News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[brettf22]

“Never let a crisis go to waste.”

Disney has definitely availed themselves of this opportunity. From “right sizing” their workforce to trimming every imaginable cost while keeping pricing the same, their reaction to COVID-19 will be a required business case for MBA students to study for years to come.

For the majority of their clients who come once or twice a lifetime, whatever pay service replaces ME will simply be another cost. They won’t know it used to be included, so they won’t care. And Disney will have used COVID as the cover story to remove it.

 

[monothingie]

Word is that they are getting ready to open 2022 bookings very soon and needed to have this out there before those started.

That's fine, but did I miss a date of termination of MDE in the announcement?

Realistically are people that WANT to go WDW going to cancel their trips to WDW because they need to pay for a rental car, a bus, or an Uber from MCO?

Honestly other than it being a nice perk, I don't see it affecting reservations for those who really want to go to WDW. As @ParentsOf4 said earlier, Uber and Lyft didn't exist 15 years ago. Now its prevalent everywhere. (Amazingly TDO couldn't get it right for themselves with the MinieVans)

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Just going to get ahead of the "Brightline will replace this" replies:

The Brightline trains won't run nearly often enough to be a viable replacement. And even if they did, what is a family of 5 staying at the Polynesian supposed to do when they get to Disney Springs with 8 pieces of luggage and 2 strollers? Take a resort bus?

Presumably they could operating a new on-site DME. It's a lot easier to get people from Disney Springs to their resorts than from MCO to their resorts.

 

[KTK]

This kinda sux, we didn't use the ME but I know a lot of folks here loved it. As long as they still offer Airline check in\ baggage check at the resorts, I won't be too disappointed.

Air

This kinda sux, we didn't use the ME but I know a lot of folks here loved it. As long as they still offer Airline check in\ baggage check at the resorts, I won't be too disappointed.

Airline check in is also gone

 

[CaptainAmerica]

That's fine, but did I miss a date of termination of MDE in the announcement?

Realistically are people that WANT to go WDW going to cancel their trips to WDW because they need to pay for a rental car, a buss, or an Uber from MCO?

Honestly other than it being a nice perk, I don't see it affecting reservations for those who really want to go to WDW. As @ParentsOf4 said earlier, Uber and Lyft didn't exist 15 years ago. Now its prevalent everywhere. (Amazingly TDO couldn't get it right for themselves with the MinieVans)

I don't think people will be cancelling entire trips, but they won't be "captive" once they arrive.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Trial balloon.

If there's an outcry now, if 2022 bookings are soft, Disney can quickly bring back DME without severe financial impact.

Frankly, it puts Disney in a stronger negotiating position with Mears. "Well... We're thinking of maybe bringing back DME but you're asking too much money..."

I mean, this entire thing feels like a giant negotiating ploy between Disney and Mears, doesn't it?

 

[deeevo]

So to recap, in the last few years, Disney has:

• Given EMH & 60 day FastPass+ privileges to off-property hotels.
• Reduce evening EMH to 2 hours instead of 3
• Adding in "after hours events" so you can pay for more time than EMH would offer in the evening.
• Made the rooms arguably more generic and sterile.

And following COVID:

• Cut EMH & FastPass+
• Taken away free MagicBands (not much of a perk, but they acted like it was)
• Cut Magical Express
• Cut virtually all resort entertainment

So the question on my mind and probably many others' is: why stay at a Disney resort?

And continue to raise rates yearly. Check out the December 2021 rates. It is laughable.

 

[DocDar]

I'll miss it; getting to MCO and seeing the Magical Express bus was part of the Florida experience. Even when i got the non themed bus! But nothing is forever. Just means I'll pay for a Lyft or get a rental. Personally I was never fan of the luggage thing so I went to baggage claim anyway

 

[CaptainAmerica]

So to recap, in the last few years, Disney has:

• Given EMH & 60 day FastPass+ privileges to off-property hotels.
• Reduce evening EMH to 2 hours instead of 3
• Adding in "after hours events" so you can pay for more time than EMH would offer in the evening.
• Made the rooms arguably more generic and sterile.

And following COVID:

• Cut EMH & FastPass+
• Taken away free MagicBands (not much of a perk, but they acted like it was)
• Cut Magical Express
• Cut virtually all resort entertainment

So the question on my mind and probably many others' is: why stay at a Disney resort?

You guys are too hysterical. Everyone hated FP+ and swore up and down how bad they made the planning experience. Now FP+ is going and you're upset about that, too.

 

[monothingie]

I mean, this entire thing feels like a giant negotiating ploy between Disney and Mears, doesn't it?

In 2 years Brightline (maybe) will be in place. You have to imagine people saw the handwriting on the wall. But again, I'd be surprised if MDE cost disney more than $1-2 Mil a year. (if even that much)

 

[Stitch826]

I haven’t read through all 13 pages of comments here. However, this move makes zero sense. I always thought Disney would eventually start charging guests for ME. I certainly would pay for this service, and I’m sure the majority of other guests would too. $25 per person each way wouldn’t be exorbitant, especially when considering the alternative of getting an Uber or renting a car (and paying for parking). Hopefully Disney will create their own bus service to and from the airport.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

In 2 years Brightline (maybe) will be in place. You have to imagine people saw the handwriting on the wall. But again, I'd be surprised if MDE cost disney more than $1-2 Mil a year. (if even that much)

There are two different contracts, one with Mears and one with Bags. "Low single digit millions" feels right but I don't know for sure.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

This news is a HUGE disappointment and takes away a major perk from staying on site.

Penny wise, pound foolish.

The DUMBEST thing they’ve done by killing what is arguably one of the smartest moves they’ve made in the 21st century.

 

[monothingie]

There are two different contracts, one with Mears and one with Bags. "Low single digit millions" feels right but I don't know for sure.

Which proves that it's just a bean counter thing. "Hey do we still need this?"...."No"...."It's cut"

 

[Gringrinngghost]

“Never let a crisis go to waste.”

Disney has definitely availed themselves of this opportunity. From “right sizing” their workforce to trimming every imaginable cost while keeping pricing the same, their reaction to COVID-19 will be a required business case for MBA students to study for years to come.

For the majority of their clients who come once or twice a lifetime, whatever pay service replaces ME will simply be another cost. They won’t know it used to be included, so they won’t care. And Disney will have used COVID as the cover story to remove it.

Future MBAs let me surmise this: Don't let this happen when you are a multibillion dollar company and decide to lavishly spend for a decade

 

[icc2515]

This is horrible news for guests, but great new for Mears and maybe rideshare and maybe rental car companies.

For all those who say that Disney had a great thing by keeping guests captive. Most of the guests will still be captive. Mears provided shuttles to the resort before ME and will after. They will simply pulls the wraps off and underneath there will be the yellow and white Mears busses. They can charge $25pp instead of the maybe $5 they got from Disney. And people will pay it. $200 round trip in the summer compared with rental car prices. 2 summers ago we were looking for a mini van and months in advance they wanted $750 for a week. Closer up to the rental time the price just kept going up. We flew into Ft Meyers and rented a mini van for $350 and stayed a couple of days at the beach before hitting Disney. Rental cars are expensive and the cheaper ones don't hold hardly any luggage. Same with Uber. Try stuffing 2 or 3 giant suitcases into a Prius. Disney might even eventually add to their website when you book a room. "Do you want to add resort transportation to and from the airport for $50 per person" Mears might even kick Disney back $5 pp as an added bonus for Disney. Wait for the rental car prices to skyrocket because of this.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Which proves that it's just a bean counter thing. "Hey do we still need this?"...."No"...."It's cut"

Reading between the lines of the blog post, I'm guessing the logic went something like this:

"Even when we give people DME, they're still going to Universal and off-site restaurants and off-site shopping because they can get to those places easily via Uber and Lyft. Therefore, we've lost our 'captive guest' advantage, which was the whole reason for offering DME for free in the first place."

 

[aliceismad]

For the majority of their clients who come once or twice a lifetime, whatever pay service replaces ME will simply be another cost. They won’t know it used to be included, so they won’t care. And Disney will have used COVID as the cover story to remove it.

Are the majority once or twice in a lifetime customers? I know I've heard that a large part of the WDW guests are from oversees, but I would be interested to know the percentages of "new" guests vs. returning guests vs. APs. I'm sure no one here has the actual numbers, but does someone smart have a guess?

 

[HansGruber]

Just another reason for us to drive down and stay in an AirBnB...and another excuse for me to go off-campus when we aren't at the parks.

What is a realistic price to Uber from MCO to resorts? That's an easy 30 minute drive.

 

[doctornick]

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.

As mentioned, one big factor is that they want to get it out before bookings for 2022 (which it will effect) open up. That makes sense since they don't want to look like they did a "bait and switch" after someone booked.

The second factor is that this might given them data on how it will affect bookings but allow for time to re-instate MDE if it has a significantly negative effect. Though I think it would be hard to determine given how much COVID has impacted things.

Another factor is that there seems to be a replacement product rumored to be offered but probably at a cost (and tied to "Genie"). I could easily see how they would use this wrapped into Disney Genie to make that a most robust offering and better "value". But in order to sell that upcharge, you need to get rid of the included perk first.