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!
Tom,
Until we get any news from Disney, we have to look at this as a very poor, probably one of the worse they have ever made, business decision. It is time that we stop complaining. The biggest fault I see with all of us is we simply complain and expect Disney to care. We have to realize we have the power, not the leaders at Disney. Here is my solution: EVERYONE STOP GOING to Disney until they reinstate Disney Magical Express and magical bands and no resort fees. How long do you think Disney would continue to call our bluff until they did reinstate these things? Problem is the majority of people won’t do this because they feel like Disney cares about our complaint. They don’t. If they did, they would have reinstated these things already. They only care about the money coming in and as long as this is happening, they will let people scream and complain as long as they want.
What is our choice?
I am hoping that Disney does have an alternate plan in the works. I whole idea of Magical Express is to not only be taken from the airport to your hotel but the journey itself. I must admit, the one perk that I am missing it the special luggage tags that allow you to go directly to your hotel to the park. No one wants to have to go to baggage and pick up your luggage and then haul it to the bus to be loaded. THAT IS THE POINT OF THE TAGS AND THE MAGIC. I want that back. We are really starting to wonder if Disney has forgotten what the MAGIC is. Help us out Disney, we want to feel special again not taken advantage of.
As a disappointed DVC member because of the many “take aways” over the years, too numerous to mention. I will say this, the decline of the magic has been happening for years. Each visit brings new disappointments and angst.
As for the ME, I will look at the bright side and say, rent a car, visit the many wonderful eateries and shops in the general area and save yourself a boat load of money. The rental car will pay for itself. I will continue to utilize my points but will now venture off property for as little as a cup of coffee. I will protest with my wallet.
I am 64 years old and have been taking my children and now my grandchildren 2 to 3 times per year my whole life to WDW. I have never been more disappointed in the decisions they are making with the magical express taken away, ticket prices up, no effort to bring back castle shows or entertainment shows at Animal Kingdom, no later hours. It’s become a joke and no incentive to come right now. I am canceling my spring Break vacation because they just published they are closing at 600 PM at MK. Not wasting my money until major changes happen to entice. They have zapped the magic out of the experience.
Taking away ME is a bad business decision and you are right it’s totally confusing as to why. If you also ever experienced the parks later at night it definitely is an experience in itself that has now vanished. Since my kids were 4 yrs. old (now graduating HS) we’ve had many trips to WDW and were from the Northeast. We would get so excited for our annual trips but I have to say that the constant price increases and the taking away of perks has slowed our trips down to once every few years. When you figure in flights, resort fees, parking at resort fees, food, rental car and the other misc expenses incurred with any vacation WDW has priced itself out of our middle class budget. We probably will continue to go to the parks but it’ll be more of a stay off property and rent a house or stay at Universal and just drive to the parks. The magic of the “Disney Bubble” is slowly disappearing except for the wealthy but maybe that’s the End Game
How certain are you that 2/15 through 2/21 may be ‘the worst week of the year?’ Looks like that’s the only time I have available for now and want to visit. Will crowds during the pandemic be as bad as normal Presidents’, Valentines, and Mardi Gras week?
They can’t be as bad as normal simply by virtue of capacity caps, meaning attendance is limited to roughly 35-40% of normal levels. So in raw numbers, fewer people will be in the parks.
HOWEVER, a lot is still closed or running at half capacity, meaning that there’s less things to do for that lower number of people–so it can and does feel more crowded/busier than 35-40% at times in some spots.
Very disappointed in Disney’s decision to rid of the Magical Express. I couldn’t wait to bring my baby girl to Disney knowing that transportation would be easy. But now, I’m thinking of not taking her to Disney until she’s able to sit in a car without a car seat. The thought of figuring out how we’ll lug around a car seat and a stroller just gives me a headache, frankly.
For those who are applauding Universal’s accommodations I do have to say that while the Cabana Bay rooms and resort were on par with Disney regarding cleanliness. I was very discouraged because we had to pay for valet parking upon entering the resort. The regular parking lot was “full” apparently. Not only did that up the cost of our stay it also meant that going back to the car was nearly impossible and very inconvenient. They also boasted about their lazy river but didn’t explain that you had to buy inner tubes in order to float down the river. I saw people bringing inner tubes with them and blowing them up by the pool. I just wasn’t as impressed by their service overall.
Universal has its perks but in comparison to Disney, it’s nowhere near the rating of quality and service. I think staying off site and using the hotel’s complimentary transportation to and from the parks makes more sense.
Hi everyone. I finally got a email back that wasn’t a photo of a form letter, lol. Thought I would share it with everyone here. I was never mean in my letters to them, just diligent as I sent an email per day for a while. Here is their response:
Dear Karen,
I want to thank you for being such a dedicated fan of the Walt Disney World Resort. It is obvious that you care deeply about the Disney brand and how our newest changes may affect your family’s visit. As you know, we strive to provide magical and unique experiences for all of our Guests and maintain our exceptional service throughout the years by evaluating and refining our offerings with new ideas every day.
I am truly sorry to hear about your disappointment with the suspension of our Disney’s Magical Express service as well as the modification to our Extra Magic Hours. I understand that having to plan with another ride service may be difficult for you and not necessarily ideal, especially under certain circumstances, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you. We also appreciate the recommendation for a different type of Extra Magic Hours for specific Resort Guests. In the near future, we will be offering thirty minutes of Extra Magic Hours for our Resort Guests at our Theme Parks as you know. I sincerely apologize for the disappointment that both of these changes has caused your family.
We sincerely appreciate your honest feedback, as we rely on our loyal Guests to help us determine when these changes should remain in effect or when we should implement something different. As we continue to evolve, we always keep in mind what is best for all of our Guests to create a seamless and magical experience throughout their visits. Please know, I have personally shared your correspondence with the appropriate Leadership teams for further internal review so we can continue to provide the magic for all of our future Guests.
Karen, we hope to see you and your family again in the future.
Kindest regards,
Lindsay Hawkins
Guest Experience Services
Walt Disney World Resort
I received the exact same response! I noticed it didn’t address at all my concerns over the loss of EMH and now it appears to just be a form letter sent to anyone who complained 🙁
I think the new term they should have used is “Extra Magic Morning Minutes”. How useless! LOL
I also complained to Disney about the loss of Magic Express as my husband and I are seniors and the thought of losing the ability to not worry luggage has caused us to cancel our upcoming trip. They issued me the exact, word for word, email as above. Shame on Disney for not thinking this through. If it is a cost issue, then why not charge extra for it for those visitors who really need it, the senior community.
I am not sure why Disney made this decision. If they are still charging the same price for all the built-in perks and not providing these perks then they would be making money. It may not seem like much per person but could be a significant amount in large numbers. The main reason Disney was the magical vacation for many adults with/without kids was the excitememt of planning and knowing once you checked your bag at the airport there was nothing to figure out. Just go to what you have planned. Now there are no plans and when you pay that much for a vacation, flying by the seat of your pants well makes the high priced vacay a little less worth it. I know Covid has played a huge part in all of this but I also believe decisions were made that would have been made without Covid. We’ll see if Disney can bring back any of the magic that was stripped away in 2020.
“We don’t have that low of an opinion of Disney’s leadership”. I used to agree but the string of things that have been cuts, along with added expenses, and a curious lack of attention to detail when it comes to things that really matter makes me question the people in charge. They went from a company that could buy up 44 sq miles of swamp land, drain and clean a huge lake, build 50 miles of drainage canals, a navigable lagoon, two iconic resorts, a monorail, a major theme park park, an on-sight power plant, and more in 5-6 years to a company that now takes 5 years to build 2 attractions in an existing park and still can’t handle the logistics. They took away no expiration park tickets, late evening hours, free parking, themed resorts, M.E., EMHs, and more. None of the new resorts they build have any theming whatsoever. We now have more and more paid parties, no night time parade, less late nights, and tickets priced by the day you want to visit. They even manage to rope off a section in front of the castle to charge for a desert party so that people can actually see the projection show without waiting an hour before the show. While the aging monorails become less reliable and are literally losing pieces, they turn their attention and 100 million dollars to retheme Splash Mountain to fix what’s not broken. Don’t even get me started on their decades long neglect of Epcot, which compared to the new parks that have been built around the world is an absolute shame. No, this is a current Disney management that is completely out of touch these days.
Yep. That’s about it in a nutshell.
I definitely agree with you. You brought up a lot of good points. I have a trip this September and I’m not as excited as I used to be. They took a way the fun of Disney mail. Don’t forget they took away the complimentary wristbands and luggage tags. Now I have to get my luggage tag at the resort when I arrive (where’s the magic in that) and if I want to put everything onto a wristband I either have to reactivate an old wristband or buy a new one. I’m not happy with Disney at all!!
I agree as well…they are out of touch on waaay too much considering how many opportunities there are for them to solicit constructive feedback from guests (and superfans). On a specific point mentioned: We live in SoCal and (under normal circumstances ie sans Covid of course) Disneyland is almost always open “late”…often 11 p.m. or midnight, but at least 10 p.m. and we were stunned on our trip to WDW in 2019 that (except for extra ticketed events) the parks in Florida pretty much close around “dinner time” (ie 5-7 p.m.), with on slight extensions during busy seasons. Not sure on their thinking behind that.
I can’t help but think Ratatouille will be opening sooner than later. I play Disney Kingdoms and they’re hinting at a Ratatouille event coming soon. These game events usually coincide with openings or movie releases.
Good eye! And new movie releases as well! I used to play that game and lost my data when my phone died and I couldn’t retrieve it again. Oh well!
WDW has to have an alternative as this move would most certainly deter people from traveling to WDW for a vacation.
#1 How do visitors get to WDW?
#2 IF they have to rent a car, it’s an added expense
#3 You now have to not only pay for a rental car, but pay for parking at your hotel while that rental car sits until you are ready to leave and go back to the airport.
#4 What about people that require a carseat? If they are flying, they flying in, they probably aren’t bringing any?
#5 This will only push people to staying outside the parks because if they are going to have to pay all these added expenses why bother staying on site which more expensive then staying off site?
Disney must have some plan as I can’t see this a positive for the park in bringing more people in especially after the pandemic and their loses.
True, the first thing I thought of was the additional rental car/resort parking expense … but also, isn’t it going to create alot more congestion if scores of guests who previously traveled together on the bus will now all be arriving at the front of each resort hotel in rentals, cabs and Ubers? Doesn’t sound like a magical experience to me. Sure don’t need another reason for longer lines anywhere at WDW or additional vacation headaches.
As a dvc member who just spent 15 days there was told by staff and the ME driver that ME wull be no longer be available for free at end of the year, so that perk is gone.
Not having the magical hours at the end of day is upsettng sinve i turn into a complete night owl there
One big thing that really got me mad is the no sale of annual passes. I allowed my annual passes to expire due to covid but now had to pay more for 2 ten day passes then i would for 2 annual passes and we didnt even use all 10 day. I want to plan a trip on easter break but cannot afford to pay for another round of tickets.
And a 10 day ticket would not be completely horrible if the unused days did not expire like they used to. I understand the decision to not have tickets that never expire for years and decades (my mom used a remaining day on a 3-day paper ticket bought in the 90s last year) but they could at least give you a year from the date you first used the 10-day ticket to use the other unused days up.
I have 4 small children. We have 2 trips planned for this year. If ME really does go away with no replacement, it will probably be our last trip for a while. I have no desire to try and figure out rental cars with 4 child seats. That is before you factor in the extra cost of a rental, parking, etc. to an already expensive trip.
I agree with Tom that this can’t possibly be a cost-cutting move for Disney as ME almost certainly pays for itself under normal circumstances (I imagine Disney is losing money on ME right now, but presumably things will be more back to normal in 2022, when the contract ends). I can think of a few reasons, however, why Disney might be making this announcement with no promised replacement (at least for now).
1. Termination Notification Date: Many long-term service contracts have clauses requiring the party receiving the services to notify the provider that they don’t intend to renew their contract. Oftentimes the deadlines for these termination notices can be a year or more in advance of the end of the contract.
2. ROFO (Right of First Offer Clause): It’s also common to see ROFO clauses in these contracts, which would allow Mears to match or slightly improve any offer Disney might receive from a competitor if Disney tried to switch ME over to another bus company.
3. Non-Compete Clause: Although less common (and also less likely that Disney would provide its own fully-owned and operated bus service), it’s still possible that there is a non-compete clause in the ME contract that would prevent Disney from starting its own ME replacement for a certain amount of time (1-2 years or so) after any termination of its contract with Mears.
4. DVC Issues: With 2022 bookings soon opening for DVC members, Disney probably wants to at least provide notice that unless something changes, ME will not be offered starting in 2022. It’s far easier to add a new service to existing bookings than it is to take it away.
5. Negotiation Tactic: It’s likely this is a negotiation tactic. It would be fairly devastating for Mears to lose this contract with Disney since they probably have way more busses than they need if they are no longer providing ME. Sure, there will still be a market for their services from MCO to WDW, but a lot more people would switch back to ride-share/cab or renting a car instead of using whatever non-ME replacement ME offers. If Disney had to provide advance notice that they were not renewing and Mears hadn’t budged in negotiations to their liking, it would make sense for Disney to send the notice anyways and make it clear they were willing to end ME unless the terms change more to their liking. By taking the public hit and announcing the end of ME now, Disney is putting pressure on Mears to come back to the negotiating table or risk losing the valuable ME contract.
I’m i reading this right, if you’re a DVC Member and use in your point to stay on property you will have to pay to park your car??
Hope i have got this wrong
I do not believe that is correct. Parking lot maintenance is a line item in DVC resort capital improvements, hence a portion of your maintenance fees. IOW, the condo association owns the parking if I understand it correctly.
Parking is free for DVC.
This makes me so sad! They just keep taking away all of the perks of staying on property without a corresponding decrease in hotel price. And for me, it’s not even about the cost of having to pay for an Uber from the airport. Not super magical to get in someone else’s personal vehicle to make the trip to the hotel. My kids LOVED going on the buses as it was the official start to our vacation. They loved watching the videos and got so excited listening to the driver. And not having to lug our bags through the airport with 3 kids was a definite plus. If I have to rent a car anyway, I may as well stay off property to cover the cost of car rental and parking. I really hope they reconsider. I never thought about staying off property before but will now 🙁
Exactly my thoughts. It’s so aggravating. They continue to raise prices and we continue to lose benefits- pay to park at the resorts , no more free magic bands, no more luggage tags mailed to you, loss of nightly magic hours for onsite guests and I’m sure there are more I’m not thinking of. I sure hope they reconsider and continue with the Magical Express. Unfortunately I may have to find a new vacation spot if this continues.
Hi Debbie,
I totally agree with you. I have a Disney trip this year from Sept. 24th thru Oct. 3rd and this might possibly be my last year staying on Disney property. I don’t like all of the changes that Disney has been making. I don’t like that they took away the complimentary wristbands (I will not be using my cell phone. Planning on purchasing new bands), They took our extra magic hours (I don’t want to arrive at the park 30 minutes earlier. I’d rather stay an hour later), They took the Dining Plan (they could’ve at least kept the quick service plan) and now they’re taking the Magical Express away (I loved this perk. One year we arrived at 9am and went straight to Animal Kingdom. Did not have to worry about our luggage). I’m afraid to see what else they plan on taking away. My daughter and I are considering trying Universal Resorts next year or Air bnb. We’ll see!
What do you do for carseats? Extended family trip hoping to take 2022 with 3 kids under 4. Now their parents need to drag carseats along with strollers. Come on Disney. That and parking fees. You are just nickel and diming and inconveniencing your guests.
Arrange a car service that includes car seats. Not cheap. But better than hauling car seats around!
I do hope you’re right about Disney having a back-up plan, as this decision makes zero sense, unless, as you say, Disney want to give a boost to Universal Studios and the rest of their competitors. I’m surprised they did not at least consider keeping the service, but charging customers for it. I would have willingly paid for the convenience of hassle-free transport from the airport after a 9 hour flight, and I suspect most visitors from Europe would too. We won’t use Uber because their business ethics stink. So as it stands, it looks like we may finally give Universal a chance. At the moment it seems like they are trying a lot harder than Disney to woo customers back. This decision by Disney seems to be the business equivalent of giving all of their customers the finger!
Yes to the last sentence.
Yup, we had never stayed at a on-site WDW hotel and had to cancel plans for that early this year (before they cut so many benefits), seems like it’s not going to be worth considering again for some time. Not much magic going on there…
I feel like a junkie who at first only had the high and now has the addiction! Disney has me and knows I would do anything for a fix. I will still go. It will not be as fun but with guests like me they have their hooks in. ☹ï¸