News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[drizgirl]

Carrot or a stick? Disney could encourage mass transit by tripling resort parking fees and charging ride share a $10 fee for every pickup on property.

Disney doesn’t care about encouraging mass transit. They had most of their guests using shared buses and this move overnight pushed a huge number of them to single party transportation.

We just got back and used Uber for the first time to and from MCO. Wasn’t as much as I expected and loved the convenience. We wouldn’t switch back now if it was free again. The extra carbon we’re responsible for now is on Disney’s hands. We never would have switched on our own.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Took mears today, was shoved in a small black van with two other couples. At least it was only one stop before our resort.

glad we got to experience magical express when we did, because this is nothing but another ride share like experience.

Glad you were able to get that authentic, abducted-by-the-mafia experience.

 

[TikibirdLand]

Glad you were able to get that authentic, abducted-by-the-mafia experience.

I hear Nick's Maxi-Van is still available... He'll even sweep out the old cracker crumbs from the previous rider; for a fee of course.

 

[pdude81]

Mears connect raised their pricesView attachment 613672

Well the express is higher, but you can get a limo for that price so nobody should be using express. The standard service is the critical piece for them. That appears to be the same price.

 

[pdude81]

Took mears today, was shoved in a small black van with two other couples. At least it was only one stop before our resort.

glad we got to experience magical express when we did, because this is nothing but another ride share like experience.

This is on the level of what the experience was when we took Mears in 2011 to Swan (so no DME). It was fine but I was sweating the return trip. I expect they do this when they only have one or two people going to a resort at the time and it's not worth sending a bus.

 

[lewisc]

Took mears today, was shoved in a small black van with two other couples. At least it was only one stop before our resort.

glad we got to experience magical express when we did, because this is nothing but another ride share like experience.

Many of us would prefer that rather then waiting 30 -40 minutes for a bus to fill or a.bus with a dozen stops

 

[dreday3]

Glad you were able to get that authentic, abducted-by-the-mafia experience.

I'm picturing the scene from Old School with Metallica's Master of Puppets blaring.

...actually, I think we'd pay for that experience...

 

[Diamond Dot]

You think no one staying at a Disney resort ever Uberd off property to go get dinner on the 192? I see it literally every day.

I've done a Lynx bus to do that.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I've done a Lynx bus to do that.

Same!

If you want to save $$$ Lynx to the airport can’t be beat!

 

[ToTBellHop]

Does the Mears driver scream, “put the jewelry in the basket!” or is it merely implied?

 

[Ayla]

When did resort delivery end? I seem to remember doing that recently (in the past year.)

It never came back after they reopened after covid.

 

[dreday3]

Does the Mears driver scream, “put the jewelry in the basket!” or is it merely implied?

I was assuming they were gagged and bound? (although maybe that's an up-charge)

 

[Diamond Dot]

What has changed Disney? If you go on the retro Disney channels on YouTube and watch restored home movies from the first 40 years you will see plenty of reasons why Disney has changed. What is initially surprising is the age groups of guests. We are now made to believe that Disney is for young families and basically under 30s, but, the majority of guests in those videos are older people, those who genuinely grew up watching the early Disney movies in theatres and in the early days of TV, those who now that age are regarded as weird for wanting to go to Disney. They went for a vacation of relaxation. Now Disney has become a mecca for narcissists who want that money shot/video to post on social media for attention or provide material for their 'Disney News and Advice' channels, they stand there recording themselves and have the entitlement and lack of patience that causes fights, is there anything more sadder than those idiots who go where they are not supposed to or stand there with their smartphones held high trying to record a fireworks show or parade or even livestreaming and inevitably spend watch their vacation through a screen. Not to mention those with a lot more money than me who are willing to pay for 'experiences', that isn't what Disney is about, being shown around by a guide, museums are for that kind of experience, I'm not talking about tours like 'Keys To The Kingdom' I'm talking about the $1000+ ones.
The thing is despite the rising prices Disney World is now a must do vacation because of all the coverage on the internet via YouTube and the social media platforms, so Disney can charge and do what they like because people are willing to pay it. BOG is a classic example, people will still be happy to pay all that money for a not very special meal, but, in an instagram worthy venue, I'm not one of them, I have reservations for March, Kona Cafe breakfast, Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner and perhaps one of the park restaurants. I may take a quick snap of my meal, but, that's because I'm an avid scrapbooker, no one else may ever see my photos and that's fine by me.

 

[Diamond Dot]

I stopped selling Disney to friends after our 2019 trip

I decided I needed a break after my September 2019 trip, it didn't help that I'd done Disneyland then hopped on a plane straight over to WDW and saw the difference. If I could only visit one park it would be DL nearly everytime.

 

[JoeCamel]

What has changed Disney? If you go on the retro Disney channels on YouTube and watch restored home movies from the first 40 years you will see plenty of reasons why Disney has changed. What is initially surprising is the age groups of guests. We are now made to believe that Disney is for young families and basically under 30s, but, the majority of guests in those videos are older people, those who genuinely grew up watching the early Disney movies in theatres and in the early days of TV, those who now that age are regarded as weird for wanting to go to Disney. They went for a vacation of relaxation. Now Disney has become a mecca for narcissists who want that money shot/video to post on social media for attention or provide material for their 'Disney News and Advice' channels, they stand there recording themselves and have the entitlement and lack of patience that causes fights, is there anything more sadder than those idiots who go where they are not supposed to or stand there with their smartphones held high trying to record a fireworks show or parade or even livestreaming and inevitably spend watch their vacation through a screen. Not to mention those with a lot more money than me who are willing to pay for 'experiences', that isn't what Disney is about, being shown around by a guide, museums are for that kind of experience, I'm not talking about tours like 'Keys To The Kingdom' I'm talking about the $1000+ ones.
The thing is despite the rising prices Disney World is now a must do vacation because of all the coverage on the internet via YouTube and the social media platforms, so Disney can charge and do what they like because people are willing to pay it. BOG is a classic example, people will still be happy to pay all that money for a not very special meal, but, in an instagram worthy venue, I'm not one of them, I have reservations for March, Kona Cafe breakfast, Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner and perhaps one of the park restaurants. I may take a quick snap of my meal, but, that's because I'm an avid scrapbooker, no one else may ever see my photos and that's fine by me.

Disney changed Disney.
They went from the MK being thought of a park for all to a princess park. Thanks Bob
Bob knew that no walking wallet (dad) could say no to his little girl when she wants a Bibbidi makeup and dress combo to wear for the day or that stitch plush and that was his plan for increasing profits. Cater to the princesses and riches will follow

 

[Chi84]

I'm picturing the scene from Old School with Metallica's Master of Puppets blaring.

...actually, I think we'd pay for that experience...

They can do a sliding scale based on the music they play. Charge the highest amount for Metallica down to 50 cents or so for the River in Hell experience.

 

[UNCgolf]

Looking at the pricing, I don't understand why anyone would use Mears. You could get an Uber/Lyft for roughly the same price (or potentially less) and go straight to your destination, unless you're a solo traveler.

 

[pdude81]

Looking at the pricing, I don't understand why anyone would use Mears. You could get an Uber/Lyft for roughly the same price (or potentially less) and go straight to your destination, unless you're a solo traveler.

I checked one way for Lyft when I landed and it was going to be $60 pretax. This was at 10am on a Wednesday (race weekend). So I took the $16 (also pretax) option and the free sunglasses.

 

[lewisc]

Looking at the pricing, I don't understand why anyone would use Mears. You could get an Uber/Lyft for roughly the same price (or potentially less) and go straight to your destination, unless you're a solo traveler.

Posters have found rideshare fares of $90 plus tip. You don't know how much rideshare will cost until go to book it

 

[ToTBellHop]

Posters have found rideshare fares of $90 plus tip. You don't know how much rideshare will cost until go to book it

Yes, it’s insanely unpredictable and changes minute-to-minute. But $59 each way for this or Sunshine for my family of four is not unreasonable.

I’m very curious to hear about Sunshine Flyer next month. It sounds good on paper. No worries about getting picked up by Libyans also looking for plutonium.