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!
We have a long split stay booked (Pop/Ft Wilderness Cabin) for December, probably our last visit in the bubble. I’m seriously considering changing to off-site though.
Our first priority is not having to rent a car, but it feels like at this point, we’d be better off staying in an off-site condo or hotel – a less Magical Express, severely limited food menus in parks and resorts and no more nighttime EMH make the big price tag tough to swallow.
Looks the $avings would easily cover Lyft trips.
Any recommendations a Good Neighbor Hotel that doesn’t require a rental car? *Swalphin is out of our budget range this trip 🙁
It’s almost as though Disney WANTS people to stop staying in the bubble. Early reservations, free magic bands, extra magic hours, and Magical Express will be fond memories. Disney’s Magical Express was the number one factor for us in deciding where to stay; we loved not having the hassle and expense of reserving a rental car or arranging other transportation and it was worth the trade-off of being “stuck” on Disney property and having to buy all our food there ($5 bottled water for everyone!) It really felt magical. We bought DVC assuming it would always include transportation from the airport and to the parks, and it saved us a lot of money. Moving forward, staying in larger, nicer, less expensive accommodations off-site is WAY more appealing. Since we have to rent a car anyway, why not spend less time at Disney and visit other fabulous Florida attractions? Tourists will probably stay less, eat less, spend fewer days at Disney parks and ultimately spend less at Disney World.
Chipping away at the magic but sadly putting Disney guests in a position where some will have to choose the Mears option. I have to comment that I feel, and I could be 100 percent wrong that the same buses will be used and the same protocol as it would not make sense to abolish all the Disney buses and habits. I have a feeling things will stay the same we will now just be making reservations ourselves and paying for the service at the time of reservation.
Tom,
You did not mention anything about Brightline, the high speed rail service that will connect from Orlando Airport to Tampa with a stop at Disney Springs. I believe that will start in 2022 and that Disney sunk a bunch if money into that project. Any word exactly that would start or on pricing? It would be another alternative to busses, shuttles, rental cars of Uber & Lyft. Of course you’ll have to schlep your own luggage…
Brightline service to Walt Disney World isn’t expected until 2025 or 2026. They haven’t even started construction on the Disney Springs station yet, and won’t until the MCO line is open.
Disney has gotten so expensive. People that have already been to Disney notice things that are no longer. Sounds like disney is just raising prices and taken things away that make the vacation truly magical. I hope they relieze that in the long run the may lose returning guest that have come year after year. Still waiting to hear what’s going on with fast pass and dining plan. Could be make it or brake it. To many changes to faithful disney fans.
This, along with a number of other things, as strengthened by belief that bean counters with astigmatism are in charge at Disney. I still think this was a wise investment by WDW that paid off in many ways. It’s easy to see the numbers saved; the good will lost, and the loss of capturing its audience, not so much.
WDW is hitting 50 this year, and yet there are those there who can’t see that the long game is THE game for Disney. Nothing new: I thought, and still think, that selling land was a mistake when they set up Celebration, or even Golden Oak.
@Ashley,
Regarding alternatives that offer car seats… We have a trip booked in October with a 4 year old and 2 year old. I’ve been hearing about 2-3 hour waits for Magical Express at the airport, so as a back-up I had my travel agent book transportation with a company called Florida Magical Tours and Transportation (her recommendation). 1 car sear and 1 booster seat are included, I think extras are $10 each. For our group of 5 in an SUV, it’s $132. I think that’s steep for one-way transport, and I cringe at the thought of it, but it does have carseats and it’s worth it to me to avoid a really long wait at the airport and be able to go directly to our hotel. There’s a 72-hour cancellation policy. Hope this helps. I do think Uber and Lyft offer the option of carseats as well. I don’t know if there’s an extra charge. There may be other private transportations as well.
I also remember before Disney took over Mears- I find it interesting , Disney going backwards in time. It is obviously a money issue/business decision. Problem is that it looks good on the transportation budget but will in the long run effect other areas of the books in a negative way.
My main takeaway from this will be the below
“This would be great for guests of those properties and facilitate more Walt Disney World guests staying in third party hotels.”
If I am now having to pay $200+ for my family of six to get to and from the airport, best believe I will look to save that money elsewhere. Sorry Disney, but you continue to take away the advantages of paying your exorbitant rates to stay on property. My split stays when I use DVC points will most likely include a Disney Springs area hotel as opposed to a Disney one. No reason not to.
@Gary “ And ever grateful for the privilege of this even being a concern.”
Bingo! Thanks so much.
@Gary,
Your last sentence is a good one, and certainly puts things in perspective.
Now, back to complaining. haha. I will really miss the luggage handling. It was all so fun and themed. Getting the luggage tags in the mail with characters on them–exciting, the trip is soon. The convenience of checking the luggage at my airport, and it magically appearing in my resort room. That was so wonderful, beyond words. No worries mate.
And the whole fun music and videos and the buses themselves with stars on the seats like Tinkerbell pixie-dusted them before we arrived.
Etc,etc. It was all so well done.
Now, nearing 70 and still traveling solo, I will be schleping my own luggage. I don’t look forward to the MCO-WDW transportation aspect.
But to quote you:
“And ever grateful for the privilege of this even being a concern.”
is the attitude I should adopt. Thank you.
Am I the only one who remembers paying for Mears shuttles before the magical express? I think it was 23 bucks back then and this was 20 years ago.
Thank you Jack.
@Gerhard are the Minnie Vans coming back? I splurged on one for my last WDW trip and it was absolutely worth it. I’m praying that returns. The website I checked seems they’re still not running though.
Mears will have no affiliation with Disney so unfortunately the ‘magical’ aspect of your luggage being delivered from your home airport to your resort is over. There will also be no Disney videos in the bus on your trip from the airport to the resort. ☹ï¸
Thank you for the update, Tom. Mears’ press release mentions “luggage handling”. Do you know if this includes the full magical handling from home airport to resort room, and upon return, resort check-in to home airport baggage carousel? Or per typical PR obfuscation, does this really mean “we’ll help you load your bags on and off the underbelly of the bus?” Or something in-between? Asking for a friend trying to keep their gaze on the bright magical center rather than the eroding edges. And ever grateful for the privilege of this even being a concern.
I will take mears connect it’s worth the price. It beats paying for parking at the resort. At the resort you have to pay daily parking fee not just one time for your whole stay. And then not being familiar with Orlando roads it saver taking the bus service to and from.
At this point we saved from not doing anything the past year, splurging on the Minnie Vans next week!
Not a good move as Disney will no longer have control over the quality of the service and let’s face it you know that Disney’s magic began at you arrival at the airport. So sorry to see one more thing disney has chosen to do away with. It truly is more business than magic these days
Tom, since I know you are a DVC member too, does it concern you that benefits like these are being eroded? I wonder if there would be an annual dues reduction to help compensate.
I certainly don’t expect on the non-DVC side that Disney will reduce their hotel rates. Seems like we are all just going to keep paying for a service we no longer get.
As a DVC member, it actually bothers me less. Our annual dues paid for this, so there will be a reduction now that we’re not paying for the cost. It’ll probably be more than offset by increased labor costs and other transportation expenditures, but there will be a decrease for that line-item.
However, that’s only because we stopped using DME a while ago because it stopped working for us (and have since moved to Florida so we REALLY don’t need it). Even though the cut works out to my advantage, I still think it’s an objectively poor and shortsighted decision on Walt Disney World’s part and am against the move.