Express Transportation starting Dec 7th

Monorail_Orange

Well-Known Member
I would make the requirement for using non-bus transportation be magicbands.

Adds a layer of security and a revenue stream for maintenance costs.

It would certainly make magicbands a 'must have' item.
IIRC, it's been a while since you visited the parks, but nowadays the vast majority of park goers already have magic bands. Making such a change would have a negligible impact and/or revenue stream.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
IIRC, it's been a while since you visited the parks, but nowadays the vast majority of park goers already have magic bands. Making such a change would have a negligible impact and/or revenue stream.

Really? Some on these boards claim the next-gen system has been a financial disaster.
 

Monorail_Orange

Well-Known Member
Really? Some on these boards claim the next-gen system has been a financial disaster.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. If the next gen system was successful, why hasn't DLR adopted it too? Answer: it's not successful. Also don't forget that every single guest staying on property received a band as part of their room rate.
 

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
I think you are you are greatly overestimating the number of people that use direct park to park transport...
Easily calculated...anyone who buys Park Hoppers...I think it's quite a few, particularly experienced guests and probably most annual pass holders.

Express Transportation was perfect.
 

halltd

Well-Known Member
Can't change them now as we have ADRs in different parks same day ,etc...Wouldn't have planned that way had I known this service was to be discontinued.
You can cancel and rebook ADRs without penalty. If you wanted out of the hoppers, it's easily doable. Unless you booked the most popular restaurants at each park on the same day, getting replacements shouldn't be hard.
 

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
I don't even know how that makes sense. Did cabs 'flop'? Did Lyft 'flop'? Did Uber 'flop'? No. They all exist at WDW, and they all do fine. This is Disney trying to get some of that money.

Exactly. The trouble is the price-point for this is nearly double what Uber costs in some instances. Thankfully there's enough luddites and uneducated tourists from the flyover states who think Uber or Lyft are somehow dangerous and scary. Disney offering the same service at a ripoff price is worth it though.

What I do think would be an enormous benefit is some kind of hybrid of this Express Transportation and Minnie Van. Offering on-demand park hopping services in the same manner to guests. It would take a bit of logistical work to figure out how do it efficiently and to properly execute the guest learning curve (which can be daunting). The best solution would be a park-hopping button within the MDE app, where you can choose the closest of multiple in-park gates to meet your Minnievan driver who will the whisk you away to the next destination.
 
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epcotfan

Active Member
You can cancel and rebook ADRs without penalty. If you wanted out of the hoppers, it's easily doable. Unless you booked the most popular restaurants at each park on the same day, getting replacements shouldn't be hard.
I do have popular restaurants booked and the reservation times are based on my Fastpasses so no chance of moving things around. I'm over the bus thing. Just annoyed that I tailored my vacation to incorporate that service.
 

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
I do have popular restaurants booked and the reservation times are based on my Fastpasses so no chance of moving things around. I'm over the bus thing. Just annoyed that I tailored my vacation to incorporate that service.
The new normal is that Disney doesn't care about your perfectly tailored vacation plans. One thing you can now plan on is that Disney will likely throw something at you last minute that messes with your plans.
 

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Easily calculated...anyone who buys Park Hoppers...I think it's quite a few, particularly experienced guests and probably most annual pass holders.

Express Transportation was perfect.
Huh? Not everyone who bought park hoppers also used direct park to park transport. And it appears that only a small minority used the express service.

Something was clearly wrong with the model or it wouldn't be ending. Not enough customers, not a high enough price point, whatever. Something wasn't right.
 

Bender123

Well-Known Member
It solved a problem that was **created** because Disney hasn't addressed the larger problems. You're paying for a bypass... a bypass you shouldn't need in the first place. That is reality.



It fails to deliver, at both peak and non-peak periods. "too many people" "too many variables" are just lame excuses... Excuses other far more complex transportation systems don't use as a crutch.



It's difficult when Disney keeps multiplying the issues to address without addressing the problem holistically. The biggest issue people have is the multi-security passes... this is a problem that is not intrinsic, but because of the 'bolt-on' solution they've done.. instead of saying "we cant use this design because it screws everyone up"... they just did it anyways and then offered the willing the ability to buy their way out of Disney's shortcuts.

No the problems are not 'simple' - they also are not impossible. As covered many times before... reliable bus networks are not breaking new ground.

For the cost of one attraction, Disney could work with a transportation provider to adapt transports that fit Disney's "special" needs for it's ECV fleets... an investment that would pay out for decades. Disney could make changes to encourage LESS cars on property rather than keep building more... (something cities learned long ago.. yet the progressive WDW has forgotten how to lead in urban design). Park to park (or inside the boundary) transit could be handled differently. Disney doesn't need to handle moving 5,000 people between parks all the time... the park hopper traffic volumes are pretty low (and data Disney has).

I get it you liked being able to buy your way out of Disney's F-ups... but that doesn't change the reality that they are things worthy of buying yourself out of because of Disney's own shortcomings.

And that's mostly the issue. The monorail resorts y doing secu
Huh? Not everyone who bought park hoppers also used direct park to park transport. And it appears that only a small minority used the express service.

Something was clearly wrong with the model or it wouldn't be ending. Not enough customers, not a high enough price point, whatever. Something wasn't right.

this is the point...

You also can not use "people who have hoper passes/AP holders" as a number, because:
1: They don't all go to the same parks
2: They don't all hop at the same time
3: There is no guarantee they hop at all
4: How many go to a park, take a hotel break, then hop
5: Most hopped times
6: Most hopped parks

By the time that you boil down the people who are hopping directly from Park A to Park B at any given 15 minute period, its relatively low. If you aren't filling a whole bus every fifteen minutes, then you aren't really needing a second bus service. Based on their average ridership, they could easily make the premium service the new standard service without much cost, at all.
 

epcotfan

Active Member
The new normal is that Disney doesn't care about your perfectly tailored vacation plans. One thing you can now plan on is that Disney will likely throw something at you last minute that messes with your plans.
Ain't that the truth. I should have known better.
 

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. If the next gen system was successful, why hasn't DLR adopted it too? Answer: it's not successful. Also don't forget that every single guest staying on property received a band as part of their room rate.

It's not as successful as they had hoped but the big reason it didn't get to DLR was culture. The vast majority of their guests are only there for the day, have zero interest in pre-planning their day and have little control over their arrival/departure times thanks to traffic, etc. Add in a fervent AP community which is a massive revenue stream, unlike in Florida, and who have zero interest such technology, it just would be an even bigger money waster.
 

Obobru

Well-Known Member
Oh, and a fleet of 50 new buses.

How many of these 50 new buses have been tied up with this service which is now going to free them up? Also I doubt these 50 new buses were all additions as some surely replaced older ones due to be removed from service. So how ment actually went to improving the service of an ever expanding resort?
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
How many of these 50 new buses have been tied up with this service which is now going to free them up? Also I doubt these 50 new buses were all additions as some surely replaced older ones due to be removed from service. So how ment actually went to improving the service of an ever expanding resort?

Well, I guess you could presume that over a thousand buses were recently aged out, and with these 50 new buses and the buses freed up from shutting down Express that there are now about negative six hundred buses currently in use.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Yes, I was at Animal Kingdom yesterday and a cast member told me it was going away. The cast member also told me that there were big changes ahead, and not the ones mentioned at D23. I wish I knew what they were. Does anyone know?

No idea just rest assured they will be Shareholder friendly, and rather unfriendly to guests....
 

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