News Round Up 2021

[hertamaniac]

I would think this suggests confidence is high for the rail project to DS.

 

[rteetz]

I would think this suggests confidence is high for the rail project to DS.

That’s still over a year without anything tho. Train isn’t expected until 2023 and that’s if everything is on schedule.

 

[sachilles]

Wonder if they'll still continue luggage service. Big bags are really the only thing I'd miss. If I could go straight from the play to an uber or rental car, and not have to haul my bags around, that would still be a win.

 

[BrianL]

The loss of DME is pretty huge. If the train project goes forward I would have expected it eventually, however that's still quite a ways out.

 

[ejgonz2]

Wonder if they'll still continue luggage service. Big bags are really the only thing I'd miss. If I could go straight from the play to an uber or rental car, and not have to haul my bags around, that would still be a win.

Agree, that would be really important.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would think this suggests confidence is high for the rail project to DS.

I agree although the timelines don't line up as DME is ending as of Jan 1, 2022 and the only rumored dated I can find for the Brightline train to Disney Springs operating is 'second half of 2023.' What are people to do in the meantime? That's A LOT of people to suddenly need transportation.

I'm guessing we'll see DME (possibly offered by someone else?) become a paid option at least in the middle time between the end of DME and Brightline operating.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wonder if they'll still continue luggage service. Big bags are really the only thing I'd miss. If I could go straight from the play to an uber or rental car, and not have to haul my bags around, that would still be a win.

yeha, I know the word "magical" is kind of cheesy, but the fact you dropped your bags at the airport and then the next time you saw them was in your room was pretty "magical" and sort of special to a Disney trip. At least to us.

Losing that is definitely just another blow to the "reasons to stay on property" column

 

[scrappinginontario]

A lot of big news today! It's tricking me to thinking it's Friday....then I realize it's only Monday.

 

[jlundeen]

I guess if I have to pay extra for transportation to my resort, I would go for a private ride, like Uber or Lyft, or even a regular taxi like in the "olden days", rather than having to haul bags on a train, then still try to figure out how to get them to my resort....

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Disney Confirms ‘Resort Guest Early Entry’ Replacing Extra Magic Hours

I assume they will only have a couple of attractions open early. That’s the way Tokyo’s “Happy 15” works.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I guess if I have to pay extra for transportation to my resort, I would go for a private ride, like Uber or Lyft, or even a regular taxi like in the "olden days", rather than having to haul bags on a train, then still try to figure out how to get them to my resort....

This is purely a guess on my part but I can see Disney offering some sort of internal transportation from the train station to resorts. Still a bummer though if we need to be responsible for our luggage.

Waiting for more details to shake out on this one but so far not excited about this change at all!

 

[tlmadden73]

pretty surprised by this - always though Magical Express was a way Disney kept you on property and reliant on them for all your needs

Now people might be more open to exploring off property attractions, dining, etc.

But guess it is all about cutting expenses at this point

Wow .. another piece of the magic gone due to cost cutting. I guess we'll continue to see more of these "extras" go away until things stabilize again. Frankly .. I am surprised they didn't ditch Magical Express THIS year.

 

[rteetz]

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/01/a-look-ahead-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

 

[jlundeen]

I wonder if this means that resort airline check-in will also bite the dust permanently....

 

[rteetz]

I wonder if this means that resort airline check-in will also bite the dust permanently....

I would imagine so.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I assume they will only have a couple of attractions open early. That’s the way Tokyo’s “Happy 15” works.

haven't seen the details yet about that, but I could see it - or at least not the entire parks/not every single attraction open

 

[firefly_ris]

yeha, I know the word "magical" is kind of cheesy, but the fact you dropped your bags at the airport and then the next time you saw them was in your room was pretty "magical" and sort of special to a Disney trip. At least to us.

Losing that is definitely just another blow to the "reasons to stay on property" column

Yeah. To me that is a HUGE perk of being 'trapped' on property... last trip I would have had to drag 3 booster seats with me to and from the airport along with our luggage. It was a major plus to not have to do that. And then we didn't leave property because we didn't have boosters.

I'm really perplexed by this move. Now that split Disney/Universal stay but staying at a Universal hotel seems a lot more realistic now if I have to factor in a rental car or some other kind of transportation regardless. I had been trying to think about saving for a Poly DVC studio... maybe now I axe that altogether because I'd have to add rental car into that overall cost equation. What a bummer that is.

 

[Mome Rath]

This is the first change that will actually cut down on my trips there. Bad move.

 

[tlmadden73]

Disney Confirms ‘Resort Guest Early Entry’ Replacing Extra Magic Hours

"Disney also announced a new early theme park entry offering for hotel guests that will debut later this year. The new perk will allow Disney hotel guests to enter any of the four theme parks 30 minutes early each day.

The new early theme park entry benefit helps us better spread visitation across all four theme parks, while providing added flexibility by giving guests extra early park time on each day of their vacation and in the park of their choosing," Disney said in a statement.

This is a great resort perk -- WAY better (due to flexibility) than EMH. I never liked EMH .. because I could hardly ever use it .. it was so limited (to the point it was hard to align your park days to use it even just once during a week long stay).

This is amazing .. I mean opening the parks 30 minutes early isn't a big deal .. Disney did that a lot anyway if it was getting too crowded at the gates. This just makes it official. And if they keep the somewhat reduced hours, it won't even cost them extra money for labor (compared to the old EMH days).

Plus it spreads out the resort guests between all four parks rather than sending all resort guests (that want to go early) to a single park.

 

[jpeterson]

I would imagine so.

That would be really sad. ME and airline check in really helped us make the vacation less stressful.