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.
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
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 think they should keep the magic express. It saves people time when they land. And the headache of keeping up with the anxious children and trying to catch their luggage as it comes out. With a already expensive trip planned. I find it stupid to have to kick even more money to get me from the airport to hotel. Those Uber and lyfts prices will be rediculous no matter what time you chose to go on family trip. I would be so sad to see Disney magical express go. And this would definitely be a deal breaker and make me think twice bout planning another trip with Disney world.
I am with you- it’s perplexing! Since they called out ride sharing as a more viable option, you would think they would increase their ride sharing option instead of handing the money over to Uber/Lyft. This would still keep people in the Disney bubble while “making up profits” for Disney.
Since you stated Mears is terrible- is it possible Disney is working on cutting out the middle man? Buying their own busses?
So, if the Magical Express costs are built into the cost of your hotel stay, is Disney planning to reduce rates? I doubt it. That, coupled with parking expenses if you drive or have to rent a car is a double hit. I sure hope they find a viable solution.
With minimum wages going up at Disney, they also need to put out a lot more in wages and need to come up with that cash somewhere. With DVC, we were told a few years back that we could expect increases in our annual fees just because of increases in wages. Now wages are the most expensive part of owning DVC.
I wanted to respond to DebC’s comment on the wages, but there’s no reply button…
@DebC with no disrespect intended: Just wanted to point out that the minor increase in wages compared to the billions of cash on hand—not to mention all the companies they keep buying up for billions and the money machine of the MCU, even with park losses this year,Disney is doing great financially and they can certainly throw a little more towards the employees that make those magical experiences possible. Also, contrary to guest perception, cast members don’t make alot, my sister used to work at Disneyland in a specialty confectionery position and despite all the hard work, her previous experience and specialized skills needed everyday, it paid less than a cashier job at Trader Joe’s or In and Out. She did it because she enjoyed the work, but left because it’s impossible to live on that—even with two roommates and some gig work in off hours. We still love Disneyland and go frequently, but I never begrudge any wage increase there knowing that now, and always keep in mind that without the incredible cast members the park wouldn’t be so magical… Disney’s dedicated and friendly employees really are their greatest asset.
Never used it, since even accounting for gas, food and hotel stays coming and going, it’s still more cost-effective, and flexible for us to drive. Which is not true for everyone, of course. But I’ve always admired the ME concept: Pick’em up at the airport, keep them on the property, take to the airport to go home. With uber and Lyft, it’s no longer quite as cut-and-dried anymore, but I think the concept’s revenue positives far outweigh the minuses. And the goodwill the concept brings is priceless (just as squandering goodwill with hotel parking fees for resort guests is a definite negative).
Never underestimate the tone-deafness and ability of Disney upper management to screw things up. But the flipside of this that the company usually knows what its doing when it comes to profits. Was it tone-deaf to restore executive pay when tens of thousands of lower level workers had no pay? Yep, it was. However, it was done to prevent those elite executives from leaving the company for full pay at other corporations.
Meaning that to ditch this, relying on rideshare services, losing goodwill, and providing guests a “How-to” guide on going from their resort to Universal, Sea World, etc., is so amazingly stupid, that I can’t see them making a blunder this severe.
So, based on what I’ve seen, Disney is willing, when necessary, to trade goodwill for continued profits. Obviously, they’d want both, but if necessary, they’ll pick profits every time. Here, I see a loss of goodwill and profits. I do wonder at the rideshare service mention. Is Disney negotiating a transport service with Uber and/or Lyft? Are they planning to use buses that may have been idling due to the Skyliner for a new Disney owned and run transport service? Or is this hardball negotiations with Mears?
It does indeed feel like another shoe has yet to drop.
On Twitter, Scott Gustin has strongly hinted that Disney is going to utilize the new Disney Genie service for airport transfers.
The timing of this decision to kill DME was likely due to the 2022 DVC bookings which start in a couple of weeks. Scott said they have plenty of them to work on 2022 options and I’m guessing the new replacement program would come before June (when generally the next year booking calendar becomes open to all)
My hunch is that Disney will do something to make it easy for their guests but it will be some sort of bolt-on package. It won’t be free.
The more I think about it, losing the DME is just the last straw after covid having already dampened the mood considerably. I don’t even want to plan my WDW trip anymore, the whole thing is just depressing. Imagine getting to MCO, the first thought I will have is: where’s the Magic Express? There’s no Magic Express, ie no magic! What am I doing here, mourning for my loss?
With no Dining Plan, no Extra Magic Hours, and now this, it does feel like the last straw
I believe this latest ME announcement is a negotiating tactic. The service has needed more buses and fewer stops for years. The experience was horrible last time we used it. (Over 2 hours from airport to hotel…) Disney probably wanted an improvement in the experience with out paying any more and Mears said no. We’ll see.
There is very little that is magical or express about the magical express. We rarely use it anymore because it just takes too long. The only reason we liked it was because we didn’t have to worry about our luggage, but the last time we took it our luggage didn’t make it to our room until almost 11 which was not ideal after a long day of traveling. I so hope this is a negotiating tactic and that they can vastly improve the ME because we love the concept.
I think Disney has gotten used to people throwing money at them no matter what they do.
Well, not from us. Not anymore, We’re done.
Yes they are used to people just rolling over and taking it.
We are still waiting for our annual pass refund. We do not see ever coming back to WDW. Our pass expired in June 2020. This is not the way to treat annual pass holders.
So here goes Disney taking away perks again. What is the incentives of staying on property? They are not offering the dining plan which is a big incentive and since you have to pay parking when staying at one of their resorts why not stay elsewhere save a considerable amount of money , rent a car and just pay to park at the park. So why stay at Disney? No dining plan, resort parking charge, no magical express, no more extra magic hours, reduced park hours ,no fast passes. Take Take Take and Upcharge Upcharge Upcharge, not to mention the big cash grab of park hoping. Will it ever stop?
Losing Magical Express definitely is a bummer, but it’s not going to make me stay off property. I’ve stayed off property several times and it’s just not the same as staying in a WDW Resort. When I go to WDW I want to be immersed in the magic and fun of the vacation. Staying off property doesn’t have that same magic. Sure you might save some money but the experience isn’t the same!
It won’t stop so long as people keep paying their prices to stay onsite, no matter what they take away. Even before they took away ME (and put FP+ on hold due to COVID) the extra perks were never “worth” the amount Disney charges for its onsite hotels compared to what offsite hotels of similar quality charge. The values and moderates are glorified motels and the deluxes aren’t bad but they aren’t much nicer than your average Hilton and are still charging Four Seasons rates AFTER discounts most of the year.
It will be interesting what perks Disney continues to offer for onsite stays once we see the new normal when COVID is more under control, but I doubt prices will get any better. So long as there are people willing to pay the huge upcharge for the “on-site experience,” Disney won’t have to change a thing.
Maybe Disney management decided to eliminate ME because it cut costs for them. Maybe they just didn’t want to pay what Mears wanted. Maybe they believe that getting to the parks is not as important to guests as being in the parks. Maybe they’re defaulting to ride shares to get people to the resorts, hotels and parks. Maybe they’re working on a substitute for ME. Or maybe just maybe this was some executive’s bone headed idea to impress his boss.
Is there any chance Mears will still deliver to DW but charge for it.
Oh sure Mears will take you to WDW when I used them last it cost about $100 to get the 3 of us out there and back. I am looking at using an Uber next trip to my offsite Hotel and then to the parks and back for a lot less than taking Mears to WDW and all.
We were thinking of buying DVC. Now, not only have we decided against doing that, but we may not go back to Disney at all. A Disney vacation is stressful enough. I don’t need it to be stressful from the moment I get off the plane. It was so nice not to worry about your luggage. I don’t know when we’ll be back. It won’t be any time soon unless Disney replaces Magical Express with something just as magical.
Agree…
I’m always amazed how writers and commenters think that because Disney has 10 billion in cash it is somehow invincible, or could just throw money at the parks and, “pow!” all the new attractions would be done, including the ones on the drawing board, cut perks restored, restaurants reopened, operating hours increased, staff hired back, etc.
The problem is that Disney has about 4 to 5 times as much debt as it does cash, and no doubt many of those debt covenants require certain amounts of assets, especially cash, be kept on hand to secure that debt and cover interest payments. They may also have to maintain certain operating margins, debt to equity ratios, etc. If Disney violates those debt covenants, it could face all sorts of punitive actions from its lenders, including demands to immediately repay those loans and bonds.
I’m not saying this to stick up for Disney corporate. Far from it. My only point is that a lot of that cash may not be free to be spent, let alone be disproportionately used for the parks segment. Against that backdrop, many of Disney’s penny pinching tactics make more sense. Personally, absent an unexpected ability to radically increase capacity, and, hence, revenues, I’d expect to see more cuts in the months ahead, not less.
Sooooo disappointed in the ending of the ME. My son always saw it as an “extra ride”. And getting your luggage tags in the mail, while
small, added the magic.
And I agree with you and others, we will be less inclined to stay inside the bubble. And we LITERALLY did. We not only stayed in property, we went nowhere off property during most of our stays.
Tom– did you hear the rumor that the Muppets are coming to the Hall of Presidents? Just a rumor, but I think you’d be happy to know this!!
Hasn’t there been a muppet in the white house for the last 4 years?
Tim: Uncalled for. Let’s keep politics out of this wonderful site.
Part of the calculus I use in deciding to pay extra to stay on property as an annual pass holder is the cost savings in using DME for transportation to and from the airport. This is yet another benefit taken away and one more reason to stay at the on-property partner hotels.
Thanks for the info on the Magical Express.
There are 2 components that make up the Magical Express with the second being the primary perk. (Especially for guests with children).
1. The Disney Guests
2. Their luggage.
The true “Magic” in the Magical Express for my family is not handling the luggage from the time we enter the departing airport time till it arrives in our room hours later. This is equivalent to having a personal valet for the vast majority of your travels for both arriving and departing. So much more than just the ride from MCO to your resort.
Not dragging the luggage on your first day can be huge if you are going to one of the parks or elsewhere till you get in your room.
Loss of the bus ride to and from the airport- a nice perk which I would like to see continued.
However, the “Magic” is gone once the Disney luggage tags are no more.
Disney has to rethink this!
I definitely agree…. I feel like if it’s a money issue. Up the cost of the Disney cruise line.. Not deduct the thing that helps us the most….
I think cancelling the Magical Express is a bad decision and will certainly see less people staying on site. If it’s a money thing then why not keep it but have people buy a ticket for say $25???Convenience is still there for guests and Disney get money coming in from it.
The cost of magical express is built into resort stay cost. So will Disney decrease a nights stay? Nope. I’m booking at Universal for $88 a night. The magical Disney bubble is gone 🙁
That’s a good idea. I would do that more. Then be willing to pay rideshare company.
Hi Tom, concerning the proposed train from Disney Springs to Airport, regardless of what Disney’s original intentions might be, now that the DME is gone, people are going to take that train if it’s feasible at all. The Miami to Ft. Lauderdale route, for example, runs every half hour. If the MCO to DS also runs at least that frequently, plenty of people, both resort and offsite guests, will be using that route to get to DS, from which they can take the free resort bus or uber for much less money. Disney can make the train ride free, such that DS is essentially an extended part of MCO. So Disney needs to figure out what to do about the bus situation at DS when people start getting off the train there in droves, assuming the train is happening.
Follow up question Tom, do you think renting DVC points will get cheaper if DVC members feel less inclined to go so often with perks being stripped away?
We stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek in September. It is really nice and has a wonderful staff.
Why would I spend $200/night to stay at Pop Century when I can stay at Universal for half that price? The answer used to be the Disney Express and the Extra Magic Hours and being able to set up my fast passes 60 days before arrival, but now all of those perks are gone.
We’ve been to Disney 5 times and we’ve mostly stayed in the Disney bubble. Each time we went, it was about $5000 straight in to Disney’s pockets because that’s where we stayed and that’s where we ate and that’s where we bought souvenirs.
Without the perks, we’ll save money by staying off site, checking out other theme parks, and buying groceries. For that matter, maybe we’ll just forget Orlando altogether and go to an all inclusive resort in the Caribbean.
Losing our $5000/year might not matter much to Disney, but I’ll bet there will be thousands of others like me who will be shopping around for better options now.