Magical Express Experience - Safety

[Randi Ellis]

I just returned from my WDW vacation and was disappointed in the Magical Express protocol and want to pass on my experience. The buses were packed and several guests did not wear a mask. The driver on one trip did not wear a mask when speaking on his phone while driving. I had to move from one guest who was eating and a boy sat near me without a mask again. I had to ask him to put it on after his mom didn't ask him to. I thought the Express would be like the resort buses, which are great. The resorts, parks, restaurants and parks transportation were all fantastic! I just want others to be aware and make an informed decision about transportation from the airport. I would have rented a car if I had known. Good luck!!

 

[teawar]

I felt fine on the ME from the airport. The ME cast members assigned us seats before we got on the bus and there were 2 rows of seats away from everyone on the bus. Masks were worn by all that I could observe. They also loaded the bus by the resort drop off.

Pick up was much different, distancing was tricky because the driver didn’t give us guidance on the bus as to where to sit. We were the third stop on the Epcot resort route at the Boardwalk. I thought we were the end and then the bus went to Art of Animation, which really filled up the bus. I felt uneasy the ride back.

 

[Allison]

I felt fine on the ME from the airport. The ME cast members assigned us seats before we got on the bus and there were 2 rows of seats away from everyone on the bus. Masks were worn by all that I could observe. They also loaded the bus by the resort drop off.

Pick up was much different, distancing was tricky because the driver didn’t give us guidance on the bus as to where to sit. We were the third stop on the Epcot resort route at the Boardwalk. I thought we were the end and then the bus went to Art of Animation, which really filled up the bus. I felt uneasy the ride back.

My experience was the same.

 

[Cheburashka]

I just returned from my WDW vacation and was disappointed in the Magical Express protocol and want to pass on my experience. The buses were packed and several guests did not wear a mask. The driver on one trip did not wear a mask when speaking on his phone while driving. I had to move from one guest who was eating and a boy sat near me without a mask again. I had to ask him to put it on after his mom didn't ask him to. I thought the Express would be like the resort buses, which are great. The resorts, parks, restaurants and parks transportation were all fantastic! I just want others to be aware and make an informed decision about transportation from the airport. I would have rented a car if I had known. Good luck!!

You should definitely reach out to Disney and let them know. I'm sure they'd want to improve this situation, but they can't until they know what's going on. I was there upon reopening in July, and saw a few masking compliance issues with guests that Disney quickly improved upon. They are motivated to keep things as safe as possible.

A bus driver removing his mask is a definite problem they would want to address, and ME should be a masked-for-all, no-eating zone until the pandemic is over. It's too crowded and enclosed a space for anyone to be removing their masks to snack.

This reaffirms my decision not to use Magical Express until the pandemic is over. Thanks for the report.

 

[Randi Ellis]

You should definitely reach out to Disney and let them know. I'm sure they'd want to improve this situation, but they can't until they know what's going on. I was there upon reopening in July, and saw a few masking compliance issues with guests that Disney quickly improved upon. They are motivated to keep things as safe as possible.

A bus driver removing his mask is a definite problem they would want to address, and ME should be a masked-for-all, no-eating zone until the pandemic is over. It's too crowded and enclosed a space for anyone to be removing their masks to snack.

This reaffirms my decision not to use Magical Express until the pandemic is over. Thanks for the report.

I would like to let Disney know. ME is a sub contracted service I think. Any suggestions on how to contact them? I’ve looked. Thanks for the suggestion. Again, the rest was great. Don’t let it keep you from going. Just don’t use ME for now.

 

[Cheburashka]

I would like to let Disney know. ME is a sub contracted service I think. Any suggestions on how to contact them? I’ve looked. Thanks for the suggestion. Again, the rest was great. Don’t let it keep you from going. Just don’t use ME for now.

I would go direct to Disney. ME might be contracted, but they're contracted for Disney, and it's Disney's branding that is on the line when one of their advertised services is unsafe. I think you're more likely to get results by dealing with Disney.

 

[OKW Lover]

The driver on one trip did not wear a mask when speaking on his phone while driving.

I believe this is a violation of FL laws (talking on a hand-held phone) for Commercial Drivers. You should report this to Disney so that they can educate the driver.

 

[Summer2018]

I have a recurring nightmare of being different places, (the school where I teach, WDW, stores, etc.) where people refuse to wear masks and get too close to me. This has actually happened at my school and in public more times than I can count.

I finally made the decision to cancel our summer 2021 trip. Even if WDW is great, the Magical Express, our airport shuttle, and airport/airplane have got me feeling afraid. I'm not spending $8,000 only to feel uneasy. Vacation is supposed to be relaxing...an escape. We will not go back until my entire family is vaccinated and WDW returns to normal.

 

[EACarlson]

I believe this is a violation of FL laws (talking on a hand-held phone) for Commercial Drivers. You should report this to Disney so that they can educate the driver.

This is actually a violation of Federal law. Commercial Motor Vehicle driver's are not allowed to use a handheld phone while the vehicle is in motion.

 

[seashoreCM]

Interesting dilemma: Magical Express bus bound for airport pulls in. More guests than can maintain social distancing are waiting. Does driver try to deny boarding? Various interesting stories about overbooked DME buses back to the airport have appeared on The DIS over the years, no need to bore you here with repeating the details.

There was a thread "Reasons Not To Go To Disney." The replies immediately preceding suggest that the DME experience may be one reason to add to the list.

 

[momtwoboys]

My experience was the same.

same for us on sept 28 and oct 4th. We wont use DME in April when we go back.

 

[cjlong88]

It’s experiences such as these that led us to decide to rent a car during our stay in February. I found an excellent deal and now we can enjoy the safety and control of our own transportation.

 

[sam_gordon]

Interesting dilemma: Magical Express bus bound for airport pulls in. More guests than can maintain social distancing are waiting. Does driver try to deny boarding? Various interesting stories about overbooked DME buses back to the airport have appeared on The DIS over the years, no need to bore you here with repeating the details.

There was a thread "Reasons Not To Go To Disney." The replies immediately preceding suggest that the DME experience may be one reason to add to the list.

Actually, there's an easy solution... only accept those guests who can produce the proof that they're supposed to be on the bus. Then, contact dispatch and tell them there are more people waiting.

 

[momtwoboys]

they did look at our paper, and just sent us on the bus to return to airport regardless of the amount of people on board already. I think they were not reducing capacity on the departure and didnt assign seats, we had no idea until we were standing in the aisle looking around. We could have refused to board and wait for another bus or pay to ride back. lesson learned on a very uncomfortable ride to MCO, no more DME for a while for us. The Disney Bus to parks were amazing but DME nope.

 

[leebee]

This makes me glad we decided to rent a car for our entire trip, rather than just the after-Disney portion of our vacation!

 

[momtwoboys]

Actually, there's an easy solution... only accept those guests who can produce the proof that they're supposed to be on the bus. Then, contact dispatch and tell them there are more people waiting.

and DME needs to implement the procedures on BOTH ends! The airport they assign you a seat and only loaded every other row. They made it seem like they had a plan, but it failed on the other end.

 

[kevtlas]

I just returned from my WDW vacation and was disappointed in the Magical Express protocol and want to pass on my experience. The buses were packed and several guests did not wear a mask. The driver on one trip did not wear a mask when speaking on his phone while driving. I had to move from one guest who was eating and a boy sat near me without a mask again. I had to ask him to put it on after his mom didn't ask him to. I thought the Express would be like the resort buses, which are great. The resorts, parks, restaurants and parks transportation were all fantastic! I just want others to be aware and make an informed decision about transportation from the airport. I would have rented a car if I had known. Good luck!!

Thanks for sharing

 

[anonymousegirl]

Back in September, I took ME from the airport. I was told exactly where to sit (I am a solo). Then a couple come on and it is obvious they have been told where to sit as they are counting the rows of seats. And then they sit down in front of me with just one empty row between us. I am thinking that they have made a mistake and they should be in that row, but on the other side of the bus which would give us the 6ft distance. Then another couple get up and also come to the back and sit in the seats opposite the second couple! So, here I am thinking this bus is going to be pretty full if they are seating us this close at the back of the bus. But then the driver gets on and we leave. 6 people 3ft apart at the back on this huge bus (I moved forward right away). It is obvious that Mears cannot safely assign seating.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

I believe this is a violation of FL laws (talking on a hand-held phone) for Commercial Drivers. You should report this to Disney so that they can educate the driver.

And mears

 

[VandVsmama]

This makes me really thinking twice about using ME on our trip later this month.