Magical Express to end in 2022

[DVCSunDevil]

Every business decision (ok, 99% of them) come down to money, and I'm sure this one is no different. Did Mears ask for a rate increase? Are less people staying on property (let's be honest, EVEYRONE staying on site paid for DME, whether they used it or not).

Yep. Here is the way Disney could be looking at it. There are roughly 2.5M people who utilize DME per year. Even if Disney was only paying Mears $10 per person, that is still $25M per year. Before ride sharing services, Disney reaped a benefit because all those DME travelers were "in the bubble" and wouldn't travel off site for dining or entertainment. Now, all of those utilizing DME can easily call a ride and travel off site. So Disney is now absorbing all the cost/risk associated with guests airport travel and not getting the benefits. I know a lot of people are bummed, but I also see the decision from Disney's standpoint.

 

[New Mouse]

Then people will find alternatives to get to/from the airport. For example, we are going in may and booked a round trip private van service for $140. There are 6 of us, so that is less than $25 per person round trip. No waiting for a bus in a crowd of people, no stopping at several resorts before ours. Just the six of us in our "own" van going straight to our resort. I prefer that to DME.

This is a great example of how a Disney vacation is turning into a luxury item you might not flinch at $140, but when added onto the room cost it becomes past the point of exorbitant it was already at. Disney has been pushing towards serving the affluent and/or the once in a lifetime vacation for some time now... heck they even point out the finances of it in their training class! This move is just one more push in making Disney fairly exclusive. Unfortunately for the company, that does nothing to help with lifetime brand loyalty.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

This is a great example of how a Disney vacation is turning into a luxury item you might not flinch at $140, but when added onto the room cost it becomes past the point of exorbitant it was already at. Disney has been pushing towards serving the affluent and/or the once in a lifetime vacation for some time now... heck they even point out the finances of it in their training class! This move is just one more push in making Disney fairly exclusive. Unfortunately for the company, that does nothing to help with lifetime brand loyalty.

LOL. How is my travel option "luxury"? We priced it out and the private van is less than a roundtrip Uber. That's why we are taking it. Less than $25 roundtrip per person isn't a "luxury", IMO. Actually, it is probably the cost of a lunch or dinner so if it was that big of a deal we could just eat in our room one day for lunch/dinner. It doesn't bother me, personally, to arrange my own travel to/from the airport when I go on vacation. I literally do that for every single vacation I go on. But for some reason a WDW vacation needs to be different? Disney is supposed to provide all the transportation? The point is that, while not free, there are good alternative out there for DME depending on the size of your party. Heck, Mears is going to continue the "DME" service in 2022 so there will be a low cost option. The angst on this thread is over the top, IMO.

I read through your comments on this thread and it seems like you are really down on Disney, and have been for awhile. That stinks and I'm sorry you feel that way. You have every right to feel how you do and obviously you are "dug in" on your position. To each his own. My family still loves going and will continue to go. One day we may outgrow WDW and if that day comes we just won't go anymore. Or maybe Disney will finally make that "straw that broke the camels back" decision that will jade me to Disney, who knows. But for now, we love the WDW vibe and are really looking forward to our April trip...a trip in which we actually cancelled our DME service last week.

 

[New Mouse]

LOL. How is my travel option "luxury"? We priced it out and the private van is less than a roundtrip Uber. That's why we are taking it. Less than $25 roundtrip per person isn't a "luxury", IMO. Actually, it is probably the cost of a lunch or dinner so if it was that big of a deal we could just eat in our room one day for lunch/dinner. It doesn't bother me, personally, to arrange my own travel to/from the airport when I go on vacation. I literally do that for every single vacation I go on. But for some reason a WDW vacation needs to be different? Disney is supposed to provide all the transportation? The point is that, while not free, there are good alternative out there for DME depending on the size of your party. Heck, Mears is going to continue the "DME" service in 2022 so there will be a low cost option. The angst on this thread is over the top, IMO.

I read through your comments on this thread and it seems like you are really down on Disney, and have been for awhile. That stinks and I'm sorry you feel that way. You have every right to feel how you do and obviously you are "dug in" on your position. To each his own. My family still loves going and will continue to go. One day we may outgrow WDW and if that day comes we just won't go anymore. Or maybe Disney will finally make that "straw that broke the camels back" decision that will jade me to Disney, who knows. But for now, we love the WDW vibe and are really looking forward to our April trip...a trip in which we actually cancelled our DME service last week.

You arent paying $25 for person. You are paying $25 plus the cost of magical express which you are alreadt paying for... and likely a premium. So $50 to $75 pp to get from mco to disney is pricey. Thats why I am saying, for people that can just shrug it off as no big deal, money isnt as much of an object. Its is however eliminating a large segment of the population and they have been doing this over time.

 

[Henwen88]

I'm interested to see if the luggage service comes back in any capacity. Loved the convenience of checking bags at resort on check-out day then being free to grab a meal or even a quick ride or two prior to heading out to airport.

 

[jpeterson]

I'm interested to see if the luggage service comes back in any capacity. Loved the convenience of checking bags at resort on check-out day then being free to grab a meal or even a quick ride or two prior to heading out to airport.

Agreed. I think I will miss that more than the actual bus.

 

[Tiki Birdland]

I agree. I have read so many stories on here about how bad the DME is. Long waits at the airport, stopping at multiple resorts before yours, loud, etc. This thread is obviously dominated by those who enjoyed DME, but the reality is that there are also a large number of people who didn't like it.

Almost sounds like Disney has been working with Mears to make DME so bad that "no one uses it anymore" and then they'll be correct in cancelling the contract because of that reason.

 

[Eric Smith]

Almost sounds like Disney has been working with Mears to make DME so bad that "no one uses it anymore" and then they'll be correct in cancelling the contract because of that reason.

I doubt that is the case. From what others have said, Mears charged Disney a flat fee for MDE. With the reduced usage pre-COVID and the greatly reduced usage after COVID it probably doesn’t make any financial sense for Disney to keep paying for it. This arrangement would also give Mears incentive to cut corners as much as possible and pack buses full so they would make more profit.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Almost sounds like Disney has been working with Mears to make DME so bad that "no one uses it anymore" and then they'll be correct in cancelling the contract because of that reason.

We’ve taken it dozens of times since 2005 with no problems. Very quick and smooth process for us on our 5 visits in the last 5 years. Feb. 2020 was one of the quickest ever. Haven’t been since then, but we have had nothing but good experiences.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

You arent paying $25 for person. You are paying $25 plus the cost of magical express which you are alreadt paying for... and likely a premium. So $50 to $75 pp to get from mco to disney is pricey. Thats why I am saying, for people that can just shrug it off as no big deal, money isnt as much of an object. Its is however eliminating a large segment of the population and they have been doing this over time.

I see the point you’re trying to make, but I don’t see how that correlates to your earlier comment that “a Disney vacation is turning into a luxury item”. If you or anyone else went to WDW in 2021 you can use the DME, just as you always have. And if you go to WDW in 2022 or beyond, there will be no “double counting” when you take another option because the DME will be taken out of your resort fees (or maintenance fees if you are a DVC owner) starting in 2022.

I also don’t believe Disney is charging us $25 per person for the DME right now. If you go on the Mears site, you can rent the 55 person bus (the same bus that is used for DME) for what would amount to $7 per person one-way. I find it hard to believe that Disney would be paying rack rate for that bus service. DME is consistent high volume for Mears, so I am guessing Disney probably negotiated something closer to $8-$10 per person round-trip.

Just like anything else in life, there will be different options for all different tastes starting in 2022. Looking for more of a value option? Then visitors will be able to book the Mears “DME” service for I’m sure a low price (they could charge $15 per person round trip and still be making more then they were probably getting from Disney, per my estimate above). I would not consider that a “luxury item”...that would be a pretty low priced option and very reasonable for a bus service. You want to step it up a notch? Then you could use one of the van services that I mentioned. Or if your party is smaller, you could just Uber for a middle priced option. But, IMO, to think that people are going to be in a situation where they have to break the bank to get back-and-forth from the airport to WDW just isn’t true. There will be lower price options. Just like everything else in life.

 

[vacationer1954]

This thread is obviously dominated by those who enjoyed DME, but the reality is that there are also a large number of people who didn't like it.

Maybe. There's no rule against complaining about something and then turning around and mourning its demise.

Also, did Disney ever say they are cancelling DME because of "lack of demand"? I thought their statement focused more on the fact that visitors are utilizing other travel options, such as ride sharing.

Of course, if the real answer is as mentioned above, that rideshare services eliminated whatever benefit Disney used to get from offering Magical Express so that now it represents cost without benefit to them, they might not say that and instead explain doing away with Magical Express some other way.

Almost sounds like Disney has been working with Mears to make DME so bad that "no one uses it anymore" and then they'll be correct in cancelling the contract because of that reason.

Magical Express was structured in a wasteful way. It made promises to guests that required it to be over-resourced. (Any time you enjoyed a mostly empty Magical Express bus, you were enjoying the benefit of that.)

As Disney offers Magical Express, there seems to be this expectation that whatever goes wrong, including the fact that Southwest Airlines had a mechanical problem in Birmingham that affected your flight from Little Rock, that there should be a bus waiting to whisk you to your hotel regardless. Without the Disney name on that bus, that expectation mostly goes away and the negative ramifications of it don't fall on Disney anyway.

As Mears, if your flight is delayed and you miss your bus, they can turn around and say to you, "Sorry, our next bus is full and the one after that is in six hours," leaving it up to you whether to take a refund and arrange your own alternative. They explained in advance the limitations of their service, and it is reasonable for a bus company to have a specific schedule that perhaps even includes filling to capacity at times. Disney doesn't sell transportation; they sell magic; and so they couldn't get away with that without people carpet bombing social media with complaints about it.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Yep. Here is the way Disney could be looking at it. There are roughly 2.5M people who utilize DME per year. Even if Disney was only paying Mears $10 per person, that is still $25M per year. Before ride sharing services, Disney reaped a benefit because all those DME travelers were "in the bubble" and wouldn't travel off site for dining or entertainment. Now, all of those utilizing DME can easily call a ride and travel off site. So Disney is now absorbing all the cost/risk associated with guests airport travel and not getting the benefits. I know a lot of people are bummed, but I also see the decision from Disney's standpoint.

Here is the problem with this logic, there is a great many people who have NEVER use any type of ride share. I am 66 an never once used Uber or any other system. Neither has my wife and any of my 3 daughter's family. Just do not trust them. I do not believe that this is just an isolated example. So to say that you can just use ride share it quite frankly disingenuous.

 

[middlechild]

Here is the problem with this logic, there is a great many people who have NEVER use any type of ride share. I am 66 an never once used Uber or any other system. Neither has my wife and any of my 3 daughter's family. Just do not trust them. I do not believe that this is just an isolated example. So to say that you can just use ride share it quite frankly disingenuous.

I am 60 at this time. As I watched the Super Bowl, the realization that I have long passed the target demographic was drilled home again and again. We used DME for our visits in the past, and will miss that option. However my DD has gone several times in the past two years without using DME. Just sharing that what I miss from my first visit long ago does not have any impact on the target audience today. Disney would make lots more money from her visits than from mine. And she doesn't need DME.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Here is the problem with this logic, there is a great many people who have NEVER use any type of ride share. I am 66 an never once used Uber or any other system. Neither has my wife and any of my 3 daughter's family. Just do not trust them. I do not believe that this is just an isolated example. So to say that you can just use ride share it quite frankly disingenuous.

You may feel that way, but that's you. That could be said about any service...just because you don't use it doesn't mean many, many others don't. We used Uber during our last two visits to WDW. The amount of people waiting for their Ubers/Lyfts in the ride share areas was extensive to say the least. It was packed. You can chose to believe that not many people use ride share services, but the data does not back that up. Ride share services are absolutely a legit and highly utilized transportation option. Heck, they have pretty much replaced taxis (one of my friends in Boston owns a taxi company and has seen the value of his company evaporate since the advent of ride share services). Next time you are in WDW go walk by the ride share zones and you will see how much they are being utilized at WDW.

 

[Orion Nebula]

Here is the problem with this logic, there is a great many people who have NEVER use any type of ride share. I am 66 an never once used Uber or any other system. Neither has my wife and any of my 3 daughter's family. Just do not trust them. I do not believe that this is just an isolated example. So to say that you can just use ride share it quite frankly disingenuous.

I have only used uber twice in WDW no less. Otherwise the ME was the only transportation I have ever used outside of the resort buses. Taking Uber was awkward and the first driver got lost trying to drive from CSR to AKL, luckily we left early enough to not miss our reservations. I am going to really miss the ME and the entire skip baggage was a huge perk. The peace of mind knowing that transportation was waiting for us was amazing.

 

[Leigh L]

Here is the problem with this logic, there is a great many people who have NEVER use any type of ride share. I am 66 an never once used Uber or any other system. Neither has my wife and any of my 3 daughter's family. Just do not trust them. I do not believe that this is just an isolated example. So to say that you can just use ride share it quite frankly disingenuous.

Yep, I've never used rideshare, nor has DH, and even my millennial daughter won't.

It's not that I don't trust rideshares per se, as I have no experience but I'm just not comfortable traveling that way. Nor will I do it. So that eliminates any trips I take alone with the kids. I often chose Disney when traveling with my kids alone because of DME and a Disney resort for that reason. Driving down there stresses me out. I live in DC and don't want to deal with traffic issues when not at home . When DH or someone else comes who doesn't mind driving, then I'd be all in.

I sent an email to WDW last week outlining my disappointments about DME and cutting Epcot entertainment (pre-pandemic). I also did highlight how I felt the overall were doing a fantastic job during COVID and shouted out the CMs at Coronado (seriously, the cleaning taking place daily in the public spaces in that resort is incredible. It's non-stop constant).

 

[Eric Smith]

You may feel that way, but that's you. That could be said about any service...just because you don't use it doesn't mean many, many others don't. We used Uber during our last two visits to WDW. The amount of people waiting for their Ubers/Lyfts in the ride share areas was extensive to say the least. It was packed. You can chose to believe that not many people use ride share services, but the data does not back that up. Ride share services are absolutely a legit and highly utilized transportation option. Heck, they have pretty much replaced taxis (one of my friends in Boston owns a taxi company and has seen the value of his company evaporate since the advent of ride share services). Next time you are in WDW go walk by the ride share zones and you will see how much they are being utilized at WDW.

Not to go too far off topic but I think the biggest issues that Taxis have is the convenience of ride share. With Lyft, I can reserve the ride using my phone and it tells me how much it's going to cost and when the car will arrive (approximately). I don't get either of those with a taxi service. I feel like taxis could fix a lot of their problems with a decent app.

 

[AvidDisReader]

You may feel that way, but that's you. That could be said about any service...just because you don't use it doesn't mean many, many others don't. We used Uber during our last two visits to WDW. The amount of people waiting for their Ubers/Lyfts in the ride share areas was extensive to say the least. It was packed. You can chose to believe that not many people use ride share services, but the data does not back that up. Ride share services are absolutely a legit and highly utilized transportation option. Heck, they have pretty much replaced taxis (one of my friends in Boston owns a taxi company and has seen the value of his company evaporate since the advent of ride share services). Next time you are in WDW go walk by the ride share zones and you will see how much they are being utilized at WDW.

Do not misunderstand me. I fully recognize that there are those who regularly use ride share, have friends in the City who do not even own a car and public transportation and ride share is all they use. There is a good Many who Do NOT (I have not way to prove it but my guess is a majority do not use ride share), and Disney is abandoning those guests. Once you realize this the sooner you will understand why so many people on these forums are upset. I have used DME many times, but also rented a car on probably half my visits. Again, for Disney to just make a statement the there are all these other options that many do not and will not use is disingenuous.

 

[Eric Smith]

Do not misunderstand me. I fully recognize that there are those who regularly use ride share, have friends in the City who do not even own a car and public transportation and ride share is all they use. There is a good Many who Do NOT (I have not way to prove it but my guess is a majority do not use ride share), and Disney is abandoning those guests. Once you realize this the sooner you will understand why so many people on these forums are upset. I have used DME many times, but also rented a car on probably half my visits. Again, for Disney to just make a statement the there are all these other options that many do not and will not use is disingenuous.

A very similar service will still be offered by Mears. There are also a lot of car services that will shuttle people from the airport to property, there will probably be more by that point to accommodate the increased demand. I expect Disney will announce some kind of pseudo-replacement in early summer which will likely be at an added cost similar to what they offer for Disneyland. Rideshare won't be the only option, but it will be a widely used option. The advent of ride share and the ease of getting off property probably dulled the impact that DME had at one point with keeping people on property.

It stinks that this will cost extra money for people since it was included before.

 

[Orion Nebula]

Yep, I've never used rideshare, nor has DH, and even my millennial daughter won't.

It's not that I don't trust rideshares per se, as I have no experience but I'm just not comfortable traveling that way. Nor will I do it. So that eliminates any trips I take alone with the kids. I often chose Disney when traveling with my kids alone because of DME and a Disney resort for that reason. Driving down there stresses me out. I live in DC and don't want to deal with traffic issues when not at home . When DH or someone else comes who doesn't mind driving, then I'd be all in.

I sent an email to WDW last week outlining my disappointments about DME and cutting Epcot entertainment (pre-pandemic). I also did highlight how I felt the overall were doing a fantastic job during COVID and shouted out the CMs at Coronado (seriously, the cleaning taking place daily in the public spaces in that resort is incredible. It's non-stop constant).

I flew for the first time last trip and the ME sold me on never driving again. I know some people have issues with the baggage showing up in a reasonable amount of time, but I have never had issues. I couldn't believe how much more "magic" the ME added to our trip. I need that bubble ASAP.