News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[Minthorne]

I expect people will be even more upset when they announce the pay-per-ride model of ticket books returning. I understand it will be A $5.99, B $9.99, C $15.99 D $24.99 and E tickets will be $39.99 each. This they believe will solve the long lines at attractions.

A gate pass will just be $59.99 a day and include unlimited bench sitting.

 

[icc2515]

That's one of the reasons we have historically done a private van for my family (when we go to Uni at least).

Mind telling what company you use and how they are.

 

[icc2515]

I expect people will be even more upset when they announce the pay per ride model of ticket books returning. I understand it will be A- 5.99, B 9.99, C 15.99 D 24.99 and E tickets will be $39.99 each. This they believe will solve the long lines at attractions.

A gate pass will just be 59.99 a day and include unlimited bench sitting.

Do you have inside information that says they are going to put some benches in?

 

[seabreezept813]

Imagining planning a Disney trip with no FP, and not getting the luggage tags or bands sounds just like a non-Disney trip. I hope these are temporary changes, with long term solutions being discussed, but who knows.. I guess I just don’t expect to know what will really happen for another 6 months. But without these details, and no Splash to ride, Disney is losing some appeal. And we should be their prominent customer base—16 year old stepdaughter, 2 year old daughter, and another girl coming in March. So many Princess years ahead..

On the other hand, if I were Universal I’d be telling Mears to start painting those busses to look like a train, horseless carriages, broomsticks, you get my drift. Maybe that’s what Disney needs is for their competition to call their bluff.

 

[Obobru]

You're overlooking one of the key gains of DME - keeping guests 'inside the berm'.

Your thinking is way out of date, that bubble burst years ago. Rideshares easy to get, cheaper than a taxi, no need for cash, safe with tracking, etc. We use Lyft and Uber when we are in Orlando and speak to the drivers, many day most their work is ferrying people around the theme parks and hotels including Disney's hotels. You only have to stand outside any Disney hotel and see the endless stream to rideshare cars.

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.

It's about $35-50 each way with Lyft from the airport so why would anyone pay $50rtn on a bus set to schedule unless they were on their own and wanted to save $20-$50 l. If you are staying at Disney's rip off hotels you want the experience so surely staying longer on site is the aim. Also with any bus Vs rideshare comparison you have to look at how much your time is worth to you.

This is confusing. People still need to get to the resort. If not by bus, it will be by car or van. The emissions aren't going away, they are just being traded to a different vehicle. One could argue this move would cause more emissions at times as one bus is unlikely to produce as much emissions as 20 cars would.

It was sarcasm, the emissions will increase. Disney is only environmentally friendly when it saves money somehow.

So just consider it a price hike on the hotel room. Would an extra 40 bucks a night change your mind on a vacation?

Well surely that would depend on the length of stsy. If my budget is $4k for a week or the same amount for 2 weeks would depend on how much I want to spend on a hotel. Also is that $40 extra for a motel 6 room at Pop or is that $40 on a top room at the Grand Floridian? One is a significant increase and the other is a barely noticeable increase.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

This is confusing. People still need to get to the resort. If not by bus, it will be by car or van. The emissions aren't going away, they are just being traded to a different vehicle. One could argue this move would cause more emissions at times as one bus is unlikely to produce as much emissions as 20 cars would.

Just read an article on the topic, and...in short, the math is a bit complicated.

1. It depends how many people are in each car. Mostly in the US, cars operate with only the driver. They usually operate at like 1. 10- 1.15 people per car range. I assume MCO-WDW traffic would average closer to 3-4 people per car, but we'd need to know to calculate. Do business travelers/convention goers use ME?

Also- this perhaps also opens up the possibility more people will come to WDW via Sanford Airport, TPA and other FL airports.

2. We'd also need to know how many people are on the bus on average per mile of transit. To beat cars, the bus has to be carrying a fair number of passengers, and maintain that average for the duration of the trip. If every ME bus stops at 3 hotels, and only 2 people are on the last leg - that decreases the efficiency benefit of the bus quite a bit. Right now, ME runs 24 hours a day. How full are the late night/early morning buses?

3. What type of fuel are the buses using? Are they regular diesel buses, or electric, natural gas? What about the MPG of the rental cars? at home, people tend to drive far more trucks/SUVs than when they rent.


The rough calculation (DOT 2010) is : U.S. bus transit, with 28% occupancy, emits an estimated 33% lower greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile than the average U.S. single occupancy vehicle - but that assumes the low 1.10 people per car AND that individual drivers are driving a high ratio of SUV's and trucks.

You've think it would be easy to say buses are better, and generally they are- but right now- buses at half capacity really drives that math down. Mears buses can normally hold up to 55 people (but they make multiple stops, so not full the whole way) If MCO to WDW cars hold an average of 3 people per car; you'd get about 18 cars per bus. But buses aren't always full and we'd need to know the average # or people per car.

 

[Obobru]

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Disney announced an in-house replacement for ME. All they’d need to really do would be purchase additional buses and hire or bring back more bus drivers. Charge a fee for the round trip service ($25 each way per person). Since it has the Disney logo on it, people would still line up to use it. They could probably even get away with cost cutting by using fewer buses and combining more stops. The overall convenience factor is worth it to not have to worry about booking and paying for a rental car (plus parking).

It's completely against Disney's strategy of outsource more. They even outsourced the general housekeeping which is a basic job they are not going to spend capital on buses and the extra liability and registration costs to run a service they can outsource and did, it's gone it's done it's not coming back.

 

[Figgy1]

Imagining planning a Disney trip with no FP, and not getting the luggage tags or bands sounds just like a non-Disney trip. I hope these are temporary changes, with long term solutions being discussed, but who knows.. I guess I just don’t expect to know what will really happen for another 6 months. But without these details, and no Splash to ride, Disney is losing some appeal. And we should be their prominent customer base—16 year old stepdaughter, 2 year old daughter, and another girl coming in March. So many Princess years ahead..

On the other hand, if I were Universal I’d be telling Mears to start painting those busses to look like a train, horseless carriages, broomsticks, you get my drift. Maybe that’s what Disney needs is for their competition to call their bluff.

Don't think that's going to happen seeing how cheap their rooms

 

[starlily]

I loved magical express. It was nice not having to worry about our luggage and it felt like the vacation began right at the airport. This more than anything makes me rethink future trips. I told my husband we will probably not be going as often as we had planned in the future, if at all.

 

[doctornick]

I think the luggage transfer was a big part of DME too, and that will likely not exist with any paid replacement (unless Disney themselves offers a new paid replacement).

My parents used it a couple of years ago for a trip with their grandchildren, and the luggage transfer was the biggest reason. They didn't want to have to deal with trying to collect and drag around luggage; it was so much easier for a couple in their 70s to have it all handled for them.

I said it before I agree. Honestly, if Disney would still do the luggage transfer, I wouldn't give a crap about finding my own transportation; that part is relatively trivial. There's no replacement for Disney handling your luggage (both to and from the airport!). One time we arrived at MCO at a late flight beyond the time of night that Disney gets your luggage and we had to get it ourselves - basically was a "never again" moment for me, where I'll always arrive during the luggage handing times. Oh well.

If Genie has a paid service that still includes the luggage, realistically I'll probably do it.

 

[Lilofan]

It's completely against Disney's strategy of outsource more. They even outsourced the general housekeeping which is a basic job they are not going to spend capital on buses and the extra liability and registration costs to run a service they can outsource and did, it's gone it's done it's not coming back.

Outsourcing and WDW go hand in hand. Look at Disney Springs, half of Epcot as for examples.

 

[Indy_UK]

I don’t want to say yet again that Disney are gradually pushing more and more people away with price hikes and removing benefits but it really seems they are.

I think they expect those who can’t afford to visit the parks to go to get the same enjoyment from a Disney store pop-up in Target and a Disney+ subscription...

 

[UNCgolf]

Care to explain? My family and I have used it at least 50 times and never had one problem with it. Always on time, always a seat waiting, never a breakdown (for us), luggage always arrived at both ends on time. It was easy for a DVC member to book and DVC members paid for the privilege to use it thru our dues, which will go down because of it's termination. Now of course they may only go down a penny a point, but they will do down (or up less as the case will be).

He was talking about FastPass+, not Magical Express.

 

[Dave B]

Save money on Bus Drivers, Bus Maintenance, Bus Gas, more guests rent cars and now pay the daily resort parking fee, sounds like Disney has a plan, have to recoup revenue somehow

 

[Disney Glimpses]

I'm not upset about it all. In fact, I'm glad it's gone and expect it will stay gone, at least in it's previous form.

It's an operational nightmare.

Almost definitely gone in it's previous form.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Imagining planning a Disney trip with no FP, and not getting the luggage tags or bands sounds just like a non-Disney trip. I hope these are temporary changes, with long term solutions being discussed, but who knows.. I guess I just don’t expect to know what will really happen for another 6 months. But without these details, and no Splash to ride, Disney is losing some appeal. And we should be their prominent customer base—16 year old stepdaughter, 2 year old daughter, and another girl coming in March. So many Princess years ahead..

On the other hand, if I were Universal I’d be telling Mears to start painting those busses to look like a train, horseless carriages, broomsticks, you get my drift. Maybe that’s what Disney needs is for their competition to call their bluff.

Or port key

 

[Disney Glimpses]

Save money on Bus Drivers, Bus Maintenance, Bus Gas, more guests rent cars and now pay the daily resort parking fee, sounds like Disney has a plan, have to recoup revenue somehow

They don't pay for any of that stuff; at least not directly. They have a negotiated contract with Mears. Disney isn't going to rely on parking fees to sustain their business. And giving people a quick way to leave is certainly a bad decision. More off property theme park visits, food and shopping excursions, etc.

 

[UNCgolf]

It's about $35-50 each way with Lyft from the airport so why would anyone pay $50rtn on a bus set to schedule unless they were on their own and wanted to save $20-$50 l. If you are staying at Disney's rip off hotels you want the experience so surely staying longer on site is the aim. Also with any bus Vs

I think $35-50 is might be a low estimate if you're talking about a family of 5 with all their luggage. You'd have to use an XL, which ups the price, and my guess is they'll be hiking up the price in general if they see a huge influx of people wanting/needing to use their service at the airport.

Also, there are going to be LONG lines at MCO of people waiting for their Uber/Lyft. I don't know how it's set up now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the airport require people to carry their luggage a long way to get to/from an Uber/Lyft designated area, because otherwise the congestion would get incredibly out of hand. That's how the Atlanta airport handles it -- you have to walk at least half a mile and likely longer to actually get to the Uber/Lyft area. They moved it out essentially into one of the parking lots to keep traffic flowing better in the normal pick up/drop off areas.

I have a feeling using Uber/Lyft at MCO is going to turn into a nightmare.

 

[doctornick]

Disneyland is mainly a local thing not nearly as many people flying into LAX to go to Disneyland. What percentage of people flying into MCO are going to Disney World compared to the percent of people flying into LAX? 50% compared to 1/2 percent? That and Covid is why Disneyland Express closed.

People flying to Disneyland also go to multiple airports. LAX is the major airport but not particularly close. The one in Santa Ana (John Way airport) is the close one to Anaheim and there's other options in the area too. Pretty much everyone doing to WDW by air flies to MCO.

 

[Sandersfeld]

not happy about this at all.. the great thing about Disney is they made it so convenient to get to and from the airport,,ive had a good number off people that have gone that ive sold them on the idea of not needing to worry about travel.. in my opinon Disney has lost out on a really good customer experience on this,,