Understanding Why Disney's Magical Express Is Ending

[ParentsOf4]

It's just quite ironic that removing a Bubble Perk to drive down bookings is something they are striving for. Hopefully it bites them a bit (maybe they won't be happy at 80% hotel occupancy for instance) over the next few years and they reconsider.

Only a few employees within Disney know the actual cost of DME and how much occupancy has to drop in order for Disney to bring back DME.

Still, we can play with some numbers to get the concept across.

Lets say hotel occupancy drops by 2-3%. In this case, the decision to eliminate DME might be well-received by corporate leadership.

Conversely, let’s say that occupancy drops by 10%. In this case, the reaction might be “disaster!”

If this experiment fails, Disney can always bring back DME accompanied with the usual corporate speak: “Our Guests tell us that they miss the convenience of DME...”

 

[tpac24]

At least you got a mode of transport. Currently there are no rental cars available at MCO and if there was any a economy car Kia start at $300 per day rental.

There were tons of Meers taxis available while we were there both at the airport and on property. Uber was really suffering in terms availability the entire 9 days we were there.

 

[havoc315]

Third-party services such as Uber created a second issue. With transportation being easier and cheaper, Guests were leaving the "Disney Bubble", meaning Disney was capturing less of their vacation dollars. Indeed, despite hotel price increases of over 5%, PRGS increased by only 2.3% in 2019, the lowest since the Great Recession of 2009.

Though not tied to DME, but also with possible ramifications -- the spread and success of "grubhub" and "doordash" -- You no longer need off-site transportation to easily dine offsite. So easy to simply import off-site meals now.
I wonder if this will start to affect how Disney prices their menus, their dining plans, etc. I could see it slowly down Disney restaurant price inflation rates, especially at resort locations.

 

[larryz]

Given the increased traffic on property over the past decade or so you would think TDO would want to decrease not increase congestion. I imagine more rental and ride-share vehicles driving to/from and on property would have an environmental impact as well.

This will sound cynical (and it is) but Disney already has ticket money from 99% of anybody headed to their theme parks. The more time they spend in traffic, waiting to get into a parking lot, walking from their car to the tram, transferring from the tram to the boat/monorail, etc., the less time they're in the park absorbing CM bandwidth. From that perspective, it's actually to Disney's advantage to slow-roll people getting to the parks -- it allows them to delay manning in the mornings, saving those CM hourly $$$, especially knowing that once people get to the parks, they're going to spend like crazy anyway.

 

[larryz]

Thankfully it seems short term now. Managed to snag a car for the fall yesterday from MCO Alamo having read about the countrywide shortage I took the plunge - got the class we wanted at an acceptable price.

Now we just need to be able to fly.

If only someone you knew had a private yatch -- you could sail across the ocean unimpeded by government bureaucracies.

 

[HarperRose]

Don’t forget that a rail service is scheduled to open in a few years.

Between car rentals, Uber, and rail, bus service from MCO to WDW looks to be on a downward spiral.

And with daily parking fees at the hotels now in place, Disney has a good reason to want people to drive.

A rail service that will (maybe) service only DS and in no way is comparable to DME. Its construction is going to be considerably more than a "few years."

 

[ParentsOf4]

Though not tied to DME, but also with possible ramifications -- the spread and success of "grubhub" and "doordash" -- You no longer need off-site transportation to easily dine offsite. So easy to simply import off-site meals now.
I wonder if this will start to affect how Disney prices their menus, their dining plans, etc. I could see it slowly down Disney restaurant price inflation rates, especially at resort locations.

I completely agree with this.

Grubhub, Doordash, and other food delivery services are part of the equation.

I meant to include these in my original post but simply forgot.

Thanks for pointing these out.

 

[havoc315]

I completely agree with this.

Grubhub, Doordash, and other food delivery services are part of the equation.

I meant to include these in my original post but simply forgot.

Well, they don't directly lead into the DME equation. They do contribute to the issue of the "bubble" getting more permeable. Harder to control guest spending, even when they are staying at a WDW resort.

Arguably... this *could* lead Disney to making the dining plan a bit more generous, as a way to discourage ordering delivery food or taking an uber to eat off property.

 

[Disone]

This will sound cynical (and it is) but Disney already has ticket money from 99% of anybody headed to their theme parks. The more time they spend in traffic, waiting to get into a parking lot, walking from their car to the tram, transferring from the tram to the boat/monorail, etc., the less time they're in the park absorbing CM bandwidth. From that perspective, it's actually to Disney's advantage to slow-roll people getting to the parks -- it allows them to delay manning in the mornings, saving those CM hourly $$$, especially knowing that once people get to the parks, they're going to spend like crazy anyway.

Slow rolling is not the plan because Any time the guests are in traffic is time they are not spending money nor do they have the opportunity too.

No that cm labor is already baked into the operating cost. Disney does not want you (or your wallet) in transit. They want you in person.

 

[Lilofan]

Thankfully it seems short term now. Managed to snag a car for the fall yesterday from MCO Alamo having read about the countrywide shortage I took the plunge - got the class we wanted at an acceptable price.

Now we just need to be able to fly.

Looking for current time, none available.

 

[uncle jimmy]

They do. Or did.

Didn't WDW bring in some top transportation consultant a couple years back? They looked at every means of transportation WDW had and gave recommendations.

 

[larryz]

Slow rolling is not the plan because Any time the guests are in traffic is time they are not spending money nor do they have the opportunity too.

No that cm labor is already baked into the operating cost. Disney does not want you (or your wallet) in transit. They want you in person.

A perfect scenario would be keeping people so tied up in traffic and bus queues that they couldn't get to the parks at all for the remaining 13 days that a ticket is valid after first use.

I see through their sinister traffic sorcery.

 

[HauntedPirate]

They have been discouraging APs for years. Some years more than others but a long stretch in the 2010's

... Except when they need AP’s to prop up the parks.

And can you define “discouraging APs for years”? If they do away with them completely, there’s a lot of guests who simply won’t return because of a variety of reasons, not the least of which is a place up the road that appears to actually want guests and AP’s.

 

[marni1971]

Looking for current time, none available.

Like I said, we booked for the fall.

 

[plawren2]

This most definitely will keep a substantial number of families from going. And families are their bread and butter.

The trips I've taken without our kids are MUCH cheaper. Far less snacks, far less merchandise.

To say the DME was costing more money than it was making them is not possible to know for certain. It's a corporate decision made on a conclusion they believe to be accurate.

As I said in another post, this decision will have ramifications that ripple far into the future. Disney die hards are often created when young. Less families going, less die hards, less AP sales, less DVC owners.

You assume those families won't pay for a bus service that could very likely continue to be run by Mears

 

[plawren2]

I was just there this past week. Flew in on April 1st. There was a 75 minute wait for ME and a 45 minute wait for Uber pick up so I ended up with a 100 dollar Meers cab trip after tip to my resort. It was worth it!

at one of the busiest time of the year (spring break + easter)

 

[UNCgolf]

Very much this.

I use my car down there these days for many reasons but the flexibility is one of the biggest. I get where I am going faster, deal with less people, spend less time outside in the heat, etc.

The one exception to this for me is when staying at a skyliner resort. We stayed at CB for the first time our last trip just to try it out and I have to admit, that thing was amazing. We used it exclusively for DHS and Epcot with the exception of the mornings we were trying for Rise boarding groups. Once they start cramming unrelated groups into the same cabin again it may lose some appeal for me but we’ll see.

I find this interesting, because in my experience using the internal transportation is much easier than driving to the parks or Disney Springs. I always use my car to drive between resorts, but having to sit in traffic to get in/out of the park and then have to get to/from the entrance and parking lot is such an awful hassle.

I have occasionally used Uber/Lyft if I didn't want to wait for a bus, but driving myself there is the least appealing option for me.

 

[plawren2]

Throughout the first 30 years of Walt Disney World's (WDW) existence, WDW Guests paid for their own transportation from Orlando International Airport to WDW.

This model worked for decades. Hotel occupancy remained high and corporate Disney built more hotels to meet ever increasing demand.

9/11 changed everything. Annual hotel occupancy plummeted to 77%. This was a historically bad number for WDW, unprecedented really.

During the years that followed, Disney tried to increase occupancy by offering discounts. Despite these discounts, occupancy remained stubbornly low. Even worse, the important Per Room Guest Spending (PRGS) (i.e. how much Guests spend in each occupied room) flatlined. The discounts were not attracting onsite Guests but were hurting revenue. Something needed to be done.

In an attempt to solve these duel problems, Disney created Disney's Magical Express (DME) in 2005.

Maybe if Disney offered free airport transportation, more Guests would stay onsite. By staying onsite without alternate means of transportation, perhaps these Guests would spend all their vacation dollars at WDW. With hotel occupancy and PRGS stuck in a rut, anything was worth a try.

As it turned out, DME succeeded beyond all expectations. From 2006 to 2008, hotel occupancy jumped to an incredible 89% while PRGS increased 13.1.%. DME was a major winner for corporate Disney.

Fast-forward to 2019.

By 2019, annual hotel occupancy was over 90%. For those who might be unfamiliar with how hotel bookings work, once room occupancy reaches levels such as these, it becomes difficult to fill additional rooms. Check-out dates don't line up with check-in dates. Increasing occupancy becomes nearly impossible. Disney's corporate leadership reiterated this point during several earnings calls. From corporate Disney's perspective, the hotels were "full" in 2019.

Third-party services such as Uber created a second issue. With transportation being easier and cheaper, Guests were leaving the "Disney Bubble", meaning Disney was capturing less of their vacation dollars. Indeed, despite hotel price increases of over 5%, PRGS increased by only 2.3% in 2019, the lowest since the Great Recession of 2009.

DME no longer seemed to be needed to fill rooms, while it also no longer was an effective tool for capturing onsite vacation dollars.

The corporate wheels started to turn. DME was expensive but not working. Why not get rid of DME?

By eliminating DME, Disney might lose bookings but some of those lost bookings will be filled by other Guests, Guests who had been unable to get the rooms they wanted due to high occupancy. Besides, even if occupancy drops a bit, the cost of providing DME to all hotel Guests is expected to be greater than revenue lost due to a modest decrease in hotel occupancy.

Ultimately, DME is costing Disney more than it's worth and you, the WDW vacationer, are going to pay the price.

ME may be ending, but very possible Mears or another company continues the service but at a fee for passengers.

 

[mattpeto]

ME may be ending, but very possible Mears or another company continues the service but at a fee for passengers.

Mears has already branded their connection service "Mears Connect".

Orlando MCO Airport to Disney Hotels Shuttle | Mears Connect

24/7 shuttle transportation service between Orlando Airport (MCO), Disney World, Disney Springs and area resorts. Best rate! No need to rent a car, or Uber.

www.mearsconnect.com

We'll probably get pricing details soon.

 

[G00fyDad]

Never used DME and never had the inclination to do so. As a matter of fact, with the exception of DS Westside to Marketplace ferry boats we stay well clear of any Disney transportation if we can help it. We drive a rental from MCO and we come and go from the parks on our schedule and get to our destination much quicker. It irked us that Disney charged for parking but at least it was free if you stayed on property. With Disney charging for parking in the hotel lots now we will not be staying on-site any longer. If I am going to pay for parking one way or the other then we may as well stay off-site cheaper. DME could go or stay. Never makes a difference for us. Once we got off the plane we want to go to the hotel and check in. Not sit in a bus waiting for nearly another hour for it to fill up.