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!
This announcement has to be one of Disney’s worst decisions especially right now. Many people choose to stay on-site, not to mention pay more for a Disney hotel, for the various perks. Little by little these perks have been disappearing. Extra magic hours used to be exclusive to Disney hotel guests only, but that has changed due to contracts with outside hotels. Also, those hours have started to diminish over the years bc of special events which cost extra. Dining and FP+ reservations were another perk exclusive to Disney resort guests. That perk has also changed over the years bc of deals with other hotels including the number of days out. Now this. The ME started the magic for guests staying on property. Your bags “magically” appeared in your room. If you had children and strollers to manage, not worrying about your luggage was amazing for struggling parents. Taking yet another perk away, especially during this time when some people are nervous about traveling but trust that Disney is different just says that maybe the people in charge are not so different than other big corporations. Is this truly the message Disney wants to send to their customers? Is their bottom line more important than their guests? We’re all adults here. We know that Disney is a business and it’s in it to make money but these decisions to take away these perks one-by-one will cost Disney’s bottom line in different ways. Maybe there’s more to this and Disney will offer a different option but this announcement is extremely disappointing. On other pages I’ve seen comments about the train. My take, it won’t be completed until 2023, if it stays on time, and the stop is at DS which means getting your luggage, getting on a train after a flight, only to get on what to get to your hotel? A bus, taxi, uber. No article about the train has stated Disney will have buses at this hub. If that is their plan then Disney’s PR clearly dropped the ball. For me, I pack light and our kids are old enough to do the same, but I feel really bad for families with small children or people with special needs who have come to rely on this perk over the past 15 years. I still love Disney but I am disappointed. The 30 mins early thing is a joke especially since it includes other hotels beside Disney’s.
When we began to vacation at WDW in 2007, stock for DIS was around $20 a share. Now it’s at $171. I think it’s obvious that the corporate executives own stock and they want to retire rich. I am fine with increasing wealth for stockholders, however, the product is being watered down and becoming a “deluxe bologna sandwich offered at steak” prices. With each new attraction, comes about a million more people and headaches. When people pay thousands of dollars to stay on property and travel hundreds if not thousands of miles, that money and customer loyalty should be rewarded. They’d better pay attention because Gen Z is not brand loyal and may just throw their money at the planned Super Mario World based theme park at Universal when they become a driving force in the economy in the next ten years. Disney may think they are too big to fail.
I usually go to WDW 4 times a year from Chicago for about a week each visit. The DME was a fantastic benefit and when deciding if staying on premise or going to one of the off premise hotels (I’m also a Hilton member) having the DME to get me back and forth carried weight in my decisions of where I would stay, usually I ended up at a Disney resort. If I have to rent a car I won’t be staying at a Disney resort anymore. And taking away extra Magic Hours, there won’t be any benefits to staying on premise versus an off premise hotel anymore.
Although I understand people’s anger and I never use Uber/Lyft, we have skipped DME on our trips because we love convenience of rental car, DME is time consuming, and we never utilized luggage delivery since we need access the luggage prior to visiting the parks. Hopefully Disney finds an adequate replacement for DME.
I like the daily early AM open for resort guests since we are rope drop people but wish it was more than half hour. I love how WDW did the 1-3 hour early opening at all the parks when Star Wars land first opened in 2019. Also I like Disneyland did the 1 hour opening most days of the week for resort guests. I didn’t like the one day a week EMH Morning because that particular park was very crowded.
I have been going since I was five.. Always remember the parks would close at eleven at night and you could still ride the rides until midnight. No one ever kicked you out.. But for years now.. As soon as the park time closed… That’s it.. I’ve seen dozens of changes over the years and none of them are good. The top ones… Every ticket you bought was a park hopper for no extra charge… Tickets never expired… There was no time limit when you had to use unused day..
This is horrible! Ride share services in FL do not have car seats and do not let you install them. This now means my family needs to Rent a car, and the cost of the car seat, drop it off all the way at the Swan and Dolphin and then take Disney on site transportation all the way back to our home resort of Saratoga Springs. This is absolutely an abomination and I am incredibly upset.
It wasn’t about the free transportation I loved it because the pure convenience. Getting to the hotel and back was easy and a hassle I didn’t have to worry about.
Tom, in a really messed up world where there was one insurrection last week and there may be ones in every state next week… I am SO GLAD that this blog exists.
I used Magical Express once and it was amazing even for just my husband and I, and I can definitely see how it’s even more valuable for anyone with special needs (single parent, car-seat or wheelchair using participants). So I really understand the frustration of people posting, and I do hope it’s just a case of contract games and Disney will come up with a suitable alternative.
But just like sports are a healthy way to channel a sense of local identity and rivalry, seeing and feeling this comparatively privileged stress about a vacation wonderland being more difficult? It feels like a way to channel current anxieties, but in a more contained environment. So thank you, commenters, also.
I suspected this would push people more toward Universal but they don’t offer free transportation either! Their tickets are just as expensive, food is mediocre and there are only 2 parks. They don’t charge $1000/night for some of their resorts either though…Everything in between the 2 parks is exorbitant but we’ve been wiling to pay it for all these years. Now, they know we’ll complain but still go. And I think international travelers now travel there so much-and not on tight budgets-that Disney won’t care much about American disdain. I think Walt would be appalled at many of these changes
You are Disney with a contract with Mears. During Covid airline traffic is greatly diminished, an understatement. I can envision Disney trying to renegotiate with Mears and Mears trying to survive playing hardball. Disney says goodbye to Mears. Coming from a neighboring state within driving distance I was oblivious to the ME and the import of it has for so many. I have seen this news story of discontinuing ME on several of the business sites today. More bad press for Disney and as so many people on this blog have aptly expressed their displeasure with diminishing returns for the same or higher prices. I would like to put my faith in Disney that this is temporary and either Mears will return or a similar transportation service will emerge.
I really love the Magical Express service. It never feels right to lose a service without a commensurate reduction in cost. This is one less opportunity to have a “magical day.” I’ll keep watching to see what they come up with to replace the service, but recommending Uber and Lyft hardly satisfies.
Timely article on DME. We arrived at the airport on Monday 1/11 at 12:30 and headed to the Magic Express ready to start our week. We were greeted by a line that stretched past all the car rental counters, practically to the escalators. I walked to the front of the line to see what was going on, and there was one guy and it looked like his first day. The line was going to take at least an hour. We called an Uber which arrived within 10 minutes. I’ll be curious how the return trip will be or if we can even get it since we didn’t use it.
To answer your final remark, YES, you can ride DME back to MCO at the end of your trip whether or not you used it to get to WDW. The return trip will be different, since you’ll be assigned to a specific MCO-bound bus; there aren’t any lines to wait in.
So WDW opened around 1971. They didn’t start DME until 2005. So for 34 years they didn’t have it. Now they have had it for 15 years. I don’t understand all the fuss. Before they started it, if you flew, you had to get to WDW either by cab, by a Mears bus or by a limo service. If you fly into Sanford Airport, you have to use a cab, rideshare, limo or bus.
While I understand what you are saying, those 34 years Disney wasn’t charging the astronomical prices they charge now for hotels, tickets and parking. Nor did they charge for parking as they do now.
All the fuss is because Disney continues to take away perks all the while increasing what they charge. People don’t appreciate getting charged more and getting less.
I have to agree with Susan. Yes there were many years without it, but also many years we weren’t already paying for it. ME is NOT free. It’s built into the cost of the onsite resorts as all of the perks are. So now we’re paying crazy high prices for… what? They didn’t mention dropping hotel rates to cover the fact that we are losing ME and the very valuable for my family, nighttime EMH. So then it begs the questions, why stay onsite?? I am a huge onsite fan. The closest I’ve ever come to staying offsite was the Swan hotel over 20 years ago and I’m not sure that even counts 😉 I started looking at offsite hotels last night and it was very eye opening! For less than the cost of Pop I could get an entire 2 bedroom condo with 1 king bed and 2 double beds thus eliminating listening to my kids argue about sharing a bed! I haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet but I’m pretty darn close! The things holding me back are advanced fastpass reservations. If fast passes return, I need the onsite advantage. I hope everyone who is upset has emailed Disney!
They didn’t charge for parking before and now they do. Either way you are spending more $$$ for Uber/Lyft or rent a car for probably same round trip cost but pay per day to park. I’m very disappointed in the changes enacted as we start to emerge from Covid.
Good point!
I remember using the bus service when I went to Disney in March 2000. I did a 7 day cruise/parks package. Did something new take over in 2005?
I have to agree with Susan also. My daughter and I went many times in the 90’s. We usually took a Mears limo for $75 Round Trip (have a saved ticket). But the prices for resorts were actually reasonable, and the crowds must have been 60-80% smaller. I have pictures of my daughter walking on Main Street to Cinderella’s Castle with no other guests in the picture. I have tons of pictures of my daughter getting character autographs and hugs from the characters as well – with no line and no one else in the pictures. And the Extra Magic Hours were awesome- before the parks became overcrowded on a regular basis, even during “slow” times . We would go to the EMH park and run through a bunch of attractions then leave and go to another park. With current astronomical prices, crazy crowds even in slow times and no EMHs, it is a totally different experience- and not in a good way. Having to pay for and arrange transportation to and from MCO just makes it less magical and less likely I will take my grandson. I went for the last week of January 2020 and could not believe the constant crowds at all of the parks. I love Disney World, but between the prices, the crowds and now cutting out DME, any future experience would certainly have me longing for the past. I may have to get by with my many photo albums from those awesome trips in the past.
Well this isn’t really a surprise to me. I’ve long wondered why they had Mears running the service in the first place. I know they’ve been using them as overflow for when they need extra buses, but Disney should’ve been running the DME in-house. It’s like leasing a car, sounds good up front until you realize it’s a terrible deal.
It’s going to be a blow to families with kids, especially those needing car seats as others have said. And then the luggage deal, which is the biggest one for me. I detest waiting at luggage claim pretty much anywhere. But on a trip to WDW where you could just go straight to a park it was great. We have DME for next week, but since you still have to claim and handle your own bags due to the coviphobia, it might be faster to just take Uber. We’ve done that several times going back to the airport to avoid the absurd 3.5 hour early pickup times they insist on.
I am not now, never have been, and never will be a morning person in any way. I’d much, much rather have parks open until midnight. I’ve read on several Farcebuch groups that they are already allowing resort guests in a half hour early in alignment with the announcement. We will see. With all the psycho crazy going on right now, I am just glad that there still is a WDW and the parks are open at all!
“…but since you still have to claim and handle your own bags due to the coviphobia…”
It’s covid-related, but it’s not a “coviphobia” thing. The company that handled luggage for Disney went out of business due to the pandemic.
Getting rid of Magical Express may mean I never go back to Disney which for me is sad. I will not take Uber or Lyft. Safety issues.
We’ve never had an issue with them at all. It’s about $65 from Zimmerman International in Sanford or $50 from MCO. From hotels to parks is around $7+/-. Rental cars have gotten more expensive the last few years and now with parking fees, rideshare is still cheaper unless you want to go to KSC or the beach, etc.
I agree with Debbie. We have been going to WDW for years, sometimes twice a year and our two daughters and their families went with us also. If they do away with the Magical Express, we will NOT be going back to WDW. This was very convenient with families having children. Who wants to carry their luggage all over the place when you have little ones? And we will definitely NOT be using Uber or Lyft. We have heard too many horror stories. Our family traveled together and we loved what the Magical Bus had to offer – all of us riding together and not having to hassle with our luggage. Over the past couple of years, WDW has continued to raise their prices; they have more than doubled their prices. Why should we pay more when they are cutting these services? We have a lot of wonderful WDW memories, but with a lot of things changing at WDW, I think it is time to find another place to make wonderful family memories.
So why bother staying on site if the extra perks keep getting canceled? I prefer to stay on site and even though I’ve done the rental car thing, I really don’t want to drive around Orlando if I can help it. And it’s more added stress to retrieve your luggage and then find a way to your resort.
The (previously) loyal Disney fans have spoken! We’re ready to move on. I haven’t actually read your Universal reports in the past, but that’s about to change – we’re gonna need all the insight we can get!
I have only been to WDW twice, once with children, and once without. The time I went without kids I just winged it. The time I went with kids, I planned it very carefully. The planning portion was brutal (ie, trying to get reservations for fast passes and dining spots took more overall time then I care to admit). I don’t know what their new FastPass program will look like, but the advance ability to make Fastpass reservations before the rest of the public is the one thing I wish I had chosen a Disney hotel for. By the time I was able to make Fastpass reservations, they were all gone for the most popular rides. If I were to go again, I would stay in a Disney hotel if that would still give me priority booking for fastpasses. If their new program takes that away, I would have no reason to stay at a Disney hotel. I usually rent a car when I go because I also like to visit Universal, Gatorland, and Cape Canaveral, so the loss of the shuttle isn’t important to me. But I hope they don’ t mess with the advance Fastpass booking for hotel residents or I am out.
Wow Tom,
I read all the comments in every one of your blogs because they are always instructive.
Who thought in the new year you’d find something that would get huge responses like you did with the mask controversy. This time however everyone is in agreement. WDW has united Disney-Americans. Everyone sees how foolish this ME announcement is whether they use it or not and have little regard for the 30 minute EM1/2H.
Whatever connections you have I hope you can get someone at the top to read these.
I went to Universal last year over Disney due to them offering far better ticket and hotel deals. I was surprised at how much Universal had improved over the years, and began thinking of how many advantages Disney really had over them anymore. One of the biggest benefits I could think of (aside from more parks) was the free airport shuttle. Now that that’s gone, I see less reason to choose Disney, and I especially don’t see much reason to shell out the ludicrous rates for an on-site hotel.
It’s sad. I love Disney World, but I really hate the direction it’s going. Every year it gets harder to justify the price.
This is were we are at also. Universal has more bang for the buck. We agree, Universal’s quality as increased substantially over recent years.
This is the first time I ever really considered going to Universal. I’m on their email list and I am always amazed at the price difference for their resorts vs. Disney’s. Now that I’ll have to rent a car to get around, I’m thinking our next family vacation will be a split between Universal and Disney, so half my money will be going elsewhere. Bad move on Disney’s part.
over the years my family and i have traveled to WDW on a yearly basis and we have used the Magical express service every time because of the convenience and it made our trips more magic if you will, we enjoyed every trip, with these changes it will feel a little different, we will have to see other alternatives as far as staying there, it might save us some money although it won’t feel the same , i understand is a business decision on the Disney part, they are trying to cut some corners to save money , the Magical Express was a fantastic service and made our trips very enjoyable
Yet another disappointing Disney decision. I’m afraid that those of us with fond memories of yesteryear will have to accept Disney’s philosophy that guests’ experiences are not top priority or spend our travel dollars elsewhere. I justify spending an exorbitant amount to stay in a deluxe resort because of the convenience. The ability to forget about work and unwind the minute you settle in on a plan is such a treat. Traveling with small children, carseats and luggage is quite a hassle. Often times we choose Disney over other destinations because we do not have to haul carseats and rent a vehicle. Going forward it will be much more difficult to choose Disney over other amazing destinations. As I write this I am truly stunned at this decision. It may seem inconsequential to take Lyft or Uber, but it is a game changer when bringing carseats.
Tom, thank you for all of your posts. Your writing and sense of humor brings a bit of happiness to my day – even when it’s not a good update. I would love to listen on my commute to you and Sarah on a podcast, if the spirit ever moves you. Thbank you!
All I can say is very disappointing ! Disney is a place my family and I go because of the magic and convenience of all their offerings, including Magical Express. There prices on everything through the years have become astronomical and have eliminated many middle class families from being able to enjoy a Disney vacation. I thought a Disney vacation was geared towards families. It seems to me they’re moving away from making everyone welcome to only welcoming the rich. With all the cuts they’ve already made I’m thinking Disney isn’t worth the money any longer. Let’s face it when the parks are back to full capacity and the prices most likely go up due to demand is it really worth it ?