News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[LittleBuford]

The car seat issue alone is huge. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 59% of car seats are not installed correctly. We had professionals inspect the installation in our car and they fixed a few things. Trying to install a car seat properly in a rental car is a p.i.t.a. and really hard to do correctly. And I don't trust an Uber driver to get it right, either. This is one of the reasons we drove to most vacations when our kids were very little.

This is partially why I think the messaging is so bad. "Mickey says just deal with it" ignores the fact that DME was such a relief for so many people. Did people figure it out before and can they do so again? Obviously. But this is not on brand and could have been handled with so much more finesse.

Stupid question, but how are car seats dealt with on DME buses?

 

[Touchdown]

Car seats are not required on buses

 

[runnsally]

Stupid question, but how are car seats dealt with on DME buses?

Great question. I've never seen anyone attempt to use a car seat on DME - the seats cannot accommodate it as far as I can tell. We treat DME like an airplane, but probably a blissfully ignorant decision.

The fact that DME is not particularly safe without a car seat probably invalidates a lot of arguments against its discontinuation, including my own.

 

[UNCgolf]

Great question. I've never seen anyone attempt to use a car seat on DME - the seats cannot accommodate it as far as I can tell. We treat DME like an airplane, but probably a blissfully ignorant decision.

The fact that DME is not particularly safe without a car seat probably invalidates a lot of arguments against its discontinuation, including my own.

Without getting too deep into it, a bus generally is much safer than a car when it comes to an accident for multiple reasons. Car seats are required in regular passenger vehicles because of seat belts, which are not designed to safely restrain a child. Buses typically don't even have seat belts (although some do) and it's a different safety calculation. I'm not sure if the Magical Express buses have seat belts, though.

 

[UNCgolf]

I don't understand why the absence of DME would compel guests with children to rent a car, though, or to use Lyft or Uber once on property. A like-for-like alternative service would be one that gets you solely from the airport to your hotel, and vice versa. That shouldn't cost hundreds of dollars.

The costs for a like for like alternative service will probably be $100+ on their own, though. The estimated numbers thrown around have generally been at least $30 per person and often higher -- if luggage handling is included, I'm guessing the price would be more like $40-50 a person if not more.

As I said, it's certainly not going to add hundreds of dollars to everyone's vacation, even among people who formerly used Magical Express. But for a certain subset of visitors (generally families with several children, although not exclusively) it absolutely could result in a few hundred dollars of additional costs. It will be a factor for some people.

I'm not saying it's impossible for a family with 4 kids to get to/from Disney for less than a couple hundred dollars, but it will be a consideration and just dealing with luggage will be a huge additional hassle for any family used to using the Magical Express (although I think the luggage handling part of Magical Express has already been eliminated due to COVID).

EDIT: Looks like Mears' current rates for an 11 passenger van (which would be useful for a big family group) to/from the airport are $180 one way. They have a $20-23 per person shuttle service, but I don't think that includes airport transfers -- it's hard to tell from their website but it looks like that's to go from hotels to the parks and back and not the airport.

Also, it may be a wash overall because anyone staying on-site doesn't have to worry about most transportation anyways beyond the airport transfer. It's off-site visitors that could potentially have hundreds of dollars of transportation fees, but they'd be saving most or all of that money by avoiding Disney's hotel rates. I wasn't really thinking about that, so it probably won't have a huge effect on most visitors beyond the added annoyance of luggage handling. It may hurt Disney more than they expect if it drives a lot of people to stay off-site, though.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

Thanks for your response. Has the existence of DME ever discouraged you from visiting other non-Florida destinations?

Not directly... but we have been to WDW or DL about 20 times in the last 20 years. We love it, and the convenience of MDE was sooo nice (almost magical)... but we love to travel, and we have remarked that we wish we had taken a third to a half of those trips and gone anywhere else (outside of Florida or SoCal). We just like to go and see things, and we've done less of that over the past 20 years, going to Disney properties more.

As Disney removes nice perks like MDE or non-expiring tickets, and starts to get political with movies, attractions, or firings of prominent stars, we are absolutely less inclined to spend so much time at their resorts. It's great to escape and enter "fantasyland" with your family, whether it be at the Parks, at the movies, or for a short time at home on television. When the content starts to get politically preachy, it's a MASSIVE turnoff. I can go to the beach or to a National Park and mostly avoid that crap.

 

[LittleBuford]

The costs for a like for like alternative service will probably be $100+ on their own, though. The estimated numbers thrown around have generally been at least $30 per person and often higher -- if luggage handling is included, I'm guessing the price would be more like $40-50 a person if not more.

As I said, it's certainly not going to add hundreds of dollars to everyone's vacation, even among people who formerly used Magical Express . But for a certain subset of visitors (and likely generally families with several children) it absolutely could result in a few hundred dollars of additional costs. It will be a factor for some people.

I'm not saying it's impossible for even a family with 4 kids or something to get to/from Disney for less than a couple hundred dollars, but it will be a consideration and just dealing with luggage will be a huge additional hassle for any family used to using the Magical Express (although I think the luggage handling part of Magical Express has already been eliminated due to COVID).

EDIT: Looks like Mears' current rates for an 11 passenger van (which would be useful for a big family group) to/from the airport are $180 one way. They have a $20-23 per person shuttle service, but I don't think that includes airport transfers -- it's hard to tell from their website but it looks like that's to go from hotels to the parks and back and not the airport.

Also, as an aside, if this drives anyone to stay off-site instead then they're going to be saving money regardless because their accommodations will be far cheaper. That's bad for Disney, but not bad for the visitors.

I'm talking about alternatives that would get you, and your luggage, to a hotel, not necessarily an exact replacement service. Those alternatives include Lyft or Uber. For a family of four, the cost would be around $30 (in total, not per person) each way, and though I've never needed one myself, I believe Lyft and Uber also offer minivans for larger parties, at a slightly higher cost.

 

[LittleBuford]

Not directly... but we have been to WDW or DL about 20 times in the last 20 years. We love it, and the convenience of MDE was sooo nice (almost magical)... but we love to travel, and we have remarked that we wish we had taken a third to a half of those trips and gone anywhere else (outside of Florida or SoCal). We just like to go and see things, and we've done less of that over the past 20 years, going to Disney properties more.

As Disney removes nice perks like MDE or non-expiring tickets, and starts to get political with movies, attractions, or firings of prominent stars, we are absolutely less inclined to spend so much time at their resorts. It's great to escape and enter "fantasyland" with your family, whether it be at the Parks, at the movies, or for a short time at home on television. When the content starts to get politically preachy, it's a MASSIVE turnoff. I can go to the beach or to a National Park and mostly avoid that crap.

As much as I love Disney and regret that some long-term fans are finding less to enjoy in the experience, I actually think it's a good thing that you now feel compelled to branch out and spend more time elsewhere. Disney is fantastic, but there is so much more to see in the wider world.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm talking about alternatives that would get you, and your luggage, to a hotel, not necessarily an exact replacement service. Those alternatives include Lyft or Uber. For a family of four, the cost would be around $30 (in total, not per person) each way, and though I've never needed one myself, I believe Lyft and Uber also offer minivans for larger parties, at a slightly higher cost.

Of course prices fluctuate

... but uber estimate right now

It cost me about $30 just to go from Disney Springs area to USO last time. About $10 minimum to get around property.

If you have >3 people.. you need uberXL at least...

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm talking about alternatives that would get you, and your luggage, to a hotel, not necessarily an exact replacement service. Those alternatives include Lyft or Uber. For a family of four, the cost would be around $30 (in total, not per person) each way, and though I've never needed one myself, I believe Lyft and Uber also offer minivans for larger parties, at a slightly higher cost.

I edited my post while you were replying -- see the current last paragraph. In thinking about it more, I'm not sure it will have much impact on cost because of the on-site/off-site differences.

As someone else mentioned above, though, it can cost far more than $30 to get an Uber/Lyft depending on the timing. I also expect to see the rideshare rates go up in general on airport trips due to the elimination of Magical Express. They know more people will be looking to use their service.

 

[doctornick]

Disney offers a (paid) bus service from MCO to Port Canaveral for cruises. Obviously not going on now, but does anyone know if that service is going away?

 

[TransportationGuy]

Disney offers a (paid) bus service from MCO to Port Canaveral for cruises. Obviously not going on now, but does anyone know if that service is going away?

At this point there have not been any announcements made on this one way or another. Hypothetically, the service covers its own costs so it *should* be fine

 

[marni1971]

I agree that the ticket prices are fine.

Just spat my coffee out.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Just spat my coffee out.

Oh dear, now I shall have to wipe coffee off my monocle and change my dinner jacket.

 

[Incomudro]

As much as I love Disney and regret that some long-term fans are finding less to enjoy in the experience, I actually think it's a good thing that you now feel compelled to branch out and spend more time elsewhere. Disney is fantastic, but there is so much more to see in the wider world.

I don't want to branch out when I make a Disney trip.
Part of the fun of the trip is the deliberate attempt to keep it all in the parks.

 

[marni1971]

Oh dear, now I shall have to wipe coffee off my monocle and change my dinner jacket.

Good job it was just coffee then.

 

[UNCgolf]

Just spat my coffee out.

You think they should be cheaper? While the experience of parks is much worse than it was 25-30 years ago, they're absolutely packed.

If the argument is that the prices are too high compared to what you get in the park in a vacuum, then I'd absolutely agree. But considering the crowding problems, cheaper tickets would make the experience that much worse.

It's not like the Universal tickets are any cheaper.

 

[Lilofan]

You think they should be cheaper? While the experience of parks is much worse than it was 25-30 years ago, they're absolutely packed.

If the argument is that the prices are too high compared to what you get in the park in a vacuum, then I'd absolutely agree. But considering the crowding problems, cheaper tickets would make the experience that much worse.

It's not like the Universal tickets are any cheaper.

Iger and Chapek have gotten this down to a science. Offer less, charge more and the people keep coming in record numbers. As WC Fields had said "there is a sucker born every minute ".

 

[UNCgolf]

Iger and Chapek have gotten this down to a science. Offer less, charge more and the people keep coming in record numbers.

Exactly. Lowering prices would actually make visiting Disney even worse than it currently is -- the ticket prices are already the cheapest part of the experience.

 

[marni1971]

You think they should be cheaper? .

Absolutely they should. And adhere to park capacity like they also used to, not pick some arbitrary figure when the RCFD think it’s unsafe. Capacity used to be capped when it was unpleasant for the guest. Not when the park couldn’t be cleared quick enough.

WDW for us is almost not value for money nowerdays.