Fewer people transported by Disney Magical Express....

[WDWmazprty]

Check it out:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-daily-disney/os-disney-magical-express-20101112,0,2565241.story

 

[mickeysshoes]

We used Quicksilver last time and to us paying them and being able to stop (for FREE) at a store for 30 minutes saved us big $$ in the long run. Got a case of water, beer and snacks all for the room and it saved us big time. And the not knowing part of will we be first or last stop in the bus route is another reason we we tried at towncar!!! Next trip will be a land and see combined and pricing it out with Disney picking us up at the resort and taking us to the port and and then back to MCO...it will be cheaper to hire Quicksilver to do all legs needs and get one free stop, so we most likely will not be using DME again next year. The last couple of trips with DME I have felt like they added more resorts per route and the buses are getting old, driver has not played the movies coming or going....the magic seems to have slipped from the first couple of years. I used to look forward to the welcome moive on the way to our resort and the trip we did not get it....well it really turned me off.

 

[Master Yoda]

Quite a few experts making some rather unsupported assumptions in that article. Personally I think the drop is due to two factors. First of all as they pointed out bookings at Disney resorts are off a little. That has to be at least a small reason for the decline in ridership. Second while DME is free there are better options out there at a small cost. Like mickeysshoes pointed out Towncar and Quicksilver will take you directly to your resort and will make a stop at a grocery store. A fact that those companies should have been advertising 5 years ago instead of wasting their time and money trying to sue DME out of existence. It took a few years for guests to figure that out and a few have elected to pay a little more for better service.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I have some clients that have been electing to start their vacation with a day or two at Universal to check out Harry Potter, and then they spend the rest of their trip at Disney - and take DME back to MCO. They get to Universal and then to Disney via cab or a short car rental, they return the car on Disney property.

 

[captainkidd]

I have some clients that have been electing to start their vacation with a day or two at Universal to check out Harry Potter, and then they spend the rest of their trip at Disney - and take DME back to MCO. They get to Universal and then to Disney via cab or a short car rental, they return the car on Disney property.

We've started our vacation at Universal the past 2 years, and taken ME on the way home only.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I think less people are traveling overall. Perhaps the ones that are still vacationing prefer not to fly because of all the excessive fees airlines charge. Gas isn't cheap or anything, but even at its current price, it's still cheaper for us to drive rather than fly. Plus, like others have said, some might be willing to pay for a rental car because of other vacation plans or pay for a towncar because of the benefits it offers over DME.

 

[mickeysshoes]

Side note to this....we are doing land/sea in Aug 2011 and its makes more since for us to hire QuickSliver from MCO to Boardwalk (free 30 min. stop), have them pick us up and take us to the Port then pick us up at the port and take us back to MCO then it does to take DME on the first leg and pay Disney to get us to the port and then back to MCO....it will only cost us a few more $$ to pay QuickSilver for the 3 legs then it cost for Disney to take to only 2 legs :shrug:

 

[hdme]

We've found that when traveling with an infant or toddler, it's just easier to have a rental car and be in control of our own transportation throughout WDW. We still stay on Disney property, we just get around on our own time instead of relying on the buses.

 

[Victoria]

I know this thread is a bit old, but I'm glad it got bumped. I don't recall seeing it the first time around.

Last week I took DME to ASMusic. It's been over a year since I've used the DME and after my experience I'm pretty sure I won't bother again. I'd rather spend extra money to get a private town car, not have a long wait, and get a 30 min food stop. After nearly an hour of waiting for DME in a crowded line full of screaming children I was in a pretty crappy mood by the time I reached my resort. Numerous buses showed up for pretty much every resort except for the All Stars. It was very annoying and frustrating. The trip home wasn't much better. They require pick-up way too early. I spent an hour and a half killing time at the airport since they got me there so early....even though the bus showed up 20 min late.

I think from here on out I will be considering using Quicksilver (which I've used in the past) and will be looking into cheap car rental rates. :shrug::shrug:

 

[hdme]

They require pick-up way too early. I spent an hour and a half killing time at the airport since they got me there so early....even though the bus showed up 20 min late.

This is one of my other issues with DME, especially when traveling with a small child. I would much rather have that extra hour or so at the resort to relax with breakfast or lunch & get all of our belongings together than spend it wandering around the airport.

 

[mr_braver23]

I for one apprecaite DME. It get us to where we are going safely everytime we've used it. Very little wait at the airport and very little drive to resort. Thank you Disney for a very nice service to us travelers!!

 

[tink2044]

I have to agree. We've used the DME 3 times and have no complaints. It was great not having to deal with luggage and someone else doing the driving.

 

[DisWorldBoy6]

Disney Magical Express pin

I really enjoyed Disney's Magical Express and in 2005-2007 I got a special pin for traveling with them.