An analogy to this situation for those who don't get why this seems like a bigger deal than a change in dining plans, Extra Magic Hours, magic bands, Fast Passes, etc... Imagine your local school system cut band uniforms, funding for the soccer team, school supply budgets, teacher appreciation funds, etc. - and then imagine they cancelled school buses. Just cancelled them, done, no more school buses. Students with zero transportation would get a voucher for a cab, everyone else could walk or be driven. I think to 90% of people, that would stand out as a much bigger deal. Why? I don't know, it just would.
I get that all of these things are subjective and one person's big deal is another person's 'meh', but hopefully that helps explain why transportation feels like such a bedrock thing, not a little extra that comes and goes. And I say that as someone who is sympathetic so long as Disney is doing this because they really have to for financial reasons due to Covid. I think it's problematic on two fronts - one, it's just horribly inconvenient. Buses were much easier for families, those with disabilities, women traveling alone, seniors uncomfortable with Uber, and I'm sure many other groups. Second... and, warning, I know this is a somewhat scandalous opinion, and it makes me sad to say it... but it feels cheap. There, I said it. It feels cheap and, if it's not an absolute necessity due to Covid, then it feels like dealing with used car salesmen who are trying to shadily make every last buck. (Yes, yes, that's capitalism, but it's supposed to be well hidden, at least.) Let's be honest, to some extent you a paying for a brand name, and a pricey one, with Disney. It would be like buying a designer purse for top dollar that a store clerk shoved at you in a wadded up plastic bag, with threads sticking out at the mismatched seams and plastic zippers. Part of why people pay top dollar for those kind of things is so that they can oooh and aaaah at all the froufrou little extras.
. We do timeshares in the area often when we don’t do Disney and know we get A LOT more for our money staying elsewhere, so now with a much lesser accommodation with no perks, it‘s just not worth it anymore for us. We‘ve been those devoted fans, traveling across the country a couple times a year for Disney but I definitely see our visits changing.
