New DVC General Manager

[New Mouse]

While annual dues will go up for other reasons (mostly an increase in labor costs), technically the DME expense they were passing on to owners will be removed from the 2022 budgets.

To be offset by less transparent equivalent fee increase...plus 5%

 

[Leight19]

For what it’s worth on the live show just now Pete said her new role is comparable to old divisions he referred to as “the farm” where they put executives to spend few years before retirement. To me if this is true this may indicate a positive that maybe Disney is hearing and reacting to the concerns some of us raised over some of the recent controversies under her tenure.

 

[T-i-double-guh-er]

I read the responsibilities reported for her in the new role and they pointed out that it included being over her former position with DVC.

Where did you read this? All I have seen is "Terri, I’m pleased to say, is moving into another very important role within our organization, serving as senior vice president of Commercial Strategy for all of our Disney Signature Experiences businesses, including DVC."

That doesn't sound like being "over" her former position, more like a lateral move to a role supporting multiple divisions but with less actual authority.

 

[Liquidice]

I did some google searching - I found this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-siskie-06a5407/

Sharon says her role is "SVP, Commercial Strategy, Disney Signature Experiences, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products" - which sounds like the role Terri Schultz was just "promoted" to.

Here is the list of her responsibilities: "Responsible for all revenue driving functions, including Marketing, Sales and Pricing, sales contact center, port strategy development and operations, and strategic project management, including new ship delivery/launch planning and new island development"

Still not sure if this puts her "over" DVC.

 

[Randywatson79]

I think given the heavy momentum to lessen the value of most things Disney to its customers recently, it's fair to assume this move will only keep driving policies and decisions further in that direction, until proven otherwise by their actions.

That's the way I see it anyhow.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I'm just hypothesizing here on the contract - but without knowing the details of the contract and what Mears was trying to renew at, I don't think it makes zero sense for Mears. They are after all offering a DME replacement service. They can also expand the service to offer it to offsite hotels and Universal hotels as well.

But they can't offer a replacement service that equals what was lost.

"Hey Disney fans, we'll be rolling out the successor to Disney's Magical Express in January 2022! No, it won't have a Diney-themed kiosk at MCO. No, it won't have Disney-themed coaches. No, it won't provide Disney video entertianment on board. No, reserving your spot won't be fiully integtaed into your Disney resort reservation experience. No, Disney won't be sending you your personalized Disney's Magical Express luggage tags. But, everything else will be equal!"

The complete Disney integration and immediate Disney immersion the moment you got off the plane at MCO, and the guaranteed steady flow of Disney guests steered directly to them BY Disney was what gave them the edge over other forms of transportation. Now it's no Disney, no Magic, but you still get the Express....for more money.

They'll be offering a generic bus service that you have to reserve separately, that won't have any of the Disney immersion, and that will cost more. As to other offsite hotels, they already offer their "nomal" Mears Connect bus services to a ton of other resort hotels in Orlando.

Certainly losing luggage delivery directly to hotal rooms took a bit of something away, but that was at Disney's end and the service STILL got your from plane to resort fully immersed in Disney.

 

[Liquidice]

But they can't offer a replacement service that equals what was lost.

"Hey Disney fans, we'll be rolling out the successor to Disney's Magical Express in January 2022! No, it won't have a Diney-themed kiosk at MCO. No, it won't have Disney-themed coaches. No, it won't provide Disney video entertianment on board. No, reserving your spot won't be fiully integtaed into your Disney resort reservation experience. No, Disney won't be sending you your personalized Disney's Magical Express luggage tags. But, everything else will be equal!"

The complete Disney integration and immediate Disney immersion the moment you got off the plane at MCO, and the guaranteed steady flow of Disney guests steered directly to them BY Disney was what gave them the edge over other forms of transportation. Now it's no Disney, no Magic, but you still get the Express....for more money.

They'll be offering a generic bus service that you have to reserve separately, that won't have any of the Disney immersion, and that will cost more. As to other offsite hotels, they already offer their "nomal" Mears Connect bus services to a ton of other resort hotels in Orlando.

Certainly losing luggage delivery directly to hotal rooms took a bit of something away, but that was at Disney's end and the service STILL got your from plane to resort fully immersed in Disney.

I'm not saying it will be better than DME, I'm just saying I think people will still use it and Mears will make money off of the new service and that is what Mears was thinking too.

I think the point you were trying to make is that Mears would be crazy to try and negotiate more money out of Disney for the DME because they have a guaranteed number of guests - but we don't actually know how Mears was being paid. If they were being paid by number of buses or trips per day, the number of guests don't really matter, the fact that it is labeled Disney doesn't matter - because Mears was just being paid a flat rate. Its feasible Mears saw the high number of guests and figured if even 50% of them paid to use Mears Connect they could make more money this way.

If you don't think Mears tried to raise the rates causing Disney to get rid of the DME, then is it safe to assume you think Disney decided to cancel it? In this case then Disney would not be concerned with you staying fully immersed in Disney. Which is entirely plausible, Disney seems determined to get rid of onsite perks for their hotels.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I'm not saying it will be better than DME, I'm just saying I think people will still use it and Mears will make money off of the new service and that is what Mears was thinking too.

And I think that Mears will have to work hard to pack as many people on their busses. Yes, they may get a higher per-rider fee, but without the seamless Disney tie-in and marketing machine, the question really is how many people will they attract, given that the service was already diluted by Disney eliminating room baggage drops. I'm not buying that people will still use Mears.

I think the point you were trying to make is that Mears would be crazy to try and negotiate more money out of Disney for the DME because they have a guaranteed number of guests - but we don't actually know how Mears was being paid. If they were being paid by number of buses or trips per day, the number of guests don't really matter, the fact that it is labeled Disney doesn't matter - because Mears was just being paid a flat rate. Its feasible Mears saw the high number of guests and figured if even 50% of them paid to use Mears Connect they could make more money this way.

No, ridership numbers only had a small part in what I'm saying, and primarily to the point that Disney was doing 100% of the heavy lifting in filling the busses. It's the whole package. Soliciting riders was just one more element Mears will now need to take the laboring oar on.

If you don't think Mears tried to raise the rates causing Disney to get rid of the DME, then is it safe to assume you think Disney decided to cancel it? In this case then Disney would not be concerned with you staying fully immersed in Disney. Which is entirely plausible, Disney seems determined to get rid of onsite perks for their hotels.

You're missing the point. It's not what Disney cares about (they also got rid of the Minnie Vans as well), it's what made the service attractive to Disney Guests. I'm saying that most of what made the service appealing to guests will be unavailable in any service provided by Mears. Whether Disney made the decision to end the service, or Mears tried to over-leverage their negotiating position makes no difference. A post-DME bus service won't attract anywhere near the same numbers DME did. If you think Mears can attract a significantly smaller ridership and still make money, I'd like to see how much the fee would be, because what was once a "free" service is now a pay to ride service and now competes with miriad other modes of paid trasnsportation

At the end of the day, what was once marketed (and felt like) a "Magical Express" can only be replaced by a generic bus ride from the airport. That now costs money. And I don't think people will buy it. If you look at the many threads that popped up after the announcement, most comments discussing alternative transportation from MCO included the new rail line, ridesharing (Uber, Lift, etc) and limosine services (and how they slipt up fares, # of riders). I can't think of one thread or post that included "taking the new generic bus service from the airport" as a viable and welcome alternative. Again, any service provided by Mears will now compete with all the other pay to ride options.

 

[Liquidice]

And I think that Mears will have to work hard to pack as many people on their busses. Yes, they may get a higher per-rider fee, but without the seamless Disney tie-in and marketing machine, the question really is how many people will they attract, given that the service was already diluted by Disney eliminating room baggage drops. I'm not buying that people will still use Mears.



No, ridership numbers only had a small part in what I'm saying, and primarily to the point that Disney was doing 100% of the heavy lifting in filling the busses. It's the whole package. Soliciting riders was just one more element Mears will now need to take the laboring oar on.



You're missing the point. It's not what Disney cares about (they also got rid of the Minnie Vans as well), it's what made the service attractive to Disney Guests. I'm saying that most of what made the service appealing to guests will be unavailable in any service provided by Mears. Whether Disney made the decision to end the service, or Mears tried to over-leverage their negotiating position makes no difference. A post-DME bus service won't attract anywhere near the same numbers DME did. If you think Mears can attract a significantly smaller ridership and still make money, I'd like to see how much the fee would be, because what was once a "free" service is now a pay to ride service and now competes with miriad other modes of paid trasnsportation

At the end of the day, what was once marketed (and felt like) a "Magical Express" can only be replaced by a generic bus ride from the airport. That now costs money. And I don't think people will buy it. If you look at the many threads that popped up after the announcement, most comments discussing alternative transportation from MCO included the new rail line, ridesharing (Uber, Lift, etc) and limosine services (and how they slipt up fares, # of riders). I can't think of one thread or post that included "taking the new generic bus service from the airport" as a viable and welcome alternative. Again, any service provided by Mears will now compete with all the other pay to ride options.

My original point was that I think Mears tried to renegotiate the contract for more money and Disney decided not to renew it. If thats the case, I'm sure Mears also did some research to see if they thought they could offer an independent service if Disney decided not to renew the contract. Mears could be completely wrong and nobody uses the service - but I still see demand for it since you don't need a car seat for children and people in wheelchairs or ECVs can still board the bus.

While I'm pretty critical of Disney for cutting a lot of perks, I don't know that I put 100% of the blame on Disney for DME ending since I think Mears was at least in part at fault for DME ending.

If your point is that it doesn't make a difference who's fault it was, then I'm not sure what we're discussing anymore

In any case, I agree that it stinks that DME is ending. We'll probably never know the details of exactly why DME itself ended, was it Mears's fault or Disney's fault or maybe the most likely scenario is a little bit of both.

But the fact is that DME is gone. Mears Connect is the most similar alternative to DME that takes you to your resort hotel on a bus and doesn't require a car seat for children and can generally work for handicapped people as well.

Uber/Lyft, rental cars are also viable alternatives. If Mears Connect proves to be very unpopular then I'd expect Mears will drop the service all together.

 

[Sandisw]

And I think that Mears will have to work hard to pack as many people on their busses. Yes, they may get a higher per-rider fee, but without the seamless Disney tie-in and marketing machine, the question really is how many people will they attract, given that the service was already diluted by Disney eliminating room baggage drops. I'm not buying that people will still use Mears.



No, ridership numbers only had a small part in what I'm saying, and primarily to the point that Disney was doing 100% of the heavy lifting in filling the busses. It's the whole package. Soliciting riders was just one more element Mears will now need to take the laboring oar on.



You're missing the point. It's not what Disney cares about (they also got rid of the Minnie Vans as well), it's what made the service attractive to Disney Guests. I'm saying that most of what made the service appealing to guests will be unavailable in any service provided by Mears. Whether Disney made the decision to end the service, or Mears tried to over-leverage their negotiating position makes no difference. A post-DME bus service won't attract anywhere near the same numbers DME did. If you think Mears can attract a significantly smaller ridership and still make money, I'd like to see how much the fee would be, because what was once a "free" service is now a pay to ride service and now competes with miriad other modes of paid trasnsportation

At the end of the day, what was once marketed (and felt like) a "Magical Express" can only be replaced by a generic bus ride from the airport. That now costs money. And I don't think people will buy it. If you look at the many threads that popped up after the announcement, most comments discussing alternative transportation from MCO included the new rail line, ridesharing (Uber, Lift, etc) and limosine services (and how they slipt up fares, # of riders). I can't think of one thread or post that included "taking the new generic bus service from the airport" as a viable and welcome alternative. Again, any service provided by Mears will now compete with all the other pay to ride options.

But in the end, it appears that Disney didn’t want to be part of it anymore It has been suggested that they were not filling the buses like they were and what they were paying Mears wasn’t worth it given the popular pieces would not be continuing,

But, with that, let’s get this thread back on topic to DVC. Feel free to open a thread to discuss DME.

 

[kmorlock]

I’m not holding my breath for much good to come with this change. Disney and DVC seem driven by the “Pay More, Get Less” mantra. They don’t seem concerned about experience at all. I don’t see that changing with the new GM. Prices are going up and the perks, incentives, and offerings are getting the axe. Is this likely to change? I say “No” and it’s not just the GM. It’s the new culture across the board of all Disney & DVD.

 

[Sandisw]

I’m not holding my breath for much good to come with this change. Disney and DVC seem driven by the “Pay More, Get Less” mantra. They don’t seem concerned about experience at all. I don’t see that changing with the new GM. Prices are going up and the perks, incentives, and offerings are getting the axe. Is this likely to change? I say “No” and it’s not just the GM. It’s the new culture across the board of all Disney & DVD.

DVD has certainly changed as a product in the past 5 years. So has WDW so I agree with you that much of what happens goes beyond us getting a new GM.