Disney’s Magical Express Successor Coming in 2022 via Mears Connect
Earlier this year, Walt Disney World made the bombshell announcement that Disney’s Magical Express is ending in 2022. This post details the spiritual successor to that, Mears Connect, which will be the new shuttle from Orlando International Airport to hotels next year. (Updated May 31, 2021.)
When announcing the end of Magical Express, Disney attributed the decision to the rise of Uber of Lyft, saying there has been an the expansion of transportation options for guests: “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.”
As we’ve pointed out, Disney’s Magical Express is operated by Mears and not Disney itself. This is why Mears Connect is a spiritual successor to Magical Express–it’ll literally use the exact same buses, just minus the Disney-branded wraps. Mears is a transportation company with coach buses and taxis that enjoyed a virtual monopoly on Orlando for years. That is, until Uber and Lyft debuted, at which point Mears sued in an attempt to protect their marketshare.
As with many Central Florida tourism-centric businesses, Mears faced significant challenges last year, furloughing and laying off a large portion of its workforce. This led us to speculate that the original announcement about Magical Express ending resulted from a relationship breakdown between Walt Disney World and Mears, with an alternative offering potentially coming down the road from either or both.
Mears Transportation Group since announced exactly that, releasing a statement that the company will continue offering transportation services to visitors between the airport, area theme parks, and resorts. Starting January 2022, Mears is launching a new service called “Mears Connect.”
According to Mears, this announcement is being made in direct response to overwhelming demand and inquiries by future guests to Central Florida’s theme park and resort areas. Earlier this year, in reaction to news reports of changes in transportation service between the Walt Disney World area and Orlando’s International Airport, Mears made clear their intention, “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.”
Per the company’s press release, “Mears Connect will offer the same safe and reliable service the company has provided millions of guests for decades.” The Mears Connect service will initially operate between the Orlando International Airport and resorts in the Walt Disney World area.
Mears Connect will provide fast and convenient transportation service for visitors in high occupancy vehicles, thereby reducing traffic and lowering environmental impacts. Guests can expect scheduled service, luggage handling, convenient airport terminal staging, and return trips from resorts to the airport.
“We plan to offer the same level of experience, service, and convenience we’ve provided for the last 16 years, on behalf of our longtime partner, as returning guests and first-time visitors can expect nothing less,” said Roger Chapin, a Mears spokesman.
“It is important for visitors to know they still have many of the same safe transportation options for their Orlando visit, all offered by the same company who has been providing seamless, economical, and hassle-free transportation for decades.”
In addition, Mears will offer enhancements to ensure greater convenience and vehicle options. Pricing for all services will be announced later this year, along with the launch of a custom reservation platform.
Per the Mears Connect website, reservations were originally starting in May 2021 (see above). However, this page has been updated and simply states that reservations will begin in “Summer 2021” (see below). It’s entirely possible that this is a normal and unremarkable delay. Mears might be working on ironing out specifics, building its booking system, etc.
However, it’s also possible that the same bus driver shortage that Walt Disney World is experiencing is also negatively impacting Mears’ efforts to get Connect off the ground. As we recently reported, Disney has contracted with outside companies from as far away as Miami to provide additional bus coverage (if you’ve seen Academy-branded buses at the parks or resorts, that’s why).
While the Central Florida labor shortage is particularly pronounced right now, the difficulty finding bus drivers is not a new development. Walt Disney World has offered signing bonuses for bus drivers the last several years. We don’t anticipate that this will prevent Mears Connect from debuting on its January 2022 timeline, but it very well could impact pricing. If labor costs more and the indirect competition (Uber, Lyft, rental cars) are all more expensive, Mears Connect will also have higher price points.
Obviously, Mears Connect will not be a direct successor to Disney’s Magical Express to the extent that it won’t offer Disney branding, on-ride videos featuring characters, music, or any other Disney intellectual property. So from that perspective, it’s sure to be a disappointment for many Walt Disney World fans looking for a “Disneyfied” way to start and finish their trip.
There’s also the practical reality that this will not be free, or built into the cost of hotel reservations. So those are two big strikes against this right off the bat, which may make Mears Connect a total non-starter for many Walt Disney World visitors.
However, the problem and concern many of you expressed in the 542 comments to the original announcement was that there were no good alternatives, period, to Disney’s Magical Express. Its retirement would either require using Uber or Lyft, hiring a private transportation service, or renting a car.
Many people are downright uncomfortable with some or all of those options. There’s also the practical reality that rental cars and rideshare services have all soared in price this summer as those also experience significant shortages. We’re hopeful most of that will resolve itself by January 2022, but there are no guarantees.
Mears Connect should adequately address all of that. It sounds like it’ll essentially be the same service, in the same vehicles, with the same staff. From a continuity perspective, that’s about as good as it gets.
The wild cards at this point are really just pricing, scheduling, and frequency. All of that will likely be driven by the guest adoption rate for Mears Connect, which we’re guessing will be reasonably high. (Especially if Orlando International Airport continues to have a rental car shortage, thus driving up the price of rental cars…plus Uber and Lyft along with them.)
For years, we used Super Shuttle to get between Disneyland and Los Angeles International Airport. It was an awful company and that service is no longer offered, but that’s not really the point here. For all of its faults, Super Shuttle was fast and relatively inexpensive–we regularly paid $10 to $25 per person, and that’s for a much longer distance than WDW to MCO.
Our expectation would thus be similar pricing–and much better service, comfort, and efficiency–for Mears Connect’s routes between Walt Disney World and the airport. Having a similar schedule and routes to Disney’s Magical Express but charging $20 per person sounds about right. For many families, the economics of that won’t work out and Uber/Lyft or a rental car will make more sense. For others, Mears Connect will be perfect.
The other silver lining that could come out of this is Mears expanding its airport shuttle service to the Swan & Dolphin, Bonnet Creek Resorts, Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels, Hyatt Regency, and other options that are more or less on-site.
This would be great for guests of those properties and facilitate more Walt Disney World guests staying in third party hotels. It would also be a way for Mears to poke Disney in the eye, so to speak. Heck, Mears Connect could even service the resorts at Universal Orlando, which could help those hotels–and hurt Disney in the process.
As we’ve been saying for a while, Walt Disney World’s on-site advantage is disappearing. This should be yet another reason to look at nearby third party hotels–some of which are even on-site–before booking your 2022 Walt Disney World vacation.
If you’ve never even considered venturing outside the “Disney Bubble,” we would strongly encourage you to rethink that and check out our Off-Site v. On-Site Walt Disney World Hotel Comparison for a balanced assessment of the pros & cons.
Ultimately, this is a positive development who we’re upset with the practical side of the news about Disney’s Magical Express being retired. While we’re not the biggest fans of Mears taxis, their service with coach buses to and from Orlando International Airport has been solid. The downside is that it’ll cost money, making it “worse” than Disney’s Magical Express from that perspective, but almost certainly “better” than the alternatives presented by ride-share or rental cars.
For those who were upset at the emotional side of the news that Disney’s Magical Express would end, this doesn’t really change anything. Unless Mears works out some licensure deal, this will not be the same magical service…even though it’s literally the same service. There’s still an outside possibility that Walt Disney World will introduce its own shared airport transportation service before the start of 2022, but with this development, we now find that highly unlikely. Mears Connect is probably it.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Mears Connect news? Will you use the service, or is the lack of “Disneyfication” make it a non-starter for you? Will you opt for Mears Connect over Uber, Lyft, or renting a car? Thoughts on pricing, efficiency, or anything else regarding Mears Connect? What do you think about Walt Disney World ending Disney’s Magical Express? 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!
Any word on if MEARS will offer a DCL shuttle? I’m still trying to figure out how the heck to do that without breaking the budget.
The first time I used DME – summer of 2009 – I think it cost $10/person, so it wasn’t always free/included in the room rate. Certainly a service in the $20/person range would seem reasonable to me, vs. dealing with a rental or ride share. Like many here, the big question will be schedules and availability when the time comes to visit WDW again.
As someone who travels solo to WDW fairly often, I’m very relieved to hear this, and hopeful that your estimate of the price range will be correct. For an upcoming seven-person trip I’m putting together a town car will probably still end up making more sense, but for a solo traveler it was really hard to stomach the idea of paying taxi or town car prices for just myself. As a passholder whose main expenses are room and food, tacking on another $100-$250 for transportation is a substantial addition to my solo travel budget. I’m still not happy about the end of Magical Express, but I’m glad to know there’s a replacement that should hopefully be less outrageously expensive.
And if they could expand to non-Disney hotels, I would love that. A big part of why I didn’t like staying at the Dolphin was dealing with the logistics of transportation from MCO, but if Mears starts offering shuttle service to the Swolphin area I could start looking at those hotels more seriously again when offers pop up for them. Same for the Disney Springs-area partner hotels. And, yes, this could also make me more likely to do a split stay at Universal instead of staying so Disney-focused.
Excellent post with very useful information! We aren’t able to travel yet due to covid restrictions but are anxiously anticipating a trip next year and this information about transportation will be very helpful. Very well presented and good detail, so thanks very much!
I am so glad Mears will still be providing service to the resorts. With them also providing service to Universal, many people, like me, will no longer be a captive audience to Disney and we will be more likely to visit Universal during our trips. (I hope you know what you are doing Disney). I don’t mind paying for the transportation from the airport and would have been happy to do so all along. The Disney Express was a nice relaxing beginning to our vacation. I hope Mears can do something similar with videos, etc to make the trip exciting. Anything is better than renting a car and leaving it parked at the resort, paying parking fees daily.
Since they’re not going to be Disney branded anymore, I agree that Mears should start offering service to Universal as well. Why not? One stop shopping for everyone coming into MCO and going to any theme park.
I wouldn’t care quite as much if it wasn’t for the loss of luggage service. I’d literally hand Disney $200 for that service, but there’s no check I can write to get them to do it. Even Minnie Vans won’t fix that. I’d rather see Disney continue to make things premium and over-priced than take stuff away completely. At least then we can choose. Even third-party luggage services obviously don’t deliver to the room. Super frustrating.
Greed. I know it takes a lot to make WDW “Magical”, but come on now. We have seen prices literally double in just a few short years and services drastically reduced. New hotels or resorts being remodeled without the Disney Magic! It’s much cheaper to build a cookie cutter building than one with style, flair and Disney Magic. Thats the new trend. Charge for everything, charge extra for park specials and kick out guests early, give less service, cut hours, less staffing causing longer waits, and I’m not talking Pandemic times, In general. We are DVC members for the Magical Reasons. As Tom has said in the past and in this article, the Magic is disappearing. Shows, cast members, and street artists all disappearing. If you don’t have anything to compare with, it’s still got it over other parks, but it is on a downside now for years. Can they not see or read how upset they are making people!!! We are re evaluating our DVC Membership.
Thank you Tom and your wife for the regular input. We do appreciate you guys!
Just was at MCO 2 weeks ago and got an Uber XL for $40 for a family of 4 with 5 suitcases to Disney Springs. Waited 5 minutes. Compare that to a shuttle bus. Spent about $250 for the week getting around the parks, to Universal, and back to MCO. All hotels now charge $30+ for parking / day, so a rental car is out for us.
Off topic, but thanks for recommending the Hyatt Grand Cypress!!! Amazing pool! 5-10 min Uber to parks. The cost for TWO rooms for this family of four was around $320/ night.
For us, the biggest advantage for Disney’s Magical Express was the fact that, once you checked your luggage at your departing airport, you didn’t have to handle your luggage again. It was delivered directly to your room. That small perk added to the hassle free, “magical” experience, especially when you’re traveling with children. We would just pack some essentials and our magic bands in a carry-on, and we could head right to the parks when we arrived. Just wondering if Mears will offer that same service. Seems unlikely.
I’ve been following this with interest as we booked a December trip with our departing flight on 1 January.
Rereading the official Disney details, it says
“ 
Disney’s Magical Express service will no longer be offered starting with arrivals January 1, 2022. The service will continue to operate for new and existing reservations made at Disney Resort hotels for arrivals throughout 2021.”
Am I correct in thinking that since we arrive in December, we will have ME options from our resort on 1/1/22?
Thanks! 🙂
You are correct.
No still bad, the price of transportation to from WDW is included in the price of the room. Soon you will still pay for it and not get it. WDW was my favourite destination for decades, now my stomach turns thinking about going, not sure when I’ll take the family again. My grandkids really want to go again- missed a 10 day trip last May. It is super expensive yes- but I included the value that came with staying on site. I was always super excited to go.
There is no benefit to staying onsite. I always got a 2 bedroom at OKW. No fast passes at 60 days out, no magic band, no airport transfers. Many things that were included in the price have been taken away and now you need to pay extra on top of actually pre paying in the room cost.
We never did the dining plan- which will come back because they make a killing on that. I always checked it out but it was always at least $1,000 more than what we ended up spending. Over $3,000 saved the year 11 of us went.
Not anywhere near to my happy place anymore.
Magical Express was fantastic when I was solo traveling with two kids in carseats! Not having to worry about the extra gear (or help install seats in a Lyft under pressure) was pure paradise. My kids are just barely past that age and we will use Lyft from MCO going forward.
Glad there are options like this MEARS bus, especially since the added competition is good for anyone traveling from the airport to the parks.
As always, great analysis of the background, causes, and consequences of these continual changes to the Disney experience. From my perspective, the past few years has been on ongoing inundation of disincentives to take a Disney vacation. I’ve been going to Disneyland since 1962, and I always thought Disney offered great value — not anymore.
I’m happy Mears will continue to provide service. I think about all those families dragging around 5 suitcases, 2-3 kids, and a double stroller. The new train and Uber cars don’t work for those families. As much as I don’t like the extra cost that may arise, I would gladly pay for that service rather than renting a car for a 30 minutes drive to WDW from the airport.
Agreed.
Also, the Brightline train also isn’t going to offer service to Walt Disney World until 2026, so it definitely won’t be an option for families next year, or the year after, or…
One of the advantages of the Magical Express was not having to claim your luggage once you landed. Will they still offer that service? It was nice to take the bus to your resort and start you vacation right away and come back to your room that evening and your luggage was there waiting.
How much does Uber cost from O airport to WDW?
One of the biggest selling points for us for staying in a Disney resort was the ME service, which meant not dragging our car seat with us. Until this year, I had always, as an adult, stayed in a Disney resort. When we went in January, we did a split stay, 7 days at the Polynesian Isles Resort (off site, nearby resort, maybe 15 minutes away) in a two bedroom condo with a full kitchen/dining room/living room, and then 6 days in a DVC room at Beach Club. This was a massively eye opening experience with the off site resort being the far cheaper, larger, and more comfortable option. Now that ME is gone and free dining is not being offered, other than that convenient 3 minute walk into Epcot, I’m not sure what staying at a Disney resort has to offer. Smaller rooms? Uncomfortable beds? Mediocre, yet inexplicably expensive food?
I personally think on-site resorts at Walt Disney World have a lot more to offer than that, but I’m definitely biased in part by nostalgia and favoring the Disney bubble.
With that said, there’s no denying that the Orlando area has a ton of awesome accommodations options. Not just generic luxury hotels, either. There are bona fide resorts with amenities and quality that meet or exceed what Disney offers.
For those who plan to use Uber or Lyft I would highly recommend download the apps and see how much the actual prices are running. For example, I just ran the cost for pickup at 1PM at MCO going to Caribbean Beach Resort for 2. Cost was $110 because of the severe shortage of drivers.
That’s a great suggestion for right now through this September or so–but not 2022 when Disney’s Magical Express is gone.
There are several reasons the supply of Uber and Lyft drivers will increase between now and the fall. I wouldn’t freak out about it if pricing a trip next year. This year, on the other hand…
This is good news for families traveling with small children. I know a family who swears by DME because they don’t need car seats for the toddler but would if taking a ride share. The idea of using someone else’s car seat isn’t preferred but neither is bringing theirs and having to keep it in the room. I’m sure they will pay for Mears just for the car seat reasoning.