News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This could be them telling us about air travel too...

Disney would know just how bad the airlines will be gutted before the general public. Road tripping may be making a comeback.

Don’t sleep on that either.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

I'm starting to get PTSD from that thread about cuts coming because of covid or because disney is cheap.

 

[monothingie]

It’s almost nothing...

I think you identified what it’s not: a way to steer people to more revenues. Magic bands and dining plans drive more revenue...because the upfront cost of food and ticket media is outrageous compared to when they started those ideas.

Magic bands definitely drove revenue, (and really could have even more if they got it to directly link to your CC instead of limiting it to room charge) DDP was alway mixed bag in term of where it generated profits if at all, especially when combined with free dining promotions.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Shouldn't they be more concerned with getting back occupancy because of CV-19? Seems like they're pretty confident 2022 will be just like 2019 with no residuals.

Come on, Thingie...you’ve been around a long time...

You know they aren’t gonna bet for people to come back. Those 20th century sales tactics are gone.

They won’t bother showing the lemmings the way to the Cliff.

 

[TJJohn12]

This is what there was prior to DME.

My parents were always car renters, so my first MDE experience was our honeymoon in 2014 and we fell in love with the idea of being "safe" in Disney's hands from MCO to MCO. What did Mears' service look like pre MDE?

Luckily, my wife and I have pretty much decided to do auto-train for our next trip - so this is moot for us. But it really does begin to kill the idea of flying to WDW versus doing Amtrak for future trips.

 

[monothingie]

Come on, Thingie...you’ve been around a long time...

You know they aren’t gonna bet for people to come back. Those 20th century sales tactics are gone.

They won’t bother showing the lemmings the way to the Cliff.

I'm waiting for the real fire sales to start when they realize summer 2021 ain't shaping up the way they expect.

 

[TTLUTS]

This really screws over day guests/AP holders that used to rope drop to get a start on their day.......Now every park, every day will have lines before any day guest/AP holder can go in

 

[montyz81]

Sucks because now I have to deal with the rental car company (not a big deal) car seat will be. Another thing to tote thru the airport or rent from them.

And now Disney is going to get more money for parking at the resorts, not to mention the issue of not enough parking spots for hotel guests. This is a bigger deal than it appears.

 

[aliceismad]

This really screws over day guests/AP holders that used to rope drop to get a start on their day.......Now every park, every day will have lines before any day guest/AP holder can go in

Magical Express? Or Early Theme Park Entry? https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-for-resort-guests.971519/page-4#post-9610462

 

[ParentsOf4]

Shouldn't they be more concerned with getting back occupancy because of CV-19? Seems like they're pretty confident 2022 will be just like 2019 with no residuals.

At this point, I don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen post-COVID.

Business predictions are based on data and models. There are no (meaningful) data that can be used to model what's going to happen after COVID-19.

You might hear all sorts of business experts make predictions but, really, at this point they are just pulling numbers out of thin air.

In Disney's case, they've decided to eliminate DME because they think it will be to their financial advantage.

If the person behind this decision is right, then they are going to get a bigger bonus. If they are wrong, then they might get fired. (Or to use business euphemisms, they left "to pursue other endeavors" or "to spend more time with the family".)

 

[bcoachable]

They fired the person who moderated comments.

^^^
THIS

I can here the shouts down the Glendale hallway now...
TWDC: Who is letting these comments show up on this thread???
TWDC: Hello??
TWDC: NOT ONE INTERN CAME IN TO WORK TODAY?????
TWDC: Oh, wait.....

On a side note, why was this dropped on a Monday???? This kind of news should have been buried on a Friday, right???

 

[TTLUTS]

Magical Express? Or Early Theme Park Entry? https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-for-resort-guests.971519/page-4#post-9610462

Early entry...........Every day guest and AP holder now cannot get in before lines start.....good job Disney! alienate the people that are ones carrying the load during this pandemic since the hotels arent booking

 

[TJJohn12]

This could be them telling us about air travel too...

Disney would know just how bad the airlines will be gutted before the general public. Road tripping may be making a comeback.

Don’t sleep on that either.

Definitely knocks the odds of air for us to WDW downward quite a few pegs. We're pretty certainly doing the autotrain to Sanford our next trip.

 

[Fox&Hound]

Well not quite. The new offering is 30 mins every day, every park. I see this though as more of a blow for offsite guests than a gain for onsite guests.

This is the 1-2 punch. They announce that they are discontinuing the magical express so guests say "Fine, I will stay offsite" and on the same day they say "oh, and if you stay off site, you will get to the parks 30 minutes after WDW guests have entered". Wow- it is just so....insulting.

 

[mdcpr]

Everything is less and less magical. Arriving to the airport and walking to ME felt like we were entering the Disney bubble and we did not have to think about anything else until the end of the trip. What a pity.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Tragical!

(copyright @Tuvalu)

There will be an alternate system...

Such as?

The mother of all Skyliners!

Very disappointing decision. Remember when Disney was trying to go green (e.g. no plastic straws)? Now they're just packing more cars on the road?

In all seriousness, we rarely used this service, but when we did, there were usually only one or two parties on the whole bus. Every time. I don’t know how common that is, but a car or two would likely be more fuel efficient than a bus in that scenario.

 

[Shouldigo12]

Last time I went to WDW I did a split stay at Universal. I considered the downside of not having the transportation to MCO included with my hotel, but ultimately the added cost of an Uber ride to the airport wasn't even remotely significant enough to make me reconsider.

I don't think the added expenses and/or hassle of losing ME is going to have a noticeable impact on attendance. It's a small blip when one looks at the cost of a WDW vacation. Disney fans are devoted. It's going to take more than this to send people offsite.

It's definitely a bummer and a degradation of the "Disney magic" that keeps people devoted. It's nice to step off the plane and feel like ones vacation has started. No luggage to deal with. No trying to find transportation. No stress of driving a rental car in a strange city. Just walk to the ME check in, easy and stress free.

Will this have some impact? I'm sure it will. Universal has some nice and affordable hotels, and it's no longer the simpler option to stick with WDW. With resorts charging for parking, the decision to use a rental car in the absence of ME is less appealing.

Ultimately, this offers no upside for guests, but most will not change their habits.

Hard core Disney fans? Yeah, this probably won't change their plans much. Regulars guests? That's harder to say. Attendance was pretty strong pre-Covid, so any changes prior to that didn't chuff people too much. But once the virus isn't as much of a concern and isn't stopping people from traveling, it'll be interesting to see how all of these changes affect things.

 

[aliceismad]

Early entry...........Every day guest and AP holder now cannot get in before lines start.....good job Disney! alienate the people that are ones carrying the load during this pandemic since the hotels arent booking

I was just saying that there's another thread for that.

 

[sullyinMT]

This is the 1-2 punch. They announce that they are discontinuing the magical express so guests say "Fine, I will stay offsite" and on the same day they say "oh, and if you stay off site, you will get to the parks 30 minutes after WDW guests have entered". Wow- it is just so....insulting.

But it also mentions the "good neighbors" getting the perk. So why not stay in Flamingo Crossings or in one of the DS area hotels and STILL save money ridesharing to parks every day (plus some/all have a shuttle of sorts, even if less convenient)?

 

[monothingie]

At this point, I don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen post-COVID.

Business predictions are based on data and models. There are no (meaningful) data that can be used to model what's going to happen after COVID-19.

You might hear all sorts of business experts make predictions but, really, at this point they are just pulling numbers out of thin air.

In Disney's case, they've decided to eliminate DME because they think it will be to their financial advantage.

If the person behind this decision is right, then they are going to get a bigger bonus. If they are wrong, then they might get fired. (Or to use business euphemisms, they "left to pursue other endeavors" or "to spend more time time with the family".)

And that uncertainty is what makes this all the more confusing. Nothing about the timing of the DME announcement make sense, considering the actual impact is potentially more than 1 year out.

There was no reason to drop this right now.