Cast Members, and the press on 12/31/04:

10. Can I book Disney's Magical Express upon arrival at the airport?
We are encouraging you to book your reservation pre-arrival so that you fully benefit from the service and a seamless luggage delivery to your resort room. If you arrive at the airport without a reservation, every effort will be made to accommodate you. In this instance, you must claim your luggage.

As of November 1st, this policy will change, and only guest with a pre-arranged reservation on DME will be able to use the service.

LaughingGravy said:
So, who do I write to or better yet, call?
Click to expand...

As posted by wannab@dis it is requested that you write to Walt Disney World Guest Communications. This will give Disney a paper record of violations witnessed by Guest.

:sohappy:
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom