ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Yep. Now the choices are 1) Pay for transportation, 2) pay for a rental and parking.
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News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021
- Thread starter WEDway Inc & Company LLC
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Currently, we go 4 times. year. Twice we rent a car because we combine the trip with going to our condo in Southwest Florida. The other 2 times are solely to visit WDW and we use Magic Express. I guess what we will do is use Lyft, the better choice for Chase Credit Card Users because of their discounts. While it will cost more, we will probably get to our room quicker.
Djsfantasi
Well-Known Member
View attachment 546448
Orlando MCO Airport to Disney Hotels Shuttle | Mears Connect
Mears Connect is a 24/7, affordable Orlando airport shuttle transportation service to Disney World, Disney Springs and area resorts. Book now!www.mearsconnect.com
Mears was my go to solution. I figured as the ME operator, that they’d have a solution.
Without a corresponding reduction in room rates, since it was “built in” to the price of your room.
“Charge more, get less... That’s the magic... of Disney!”
raymusiccity
Well-Known Member
...and pay, and pay, and pay,... ad nauseum...
It's getting tiresome how they keep whittling away at 'benefits', while increasing the price of tickets for a decreasing level of magic.
Mr. Moderate
Well-Known Member
This is what I thought would happen and Disney once again subscribes to the "declining by degrees" mode of business. Advertise something as a "free perk" when staying onsite, even though everything else price wise was raised over the years to cover that perk and when your customer base grows to depend on it, cut out the free part, insert a paid substitute, and completely outsource it. This way Disney can remove themselves from having to pay anything and be involved, not be liable in anyway for the service, charge for parking, and still make more profits off of their guests.
This is the kind of money grabbing crap that drove me to selling off my DVC contract 2 years ago and lose some of the love I have for the parks. I still like to visit and plan so in the future, but not nearly as much and I plan on doing more offsite in the future. After this trip in October, I can't see the reason why to stay onsite again.
This is the kind of money grabbing crap that drove me to selling off my DVC contract 2 years ago and lose some of the love I have for the parks. I still like to visit and plan so in the future, but not nearly as much and I plan on doing more offsite in the future. After this trip in October, I can't see the reason why to stay onsite again.
ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Yup. It's frustrating and depressing to say the least. I know people who are getting burnt out on it and not planning on visiting in the near future even though they used to go multiple times a year....and pay, and pay, and pay,... ad nauseum...
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
I'll be very interested to see what Mears plans to charge. (I'm assuming it will be in line with current Mears shared shuttle pricing from MCO to WDW, which is $39/adult and $30/child roundtrip -- so a family of 4 with two kids 4-11 is looking at $140 plus tip for a shared ride with a potential for multiple other stops). The new DME prices will have to be rock-bottom if Mears wants to compete with, for example, private towncars that start at around the same price (e.g., one reputable company we've used in the past charges $130 plus tip for roundtrip transportation), are ready to depart at your convenience, and include things like free grocery stops and bottled water.
I suspect Disney/Mears are assuming that many people won't bother to shop around, but will simply take the Mears incarnation of DME because that's what they've always done, even if they pay more for it, but in this day and age when people are a little less financially secure than they were when this change was announced, I'm not so sure that's a safe bet.
And once those guests have switched to a mode of ground transportation that doesn't only go to WDW, there's no telling what other places they might decide to spend their vacation days, nights and dollars! I know I've said it before, but I think Disney's elimination of DME is one of the dumbest and most short-sighted business decisions that's been made in recent years, and will contribute to myriad guests being driven to stay off-site, never to return.
I suspect Disney/Mears are assuming that many people won't bother to shop around, but will simply take the Mears incarnation of DME because that's what they've always done, even if they pay more for it, but in this day and age when people are a little less financially secure than they were when this change was announced, I'm not so sure that's a safe bet.
And once those guests have switched to a mode of ground transportation that doesn't only go to WDW, there's no telling what other places they might decide to spend their vacation days, nights and dollars! I know I've said it before, but I think Disney's elimination of DME is one of the dumbest and most short-sighted business decisions that's been made in recent years, and will contribute to myriad guests being driven to stay off-site, never to return.
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ImperfectPixie
Well-Known Member
Mears has never met some of the peeps that hang out in Disney FB groups or on Disney Forums.
HairyChest
Well-Known Member
Disney needs to pay this for current DVC members
nickys
Premium Member
I signed up to find out!
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
I just reserved a mid-sized SUV for our trip next month. With the Collision Damage Waiver (which I only got because of the "loss of use" coverage that my personal auto policy won't cover and because I've never driven around there before and will be surrounded by other tourists who also haven't driven there before) and roadside assistance (don't have AAA myself), it came to just over $700. So that's $700 that won't be spent on Disney property for this trip. We won't pay for parking since we booked using our DVC points, but I hope Mears will charge a reasonable fee so that even if we end up liking renting a car we can use Mears when we pay cash for our resort room and avoid paying for parking. I really wonder if anyone at Disney considered the full impact money that won't be spent on their property when they did a cost-benefit analysis of their decision. If it's cheaper to use Mears and not pay the resort parking fee, but Mears is still hundreds of dollars round-trip for a family with 2-3 kids (+ any other family members who might be going) then that's still hundreds of dollars that families will be reallocating from food/souvenirs to transportation. At a certain point, it's going to cost them more in lost revenue than they were spending per guest by paying Mears to offer the service for them.
nickys
Premium Member
Why?
I must have missed where in the deeds it said that transport between the airport and resort was provided.
GrumpyFan
Well-Known Member
I think this was expected, but the price of a trip to WDW just went up. Again. No doubt we'll see hotel and ticket price bump up again as well.
I have to wonder if Mears did this without communicating with Disney, like they did with ending DME without telling Mears, or if it was in advance of whatever Disney is planning to announce as the follow on solution?
I have to wonder if Mears did this without communicating with Disney, like they did with ending DME without telling Mears, or if it was in advance of whatever Disney is planning to announce as the follow on solution?
RoyWalley
Well-Known Member
Bingo, this is my situation too. I decided to stay off site for the 1st time since 2001 (go yearly) this October and will only be visiting Disney parks 2 out of 7 days this trip. I have such a love/hate relationship with Disney anymore. We have decided to start venturing out and visiting other parks and do other things.
Is this pre-emptive to the rail line from the airport? But that's not set to be finished for several years yet. Maybe Disney cut the funding to Mears to setup the budget for that rail line?
Also - an Uber from the airport to the parks is about $50 (or used to be anyway) but I used to stay AT Disney because of Mears and then Uber to Universal... no reason not to flip that now.
Also - an Uber from the airport to the parks is about $50 (or used to be anyway) but I used to stay AT Disney because of Mears and then Uber to Universal... no reason not to flip that now.
runnsally
Well-Known Member
I don’t think the rail line is the solution for MCO to WDW (at least for most people). From what I understand this isn’t a commuter rail that goes back and forth, but rather an Amtrak style every 2-3 hours type of deal.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
The train station is not remotely an similar replacement. I honestly do not understand why people bring it up as anything in regards to DME.
The main value for Brightline in regards to WDW will be for people from (for example) Miami to get to WDW easier. Not a local option from the airport.
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doctornick
Well-Known Member
Not that it matters much, but that was already the options before this announcement. There were already plenty of other paid shuttle services from the airport that could be taken to WDW. We have used such services a number of times to go to Universal.
The Mears buses will likely be somewhat cheaper than other options, but have the downside of carrying more passengers so will take longer than a private shuttle.
HairyChest
Well-Known Member
You really are wondering why just because it’s not in the contract? Because it’s an Important part of getting to and from the resorts for out of state guests like myself. You would think a company like Disney would take care of it for people who are locked into vacationing there and spent tens of thousands to do so, are paying the yearly maintenance fees. It was also highly touted by the DVC representatives when selling it to us as a reason to pick it over other timeshares.