Magical Express Changes

T

TURKEY

New Member
Starting February 10th:

Disney's Magical Express will now mail one luggage tag per person, due to more and more people flying with carry-on luggage only or at most 1 checked bag. If you need more tags you can contact DME guest services at 866-599-0951.



Starting February 16th:

Tags will only be mailed to US and Canada residents. Tags will not be mailed to other international guests (other collateral hasn't been mailed in years if ever).

International guests will still be able to use DME. Some guests will need to claim their bags to clear customs. Others will either need to claim them and take with on the bus or present claim checks to DME cast members at the welcome center.
 
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disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
Scooter said:
I'm wondering how long before Disney starts charging for Magical Express.
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Thats the even better question. It is highly utilitzed but with gas, labor and just the amount of time it takes for a family to get from the airport to hotel and their luggage has to be expensive. I suspect that it will be in the near future when there will be flat fee of maybe $30 per person. There service is almost too good to be true. But who knows, it may stay free. They need this service for their Disney guests to stay on property and NOT LEAVE.

I have never used it, I always rent a car.
 
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Tom

Tom

Beta Return
disney4life2008 said:
Thats the even better question. It is highly utilitzed but with gas, labor and just the amount of time it takes for a family to get from the airport to hotel and their luggage has to be expensive. I suspect that it will be in the near future when there will be flat fee of maybe $30 per person. There service is almost too good to be true. But who knows, it may stay free. They need this service for their Disney guests to stay on property and NOT LEAVE.

I have never used it, I always rent a car.
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Disney almost HAS to keep it at this point. For one, they've spoiled too many of us who love it.

Secondly, if they start charging, they'll lose guests to other forms of transportation like taxis, charter buses and - worst of all - rental cars. If guests end up renting cars, they have the opportunity of leaving property, which would be tragic for Disney and it's pocketbook.

However, it's obvious that the cost of gas and maintenance and labor, Mears will have to increase its costs to Disney, who will then merely hide the increase in room rates and tickets. We'll pay, but we won't be so aware.
 
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cabihler

cabihler

Member
you are right on the mark

However, it's obvious that the cost of gas and maintenance and labor, Mears will have to increase its costs to Disney, who will then merely hide the increase in room rates and tickets. We'll pay, but we won't be so aware.
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all of the points made about disney NEEDING to keep DME at NO COST to guests are correct. and the quote above is right on in that guests DO PAY for this service with the cost being imbeded in the room rates etc.
 
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Mithrilmoon13

Mithrilmoon13

Member
I have used it and it was great. We will use it every time we go now. Even if they charged a flat rate of $30.00 per person round trip, it would still be less than a taxi or limo and the same as Mears.
 
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Pioneer Hall

Pioneer Hall

Well-Known Member
I feel that you are already being charged for the service in some way with the room rates. Also, the amount of money that Disney gets for having you on property without a car allows them to take a bit of a hit on the DME side of things.
 
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Kobe!!

Kobe!!

Well-Known Member
I booked my trip about two weeks ago for March 13 - 17 and I received my baggage tags 2 days ago. I am only going with one other person, and we both received ONE tag each. **FYI**
 
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Scooter

Scooter

Well-Known Member
edwardtc said:
Disney almost HAS to keep it at this point. For one, they've spoiled too many of us who love it.

My point exactly...right now it's Free.
People are getting used to the Free service.
But if Disney started charging let's say $30 for Magical Express service
the people who are used to the service will think " Hmmm...$30..it's still cheaper than a taxi, a Limo service, or Mears....so they will pay $30.
Don't think for a minute that Disney hasn't thought this whole thing out.
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DisneyMusician2

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
Scooter said:
edwardtc said:
Disney almost HAS to keep it at this point. For one, they've spoiled too many of us who love it.

My point exactly...right now it's Free.
People are getting used to the Free service.
But if Disney started charging let's say $30 for Magical Express service
the people who are used to the service will think " Hmmm...$30..it's still cheaper than a taxi, a Limo service, or Mears....so they will pay $30.
Don't think for a minute that Disney hasn't thought this whole thing out.
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The problem is that Disney shouldn't want people to think about it. They should hear "FREE SERVICE!" and take it, effectively locking those guests on Disney property.

I love Magical Express service when I am not traveling off-property, and think that it would be a mistake to start charging. Even if they lose one of every ten families thinking about using the service, that becomes a significant loss of profit.

Free just sounds better in these economic times than a nominal charge.
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K

kimmychad

Member
doesn't really matter to me if they start charging for dme or not, we always rent a car. the magical express experience has never been bad for us, but being stuck on property at the mercy of disney transportation is something I've experienced once and that was enough.
 
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Tom

Tom

Beta Return
kimmychad said:
doesn't really matter to me if they start charging for dme or not, we always rent a car. the magical express experience has never been bad for us, but being stuck on property at the mercy of disney transportation is something I've experienced once and that was enough.
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I'm just one of those people who has to completely immerse myself in the Magical world when I'm there. My trips to WDW are to escape work and stress and the "real world" - so I like to get rid of everything that has to do with the real world when I'm there.....including a car.

Once I arrive on property, I don't want to even acknowledge the real world outside of WDW. I hate it when I see things off property, like other hotels and power lines, from the buses. I have no desire to ever travel off property when I'm there - but that's just me. Once I land at the airport and get on DME, i'm "there". Until I get back on the plane, I want to live in that fairytale world and pretend everything outside is gone.

So, that's why I'll continue to use DME as long as it's free or affordable. :)
 
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Kobe!!

Kobe!!

Well-Known Member
I booked my trip about three weeks ago and got my tags last week. I was only given two.

DSC03844.jpg
 
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wdweric2.0

wdweric2.0

Member
I was told yesterday by ME, that all you need to do is give them your baggage claim tickets at the counter and they will get your bags regardless of having the yellow tags on them or not.
 
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T

TxStateMouse

New Member
I personally feel like we are already paying for it. It's got to be worked into the room rates, ticket prices, or something. And even the people that are not using it are probably paying for it as well. It really blows me away how expensive Disney has become. Not that it stops me (or millions of others) from going. And there's just something about boarding that bus that makes me feel like my vacation has officially started.

I think the "free" tag on the DME just makes people want to use it more. Because really, anything "free" from Disney is a commodity. I use it myself, haven't had any problems, and even if they started charging a fee I would probably tack that on to the grand total. When you spend thousands, what's an extra few dollars? Plus, I don't have to navigate. :sohappy:
 
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CBOMB

CBOMB

Active Member
Scooter said:
I'm wondering how long before Disney starts charging for Magical Express.
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That's also my concern. On my recent visit to WDW I noticed Mickey had jumped his rates on almost everything. I feel it's just a matter of time before we start paying up front for Magical Express.
 
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Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
wdweric2.0 said:
I was told yesterday by ME, that all you need to do is give them your baggage claim tickets at the counter and they will get your bags regardless of having the yellow tags on them or not.
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True, but yellow-tagged bags never even make it to the baggage claim carousel. If you don't put the tags on your bag, you *can* give the DME people your claim check info, but as far as I know, the bags will go out on the carousel until the airline pulls them off as being unclaimed. Disney will then retrieve bags from the "unclaimed" section of bags.

There's the remote possibility that while your non-yellow-tagged bag is out there going around on the carousel, some dishonest person could grab it off the carousel and walk off with it.

So the safest course of action is to make sure the yellow tags get put on your luggage. The baggage claim tickets should only be used in the event you didn't get the yellow tags in time.

-Rob
 
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