Magical Express May No Longer be Free

[LSchrow]

we take ME to the resort (usually BWVs), & rent a car (usually at the dolphin).
while we enjoy the convenience of not waiting at MCO's baggage claim (which makes SWA's old cattle call look calm & disiplined ), i doubt we would pay for both a rental & ME.

fyi, we are with the many who never had a problem in any of our rides with ME (at least 2x a year since inception).

 

[drakethib]

I would be fine with this since we always drive. "Free" ME is actually being passed on to all WDW visitors via higher prices, regardless of whether they take advantage of it or not. I say let those who use it foot the bill -- probably still cheaper than an airport shuttle or taxi.

Agree.

WE have used ME one or twice in the past and the extra time spent waiting to get to your resort is just not worth it.

If they were to charge for it we surely would never use it again.

 

[abeyst]

I wouldn't pay to use ME, no way no how. I could get a towncar and grocery stop for what ME would cost. But I hate waiting for that darn bus, and I will rent a car every time.

 

[MinnieLee]

I don't have a hugh problem with paying for the convience of ME. Love that the luggage is brought to the room but still wish Southwest would get on board with the return flight. "Back in the day", if you took Mears to and from it was $50 for two people round trip so a $25 fee is not out of line --although I would take it as a member perk for free! With the price of gas in a way I can understand why they would do this. Disadvantage would be there would be guests renting cars so they would have the advantage of leaving property and spending their dollars elsewhere.

 

[kaelarad]

DH and I are in the minority. We have had nothing but less then steller experiences with ME. We put up with it because it is free. If a fee is charged we would get a rental car. We always drive at Christmas which is our longest visit each year and rarely eat on property. We use to live 5 minutes from Disney property so we like to enjoy the local resturants.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have always rented a car, and I HATE wasting time waiting for someone else to take me to WDW, so I have never used ME, anda charge for it wouldn't bother me in the least. Frankly, I see no reason for Disney to give free transportation to ANYONE, let alone DVC members.

 

[spiceycat]

Frankly, I see no reason for Disney to give free transportation to ANYONE, let alone DVC members.

so their guests can't be running off to US/IOA, SW or outlet malls without a lot of trouble - and therefore the majority will give up and just spend their time and MONEY at WDW.

why do you think they offer it now.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Oh, I understand that, Pat, but I would never use it anyway. I just think people end up being like lemmings!

 

[PEANUT1]

We dislike disney transportation very much.

We always rent a car but on our last trip I was being cheap. I told my husband "lets just do ME and Disney buses". He reluctantly agreed. We waited over an hour to get our bus to the hotel. And we calculated we wasted about 1 1/2 hours a day on disney transportation. So its not for us free or not.

 

[goofy4tink]

I thought their agreement with the airport authority called for free service through 2010, or 2011?

I think we'll see a parking charge for DtD before we see a charge for ME. Charging for parking at DtD won't impact onsite guests, but will be a cash cow. And it will solve a few problems.

I'm not completely sure the contract says it has to be free of charge though. I know there is a contract until 2011 or so.
I would love it if they started charging to park at DTD. But, I don't think that's going to happen.

I've used DME about 6 times now. I've had only one 'not great' experience and I think some of the blame, if not all of it, lies with POP baggage people.
If Disney starts charging for DME, I may have to rethink it. If I have to pay $25 pp, it will cost me up to $75 for the three of us. Add my grocery delivery charge of $15, and now I'm pretty close to what I would pay for a towncar.

I would think that they could put in a surcharge for those who tag their bags, and then take alternative transportation to the resort. A per bag charge, added to your room bill. I have to say, that would be a nice thing. Charge us $5 per bag, to not have to worry about it.

But, if they are going to start charging, I really think they are going to have to make some changes..more buses, fewer stops per route (2 resorts, not 3 or 4).

I do have an issue with them just charging $25 pp, right off the bat. That's a bit steep. Now, this rumor rears it's head every summer, just before packages are announced for the following year. While many of us think Disney started DME in order to hold us hostage, it's only partially worked. I've gone offsite more since using DME than before. I figure that I haven't paid for transport from the airport, I can splurge on a ride to US or SW.
I may have to start renting a car down the road.

 

[CraftyMouse]

We have always rented a car, and I HATE wasting time waiting for someone else to take me to WDW, so I have never used ME, anda charge for it wouldn't bother me in the least. Frankly, I see no reason for Disney to give free transportation to ANYONE, let alone DVC members.

We actually find that ME gets us on the road faster than renting a car. We don't have to worry about waiting for our luggage so we just head right to the ME counter. We've used it twice and on both occasions have been at WDW 45 minutes after getting to the ME counter. Maybe we've just been lucky, but I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. That said, we almost always drive so we don't usually have the opportunity to use ME.

As for no need to give it for free. No, they don't need to, but by offering it for free it gives more people the incentive to use it. It keeps a lot of guests from every leaving WDW property and that puts a lot more money in Disney's pockets.

 

[Mtnman44]

I'm in the same boat as you. While it is frustrating waiting for the bus to fill up to head off to the resort, I've never had a bad wait. always less than 30 mins. ME does take a little longer, but waiting for luggage, finding car rental bus, getting rental car, etc etc takes a lot of time also. So for free, I think ME is a good deal and I love not having to hassle with luggage.

However, I always arrive on "non park days" so I'm never in a huge hurry to get there. On my upcoming trip, we have at DTD 3 hours after airport arrival. I hope it's not a problem...

We actually find that ME gets us on the road faster than renting a car. We don't have to worry about waiting for our luggage so we just head right to the ME counter. We've used it twice and on both occasions have been at WDW 45 minutes after getting to the ME counter. Maybe we've just been lucky, but I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. That said, we almost always drive so we don't usually have the opportunity to use ME.

As for no need to give it for free. No, they don't need to, but by offering it for free it gives more people the incentive to use it. It keeps a lot of guests from every leaving WDW property and that puts a lot more money in Disney's pockets.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We actually find that ME gets us on the road faster than renting a car. We don't have to worry about waiting for our luggage so we just head right to the ME counter. We've used it twice and on both occasions have been at WDW 45 minutes after getting to the ME counter. Maybe we've just been lucky, but I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. That said, we almost always drive so we don't usually have the opportunity to use ME.

As for no need to give it for free. No, they don't need to, but by offering it for free it gives more people the incentive to use it. It keeps a lot of guests from every leaving WDW property and that puts a lot more money in Disney's pockets.

We do Emerald Aisle, so nothing is faster than that! We pick up our bags...cross the street...hop in an Emerald Aisle car and we are on our way.

 

[Machta]

I don't have a hugh problem with paying for the convience of ME. Love that the luggage is brought to the room but still wish Southwest would get on board with the return flight. "Back in the day", if you took Mears to and from it was $50 for two people round trip so a $25 fee is not out of line --although I would take it as a member perk for free! With the price of gas in a way I can understand why they would do this. Disadvantage would be there would be guests renting cars so they would have the advantage of leaving property and spending their dollars elsewhere.

This brings up an interesting point that I think may be relevant to the ME discussion. Do the airlines pay a fee to Disney to be able to have passengers check in at the resorts? It seems to me -- and I don't mean this unkindly, but respectfully -- that Disney never misses an opportunity to generate revenue. People are clamoring for SW to "get on board with the return flight." From Disney's point of view, why not charge the airlines for that perk?

Similarly, if they really are considering charging for ME, I am quite sure that they have done an extensive cost/benefit analysis including estimating how many people would rent cars or use Mears and/or a towncar service. IF they decide to charge for ME, my guess would be that it won't be until they at least try to figure out how to get in on some of the increase in rental car/town car activity.

Having said that, even with the baggage handling, ME is not that much more convenient than a towncar or rental car. We usually only take carry on backpacks (gotta love the w/d in those villas!) so luggage handling isn't much of a perk for us. If they charged $25 r/t for it, we'd rent a car. (We've even thought of renting a car from Alamo, stopping at the grocery store, checking in to the villa, and turning it in at the Dolphin. Some of the coupons you can get from Costco and VISA make this a real possibility . . . )

But as long as I'm writing a book here, does the loud volume of the DVD they show on the ME buses drive anyone else crazy?

 

[hakepb]

From what I've heard the people running the airline luggage check-in at the resorts are not Disney CM's. That is a service run by the airlines, and actually different than ME.
Overall I think ME simplifies or consloidates the airline's and ORD's luggage handeling enough for ME to be a benefit for them.

 

[spiceycat]

This brings up an interesting point that I think may be relevant to the ME discussion. Do the airlines pay a fee to Disney to be able to have passengers check in at the resorts? It seems to me -- and I don't mean this unkindly, but respectfully -- that Disney never misses an opportunity to generate revenue. People are clamoring for SW to "get on board with the return flight." From Disney's point of view, why not charge the airlines for that perk?

Disney claims it is free to everyone. and since the airlines that do use - are in trouble - they appreciate being able to blame disney for the luggage not being there.

IMO - both SW and disney are to put it mildly terroritorial. SW doesn't link to other systems period.

Disney would need to link to their system and I think that is the problem.

SW claims it is because they have too many passengers and would over run Disney. - No because we use DME anyway.

really think SW doesn't trust anyone except their employees to give them the fast deliver system that they count on.

as to your DVD problem - not really - even seating up front - sometimes it is so low can't even heard it. of course if i wasn't listening to the people behind me.....

 

[WOW]

Never use ME, but I am sure that we are paying for it anyway. Nothing is free.