Disney World News: Magical Express Update, Crowds Crash & Construction
We’re back with another Walt Disney World news round-up! This covers a few stories, including the latest on winter crowds and construction progress in the parks. Additionally, we revisit the big story of the week, the ending of Disney’s Magical Express, with additional details as we try to make sense of that.
Let’s start with some good news: crowds crashed and wait times plummeted at Walt Disney World this week. This is something we predicted would happen in our Will Crowds Keep Skyrocketing at Walt Disney World in 2021?, but after the first week of 2021, we were starting to get nervous with our forecast.
Thankfully, it now seems like the first week was a temporary blip. The elevated early January 2021 crowds were likely a matter of holiday holdovers, Osceola and Orange County schools still being out of session, and probably some runDisney regulars who didn’t cancel trips even though the Marathon went virtual.
This past week, average daily per park wait times at Walt Disney World ranged from 14 minutes to 33 minutes. To put those numbers into context, those are the lowest levels we’ve seen since last August. Some days in the middle of the week were actually more on par with last July, when there were ‘ghost town’ days in the parks with minimal crowds and wait times.
Wait times did pick up on Friday, and will certainly be up again this weekend and early next due to the long holiday weekend. As we’ve stated repeatedly, the next 2-3 months will probably be the biggest sweet spot this year to visit. There could be good dates beyond that, but the remainder of the year is way less predictable due to myriad unknowns. Consult our January 2021 Crowd Calendar, February 2021 Crowd Calendar, and March 2021 Crowd Calendar for specific best and worst dates to visit Walt Disney World.
Even if capacity has been increased from 35% to 40% (as rumored), there’s no way three of the parks are coming anywhere near that number. As always, Disney’s Hollywood Studios remains the wildcard since its normal capacity is so low, but the good news there is that several rides have become more efficient. This includes Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which has been performing significantly better of late, with one less extended downtime per day on average.
We were “only” in the parks one day this week, but it was noticeably less busy as compared to the previous week. We plan on doing a brief visit to Magic Kingdom next week, but otherwise are dramatically cutting back our park time in the coming weeks. Totally a matter of personal risk tolerance, but with the new strain variants plus the latest Florida surge, our prior risk assessments are now unreliable. That coupled with being (hopefully) in the home stretch before getting vaccinated makes us less inclined to chance it.
While at EPCOT this week, we did spot some construction progress.
Above you can see crews actively working inside the old Electric Umbrella building. This half of the structure is a bit behind MouseGear, pictured below:
At MouseGear, construction teams are in the process of installing floor-to-ceiling windows and re-enclosing the building.
The interior is still totally gutted, but this would seem to bode well for MouseGear hitting its target reopening of late 2021. It would be fantastic if a path through the center of Future World could reopen by the end of the year, but we’re not holding our breath.
Moving to World Showcase, the permanent gelato stand (“La Gelateria”) being built adjacent to the Italy pavilion is now visible over the construction walls there.
It’s a bit cold right now, but I will “begrudgingly” eat every single flavor whenever this dining spot opens. That’s how dedicated I am to this very important research.
The second of five floating platforms for Harmonious has been installed in World Showcase Lagoon, as testing continues on the other dystopian war barge for the upcoming nighttime spectacular.
Jokes about the Waterworld-inspired post-apocalyptic ramshackle floating community aside, we’re taking a wait and see approach on the daytime Harmonious sight-lines. It looks bad now, but these will all be fountains during the day once up and running, and that could add kinetic energy to this large expanse of the park. (I’m actually pretty optimistic that this will look good when all is said and done.)
The walls are down around the Streets of Paris expansion in the France pavilion, revealing a wait time sign outside the new area (smart move) and freshly-planted flowers. The latter is a curious move that seems to suggest something might be imminent.
However, we are skeptical. It’s just as likely that Walt Disney World wanted the area to be show-ready for filming promotional footage or PR photos. As we discuss in the latest update to our Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure Opening & Info post, the attraction is done and could debut literally whenever. It’s all about what’s most advantageous for Walt Disney World at this point.
Continuing along, we have an update on the bombshell news that Disney’s Magical Express is ending in 2022. There aren’t any significant developments in this story, but we want to offer some clarifications and context since that post is 475+ comments strong, with very little input from us.
First, as touched upon in the post, the Brightline train station at Disney Springs is not intended to be the replacement for Disney’s Magical Express. We’ve noticed that many commenters have pointed to the Orlando stretch of that being finished in 2022, which would make it the logical successor to DME.
That’s only partially accurate. While Brightline’s 170-mile expansion from West Palm Beach to Orlando International Airport is planned to be completed by sometime in late 2022, that does not include the Disney Springs station. The current segment has been under construction for years, and is roughly half completed. I know Walt Disney World fans love Big Thunder Mountain, but jumping off an actual runaway train probably is not safe.
As for when the Walt Disney World station will be completed, Brightline stated in its last ridership report that the company anticipates commencing service at the station at Disney Springs in the second half of 2023. The exact location of the Disney Springs Brightline station has not yet been revealed, and unless it’s in a super secret hidden spot, construction has not started on it either. Given all of that, late 2023 is an incredibly optimistic timeline, which is typical of transportation projects.
If Walt Disney World truly intended upon Brightline being the replacement and wanted continuity of airport transportation service, they could’ve negotiated a 2-year extension with Mears. Disney holds literally all of the cards there, so it probably wouldn’t have been too difficult.
Moreover, if Disney actually intended for the Brightline station to be heavily utilized, the company probably would’ve chosen the more logical location by the ESPN Wide World of Sports where the station could’ve been its own hub. The company picked the location near Disney Springs to utilize the existing bus network–it’s going to be difficult to serve regular day guests and any heavy volume of airport arrivals with luggage. As such, we think it’s highly unlikely that Brightline is the reason Walt Disney World is ending Magical Express.
Next, Mears Transportation, the operator of Disney’s Magical Express, issued the following statement to Spectrum News 13: “Walt Disney made us aware of their decision…While we are disappointed Disney will no longer offer this service, we intend to continue offering transportation services between the airport and all area theme parks and hotels to meet the demand of our visitors now and in the future.”
Mears was not notified of Walt Disney World ceasing the Magical Express service until the same morning as the general public, per reporter Carlye Wisel. The end date coincides with the expiration of the current contract between the parties.
In our previous post, we stressed not taking Walt Disney World’s press release and purported motivations at face value due to the strained relationship with, and future viability of, Mears Transportation. We also wouldn’t take the above statement from Mears at face value.
You might feel sympathetic to Mears if you’re assuming they were blindsided by this news, but that’s not necessarily the case. For all we know, Mears and Disney had contentious negotiations for months that went nowhere, but Disney didn’t notify the company of the final decision until the general public announcement to avoid leaks. I’ve seen enough of how Mears does business over the years to not give that company the benefit of the doubt or view them as a victim.
We’ve also noticed many commenters giving deference to Walt Disney World, suggesting the company has something else up its sleeve that’ll be announced at a later date. It’s entirely possible that a replacement will be announced later this year, but we suspect that’ll be due to decreased hotel bookings and a surge of guest complaints, not because it was part of the plan all along.
The minute this news broke, we knew this was going to be the controversy of the year among Walt Disney World planners (hence us likening it to the resort parking fee). There are times when we think Disney leadership is out of touch, but not that out of touch.
Disney knew exactly what kind of reaction this news would garner. If there were a replacement in the works, it would’ve been hinted in the original Disney Parks Blog announcement to diffuse the outrage. While some fans relish bad news and the chance to be outraged, many more bend over backwards to give Disney benefit of the doubt.
If something else were planned as of right now, Walt Disney World would’ve stated as much. The more deferential fans would’ve defended the decision, making it more of a split reaction. Instead, those who normally take a “wait and see” approach joined in the discontent.
There’s also the fact that Disney essentially said, “we’re getting rid of this because Uber is better–oh and we’re doing you a favor here with this cut!” That doesn’t leave a ton of room for interpretation that something new is planned.
Some have nevertheless defended the decision by pointing to Walt Disney World’s closure and subsequent lost revenue. For one, the Walt Disney Company is not teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy. Disney has tens of billions (yes, with a b) of dollars cash on hand. While the current circumstances of Walt Disney World and Disneyland are obviously not ideal and have necessitated cutbacks, let’s not overstate the bleakness.
More importantly, Disney’s Magical Express has always been a financial net positive for the company. Obviously, Disney pays money to Mears, but the cost is built into the prices of hotels. Guests view it as a valuable amenity or perk and it maintains a captive audience for Walt Disney World that won’t venture off-site to eat, buy groceries, supplies, or visit competing theme parks. Magical Express has been very valuable to Walt Disney World in the last 15 years.
Claiming this is a smart move because Magical Express cost money would be the equivalent of saying Magic Kingdom should shut down all of its rides because those cost money to operate. Literally everything at Walt Disney World costs money to operate, but you’ve gotta spend money to make money. The expense of Disney’s Magical Express likely paid for itself many times over indirectly, which is why this move is all the more perplexing.
Ultimately, that leaves us exactly where we were upon the announcement of this news: confused. This move is a lose-lose for both guests and Disney. (There are two big winners: struggling local small businesses and Universal; it’s highly unlikely that helping those parties is Disney’s motivation.) There’s no making sense of it. This could be a shortsighted move made with the tunnel vision of direct cost savings, but we don’t have that low of an opinion of Disney’s leadership. They make dubious decisions from time to time, but this would be next level. Which is why we hope/suspect there’s still another shoe to drop here.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve been in the parks the last week or so, have you noticed the significantly lower crowds? Think this trend will continue–minus holidays and weekends–through mid-March 2021? Input on construction progress at Walt Disney World? Have any commentary 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? 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 never thought I’d stay at universal but Cabana Bay is looking great now that I’ll have to rent a car. I was scouting dates and you could stay at Hilton Bonnet creek for about the same price as Pop in November for example. If I’m going to pay as much as they charge and not get any perks, I’d rather spend my money on a much nicer hotel. I think we need more updates to off property hotels now Tom!
Hi Tom,
I have to disagree with you in that shutting down the DME is not the same as, say, shutting down Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. For example, Disneyland has BTMR but not DME. DME (or any other Disney transportation) is just free transportation and not really park experience, and Disney might cut it at anytime to cut costs, especially during times when attendance is low and has to stay low because of covid. I really think people should prepare for Disney World to get rid of all internal transportation and rely on uber, to be more like Disneyland.
No offense, May, but proclaiming that Disney World is getting rid of all internal transport is unlikely at best and suicidal at most. Yes, Disneyland has no internal transport. That is because an able bodied adult can walk from literally one end of 1 park to the other end, to Downtown Disney in less than an hour. Getting rid of all the internal transport – buses, monorail, etc – is ASKING for horrible traffic and increased accidents, with a high likelihood of some pedestrian getting hit while trying to navigate Disney roadways.
Hi Tom, as you put it, “we’re getting rid of DME because Uber is better” is Disney’s stated reason for axing the DME. I just got to thinking, isn’t this reason applicable to not just the DME, but all Disney internal transportation: buses, boats, monorail, Skyliner? Shouldn’t we be preparing for Disney axing all their transportation services to save money and cut covid loses? I mean, why stop at the DME? The hotel bookings are low, which means buses are not full, and uber is better for social distancing than buses etc will ever be.
Will I go to WDW if there’s no Disney internal transporation? Um, yes. That’s been my approach to WDW: they do something crummy, I suck it up and make the most out of it.
Just my observations about the crowds since there’s been so much inconsistency since parkhopping returned. I was here Christmas week and now MLK weekend (horrible timing, I know, but we drive in from north Florida and have to take advantage of free days off work). We’re at Animal Kingdom today, and when we got here for park open this morning it was dead for about the first hour, even lower crowds than Christmas. Overall, though, once things crept up they never went back down, which is way different than during Christmas when we would just pick our favorites with two hours of park time left and practically walk on those repeatedly. Plus with the parks closing so early, people aren’t trickling out to go get dinner. Obviously this being a holiday weekend means the parks weren’t going to be a ghost town anyway, but it does seem like the whole those who arrive early and stay late will be rewarded strategy might now just be those who arrive early on weekends/holidays. Regardless, we got so much done at the beginning of the day that we still find it enjoyable.
Without the Magical Express, going to Disney World is MUCH less attractive. It just makes it so easy for our party of eight to get to and from our resort. I find it hard to believe Disney won’t replace it with an equivalent service. Why would they make it harder to get to their on-site hotels? Airport check-in when you depart is also a major convenience. We’ve been Vacation Club members since 2013, partly because membership gives us an “excuse” to go frequently. Without ME, we’ll be less inclined.
Until it starts impacting new DVC contract sales numbers (and I doubt most buyers give it that much thought), I doubt Disney really cares whether DVC members decrease visits. Sadly, we’re our own form of captive audience.
On Magical Express, I find myself thinking of the announcement a while back that Spider-man would be dropped from the MCU after “Far From Home”– which turned out to just be a brinksmanship move in the negotiations between Disney and Sony. Is Disney just trying to pressure Mears amid an intractable contract negotiation? I don’t know how likely that is, but since Disney has every reason to want to keep ME, the thought does occur.
I was at Magic Kingdom Tuesday (4 days ago), and it was busy, crowded, and wait times on a few rides were well over 33 minutes. Wednesday wasn’t as crowded but it was also colder. Maybe that was a factor.
Wednesday was even lower, but Tuesday still only averaged 23 minute waits in Magic Kingdom (peaking at 27 minutes at 2:30 pm) per the data.
Someone else mentioned Disney might be preparing the parks for sale. Although highly unlikely I could see it now with what is happening with California. I think Chapek wants to be in the hotel and streaming game, and the parks aren’t a priority as with worlwide travel and China being a major economic player now, these pandemics with probably come around every decade or so. The only major country with GDP growth in 2020 was China, could see them making a run at Disney Parks, and Iger/Chapek would for sure sell to get out of the headache like the ones suffered throughout 2020. Just speculation at best, and horrific to think about, but Iger being named ambassador to China would only increase Disney’s relationship with China and ease the process.
Same here. I had just looked up resorts the week before this announcement for early 2022. With a family of 6 and 6 carry ons and 4-5 suitcases, an Uber isn’t a good or cheaper option. If we have to rent a car and pay for parking it’s even more expensive. We are now thinking we will stay off site, do Universal and a couple of Disney parks. No incentive to stay on property now.
You can rent a vehicle 1-way on each end for 1 day…. drop off at Dolphin on property or various hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd. Take advantage of having the car upon arrival and stop at the nearby Outlet Mall for souvenirs and grocery stores for inexpensive snacks & drinks for your room. You won’t have to pay for parking if you return the car and take a bus back to your resort from Disney Springs. It’s what we used to do when it would cost more for us to take Mears on each end. You just need to get to and from the airport – you don’t need to rent a vehicle for your whole vacation! Also, if you do need a vehicle the whole time… rent a stay at a DVC property through a DVC member. You get the Deluxe Resorts for the price of a Moderate AND you don’t pay for parking!
My wife just called Disney last night 1-15-2021, and was told over the phone the parks are still operating at the 35%. She was told to keep reading the blogs to find updates for later bookings and details with such. Lol. Must be doing a good job!
Have you considered that the real reason that Disney cut ties with Mears is about sanitation and feasibility of trying to sanitize a 55 passenger bus. How can you social distance? It’s not like an airplane. If I was traveling, I would want to limit my exposure as much as possible, and a 55 passenger bus is not safe, no matter how much social distancing you try. The other reason is the cruise industry. With the Disney Cruise Lines indefinite idle, that was the other leg of the Disney Magical Express. Take all of that traffic away, and cutting ties with Mears is a no brainer
Yes. Agree with all these comments. As a shareholder, it is nice to have a good share price. But I definitely believe it is time for less Iger and Chapek and more Walt and pixie dust.
Just booked universal for our 2022 trip. Disney prices have gone too high for too little value. Glad we got to enjoy all the perks of Disney for 8 trips with our kiddos before the magic fizzled out.
My sentiments exactly.
Agree wholeheartedly. My problem is I have a 5 year old who I want to enjoy big thunder and splash mountain for the first time which she didn’t have the height last time. Otherwise I’d be all in on universal given my older ones love coasters. And the diminishing Disney return.
Will definitely miss having the use of ME. We always catch free transportation from hotels we stay at to airports. Luckily, we are coming thos year and will be able to make use of ME. Also, noticed you said about slowing down on visits due to Covid. This concerns me as we are coming Feb 24th for a week. Just wondering if we should continue planning for that date?
Glad to know we aren’t the only ones confused by this move Tom.
I’m a wheelchair user and was reassured by the way the ME looked after disabled passengers. Think of how many disabled wheelchair adults and children travel for very special holidays to Disney and can’t book standard Lyft or Ubers because of their disabilities. Shame on Disney and I’m seriously reconsidering my 2022 holiday plans because of the extra worry that will be caused by this ☹
Kaz
I totally agree, coming from the UK it is over £1000 to rent a wheelchair accessible van if you stay offsite.
The DME was excellent and my young nieces loved every minute of the trip, and everyone was so helpful getting me in my chair on the bus and loading the luggage for my wife.
I have done the Mears private mini bus which was good but you did not feel like you were actually on holiday until you got to the resort.
over 22 years, 7 trips to Disney, 2 Mears mini busses, 4 accessible vans and 1 magical express which was the most relaxing and free.
I would love to think something better is going to come and replace ME? But my thought is, their going to stop ME, let you see how hard it is not to have it, then come back with something similar with a cost? And by the way the room rates will not go down because they no longer offer ME?
I definitely agree that this is not a money saving move to get rid of magical express. If Disney wants to save money they can 1. Get rid of the company that is taking temperatures at the gate and 2. Stop donating billions to who knows what type of organization. They can hire back their cast members and give THEM the money they have saved- the people that are committed and worked hard for them for pennies in the first place. I’m not upset about magical express, we haven’t used on site hotels the past year due to the perks not being there anyway and renting a car gives us more freedom and a mask break while in transit!
There is much more to the plan that Disney is not sharing. The COVID-19 virus and the CDC restriction gave Disney the means to activate their long range plan, and I believe Disney is looking to cut expenses and eventually sell their Disney Park business.
The majority of park guests in 2020 were from Florida. As capacity limits are lifted, wait times will increase to at least an avarage of 60 minutest or more. This means that future park guests will spend 50% of their park day standing in lines, and families with small children will just stop going to Disney Parks for vacations.
The Disney Magic is going away …
Very disappointing news about the magical express. It’s just been one thing after another with Disney since way before covid. The price of tickets and rooms have gone up. I was used to buy the no expiration tickets. They have been gone for many years and I for one am sad about it. For my family it was great because we saved money. Disney did have our money to invest and I’m sure many people bought those tickets and didn’t use them so Disney was making money on them. It appears that Disney will make as much money on less people. The prices will continue to go up and perks go away. They’ll still make more money on the people who can afford it and their costs will be less. I feel sorry for families when children who want to go and can’t. The greed is just so disappointing.
We go to WDW every 2 years, at Christmas time when rooms and tickets are most expensive. We’re replacing it with Universal this year. Even though ME won’t end until 2022, and even though Universal doesn’t provide free shuttle service, they are at least sensible enough to price their rooms accordingly, and it’s clear that the C-Suite executives have chosen austerity in the budget for everyone but themselves. We’re the type of guests that always book deluxe, always book expensive character meals, always get memory maker. Bought 2 of those $100 droids for my kids last trip. This was a dumb, dumb move, especially since the stock price only saw a temporary bounce at the news, they won’t even see any meaningful savings until 2022, while they will continue to hemorrhage money for the rest of 2021. Maybe I’m wrong and others rushed to book end of 2021 trips to experience ME one last time, but I doubt it.
Like you we have swapped Disney for Universal this year. Disney are pricing themselves out the market rapidly & the loss of the ME is a kick in the teeth to the consumer
We were also planning a Disney trip and are now planning a Universal trip only. We may do one day at Magic Kingdom, but might not.
I am just as confused… for me, the argument to book a Disney resort was the perks, but now they’re getting rid of them… Magic Express, Magic Bands. What’s next? Getting a cheaper hotel somewhere close by and using the hotel transportation may have been the smarter option.