News Disney's Magical Express to end after 2021

[TiggerDad]

This is about school buses, but the general point is the same.

"Large school buses are heavier and distribute crash forces differently than passenger cars and light trucks do. Because of these differences, bus passengers experience much less crash force than those in passenger cars, light trucks and vans."

School Bus Safety | NHTSA

A school bus provides a safe way of transportation for your child. Learn resources to talk to your child about school bus and bus stop safety.

www.nhtsa.gov

 

[RoyWalley]

I respectfully disagree. Families have always gone on one day trips to Sea World, Universal, etc. No One wants to spend thousands on a disney trip and leave the bubble for very long. Things have always been this way and won't change, except now many people might decide to stay elsewhere. I just think disney did what they've been wanting to do and used covid as a good excuse. They are trimming and cutting all over the place with the perfect excuse, in Their eyes only.

This 100%, spot on!

 

[HarperRose]

I don't either. It never made any sense to me at all - especially considering that the rear seats of school buses were much sought after when I was a kid because you could literally catch air if the bus went over a big bump.

Interesting that you've seen buses with belts! I don't think I ever have...and that includes municipal buses, charter buses, and Disney buses.

The DME buses have seatbelts because they are coaches. Park buses do not have belts.

 

[marni1971]

I suspect there are, broadly speaking, two kinds of people who are active fans of WDW: those, like you, who seem to enjoy theme parks in general (you mentioned being pleasantly surprised by SeaWorld recently), and those, like me, who are into the Disney angle specifically. That's why alternatives (other than Disney parks elsewhere) wouldn't work for me, and why I still see excellent value in my trips to WDW.

Fair point. But believe me WDW is my number one love by far. That’s why it hurts so much to be going off it thanks to the way it’s run. We found better value for our money in Disneyland (despite admission being what felt higher) and DLP (where we stay in the bubble - much like you do in Orlando I’d imagine - until flying home)

But value for money is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

 

[UNCgolf]

I suspect there are, broadly speaking, two kinds of people who are active fans of WDW: those, like you, who seem to enjoy theme parks in general (you mentioned being pleasantly surprised by SeaWorld recently), and those, like me, who are into the Disney angle specifically. That's why alternatives (other than Disney parks elsewhere) wouldn't work for me, and why I still see excellent value in my trips to WDW.

I'm closer to the latter -- while I do like Universal for what it is and will probably go back eventually, I don't have any specific plans to do so and it'll likely be years -- I've never really seen any other parks that interest me outside of Puy du Fou in France (which doesn't even have rides and I'm very unlikely to ever actually visit).

I definitely don't see excellent value in WDW trips any longer, though. Nearly everything about the experience has declined significantly since the 1990s while the price has skyrocketed. Animal Kingdom is the only park that's been improved essentially across the board; the other parks have treaded water at best (some improvements and some deterioration) or are a depressing shell of what they once were (EPCOT). And that's not even going into how restaurant and resort quality has declined.

With that said, I still enjoy going to WDW. I have fun there. It's just not what it once was.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm closer to the latter -- while I do like Universal for what it is and will probably go back eventually, I don't have any specific plans to do so and it'll likely be years -- I've never really seen any other parks that interest me outside of Puy du Fou in France (which doesn't even have rides and I'm very unlikely to ever actually visit).

I definitely don't see excellent value in WDW trips any longer, though. Nearly everything about the experience has declined significantly since the 1990s while the price has skyrocketed. Animal Kingdom is the only park that's been improved essentially across the board; the other parks have treaded water at best (some improvements and some deterioration) or are a depressing shell of what they once were (EPCOT). And that's not even going into how restaurant and resort quality has declined.

With that said, I still enjoy going to WDW. I have fun there. It's just not what it once was.

This is all very fair, and as @marni1971 noted, value is in the eye of the beholder.

I suppose for me, the degree of pleasure I get out of my visits to WDW far, far exceeds the costs entailed, even if those costs have skyrocketed. I travel to and enjoy many places, but none offers me the same uncomplicated sense of magic and joy. Nor do I see the kind of precipitous decline in quality that others frequently discuss in these threads, though I fully admit to being a Pixie Duster who is perhaps more loyal than he should be to the Disney brand.

 

[UNCgolf]

This is all very fair, and as @marni1971 noted, value is in the eye of the beholder.

I suppose for me, the degree of pleasure I get out of my visits to WDW far, far exceeds the costs entailed, even if those costs have skyrocketed. I travel to and enjoy many places, but none offers me the same uncomplicated sense of magic and joy. Nor do I see the kind of precipitous decline in quality that others frequently discuss in these threads, though I fully admit to being a Pixie Duster who is perhaps more loyal than he should be to the Disney brand.

When did you first visit WDW, out of curiosity?

 

[LittleBuford]

When did you first visit WDW, out of curiosity?

1991 (though as a child, and I don’t remember much). I returned in 1996 as a teen and again in 2001 as a young adult. Then followed a long break before I went back in 2017, and I’ve been several times since. I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed my post-2017 visits far more than my earlier ones, perhaps because I missed the magic so much during my long absence.

What about you?

 

[Jrb1979]

I wish I could see the value in Disney still as well as love it like many of you do. It has nothing to do with the lack of coasters as many of you like to believe.

I first started going to Disney as a kid and loved the parks. Epcot being one of my favorites with rides such as Horizons and Body Wars. I didn't go back for awhile til I was an adult with my nieces. I enjoyed the parks when I went back and the "magic".

When I went back a year ago it felt like the "magic" was gone. A big part of it is the planning involved. When I go to a park, I like to ride what I want when I want. Maybe it's just cause I go to a lot of parks that use Universal's system. I prefer buying a wristband and not having to schedule my day.

The other big thing is the cuts have soured me on Disney. The biggest thing is how they have destroyed Epcot by making it MK lite with all the IP being put into it.

 

[UNCgolf]

1991 (though as a child, and I don’t remember much). I returned in 1996 as a teen and again in 2001 as a young adult. Then followed a long break before I went back in 2017, and I’ve been several times since. I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed my post-2017 visits far more than my earlier ones, perhaps because I missed the magic so much during my long absence.

What about you?

I think the first time I visited was in 1986 or 1987, but that was as a young child and I don't remember much. The first trip that I remember strongly was in either 1993 or 1994, which is when I fell in love with a ton of stuff that no longer exists, like 20k and all of the original EPCOT pavilions. That is absolutely a big part of the reason WDW has lost some appeal for me -- EPCOT was my favorite park by far and they've absolutely gutted it. I think if I made a list of my 10 favorite WDW attractions ever, at least half no longer exist.

I've been there several times since with a few long breaks (one of about 10 years and one of 7 or 8). I just have a tendency when I'm there now to look around and think, "It would be better if that was still in this spot instead of what's currently here" in numerous places. I'm sure the crowds are part of the problem too, because the parks just had fewer people in them than they do now which obviously made for a more pleasant experience.

It also should be minor, but the way they've homogenized all the stores has actually had a pretty significant effect on me. There was a big difference in the Magic Kingdom (and in Hollywood Studios too, to a somewhat lesser extent) when the shops were mostly themed to the area they were in and sold appropriate merchandise for the theme. Now that you can find mostly the same merchandise in this store in Frontierland, this store at EPCOT, this store at Animal Kingdom, and this store at DHS (not to mention at the resort gift shops and World of Disney), it feels like huge swathes of the parks have become basically a dead zone where there's no reason to go inside.

Regardless, that may be why you haven't noticed a decline in quality -- it's easier to forget when you only went somewhere twice and then didn't go back until recently. I think it's more noticeable for people who have gone every year or two for the past 30 (I'm not in that group either, but some posters here are).

 

[seascape]

This is all very fair, and as @marni1971 noted, value is in the eye of the beholder.

I suppose for me, the degree of pleasure I get out of my visits to WDW far, far exceeds the costs entailed, even if those costs have skyrocketed. I travel to and enjoy many places, but none offers me the same uncomplicated sense of magic and joy. Nor do I see the kind of precipitous decline in quality that others frequently discuss in these threads, though I fully admit to being a Pixie Duster who is perhaps more loyal than he should be to the Disney brand.

You and I are in 100% agreement on our views towards WDW. My wife was getting tired of 4 trips a year and in January 2020 told me that would be our last trip for her birthday. Little did she know how quickly her mind would be changed. Our April, September and November trips were all canceled and rescheduled month after months. Now, we have 8 days to go till we are back to the GF and have 4 trips planned including her birthday!

Is Disney an expense trip? Yes, but we get Flower and Garden, Food and Wine, Halloween, Festival of the Holidays and Festival of the Arts. WDW always has things we want and my wife misses the animals on the Safari and three walking paths. Thanks to all the scientists that spent 2020 developing the vaccines and the government spending the money last year so we had the vaccines in record time and can get back to normal this Spring.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

Yeah, I don't see the decline in quality either. It's more expensive, but it used to be an *amazing* deal, where now it's more in line with what they can get for it. That's corporate America for you. If they were doing anything else, Disney would now be a subsidiary of another corporation doing it instead.

Count me in with the guys that say $100-125 for a day at WDW is very reasonable. There's some heartburn when you're the one paying for that times 5, but still - I can't think of a place that offers the same for less.

 

[UNCgolf]

We found better value for our money in Disneyland (despite admission being what felt higher)

I may be going to Disneyland next year. I've been to LA a couple of times but had other things I wanted to do instead, but I'm tentatively going to be there for roughly a week next summer. If that happens, I want to take a couple of days and finally see Disneyland and DCA.

 

[marni1971]

I may be going to Disneyland next year. I've been to LA a couple of times but had other things I wanted to do instead, but I'm tentatively going to be there for roughly a week next summer. If that happens, I want to take a couple of days and finally see Disneyland and DCA.

Treat yourself to five days. Being us, we did seven and could have done more.

 

[UNCgolf]

Treat yourself to five days. Being us, we did seven and could have done more.

I doubt I'll have time to get over there for more than two days. I'm sure I could spend at least two days in Disneyland alone, but I'll have other things I have to do while I'm there.

I'm assuming I can skip Galaxy's Edge since it and the one at DHS are basically clones, right? I think nearly everything else is different from the Orlando version, except maybe the Jungle Cruise. I don't even really like the JC but I feel like I'd have to go on it in Disneyland as one of the original rides regardless.

Actually I guess I could skip Soarin' at DCA if they're doing Around the World. I think they sometimes go back to the California version, though, and I would definitely like to see that. I'd also definitely skip Little Mermaid and Toy Story Midway Mania.

 

[marni1971]

I doubt I'll have time to get over there for more than two days. I'm sure I could spend at least two days in Disneyland alone, but I'll have other things I have to do while I'm there.

I'm assuming I can skip Galaxy's Edge since it and the one at DHS are basically clones, right? I think nearly everything else is different from the Orlando version, except maybe the Jungle Cruise. I don't even really like the JC but I feel like I'd have to go on it in Disneyland as one of the original rides regardless.

I’m sure others will chip in, but for a WDW veteran at Disneyland try and squeeze in Lincoln, Indy, PotC, Splash, the railroad, Roger Rabbit, iasw, Autopia, Space Mountain and a monorail trip. Plus if you can Toad, Alice, Matterhorn, Pinocchio and Snow White. Close seconds would include BTM, Peter Pan, Pooh, the Twain, JC, Buzz, Storybook Canal and Tiki Room. Plus do your best for Fantasmic, even if it means a dining deal.

DCA would be up to you but RSR is very very impressive if you can get on and Screamin Incredicoaster is great fun. World of Color is also worth it to us for something very grand and none fireworks.

Personal preference of course.

 

[UNCgolf]

I’m sure others will chip in, but for a WDW veteran at Disneyland try and squeeze in Lincoln, Indy, PotC, Splash, the railroad, Roger Rabbit, iasw, Autopia, Space Mountain and a monorail trip. Plus if you can Toad, Alice, Matterhorn, Pinocchio and Snow White. Close seconds would include BTM, Peter Pan, Pooh, the Twain, JC, Buzz, Storybook Canal and Tiki Room. Plus do your best for Fantasmic, even if it means a dining deal.

DCA would be up to you but RSR is very very impressive if you can get on and Screamin Incredicoaster is great fun. World of Color is also worth it to us for something very grand and none fireworks.

Personal preference of course.

I absolutely want to do all of the Fantasyland dark rides -- they're probably the #1 thing for me along with POTC and Indy (dark rides are my favorite). I also definitely want to do RSR since everyone seems to love it and it doesn't exist anywhere else. I don't really have any interest in the Incredicoaster -- I'm not really a coaster person in general, and don't care about unthemed ones at all.

Is the Buzz at Disneyland any different from the one at WDW? I'm not really a fan of it. Other than that and the Incredicoaster, though, basically everything you mentioned are things I really want to do.

 

[marni1971]

I absolutely want to do all of the Fantasyland dark rides -- they're probably the #1 thing for me along with POTC and Indy (dark rides are my favorite). I also definitely want to do RSR since everyone seems to love it and it doesn't exist anywhere else. I don't really have any interest in the Incredicoaster -- I'm not really a coaster person in general, and don't care about unthemed ones at all.

Is the Buzz at Disneyland any different from the one at WDW? I'm not really a fan of it. Other than that and the Incredicoaster, though, basically everything you mentioned are things I really want to do.

Buzz is different and superior enough to warrant a ride if dark rides are your speciality. Especially remembering it fits into a Circlevision theatre and preshow.

Even so try Space Mountain once. No matter which version it is, the smooth ride and the... alternate layout has to be experienced once. Biggest surprise was 3 lifts for Orlando’s one. BTM will mess with your head when you know it’s mostly all Orlando but mirrored.

But we digress. Happy to carry this on elsewhere if needed.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah, I don't see the decline in quality either. It's more expensive, but it used to be an *amazing* deal, where now it's more in line with what they can get for it. That's corporate America for you. If they were doing anything else, Disney would now be a subsidiary of another corporation doing it instead.

Count me in with the guys that say $100-125 for a day at WDW is very reasonable. There's some heartburn when you're the one paying for that times 5, but still - I can't think of a place that offers the same for less.

I dontl't find that reasonable at all. Then again the more I think about it I don't fit into any of the Disney fan groups. IMO there is 3 main Disney fan groups. 1 is the family with young kids. 2nd is the 40 to 60 group that don't do thrill rides and grew up going to Disney yearly as a child. The 3rd is the empty nesters that go just for the festivals and ride the occasional attraction.

For me I am 41 and my child is 1. Right now Disney isn't in my plans til she is 4 or 5 and can enjoy the parks. As most know I love my coasters and thrill rides. Part of which I enjoy Universal more. The other part is the lack of planning involved for Universal. I can show up and buy my express pass and ride what I want whenever I want.

 

[flynnibus]

I doubt I'll have time to get over there for more than two days. I'm sure I could spend at least two days in Disneyland alone, but I'll have other things I have to do while I'm there.

I'm assuming I can skip Galaxy's Edge since it and the one at DHS are basically clones, right? I think nearly everything else is different from the Orlando version, except maybe the Jungle Cruise. I don't even really like the JC but I feel like I'd have to go on it in Disneyland as one of the original rides regardless.

Actually I guess I could skip Soarin' at DCA if they're doing Around the World. I think they sometimes go back to the California version, though, and I would definitely like to see that. I'd also definitely skip Little Mermaid and Toy Story Midway Mania.

Two days will require skipping a good number of things... or doing COVID schedule where they don't have most of their entertainment.
It almost is all of WDW in a fraction of the space when it comes to attractions and nighttime entertainment. Spend 3 days or prepare for full commando mode.