Disney World Ending Magical Express Airport Shuttle
Walt Disney World is ending its Magical Express shuttle service to resorts from Orlando International Airport. This comes after the company “temporarily suspended” Extra Magic Hours, FastPass+, the Dining Plan, and more.
All of this is still top of mind for many Walt Disney World vacation planners, which is clear to us based on the number of questions we receive asking when the Disney Dining Plan, FastPass+, Extra Magic Hours, etc. will be brought back. In most cases, our expectation is that Walt Disney World will restore these things this spring and summer.
When it comes to resuming normalcy at Walt Disney World, it’s clear that this won’t be a simple matter of reverting to the status quo, pre-March of last year. Instead, Walt Disney World will use this period of abnormal to retire and transition away from various offerings to new things, and offer a “soft reset” on the guest experience. We now have our next glimpse of what that means for later in 2022…
Walt Disney World will end the Disney’s Magical Express service for airport transportation starting with arrivals on January 1, 2022. Disney has attributed this to the expansion of options for guests, including the rise of Uber and Lyft. “Vacationers have more options to choose from than ever for transportation, including ride-share services that save time and offer more flexibility to go where they want, when they want.”
Disney’s Magical Express will continue for arrivals and departures through 2021, but anyone planning a Walt Disney World vacation in 2022 will need to rent a car or plan on using Uber, Lyft, or whatever other options are out there. (Although not yet confirmed officially, it’s entirely possible that Minnie Vans have been permanently retired.)
Note that complimentary transportation options within Walt Disney World — such as buses, monorails, boats, and the Skyliner gondolas — will continue to be available without changes. This only impacts Disney’s Magical Express, the airport-to-hotel transportation service, and does not have any bearing on internal or resort-to-park transportation.
It’s worth noting here that the Disney’s Magical Express airport shuttle service is operated by Mears, not Disney itself. Mears is a transportation company with coach buses and taxis that enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the Orlando market for years…before Uber and Lyft debuted.
Last year, Mears furloughed 83% of its workforce and ended up permanently laying off nearly 200 workers. Even prior to that, the company had run into trouble–Mears has been extensively involved with ride-share lawsuits and other litigation over the past few years.
It’s also possible that the relationship between Disney and Mears soured when Minnie Vans were rolled out a couple of years ago. Up until that point, some guests were reticent to use Uber and Lyft due to horror stories, and still opted for the overpriced Mears taxis. From then on, Walt Disney World had a monopoly on overpriced private transportation–it made almost no sense to pay triple the price of ride-share for a taxi when Minnie Vans offered a more polished and “magical” experience.
This is all to say that there might be more to this story than meets the eye. Disney could see the writing on the wall for Mears, or the relationship between the two companies might’ve been irreparably damaged to the point that they could not negotiate a new contract once the current one ends.
Basically, we have a tough time taking this cut at face value–or being entirely due to the reasons given by Disney. As discussed in our Guide to Disney’s Magical Express, the “free” service is incredibly valuable to Walt Disney World because it makes tourists a captive audience, less likely or able to dine off-site, visit other theme parks, or spend money elsewhere.
Long ago, Walt Disney World determined that the increase in average per guest spending with Disney’s Magical Express plus the perceived convenience and goodwill obtained from offering the service outweighs the average per guest cost of offering the service. It’s unlikely that has changed, especially as on-site food prices have increased and Central Florida theme park competition has become more fierce.
Beyond that, this change is being announced at a time when hotel occupancy at Walt Disney World is abysmal–and that’s even with several resorts still closed. With no convention business, minimal outside events, and a travel recovery expected to take until 2023, cutting Disney’s Magical Express will only exacerbate that problem.
We’ve been discussing Walt Disney World’s Disappearing On-Site Advantage for years now, and the elimination of Magical Express only makes that worse. The airport transportation service has been routinely cited by on-site advocates as one reason to still stay in a Disney-owned hotel. Uber and Lyft are great, and we’ve taken them instead of DME several times, but this is still a big blow for consumers.
It’s also potentially going to be detrimental to Walt Disney World. We’re anticipating a ton of negative feedback about this change–likely on par with the addition of resort parking fees a few years ago. As with that change, we can’t help but wonder if Disney will come to regret this move as being one that pushes more guests off-site and ends up costing Disney money in the long run.
We’ve also long been asking Is Walt Disney World Eroding Fan Goodwill? with previous decisions like this. We maintain that they have, but the booming economy has insulated Disney from the negative short-term consequences of so many cuts and guest-unfriendly decisions. Unfortunately, the current hotel woes are pretty easy to hand-wave away given all that’s happening in the world. But we nevertheless question whether occupancy remains low even as park attendance is rising because more guests have already determined staying on-site is simply not worth it.
Finally, while some Walt Disney World fans might point to the Brightline train station at Disney Springs being the eventual replacement for Disney’s Magical Express, that’s still several years away. (The South Florida to MCO link has a scheduled 2022 opening date, but that does not include the Disney Springs station.)
Moreover, that route from the airport to hotels will be convoluted and time-consuming, so it’s not really a viable alternative. To the contrary, the whole reason the Brightline station is being built at Disney Springs instead of the more logical location by the ESPN Wide World of Sports is because Disney did not plan on the train serving as airport transportation for many guests.
We still would not be surprised if Walt Disney World announces a replacement for Disney’s Magical Express before 2022. This just seems like a really ill-advised and short-sighted decision. As discussed above, it’s also potentially a decision that’s out of their hands…
In other breaking news, Walt Disney World announced a permanent replacement for the temporarily-suspended Extra Magic Hours, and has confirmed that EMH will not return. Dubbed Early Theme Park Entry, the new perk will allow Walt Disney World resort guests to enter any of the four theme parks 30 minutes early each day.
Disney indicates that the new Early Theme Park Entry benefit helps 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. Please note that guests need valid admission and a park reservation made via the Disney Park Pass system to enter a theme park.
The new Early Theme Park Entry offering will debut later in 2021 and will be promoted as part of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary offerings. No specific start date has been provided; our assumption is that move is deliberate. Walt Disney World can hold off on rolling it out until hotel occupancy and attendance levels dictate, with the latest debut date being October 1, 2021.
While we’re incredulous about the Disney’s Magical Express news, this announcement we do take at face value. In that same “Disappearing On-Site Advantage” article, we derided Extra Magic Hours as a mostly illusory benefit. Prior to the closure, we actively avoided Evening Extra Magic Hours due to the noticeable spike in crowds as compared to non-EMH evenings.
There are a number of reasons this has happened, but is primarily because the pool of Extra Magic Hours-eligible guests continues to increase. Walt Disney World has cut deals with third party hotels and also built several new Disney Vacation Club properties and otherwise added to its hotel room inventory.
For us, the jury is still out on this new Early Theme Park Entry benefit. We have every reason to believe this will do a better job of spreading out crowds, and could end up being a net positive for guests. Thirty minutes per day is obviously less than than the previous hour, but it’s better than nothing.
There’s also the reality that 30 minutes times 4 parks is a total of 2 hours per day across all of Walt Disney World, which is a net gain as compared to Extra Magic Hours. Obviously, a single guest without the resources for time travel cannot take advantage of that 2 hours, but the point is that this may not be a simple cost-cutting measure by Disney.
It could end up giving on-site guests more time before the wave of crowds hit–or it could amount to being pretty similar to the current unpublished policy of quietly opening the turnstiles before official park opening time. We’ll withhold judgment on this one until experiencing it ourselves.
While the specifics here are not exactly what we anticipated, that Walt Disney World would choose now to make these announcements is not unsurprising. As we covered months ago in What Will Replace FastPass+ at Walt Disney World? we expected these “temporary suspensions” to be a natural transition to new systems.
Ultimately, we expect plenty more announcements in the coming months about other, similar changes. As discussed in that article, we’d be shocked to see FastPass+ return without any changes. We’re also expecting the Disney Dining Plan and other experiences will have modifications once they return later in 2021. Then there’s the potential transition from My Disney Experience to Disney Genie (or whatever it ends up being called) which is another can of worms. In short, brace yourself for plenty more changes announced between now and October 2021…
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Walt Disney World ending Disney’s Magical Express? Upset that you’ll have to rent a car or use Uber/Lyft, or did you find DME too inefficient, anyway? Thoughts on Early Theme Park Entry v. Extra Magic Hours? Disappointed that the amount of time is being cut, or optimistic that it’ll be less crowded during that time? Other thoughts on this? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We try to make trips to WDW every other year (with trips to Disneyland on the in-between years). Unfortunately, we had some pretty bad experiences with ME early on and never went back to use it. We chose instead to rent a limo to and from the hotel for our group (6-8 people). We always thought renting a car was too big of a hassle through the week but have chosen to rent a 9 passenger Suburban for our upcoming trip in late March. We chose to try the big SUV to get all of our family and older grandparents to and from the parks each day without using the on-site buses (due to Covid). Maybe having a rental car will become our new norm. Also, we do plan on eating at restaurants off-site as well as visit Universal on this upcoming trip. Both things we had not done before.
Losing the EMH for the night time is a real bummer for my family. I expect there will be something offered by Disney for late nights in the park (but at a price premium or adder).
Quite honestly I always looked and Disney Magic Express as already being at Disney World. After the long early morning flight, knowing you were going down to level B and be greeted by Disney Cast Members, getting on the bus you were not going to burn Mouse-Time. Next stop…Welcome Home!
Did find this out though. Being a DVC member, apparently I was paying for Disney Magic Express through my yearly DVC dues. Also found out that that line-item will be voided but Dues will not be reduced as it will make room for another expense.
Hopefully between now and 1.January.2022 Disney Imaginers/Bean Counters will come up with something new.
Besides it being free, I’ve never understood the appeal of DME. It takes forever, if you don’t happen to walk up right as the bus is about to pull away. It stops at value resorts before deluxe, which always makes me mad when we shell out the money for a deluxe resort. And then it takes the driver a long time to unload luggage at the resorts before yours, if yours is not first on the list. And finally for the return trip, they make you leave 4 hours before your flight, which results in getting to the airport way too early and just sitting there. I’d rather spend the $50 each way to take an Uber or taxi and save lots of time and frustration both ways.
The loss of EMH sucks, but I do like not having to plan around it. There is already too much planning associated with a Disney trip.
So the DME is paid for by the DVC members? Did not know that.
Jim, anything that happens at a DVC resort is paid for by the owners of that resort. Unless it happens to be paid for by DVC Marketing as a marketing event.
Tom – do you have an analysis of whether renting a car or using Uber/Lyft to go to and from the airport is more cost effective? I’m assuming that with parking fees Uber/Lyft is probably less costly, but wasn’t sure what type of premium they charge in that area.
I just hope that Disney doesn’t get rid of the ability to check your luggage for your return flight at your resort. For me and my family that is the absolute best perk of staying on site. Without that, it will be impossible to justify staying on site anymore.
They already did get rid of that
Wow I guess I definitely missed that news with all the changes that have occurred in the past 7 months. That’s a big bummer.
They stopped having TSA agents at the resorts when they reopened in July & stopped picking luggage up at the airport on arrival. We won’t be buying many souvenirs on our trip in May. Taking smaller bags so they can be carry ons, so there’ll be no room for souvenirs
When we first started going in 2000 with the kids, our first trip, and for many trips after that we used the Town Car service. I think it was called Tiffany’s. Also a 30 minute grocery stop was included. It was fine, BUT the one trip that just I went with the kids, ages 7 & 10, late night arrival, driver stopped at like a 7-11 instead of Publix, guess they were closed but it was very uncomfortable alone late at night with young kids and the 7-11 seemed to be in a dark and not much around part of town. We really liked the Magical Express. Not sure what we’ll do after January 2022. WHY Disney? When something isn’t broken, WHY try to fix it. Car seats for some, large families, etc. etc. Cruise ships in various ports in FL can do it WHY can’t you continue this service? Argh.
This announce definitely makes me sad! I love the convenience of DME combined with the magical experience that starts right as you arrive in FL. We’re also a family of six (and regularly travel to Disney with additional extended family), which can make arranging alternate travel more difficult.
We are a family of six adults (our kids have grown up now but still love WDW!). We were planning to return in January 2022. I’m the true die-hard WDW fan in our family and have encouraged our family to make the return trip. I’m becoming less and less enthused about returning. A WDW trip is an investment, and one I’m willing to invest in! However, it’s becoming more and more apparent that we are getting less return on our investment. I’m not sure we’ll make our reservations. Our family has always felt like vacation started as soon as we checked our bags at our departure airport because we never had to handle our bags or navigate transportation to get from MCO to our resort. Looks like vacation won’t officially start now until you’ve gotten past all the travel and check-in at your resort. It’s too bad that Disney’s messing with so much of the nostalgia for families.
Agree with you 100% LSK. It was so bad last year, we cancelled our yearly WDW trip (6 yrs running) and went to Universal Orlando. Had a blast, food in the parks was so much better and prices for shirts, etc, better as well. Good luck with your plans and stay safe.
Already commented on the Magical Express. As for the 30 minutes in the AM. We much prefer the parks at night, the atmosphere is totally different. Even the entrances and queues to the indoor attractions seem extra special at night.
THE Disney magical express bus was such a benefit. It was definitely a plus
Really sorry to see this stopped
It was so easy. Very disappointing
And s half hour early ???? That’s all !
We were planning a trip last June
And was thinking of early next year
12 of us. I think we’ll re think this too much money
Coming all the way from Australia after travelling for nearly 20 hours the ME was the best part about the trip, not having to drive when you are exhausted and jetlagged and worry about luggage was greatly appreciated.
Unlike most of you, we only get to do this once every 5 or so years and I have to say, the last 2 times we went the magic seems to be changing to cutting costs as much as possible.
I would much rather spend the extra money to the front of line pass at Universal as you can clearly see the return of investment.
Our last trip the Caribbean Beach resort hotel was terrible, cleaning was appalling and we will not really reconsider our options and stay off property in a much nicer hotel for the same /lower cost
On a trip from Orlando to New Zealand, I encountered at the Houston airport a fellow passenger from Orlando who was continuing all the way home to Perth, the farthest commercial airport from Florida. My most recent return to Orlando on a “long” flight was Virgin Atlantic this past March, a mere 8 hours, quicker than some one-stops from California. I assume Disney is aware of its guests with long journeys.
I’m guessing they decided to suspend Magical Express simply because it’s too early to project how many out-of-state guests they’ll have in 2022, and they don’t want to commit to anything.
If the health situation improves dramatically by 2022, and they’re back to having thousands of people traveling between MCO and the resorts every day, then I think they’ll announce Magical Express 2.0 as quickly as they can.
30 minute early entry? Meh. That’s maybe enough time for one ride before the crowds get in. Or to get a slightly better spot in a long line. Make it 60 minutes, and we’ll talk…
We’ve been DVC members since 1997 and have only flown to WDW one time and that was a real mess. It was long before DME and we reserved a limo to take us to the resort and back to the airport at the end of our trip. Once DME was started, I wondered where the money was coming from to pay for it. Sure Disney could raise the price of the hotel rooms to cover the extra cost of DME, but what about DVC? I’m sure that the cost of DME was factored into our annual fees. Even though many DVC owners never used it. DVC owners don’t have to pay for overnight parking since we already pay for parking lots in our annual fees. So will our annual fees go down since we are not subsidizing DME any more? I hope so.
You express too much faith in Disney’s conscience than their model for profit. They’ve DVC members trapped and will milk our wallets without a second thought. More resorts mean crowded parks, which are a turnoff, and less fun. Another park is needed instead of more resorts or adding to resorts. On site transportation is also less than what it should be. Sometimes we’ll wait almost an hour yet see many buses for a park or resort show up empty and pass us by. I’ve tried to communicate our concerns and with remedy but no one wants to listen. Thank God we have good to excellent cast members to somewhat make up for the ills.
i’m certain the cost of DME was built into resort room fees.
We stay at a DVC resorts when we visit WDW by renting DVC points. Many, many DVC owners rent their points to people who take advantage of Magical Express. I won’t be going to Disney after my trip there in May if I have to rent a car. So a lot of DVC members indirectly benefit from ME & will be hurt w/o it if people stop renting their points.
I love magical express for its convenience! I hope WDW adds something equivalent later on!
I also hope WDW does NOT bring back FastPass+…. but, instead, uses a format like Disneyland’s MaxPass! We LOVE the MaxPass and how easy it is to use! It also does not give a huge advantage to those families that can afford the time and money for longer vacations! The advantages are the same for weekend park goers as they are for longer stays.
The Maxx Pass costs $20 per person per day. Fast Pass + has always been free.
I am not in favor of 30 minutes earlier into the parks considering we go a little later to the parks. Can you tell me will parks stay open later? I love the night time at the parks. Example on EMH we would get 9pm to 11pm at Epcot or 10pm to Midnight at Magic Kingdom on certain nights.
Not having Magical Express sucks. Now we have to worry about how to get to and from the hotel. Why would I rent a car and pay all of this if I am on the grounds?! Uber will be fine but not in favor. I hope Disney does not lose their way because it sounds like it. They are over thinking waaaay to much about the important things that were fine. They should be concentrating on changing Tomorrowland which is so outdated! They should add more rides for Disney movies etc.., I always liked the no worry no hassle about Disney. They need to focus on updating rides. Why don’t they get people who know Disney and what Disney is about and get ideas from them? I am a big Disney fan meaning I love Disney movies etc. Also so live the Haunted House and heard the May replace it. What the heck are they thinking? Just update it a little.
I am so disappointed about the 30 minute early entry and the loss of morning EMH on certain days. I have always stated on site. Sometimes we went to parks for the morning EMH and we would get so much done in that time. A 30 minute headstart is total crap and a joke. What this has RUINED is the coveted 8:00am breakfast with a 9:00am park open. I loved doing that and took full advantage of that perk. 8:00 res at CRT or BOG, done eating and at the front of the line for Mine Train or Space Mountain. 8:00 res at Garden Grill, done eating and at the front of the line for Soarin. 8:00 res at Akershus, done eating and at the front of the line for Frozen. So all of that is gone now for good????? What’s the point of an 8:00 breakfast reservation now???? Not happy at all. Those mornings were highlights of our trips.
They don’t offer any PPO breakfast ADRs any more. At least right now. It’s hard to find breakfast in the parks at all.
Oh I remember the days that on site guests could stay at Magic Kingdom until 2:00 am. It was a great time. Usually just during Spring Break but we always took advantage of a pool day at the resort then a nice dinner and a late night them park visit
I miss that tremendously. I cannot believe how much they have scaled back park times.
My wife and I love the late nights in the parks. I really miss them and hope they bring them back. We got to the point of not really caring what time we got to a park in the morning, always have an afternoon resort swim, and then a late night at a park.
Not happy about ending the magical express- if we rent a car , we will go off disney grounds for soveniors and dining . i think this idea needs to be re-examined.
I didn’t even think about dining! You are so right! We only eat at Disney restaurants because we don’t rent a car & don’t care to pay for an Uber or Lyft, each way. But if you have a car, it’s a LOT cheaper to eat off site. Disney’s really shooting themselves in the foot with this decision
Never commented before but these cuts are so drastic I want to voice my opinion. I really enjoyed EMH and the magical express. Like someone else alluded, I became a life long guest because my middle class family was able to visit when I was young. Now as an adult I just started taking annual, bi-annual and quarterly Orlando trips. I’m going to start spending more time at Universal. Disney can’t cut guest perks without adding a perk; this keeps happening. Much as I LOVE Disney, I will start spending more time, maybe all time at Universal and visiting Disney once in a blue moon. Cast members are incredible, management needs to get the Disney perspective back. Like cutting their own salaries, etc. before layoffs.
I agree 100%. The perception of cutting thousands of cast members, shuttering rides and gutting guest experiences, all while not reducing exec salaries means Disney has finally crossed the line into “too money grubbing to justify” for me. I understand drops for this year and last year, there’s a pandemic – I can understand. But 2022? While ticket prices only increase? And you’re trying to get me to purchase 50th anniversary merch and experiences? No.
When people touted off-site hotels as being cheaper than staying on site, I always argued that if you flew into Orlando, the money saved on using Magical Express over renting a car made up the cost. I always compared a stay at a Disney resort to a place like Beaches or Sandals where everything’s done for you. No picking luggage up from baggage claim, no checking it in at the airport and no renting a car & trying to maneuver unfamiliar territory to get to Disney. Now there’s no reason to stay on site, especially now that Disney charges for parking at the resorts, upping the cost even more.
On the bright side, at least it’s not starting until 2022. I went into a panic when I saw the headline. We’re going to Disney in May & had planned on using the Magic Express. I didn’t have the cost of a rental car in the budget & have already paid for the DVC rental (which is nonrefundable) and airline tickets. So that was a big WHEW!
Sad to say, but I think this will be our last visit to Disney & only because it’s already paid for. If I have to rent a car, we’ll go to Universal Studios next year.
Out of all the trips I’ve made to Disney, I had ONE trip that I got up multiple days (not all of them) to rope drop and that was this past September because there were no fast passes and I knew it was the only way to get my family on all the rides they wanted to do with the reduced park hours. Even then, it was difficult for us to get out the door in time. Who wants to wake up early and be on a schedule on their vacation?! This is a huge hit for late-nighters who like to sleep in and stay at the park (or go to other evening entertainment LIKE YEHAA BOB, JELLYROLLS AND ALL THE OTHER ENTERTAINERS THEY FIRED). I also loved being able to get off the plane, skip picking up my luggage and just meandering over to the Magical Express. So hassle-free. Disney is making things less and less like a vacation and more like a rat race. I really hope some of the “magic” starts coming back soon because I am more turned off to Disney by every move they’ve made lately.
Hmmm…. strange to see Disney cutting what I would think is a money maker for them. I can’t tell you the number of times I have thoughts about doing a split trip with Universal and decided to just stick with WDW because it is easier to just go and be “in the bubble”. Guess 2022 we’ll need to rent an SUV (too many kids for uber/lyft), so that’ll probably be the year we split our trip to Universal. Disney’s loss.
We also were considering becoming DVC members this year. Now looking less and less likely–if they don’t return the dining plan and APs soon we’d lose out on those benefits, and having to rent a car really adds to the cost of the annual trips we’d be locked in on taking if we were DVC members.
Not smart, Disney.
I have more positive feelings about the EMH change. We actually always avoided EMH days even though we stay onsite because we find they make that park more crowded throughout the day and we don’t buy park hoppers. This way, we’ll actually be able to make use of the benefit, even though it is shorter. On the other hand, it will make it harder to predict what day of the week will be the least/most crowded at each park.