Magical Express is going away on Jan. 1, 2022

[Chuck S]

I can't help but to chime in on this analogy. Your local friendly car dealership sold you a "Magical" vehicle (Disney theme!) on the promise (not guaranteed on the contract, I know) that its maintenance will be included during your ownership (hassle-free, just like ME for many). Well, 5 years later, the dealer is dropping that once "included" service and touting how you now have so many different options on where you can have your "Magical" vehicle serviced.

May be it won't have changed your purchasing decision, but I don't find it unreasonable that it would have factored into the decision for many. Sure, if I can afford spending $50K on a vehicle (timeshare), what's an extra $100 a year to service it. However, that really isn't point, IMHO.

LAX

Except Disney NEVER promised the ME service would always be around, neither in writing, nor verbally. You simply assumed it always would be available as part of the perks for all WDW onsite guests. Yet over the years, anyone who has been going to Disney over the last 20+ years can tell you, such perks come and go, this one just lasted longer than most. It is nothing new.

 

[New Mouse]

Please show me where in our contract Disney provides airport service.



But Disney didn't promise this. I've purchased Direct, sat through the sales pitched, talked to my guide several other times. At no point did they bring up ME. Any assumption that ME was guaranteed to stick around was just that, an assumption by the buyer.

And again, I'm trying to make really stupid analogies because my original comment was directed at the person who said elimination of non-guaranteed airport service in a years' time is a weird reason to suddenly not spend $56k on a timeshare that does not guarantee airport service. That's it. That's all I said and I stand by it. Our contracts do not guarantee ME, EMH, APs, or anything else. They guarantee the opportunity to book a room. It's a timeshare.

I realize a lot of people assume because it's Disney and it's different, and for a while and in a lot of different ways, it is/was different. But none of that is guaranteed. It's only assumed by the buyer. Before we purchased, we did a ton of research, and read our contracts line-by-line. All we get is a room. We used to own AKL and that contract doesn't even guarantee the presence of animals! How about that, if Disney can remove the animals from Animal Kingdom, they can certainly remove airport service.

And with that I'm going to stop commenting on this. Feel free to reply if you want, but this is going nowhere. I get that this is not ideal, but it's part of timeshare ownership - sometimes you don't get the things you assume you're going to get. I hope everyone is able to find peace with this is one way or another.

Then their entire marketing strategy needs to change and those that bought before today should be given options. While I am well aware what we bought, the advertising of what I bought was...

1.) Vacation ownership (what constitutes vacation?), much more than just a room
2.) Not just a timeshare
3.) Magical Express
4.) Fast Pass
5.) Resort transportation

Yada yada yada.

What needs to.be advertised heavily:

1.) Very similar to other time shares
2.) You are buying time at a room each year, nothing more nothing less.
3.) Dues will likely go up significantly over time and with the current average you would be paying x per year in year 50
4.) No exisiting perks are guaranteed, even if you are paying for them. You will continue to pay for them if they go away.
5.) Point charts contrary to what we tell you now can and will change significantly and only the man behind the curtains knows how, when and why.
6.) We are supposed to do things in your best interest, but if you arent paying attention we will try to sneak things by you.

DVC sales has become synonymous with car sales, but they dont have the ability to negotiate.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Its definitely faster. We waited an hour in October just to board the bus. Definitely would have been to the resort in time.

This week, boarded quickly but was last stop so about 60 minutes?

For our December trip, at MCO we actually got on a bus pretty quickly, and there were only 4 families on the bus so we were excited about that, until we realized that we were stopping at 4 different resorts - and NOT the 4 around WL.

on the way back to MCO we were the first stop but it took us almost an hour to go to 4 different resorts for a few other families - and once again, it was NOT the 4 around WL....

I kept thinking the whole time how we should have gotten a Lyft/Uber - well, now we can!

 

[Splashboat]

DVC sales has become synonymous with car sales, but they dont have the ability to negotiate.

They always were the same as used car salesmen, they just used to be better at hiding it.

 

[New Mouse]

Then their entire marketing strategy needs to change and those that bought before today should be given options. While I am well aware what we bought, the advertising of what I bought was...

1.) Vacation ownership (what constitutes vacation?), much more than just a room
2.) Not just a timeshare
3.) Magical Express
4.) Fast Pass
5.) Resort transportation

Yada yada yada.

What needs to.be advertised heavily:

1.) Very similar to other time shares
2.) You are buying time at a room each year, nothing more nothing less.
3.) Dues will likely go up significantly over time and with the current average you would be paying x per year in year 50
4.) No exisiting perks are guaranteed, even if you are paying for them. You will continue to pay for them if they go away.
5.) Point charts contrary to what we tell you now can and will change significantly and only the man behind the curtains knows how, when and why.
6.) We are supposed to do things in your best interest, but if you arent paying attention we will try to sneak things by you.

DVC sales has become synonymous with car sales, but they dont have the ability to negotiate.

I also forgot to add theme parks....heavily advertised (not guaranteed) and we will do everything we can to make the resale value of your purchase less appealing to potential buyers after telling you how easy it is to resell.

 

[dez1978]

To everyone complaining, how did you get from the airport in 2004?

I didn't, because I didn't go, because it was a pain in the butt

 

[Rob Huff]

I also forgot to add theme parks....heavily advertised (not guaranteed) and we will do everything we can to make the resale value of your purchase less appealing to potential buyers after telling you how easy it is to resell.

I can appreciate your frustration here. If I thought that I was buying all of those benefits with a guarantee that they'd be around forever, I'd be flummoxed at best and livid at worst.

The process of buying DVC is almost shockingly alike the process of buying a car, hence the references in this thread to used car sales. If you go to buy your car at an auto dealership from a salesperson and close on the transaction that day, they're going to sell you the product, whatever it takes. If you buy a car by doing a few weeks of research first and make the purchase on your own timeline instead of the salesperson's, you're much less likely to get swindled and be disappointed with the outcome of the transaction.

A few hours of poking around on message boards probably solves 95% of DVC-related disappointment issues. That's obviously not a luxury folks have when buying in-person at a resort or park. The only logical takeaway to me: don't buy in-person at a resort or park.

Purchasing DVC is, ultimately, a business decision. Making business decisions emotionally -- something that is guaranteed to happen when purchasing in-person at a resort or park -- is a recipe for disaster.

In making a decision, you're likely to be satisfied if your expectations are met or surpassed but disappointed if your expectations aren't met. If you buy DVC assuming that you're buying "vacations" and all of the current perks of the day, you're guaranteed to be disappointed: you're buying access to a resort with a long-term obligation (MFs). There are certain perks that I fully expect to remain, namely the presence of the theme parks and the resort transportation on property. In the scheme of Disney Parks, Fastpass is relatively new (1999) with Fastpass+ being much newer (2013), and Magical Express has only been around for 15 years. The services change.

If you expect that you're buying resort access with nearby theme parks, you're going to be happy to DVC -- we've been ecstatic. Buying DVC removes the pressure to consider staying at resorts that we like but don't love on these very expensive vacations and we get to stay at our favorite spots as a result. If you think you're getting a whole quiver of benefits, well, that's going to be disappointing by its nature given that Disney is always changing its offerings and always will.

 

[Rob Huff]

Since we don't have ME on the West Coast and the paid service from LAX to DLH is not magical at all (expensive, pretty much only worth it if you're flying solo into the worst airport in SoCal), ME was a welcome surprise when we went to Florida, which made my trips there a lot more magical.
Since I have a carseat-aged child again, being able to do our last trip using ME and Minnie Vans only was a luxury that I wouldn't have done a WDW trip without, because hauling the carseat is a pain, and removing it from the equation with ME made using my points in Florida a lot more attractive. Without it (or a reasonably priced alternative for my entire family - I suspect that Mears may offer a similar service paid), I won't be back to WDW until my youngest outgrows her need for a carseat ... it'll be the VGC (and perhaps Aulani) only for us until then.

This hits on an important point. We've had lovely visits to Disneyland with stays at the DLH and GCR, but the trips to the resorts from the airport or train station were never magical at all. It was, in fact, always the worst part of the trip.

DME had some real magic to it. At its core, it was just a bus. But it had more than that. It had a certain Disney flair.

It's kind of like SDMT. I love that ride. My whole family loves that ride. As a roller coaster, it's fine. If I want an elite roller coaster, I'm driving to Sandusky, OH for Cedar Point instead of flying to Orlando for WDW. But I don't normally want roller coasters. I want that Disney magic. In its own way, DME did that, albeit to bus service which is, at its core, not even a little bit exciting. That's special.

 

[Eric Smith]

I wonder if the person responding washed his or her hands be ffg or responding. I bet they had a mask on. What a generic response.

It has to be a consistent response, otherwise people would complain that they got a different story from someone else. People complain all the time about inconsistency in messages from phone CMs.

 

[Eric Smith]

I also forgot to add theme parks....heavily advertised (not guaranteed) and we will do everything we can to make the resale value of your purchase less appealing to potential buyers after telling you how easy it is to resell.

You think Disney is going to just up and close it's theme parks? If that happens, the company will have gone bankrupt.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

I can't help but to chime in on this analogy. Your local friendly car dealership sold you a "Magical" vehicle (Disney theme!) on the promise (not guaranteed on the contract, I know) that its maintenance will be included during your ownership (hassle-free, just like ME for many). Well, 5 years later, the dealer is dropping that once "included" service and touting how you now have so many different options on where you can have your "Magical" vehicle serviced.

May be it won't have changed your purchasing decision, but I don't find it unreasonable that it would have factored into the decision for many. Sure, if I can afford spending $50K on a vehicle (timeshare), what's an extra $100 a year to service it. However, that really isn't point, IMHO.

LAX

This isn't apples to apples. For your analogy to make sense, you would need to mention that the dealer was charging you for the maintenance (they included it in your monthly payment). Then one day the dealer, as you commented, notifies you that they are dropping the maintenance that was "included". But they also remove that maintenance fee from your monthly payment.

Disney was charging for DME. The fees were part of the resort fee for cash customers and the fees are in the "Transportation" line item for DVC members. However, not every resort guest was using DME (I think the actual % is low when compared to the total number of resort guests). The ones that were using it were getting a "free ride" on the backs of everyone else. Can you imagine if every single resort guest decided to use DME? The costs would have skyrocketed to a point where you would have absolutely noticed those charges. In your analogy, every single person who purchased that "Magical" vehicle would be utilizing that "free" maintenance.

So in your analogy, I wouldn't have a problem with the car dealership making that decision. I would just take the money saved to go get my service done somewhere else.

 

[New Mouse]

You think Disney is going to just up and close it's theme parks? If that happens, the company will have gone bankrupt.

They did... for a few months this year and Grand Californian is still closed, people were not allowed to use their accomodations and in some cases like mine, exceptions were not allowed.

Theres also always been the what if the theme parks are sold question hovering in the unknown.

You make your statement as if its quite clear Disney will always do what they are supposed to do and always have.

 

[Eric Smith]

They did... for a few months this year and Grand Californian is still closed, people were not allowed to use their accomodations and in some cases like mine, exceptions were not allowed.

Theres also always been the what if the theme parks are sold question hovering in the unknown.

You make your statement as if its quite clear Disney will always do what they are supposed to do and always have.

Disney isn't selling off their parks. In normal times, the parks are an incredibly reliable source of revenue. They closed the parks due to a once in a century (hopefully) pandemic. The parks are still closed in California by the state of California, not by Disney.

 

[chrish2]

The ones that were using it were getting a "free ride" on the backs of everyone else.

Again you can point to any resort amenity that is not used by all and claim others are getting a "free ride". Bell services taking you to your room on the luggage cart? Yes you may tip the driver but dues paid for the cart, power and maintenance. There is also the in resort shuttle service too.

(Maybe I'm showing how much of a Brit I am as we would almost exclusively walk instead of use the above unless there was an exceptional reason)

 

[dez1978]

This isn't apples to apples. For your analogy to make sense, you would need to mention that the dealer was charging you for the maintenance (they included it in your monthly payment). Then one day the dealer, as you commented, notifies you that they are dropping the maintenance that was "included". But they also remove that maintenance fee from your monthly payment.

Disney was charging for DME. The fees were part of the resort fee for cash customers and the fees are in the "Transportation" line item for DVC members. However, not every resort guest was using DME (I think the actual % is low when compared to the total number of resort guests). The ones that were using it were getting a "free ride" on the backs of everyone else. Can you imagine if every single resort guest decided to use DME? The costs would have skyrocketed to a point where you would have absolutely noticed those charges. In your analogy, every single person who purchased that "Magical" vehicle would be utilizing that "free" maintenance.

So in your analogy, I wouldn't have a problem with the car dealership making that decision. I would just take the money saved to go get my service done somewhere else.

Except you won't be saving any money with the elimination of this service. Disney isn't going to lower resort rates or lower MFs. And if you think they will, you are crazy. So what exactly do you get from them eliminating the service?

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Except you won't be saving any money with the elimination of this service. Disney isn't going to lower resort rates or lower MFs. And if you think they will, you are crazy. So what exactly do you get from them eliminating the service?

I disagree. They are actually required to. It may be negligible, but there will be some reduction. The DVC budget is reviewed by an external audit for accuracy and legitimacy. We all got reductions due to 2020 because DVC had to do that based on actual expenses.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Again you can point to any resort amenity that is not used by all and claim others are getting a "free ride". Bell services taking you to your room on the luggage cart? Yes you may tip the driver but dues paid for the cart, power and maintenance. There is also the in resort shuttle service too.

(Maybe I'm showing how much of a Brit I am as we would almost exclusively walk instead of use the above unless there was an exceptional reason)

The only reason I pointed that out is to demonstrate how the analogy wasn't accurate. In the car dealer example, everyone would be utilizing the maintenance. That is not the case with DME. Or bell services. Or monorail. Etc, etc, etc. I have no issues with paying for the DME even though I don't utilize it. But pointing that out was necessary for the comparison. If literally everyone who was paying fees for DME utilized it, it would be MUCH more expensive. No one would be calling it "free" because the price to use it would be extremely noticeable.

 

[New Mouse]

Disney isn't selling off their parks. In normal times, the parks are an incredibly reliable source of revenue. They closed the parks due to a once in a century (hopefully) pandemic. The parks are still closed in California by the state of California, not by Disney.

So then why were they previously looking at selling the parks?

 

[RoseGold]

ME had a giant, gorgeous ad for DVC at the end of the ride, and it was two different targeted ads that ended right as you got to the hotel/airport. Want to make sure you can have years more of magical vacations? That was not an accident.

That kind of captive, well-timed ad is going to be impossible to replicate, unless they make you sit through it to get through the turnstiles.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I didn't, because I didn't go, because it was a pain in the butt

We went but were poor and had 3 kids. We drove 13 hours and stayed offsite.