Understanding Why Disney's Magical Express Is Ending

UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
GymLeaderPhil said:
Resort guests get free parking at the Theme Parks. I’m sure some like the flexibility of hopping in their car whenever they want to leave versus waiting for a bus/boat that could be potentially crowded with sweaty people and screaming children.

Going from one resort to another can also be tricky and time consuming with internal transportation too.
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I just assumed they charged everyone to park at the parks since they now charge for resort parking.

I'll be surprised if free parking at the parks for resort guests doesn't disappear in the next few years.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sirwalterraleigh said:
Disney hotels ran near 99% occupancy in 2000...

it’s definitely possible to fill hotels...at the right price points.

...see the problem?
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The story I like to tell is from decades ago when my sister and husband decided to vacation at WDW.

They very much wanted to stay onsite and called to book a trip. The only room available for the rest of the year was in mid September at the Contemporary. They cancelled their plans and rescheduled their vacation for mid September.

Back in those pre-Eisner days, you took what you could get.
 
wdwfan22

wdwfan22

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
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.
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Hopefully you will have better luck. A couple weeks ago even with a confirmed reservation they didn’t have a car and had to refund our money.
 
rreading

rreading

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
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...”
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The timing of this suggests to me that someone either really wants or doesn't want DME.

If they expect a pent-up demand for WDW over the next year and they expect capacity to hold up, then they'll be able to say "look! the consumer's don't notice/care!"; if they expect a drop off in consumer spending coming out of the pandemic, then the hotel capacity drop off could be associated with DME.

I expect two outcomes of letting go of DME (as one who has used it lots over the last decade) independent of the pandemic:

1. Fewer new purchases of DVC. DME made the idea of coming back so easy that we wanted to buy into return trips.

2. Guest satisfaction levels (especially for return visitors) will be lower, which eventually will hit capacity. Initially, families probably won't realize it's gone.

That being said, the last time we went in October, the DME capacity was abysmal and were I a complainer, it would have definitely reflected it in my Guest Satisfaction survey. I suppose if our June and October trips are the same, I may be happy to see it gone. But knowing how it has been when it was good, I already miss it.
 
Archie123

Archie123

Well-Known Member
Here is why Disney is getting rid of the DME: They know they can cancel it, save $$$$, and people will still come to vacation at WDW without it. People can complain and say they won't go back but they will. Disney know this and is fine with losing, maybe temporarily, a small number of guests.
 
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K

KTK

Active Member
Notes from Neverland said:
There's still one glaring point that doesn't make much sense - why wouldn't Disney try to charge for this service first instead of eliminating it entirely? Even sharing revenue with Mears as their partner, they could have made a good profit that would offset any costs. Disney leaving revenue on the table is a strange thing to see.
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Disney had Magical Express for Disneyland which they charged for but did away with a few years ago. Also, a good number of the drivers for WDW Magical Express were Mears drivers.
 
Dan Deesnee

Dan Deesnee

Well-Known Member
Archie123 said:
Here is why Disney is getting rid of the DME: They know they can cancel it, save $$$$, and people will still come to vacation at WDW without it. People can complain and say they won't go back but they will. Disney know this and is fine with losing, temporarily, a small number of guests.
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We cancelled a trip early next year until we find out about MEARS. I know of an acquaintance who is also holding off on booking anything.

Anecdotal but again, some people without kids or who have older kids seem to greatly discount how important magical expresses to going to Disney.

There negative effects on attendance of removing this (unless the Mears replacement is suitable) will take a while to see, but it will be there.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
Archie123 said:
Here is why Disney is getting rid of the DME: They know they can cancel it, save $$$$, and people will still come to vacation at WDW without it. People can complain and say they won't go back but they will. Disney know this and is fine with losing, temporarily, a small number of guests.
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yep.

you went with the obvious...which isn’t generally accepted in this neighborhood
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
KTK said:
Disney had Magical Express for Disneyland which they charged for but did away with a few years ago. Also, a good number of the drivers for WDW Magical Express were Mears drivers.
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Disney did not have Magic Express for Disneyland. The Disneyland Express shuttle was an independent third party operation.

All of the drivers for Magical Express were Mears drivers because the service was operated by Mears. They were Mears busses, and Mears drivers. Disney contracted Mears to operated the service
 
P

plawren2

Active Member
peter11435 said:
Disney did not have Magic Express for Disneyland. The Disneyland Express shuttle was an independent third party operation.

All of the drivers for Magical Express were Mears drivers because the service was operated by Mears. They were Mears busses, and Mears drivers. Disney contracted Mears to operated the service
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and possible Mears could decide to continue as paid service since they already have investment into the buses
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
They can turn on the deluge of pent up AP demand anytime they choose. 💲💲💲 The population growth of Florida is not slowing down and that is the major change of the last couple decades. Many people moving just for the leisure opportunities and theme parks.

So my prediction is after the 50th Disney will take a couple major resorts offline and completely retheme them. Part of the result will be that demand will consistently exceed supply. And that will be the case until the train station is built (inevitability). After which they'll finally need that new Bay Lake resort and more.

In the meantime, as it concerns transportation people have Mears, Uber, rentals.

Just my opinion.
 
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plawren2

Active Member
jt04 said:
They can turn on the deluge of pent up AP demand anytime they choose. 💲💲💲 The population growth of Florida is not slowing down and that is the major change of the last couple decades. Many people moving just for the leisure opportunities and theme parks.

So my prediction is after the 50th Disney will take a couple major resorts offline and completely retheme them. Part of the result will be that demand will consistently exceed supply. And that will be the case until the train station is built (inevitability). After which they'll finally need that new Bay Lake resort and more.

In the meantime, as it concerns transportation people have Mears, Uber, rentals.

Just my opinion.
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yea people have choices regarding transportation, but no one likes when a service that was part of your resort cost is removed and you have to seek out alternative at additional cost
 

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