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…
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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!
I love the Magical Express! We waited 45 minutes to board last month but that was due to Covid social distancing. There were hundreds of people in the queues. Can you imagine if all of those people were waiting for individual car services? I also am glad to see the hiatus of FastPass. It drove up the standby wait times and I hated having to plan my rides so far in advance. Maybe issuing a 3 ride per day FP that you could use on any ride at any time would b better. We have been given those before and they were great.
I’ve decided that I won’t go until at least 2023, when the train is supposed to be done. Then I’ll take the train from MCO to Disney Springs, then Uber to hotel. I like that idea better than the ME because I love trains, and I don’t like the ME that much because of so much waiting around.
DME was the reason I stayed on site in an over priced room. I will not book on site anymore because it is definitely not worth the extra money with elimination of the “perks”.
Sooo Tom….did you think this news would stir all this up?
You guys should check out Jen Lefforge’s latest post/YT vid on this – she has a car service she has used for years which does the same luggage off the belts to the bell services at your resort service. Of course it isn’t free, but there are budgetary trade offs that can usually be made.
I got to thinking, why can’t Disney charge a fee for the DME, like $5 a person, and also limit the schedule of the DME to 90% of the flights, during the most busy hours? It will still be worth it for the guests (cheaper than Uber), but there can be enough money so that neither Disney nor Mears is losing. Like the magic band, which isn’t free anymore. Instead of axing the DME completely.
I was thinking something similar. Disney should have charged a fee from the beginning, but if you purchase XYZ, you got free or extremely discounted transportation. Or all kids under ten on DME were free. That as time went by they could adjust the rate guests paid. Like one child free for each paid adult or under age of three free. But they didn’t.
Actually I’d be furious if they tried to start charging for ME (and I think a lot of other people would be too based on these comments). The issue for most is that we already DO pay for it by paying extra to stay on-site. Disney doesn’t pay out of pocket for the perks they offer, they add them to your room or DVC rates. They didn’t announce on-site rooms rates were dropping when they said ME and EMH were going away, so no way am I paying sky high prices for an on-site room that should include perks then pay additional money for those perks. The question for my family (and most of the other commenters on here) isn’t will we ever go back again, but will we stay on-site. Sadly on-site isn’t looking great anymore… 🙁
@Nicki
I absolutely agree. We know the transportation wasn’t *actually* free. It’s obviously built into the already high prices we are willingly paying for everything else on site and the ultra convenience it afforded us with travel planning/luggage/navigation etc.
And of course, if we are losing the “free” ME, are we going to see a commensurate DEcrease in room rates or park tickets to adjust for the fact that we are no longer being charged hidden fees to cover the upkeep, maintenance, insurance, cleaning, and drivers (or contract with Meers) for the buses? Or the luggage handling? Or the airline check-in desk + staff on site at the resorts? Hmm, yeah, probably not.
I always thought it was such a win for Disney to have that transport, and then everyone is sort of a captive audience. We are already on site, we’re definitely going to eat and shop on site. If we all have to rent cars or Uber everywhere, (aside from logistical and cost considerations of this)
it not only will clog up the already busy traffic scene, it will cause many of us to look for cheaper places to stay, shop, and eat. Very shortsighted, unless they have some new and exciting option on the horizon. But let’s not stand on one foot waiting…
Everyone is getting into a huge lather about Disney ending their partnership with Mears transportation. The powers that be at WDW are fully aware of the fact that DME is considered a huge perk by guests that fly in. As I said in a previous post, I wouldn’t be surprised that in the very near future an announcement will be made about their new DME service that will be run in house by Disney Transportation. They already have the infrastructure to support it. They just need to add a small fleet of cruiser coaches to their already extensive transportation fleet. They probably can also probably do it for less than using an outside contractor.
It just seems strange to me that they would announce the ending of DME without having something in it’s place already. Or at least convey to us that something is “in the works” for replacement. Like a “stay tuned for a big announcement about new transportation options later this year” type of statement. Instead it was something along the lines of “we discontinued this service because we know a lot of people use lyft, uber and other transport”.
I am sure they will have a solution. The announcement perhaps can’t be made immediately due to a contract clause or some such with Mears.
In the meantime we travel from Canada and have moved a fair bit so from BC, ON, NL and now from AB. It’s often a few flights to get there so it never feels much like the vacation has started when we are entertaining three gals for a long travel day. Whatever the transport ends up being at the end will be just fine. We travel with carry on bags only for a few years now (not just to Disney, but anywhere we travel) and that has been a big win for us.
I get the car seat/infant seat thing, that was a big perk for us when our kids were still in seats, but Orlando is a huge destination for families, I think we can rest assured there will be an easy solve for that coming up.
We just can’t wait to be able to get back down there!
Being able to check my bags at the airport and not see them again until we arrived at our hotel room is one of the big reasons that I saw value in staying on site. I surely hope that Disney will replace this service with something similar that will offer this option.
Interesting that the original article about this on Disney Parks Blog is no longer on their feed or listed on the news page…I was able to locate it by searching “Magical Express” but even then it was far down the list.
This is funny to read these laments. So you are going to let $80 (two $40 round trip Uber rides) deter you from going to Disney World? I doubt it. Magical Express stinks…it’s not magical, it’s Mears! Take forever to load and leave the airport, check; miss our resort drop off, check; require too much time for the return trip, check. Uber is timely and takes you right to your resort…done.
Extra magical hours was a pain since it artificially inflated crowds that day. I agree the mornings were nice but now you can go to ANY park and have a head start. That simplifies planning.
I just want Fast Pass back. If that is a permanent removal then navigating the parks during busy seasons will be very hard.
It’s not just about $80… it’s way more than that.
First, for my family I highly doubt $40 each way would cover it anyway. We have 6 people with 6 carry ons a d at least 4-5 big suitcases. You can’t fit all that in a car that charges $40.
For parents traveling with little ones- they will now have to lug a car seat, rent one (again more money) or wait for a ride that has them.
It’s also extremely convenient and part of the magic to not have to deal with luggage, it was delivered to the bus and then to your room. We had everything we’d need for the arrival and next day in our carry ons so if our bags were late we were ok!
It’s about the fact that Disney is taking away ANOTHER “perk” of staying on sight but continue to increase prices. They want us to pay all the while we aren’t getting more , not even getting the same for the extra money. No, we are getting less for more money!
People pay for convenience. DME was easy and convenient. No thinking- no planning, built in to the cost of the resort/ reservation.
People don’t go to Disney for the value, they certainly don’t stay on sight for the value (ha!), they are willing to pay extra for the ease, convenience, experience and perks. Taking all these perks away there is no incentive to stay on sight.
So while you may think people are upset over $80, I assure you, it’s about way more than $80. I’ll be staying off sight in 2022 and probably staying a few extra days to hit Universal and will likely still save a ton of money.
We actively planned around extra magic hours. Which park has them? Don’t go there that day haha. We never viewed EMH as a perk. Half hour early open? I am optimistic that could be a winner.
I agree…..loss of ME will absolutely affect my decisions on future visits, but I’m just as upset about the loss of EMH. 30 minutes in the morning is nothing. 1, 2, even sometimes 3 hours in the evening was what made EMH such a great benefit on staying on site and really made the obscene prices worth it.
It’s not the $80 and Uber won’t be quick anymore when the thousands of people who previously rode the ME all want one. I’m not traveling with children, but for those who are, a large family with small children can’t be accommodated by Uber.
Good points. I got rather tired of sitting in the bus for 30+ minutes waiting until they got enough people to leave. On the other hand, I liked the idea that your Disney experience starts as soon as you get off the plane.
It’s a mixed bag. Especially on the way back where you have to schedule your return hours before it really is necessary to get to the airport.
It’s not about $80. For example, I don’t go to Disneyland because there’s no DME there. When I did go, I chartered a car ($100 one way), which required much less waiting, but the kids complained because it wasn’t magical. I get what you are saying, though. I don’t like it that much, but it is the Disney experience and I don’t have to think.
Commented earlier on the ending of ME transportation which absolutely will affect my decision to book another on-site stay past 2021. I am surprised though, that more people aren’t upset about the other major cut-no extra magic hours other than 30 extra minutes in the morning. Remember when it was an hour? Or a couple hours past park closing in the evening? I feel like I am missing something here because I just don’t get how only an extra 30 mins in the morning is something to promote as a major perk to staying in-site.
I agree…..loss of ME will absolutely affect my decisions on future visits, but I’m just as upset about the loss of EMH. 30 minutes in the morning is nothing. 1, 2, even sometimes 3 hours in the evening was what made EMH such a great benefit on staying on site and really made the obscene prices worth it.
I’ve been writing Disney everyday. EMH especially evening ones are great for lazy resort day and then fun at the parks at night.
This is disappointing, we love starting vacation as soon as we drop our luggage at the airport and seeing it arrive stress free in our room. The fast pass and dining plans are a real problem for us. We go to Disney to get swept up in the magic but if it’s going to be a hassle maybe we will discuss other options for vacation. I hope they fix this soon.
I do not think this is a good idear. The Disney Magical express made it so easy but now gonna have to find another way to get to resort with kids i dont like it at all
This is a horrible idea. If I have to pay for a rental car I am not staying on property. End of story.
The whole reason staying on-site is the perk of the DME. If I have to rent car or uber, I’ll stay somewhere much cheaper and likely won’t visit as much.
@Sasha, I’ve had some off-site stays in spacious, well-appointed rental properties that had superior theming to on-site rooms, at 1/3 the price of deluxe resorts. One of the biggest sticking points for people when we debate the on vs off site experience is that people feel like the price of a rental car and parking balances out the upcharge to stay onsite. It’s insane to me that Disney hasn’t factored this in – they are now making guests renting a car pay for onsite parking AND charging inflated room charges. Then again, by removing an offsite guest’s ability to rope drop, they’ve guaranteed major disadvantages to offsite guests, not to mention local AP holders. I can’t imagine the demographic that feels pleased by these changes.
My first Disney experience was 60 years ago at Disneyland. And since then I’ve visited a Disney park several times, for my honeymoon, child’s birthday, graduation, grandchild’s birthday, and just for fun, even purchasing DVC contracts and annual passes. The price was high, but the experience worth it. Disney always added things to make us feel special. Magical Express was a God sent. Coming from Hawaii and not worrying about my family’s luggage and strollers was a giant stress relief. My vacation started at the Honolulu airport when I said goodbye to bags, knowing the next time I would see them would be in my Disney resort room almost 5,000 miles away.
As with my family, Disney is a generational experience, spanning decades and millions of smiles. With the gradual reduction of Disney experiences, Disney is quickly becoming a one-and-done travel destination. With the latest announcement of the stopping of Magical Express and the reduced Extra Magic Hours, I find myself looking at other vacation spots fo the first time in decades.
I miss my Disney experience. A question for corporate — how much income is generated with an empty resort room?
Sadly, this is probably actually a deal breaker for us. We’ve been traveling to WDW almost yearly with and without kids since 2007, and now that we are empty nesters, we always stay at the resorts and visit the parks as bookends for our yearly Disney cruise. An enormous part of the magic of these trips, for me as the mom/planner, was the fact that our vacation started the minute we buckled our seatbelts on the plane at our home airport on the way to Orlando. We knew our luggage would end up in our room when we arrived, and there would be a bus waiting to navigate us through crazy Orlando traffic to the resort.
There is NO WAY I’m going to plan a stay again, if it means we have to get off the plane in Orlando, go find our luggage, drag it all out curbside, then find and pay for some new train service, which will dump us off at Disney Springs, with all of our bags to drag around to THEN find a bus to our resort. Even an Uber (which would work, as there’s just two of us, although a week-long cruise + 4-5 days at the parks means a LOT of luggage), still means we’re dragging our luggage all thru the resort and to our room on arrival, after a long day of traveling. Not impossible but definitely #lessmagical
We travel from the West coast, so this all sounds like a big NO THANK YOU. I can’t even imagine the hassle it would be for a large group, with kids, traveling from international locations!!
We will probably go back to cruising eventually with them, but I guess I can skip the whole WDW resort stay now, (why bother??) Instead maybe we’ll just cruise out of Galveston or Miami now instead, and just get a hotel near the port. Disappointing doesn’t begin to describe this.
Regardless of their justification for this, and regardless of what they offer in place of it, they’re going to see (like this thread) MANY fans spending their hard-earned money where it will make more sense, elsewhere.
NOT A MAGICAL IDEA WDW. byeee
Does Disneyland Resort offer free transportation from the airport to the resort?
DebC, no Disneyland does not, but they also have not been billing free transportation as a reason to pay the extra money to stay onsite. I think that is the biggest issue most people have. Extra Magic Hours, Magical Express, early fast pass booking windows, etc are all the reasons people are willing to pay more for Pop Century (for example) than a nicer and cheaper offsite hotel. Without those extras it definitely begs the question of why not stay offsite and save some money? You get to see the same parks either way. I know that’s where I’m at. I’ve never even bothered to price out offsite hotels because we love nighttime extra magic hours, love booking fast pass as early as possible, and love magical express. So sad… 🙁
The problem with finding a bus to your resort at Disney Springs is that those buses aren’t the ones for luggage. Magical Express buses have a cargo area under the seating of the bus. I don’t believe the buses that take you to your resort from parks and back have any storage area for luggage. So using that train to get to Disney Springs (when it’s finished in 2-3 years) isn’t an ideal option because of the wrong type of buses that are there. The Magical Express buses are owned (I believe) by Mears so Disney would have to invest in the correct type of buses and if they are willing to do that why don’t they just use said buses at the airport and bypass the train to Disney Springs idea.
I agree completely. We have traveled as a couple and with family (and kids) pretty regularly since 1995. In 2019 finally decided to buy DVC – bad idea! – and have our next WDW vaca for 8 days/7 nights in April. Yes, there will still be ME and we will be using it. I’ve already planned out the next few years based losing ME to NOT use our points for WDW. We will go to Vero Beach, Hilton Head and at some point Aulani, but not back to WDW until execs bring back anything magical, because now there’s nothing magical left.
As a tour planner for groups, the loss of the Magical Express will be another good sell for staying off property. Since we can’t buy Disney group tickets right now anyway, Universal Studios is continuing to rise in requests, and Disney may be losing visitors long-term.
Great info. Thanks
Having every Park open 30 minutes early for on-site guess means that off-site gets will never be at rope drop.
Yes, they are devious these WDW execs. And a half hour is a joke–maybe one ride or two. Far cry from the way Walt intended and Roy tried to keep.
This is too bad. It’s great PR for Disney as you are immediately “immersed” into the Disney experience as soon as you leave the terminal.
It’s also a bit of a money saver. We took a cab to the Swan and Dolphin (I know–not on Disney Express as it is not a ‘resort hotel.) and it cost $73 before tip to the less-than-friendly non-Disney cab driver.
On the way back we took Uber and the experience as great. It was much cheaper than the cab, and the driver was very friendly and knowledgeable about the new infrastructure being built in and around Orlando—including all of the international flights that will be coming in once the airport expansion is completed.
I have NEVER had a bad experience with Uber anywhere I have taken it in the United States. I would take it over a regular taxi any day.
Oh my Goodness! What is next. The Magic is disappointing. Not to lament but we have been seeing “this change” for a while now. Being more expensive is one thing. Continuing to remove the Magic is another. Where is the balance? The Magical Express and The Dining Plan and EMH are reasons we love Disney. Thats why we are DVC members. Where is the balance? Take away the extras, update the resorts to just begin Vanilla like other resorts or even just other Hotels not Disney, you have to ask yourself why? What would the Disney Family do? I speculate here, but NOT what current leadership is doing to the Brand! Backlash from the guests are expected in customer service industry. But when you deliberately take away what we are paying extra for…. they are not listening. If they are,, it shows its corporate and they really don’t care.. It’s not worth it.
Thank you Tom and your wife!