Sudden irritation with Magical Express

[DL1WDW2]

MarketWatch: Do you own stock?
Do you plan to use these services on property?
What do you think the ramifications will be in future? For Disney property? Gamechanger ?

 

[DebbieB]

Take this with a grain of salt, but a cast member (manager) told me “perhaps Disney will be doing their own Magical Express.” I thought that was interesting.

I’m betting on the mini vans parked in the back of the Epcot lot.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I'm guessing they DID calculate it. It's a numbers game. How much did they pay Mears for the service? How much did they pay employees to do the interaction? How much did they pay BAGS for the luggage portion? Did it really result in more people staying on property? How much was Mears/BAGS going to charge going forward?

I find it hard to believe the DME busses really contributed to advertising. Yea, sure, it's "free", but did it really result in anyone saying "let's go to WDW"? It's not like the billboards, radio & TV ads aren't all over the place also.

I don’t watch TV and the billboards don’t advertise Disney Cruise but those Disney Busses are always coming and going on& off property….
Everytime I see the Disney Cruise Magic Express, I guarantee I am thinking Wish I was taking a Disney Cruise…I don’t think I have ever thought of a Any Other Brand Cruise Line that I can’t even think of now name except for Royal Caribbean.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Before Magical Express, Mears Transportation had a similar service that you paid for, and I have every expectation that they will re-establish it. Looking at it from another angle, we live close enough to drive, and I found it frustrating that our hotel rates were a bit higher because we were subsidizing Magical Express for other guests but not using it ourselves.

… What about all the families that park free at Disney Springs and use Disney Bus Transport to park or resort to jump on monorail, SkyLiner, all the boat transportations on property? I have often gotten into conversations in monorail with families that experience this so their children “ think” they have gone to DisneyWorld or a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon… I wonder how that is subsidized …
Im not gonna worry about this and obviously Disney doesn’t because they know eventually you will return and give your money to Disney.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I am more Concerned about all the independent Coach style busses operating currently on property…apparently Disney doesn’t have enough Disney busses or bus drivers that the Disney Resorts have to utilize this along with the off property Hotels… Is Mears chartering their busses to independent hotels ? Where are all these companies coming from? how well are they trained, insured, and maintained? Disney bus drivers are required to submit to a physical as part of their contract Includes urine sample…Hope these independent companies operating on Disney property have stricter requirements.

 

[DL1WDW2]

And saddly they raised hotel prices to make up for all of that.
Found this on reddit.
Change.org save magical express

Link reminder so it doesn’t get lost in conversation…

 

[sam_gordon]

I don’t watch TV and the billboards don’t advertise Disney Cruise but those Disney Busses are always coming and going on& off property….
Everytime I see the Disney Cruise Magic Express, I guarantee I am thinking Wish I was taking a Disney Cruise…I don’t think I have ever thought of a Any Other Brand Cruise Line that I can’t even think of now name except for Royal Caribbean.

Magical Express is different than the Cruise Line busses (I'm pretty sure). I haven't heard they're ending the Cruise Line busses.

… What about all the families that park free at Disney Springs and use Disney Bus Transport to park or resort to jump on monorail, SkyLiner, all the boat transportations on property? I have often gotten into conversations in monorail with families that experience this so their children “ think” they have gone to DisneyWorld or a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon… I wonder how that is subsidized …
Im not gonna worry about this and obviously Disney doesn’t because they know eventually you will return and give your money to Disney.

The "in house" transportation would be subsidized by everyone on property. Are there families that park at DS and use the busses to go elsewhere? I'm sure there are a few, but probably not as many as you think. Give it a year or so. If Disney sees their occupancy rates dropping, they could potentially bring DME back. If they don't see it dropping, then why spend the money?

 

[_19disnA]

MarketWatch: Do you own stock?
Do you plan to use these services on property?

Don't own either stock and don't plan to use any online taxi service. If you look at the recent financials, both Uber & Lyft continue to lose money, so I really don't get all the hype around their stock. It seems there is lots of optimistic rhetoric around the future, but I really don't see how they plan to actually make money and be profitable. Couldn't find any recent financial articles, but older ones I saw indicated Uber has never been profitable.

All the talk about 'growth' doesn't mean much if you lose money on each transaction.

 

[Lewisc]

[QUOTE="cdurham1, post: 63188004,]

The intangible value of extending the "bubble" all the way to the airport is something the bean counters at Disney have miscalculated, imo!
[/QUOTE]
A poster on another thread said the increased number of grocery delivery and restaurant delivery services negated one of the benefits, to Disney, of DME. Likewise the availability of ride share makes it easy and economical for guests to do bad things like shop and dine offsite.

 

[paults]

The more Disney cuts, the more they can pay the big boys.

 

[brockash]

Before Magical Express, Mears Transportation had a similar service that you paid for, and I have every expectation that they will re-establish it. Looking at it from another angle, we live close enough to drive, and I found it frustrating that our hotel rates were a bit higher because we were subsidizing Magical Express for other guests but not using it ourselves.

Well your hotel rates are still going to be just as high...they certainly haven't and won't reduce their prices...just take away the amenity.

 

[Evita_W]

Magical Express is different than the Cruise Line busses (I'm pretty sure). I haven't heard they're ending the Cruise Line busses.

The "in house" transportation would be subsidized by everyone on property. Are there families that park at DS and use the busses to go elsewhere? I'm sure there are a few, but probably not as many as you think. Give it a year or so. If Disney sees their occupancy rates dropping, they could potentially bring DME back. If they don't see it dropping, then why spend the money?

Yep, it is the same reason I don't Parking Lot Trams will return.

 

[Lilylogan]

I'm surprised so many people are upset by ME ending - because I always felt the general consensus was ME is free and "you get what you pay for". I don't think it will impact occupancy rates for Disney. WDW existed for a long time without free airport transportation.

 

[Koalayum]

It's very frustrating. In our case (3 kids under 4), it absolutely will impact the decision to make a Disney trip. The conundrum of how to handle the need for 3 car seats (without shelling out big bucks for a rental car that would remain parked) is very real. My hope is that the Mears replacement service is affordable and reliable.

 

[Lilsia]

I'm surprised so many people are upset by ME ending - because I always felt the general consensus was ME is free and "you get what you pay for". I don't think it will impact occupancy rates for Disney. WDW existed for a long time without free airport transportation.

We have been going long before ME came to be. We would rent town cars and had more then one bad experience where they were late. ME was a lifesaver for someone like me who traveled with my 2 kids by myself. I did not have to deal with getting the bags or getting a car with car seats, etc. It is also a safe, hassle free way for solo, female travelers too. Not all of us want to rent a car and deal with driving in crazy Orlando tourist traffic. I think you are underestimating how convenient it was to many people.

 

[dez1978]

Before Magical Express, Mears Transportation had a similar service that you paid for, and I have every expectation that they will re-establish it. Looking at it from another angle, we live close enough to drive, and I found it frustrating that our hotel rates were a bit higher because we were subsidizing Magical Express for other guests but not using it ourselves.

this arguments kills me. Just because the service goes away, doesn't mean the rates will change. You are still going to pay that rate. And the whole "I'm paying for something I never use" thing.... DO you complain that your tax money goes to libraries, schools etc that you don't use?

 

[thegash35]

Before Magical Express, Mears Transportation had a similar service that you paid for, and I have every expectation that they will re-establish it. Looking at it from another angle, we live close enough to drive, and I found it frustrating that our hotel rates were a bit higher because we were subsidizing Magical Express for other guests but not using it ourselves.

This is an absurd (and selfish) take.

 

[EACarlson]

I am more Concerned about all the independent Coach style busses operating currently on property…apparently Disney doesn’t have enough Disney busses or bus drivers that the Disney Resorts have to utilize this along with the off property Hotels… Is Mears chartering their busses to independent hotels ? Where are all these companies coming from? how well are they trained, insured, and maintained? Disney bus drivers are required to submit to a physical as part of their contract Includes urine sample…Hope these independent companies operating on Disney property have stricter requirements.

Disney's requirements for Bus Drivers are no different than the USDOT regulations for bus drivers. In order to drive a commercial vehicle carrying passengers you have to have a DOT physical, med card and an annual drug and alcohol screening. Local and federal agencies both watch passenger carrying drivers and vehicles very closely.

I think ME will be missed for the next couple years, then people will forget about it just like now most people have forgotten what it was like before ME.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's very frustrating. In our case (3 kids under 4), it absolutely will impact the decision to make a Disney trip. The conundrum of how to handle the need for 3 car seats (without shelling out big bucks for a rental car that would remain parked) is very real. My hope is that the Mears replacement service is affordable and reliable.

Yes, some people will decide to not travel to Disney because of this decision. I bet you it's not as many people as you think. AND now, Disney doesn't have to pay Mears, Bags, etc to support that. Someone made the decision that the money they save is more than the loss of income by someone not visiting.

As others have said, DME has not been around forever. Before it came to be, families found a way to get from the airport to the resort and back. I know it's shocking, but it's true.

Before DME we've done rental cars and town cars. Both have positives and negatives. DME was nice and "included", but it's loss will have nothing to do with our decision on whether to return. The part I'm going to miss more is the luggage delivery (both to the resort and back to the airport). However, it's not the end of the world. We go on other vacations where we need to schlep luggage to/from the airport. An inconvenience? Sure? Something to get upset about? Not in my mind.

 

[Evita_W]

As others have said, DME has not been around forever. Before it came to be, families found a way to get from the airport to the resort and back. I know it's shocking, but it's true.

While this is true, car seat laws and other regulations regarding traveling have changed, even in Florida since DME was introduced that make this more complicated than it was before DME.