Magical Express Replacement

[Marionnette]

$40 -$45 R/T with luggage under the bus. Possible surcharge for DME RAC style luggage handling.

Private car service is $150, a little less. Mears can't charge the kinds of numbers posters are suggesting.

Uber is currently price gouging. You have no idea what it will cost until you're ready to book

MCO and or Disney could offer subsidies in recognition of traffic benefits and luggage considerations

I cannot imagine Mears charging in the range of $20-$25 per person one-way and still making a profit unless they pack those buses full every trip. Airport fees, fuel and highway tolls take huge chunks from their profits. They were charging $40 RT twenty years ago. My money is on a much more expensive price tag. Maybe not $150 RT, but I don't think $80 pp RT is outside of the realm of possibility.

 

[Lewisc]

I cannot imagine Mears charging in the range of $20-$25 per person one-way and still making a profit unless they pack those buses full every trip. Airport fees, fuel and highway tolls take huge chunks from their profits. They were charging $40 RT twenty years ago. My money is on a much more expensive price tag. Maybe not $150 RT, but I don't think $80 pp RT is outside of the realm of possibility.

$40 R/T was the precovid price for Mears shared shuttle service between MCO and S/D.

I don't see the price doubling from 2020.

Not sure what the price was 20 years ago. Maybe $30 R/T? Maybe less.

$80 R/T is way outside the realm

 

[AnnaS]

Does anyone remember or know how much Disney charged for taking ME R/T from MCO to Port Canaveral - wasn't it $35 pp one way or something similar?

I know Mears will be on it's own moving forward, the resorts are so much closer than Port Canaveral - I would hope and think Mears won't charge more than $25 - $30 the most pp each way. Many rented a car if they had a party of 3 or more since it came out to less money. Guests will do the same if the price is not worth it.........just a thought

 

[Lewisc]

Shared shuttle is priced per passenger. Almost anyplace 3 or more is better with private transportation or car rental.

Current posted Mears is $40. $120 for 3 is in the ball park for car service

 

[frjohnk]

A Mears luxury van from airport to Art of Animation is $118 for 7 people one way.

We used DME and a mears van last Jan. Both were great.

Don’t know when we will be back but we will be at some point. But if the price of the new DME is not close to what we can get by a mears van or equivalent, we won’t use the new DME.

 

[ford91exploder]

What? That’s a ludicrous price. Nobody is paying that for a shared shuttle. That would be $600 for a standard family of four. You could get much better service from a private shuttle service for way less money.

no question about that but i think prvate shuttles are gonna get whacked as well i would not be suprised by a 25 buck entry fee for them as well.

this is likely driven by some genius figuring out that Disney can ‘monetize’ guest delivery. Theyve already monetized parking.

Both Disney and MCO are gonna want at least 25 bucks per person plus Mears has its operating costs and needs to make a profit. And none of these entities are a charity.

Disney would have been much better off burying these costs in a package and charging DVC for member transport and charging ala carte for the rest.

 

[ford91exploder]

I see a lot of wishful thinking here, Disney’s gonna put the squeeze on Mears + the fees for MCO bus stops plus bus operating cost which aint cheap + profit for mears. Im thinking the cost for MCO+Disney 50-75 per person round trip and that does not include Mears costs and profit margin, I think when pricing announcement hits it will be breathtaking and not in a good sense

 

[mom2rtk]

I see a lot of wishful thinking here, Disney’s gonna put the squeeze on Mears + the fees for MCO bus stops plus bus operating cost which aint cheap + profit for mears. Im thinking the cost for MCO+Disney 50-75 per person round trip and that does not include Mears costs and profit margin, I think when pricing announcement hits it will be breathtaking and not in a good sense

Not a chance.

 

[BrianL]

I see a lot of wishful thinking here, Disney’s gonna put the squeeze on Mears + the fees for MCO bus stops plus bus operating cost which aint cheap + profit for mears. Im thinking the cost for MCO+Disney 50-75 per person round trip and that does not include Mears costs and profit margin, I think when pricing announcement hits it will be breathtaking and not in a good sense

Yeah, but pricing is going to have to be competitive with ride-share services now, something they didn't have to compete with before. I'm not saying that they won't try to price that high, but if they do I don't think they will be successful when ride-shares cost the same for four people as that does for one. They are going to have to find a way to get that price lower.

 

[Sandiz08]

We used to pay 20 something bucks for the bus from LAX to Disneyland per person each way several years ago. No luggage service, only handling underneath the bus, and you would get dropped off at random locations around the anaheim resort area if you weren’t staying at a Disney resort. I’m gonna say at least 50 bucks a person round trip for this.

 

[ford91exploder]

Yeah, but pricing is going to have to be competitive with ride-share services now, something they didn't have to compete with before. I'm not saying that they won't try to price that high, but if they do I don't think they will be successful when ride-shares cost the same for four people as that does for one. They are going to have to find a way to get that price lower.

Disney can easily ban ride-share services from property access or charge a fee, There is no law saying that disney has to allow a person/company without a taxi license or CDL on property for liability reasons. So disney does not need to compete with ride share companies. Remember all the shuttles have a electronic pass which raises the gates, I'll bet it also charges them an entry fee as well.

 

[ford91exploder]

Not a chance.

Oh I think you will be in for a very unpleasant surprise. Wall St Disney cares only for money, The guest experience was on life support pre-covid, post covid another headstone needs to be added to the Haunted Mansion Graveyard 'Guest Experience R.I.P. 1971-2020'

 

[BostonEd]

So I think at at least $100-$150 round trip per person.

LOL... no.

no question about that but i think prvate shuttles are gonna get whacked as well i would not be suprised by a 25 buck entry fee for them as well.

That won't happen.

 

[BrianL]

Disney can easily ban ride-share services from property access or charge a fee, There is no law saying that disney has to allow a person/company without a taxi license or CDL on property for liability reasons. So disney does not need to compete with ride share companies. Remember all the shuttles have a electronic pass which raises the gates, I'll bet it also charges them an entry fee as well.

Well, I meant MEARS will need to compete with ride share services. I don't see Disney charging for ride-share drop-off - it would be difficult to enforce. My point is that MEARS will need to keep pricing competitive with other options or they won't be successful.

 

[Lewisc]

Well, I meant MEARS will need to compete with ride share services. I don't see Disney charging for ride-share drop-off - it would be difficult to enforce. My point is that MEARS will need to keep pricing competitive with other options or they won't be successful.

Although I don't see Disney charging for ride share pick up or drop offs it would be ridiculously easy. WDW is private property. Disney would impose an access fee which Uber would have to include in the fare.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Given recent behavior I'd expect the squeeze play from Disney i.e. wring every spare penny out of Mears for the privilege of delivering guests to WDW.

What do they charge Uber & Lyft? Not high enough in my opinion.
They should charge to anybody operating a business on Disney property ...What do they charge all those other vendors?

 

[ford91exploder]

Well, I meant MEARS will need to compete with ride share services. I don't see Disney charging for ride-share drop-off - it would be difficult to enforce. My point is that MEARS will need to keep pricing competitive with other options or they won't be successful.

Not difficult at all with modern tech use a ALPR to check licence numbers against known rideshare drivers. Also there is that Big Uber and Lyft sign the drivers are obligated to display. I’m sure some will try to hide, but they will get caught and trespassed and im pretty sure Uber and Lyft dont want that kind of publicity.

also many airports are restricting rideshare companies to some back corner of the airport if they dont ban them altogether. The shuttles pay the airport both upfront and per ride and the rideshare companies are freeloading

 

[New Mouse]

Not difficult at all with modern tech use a ALPR to check licence numbers against known rideshare drivers. Also there is that Big Uber and Lyft sign the drivers are obligated to display. I’m sure some will try to hide, but they will get caught and trespassed and im pretty sure Uber and Lyft dont want that kind of publicity.

also many airports are restricting rideshare companies to some back corner of the airport if they dont ban them altogether. The shuttles pay the airport both upfront and per ride and the rideshare companies are freeloading

If Disney started charging, rideshare would just find a new place to drop people. At the end of the day, rideshare exists because traditional means of transportation ie. Cabs, were a monopoly. Rather than adapt to the times and pricing needs of the consumer, they went status quo and now have to fight for airport pickups etc.

 

[ford91exploder]

If Disney started charging, rideshare would just find a new place to drop people. At the end of the day, rideshare exists because traditional means of transportation ie. Cabs, were a monopoly. Rather than adapt to the times and pricing needs of the consumer, they went status quo and now have to fight for airport pickups etc.

Unfortunately that does not work on private property - both MCO and Disney are fully within their rights to confine access to a given location or bar access entirely, I suppose uber could drop off at the beginning of World Drive (WDW) and Jeff Fuqua Blvd (MCO) but I don't think either of those locations would make any customer happy except perhaps for an extreme couponer... and would probably draw the the ire of the O.C. Sheriff's dept.

 

[New Mouse]

Unfortunately that does not work on private property - both MCO and Disney are fully within their rights to confine access to a given location or bar access entirely, I suppose uber could drop off at the beginning of World Drive (WDW) and Jeff Fuqua Blvd (MCO) but I don't think either of those locations would make any customer happy except perhaps for an extreme couponer... and would probably draw the the ire of the O.C. Sheriff's dept.

It works on private property because of supply and demand. The same reason Disney decided magical express wasnt worth it to them anymore. Disney can charge whatever they want, but in doing so they will drive away consumers. Theyve been very corporate suicidal in their decisions lately, but I dont think they would go that far.