Magical Express to end in 2022

[MickeyWaffles]

I know people will keep going. I personally wish people would just stop going, take it in the chin for a year or so, and drop the attendance. This will get Chapek out the door and we can hopefully replace him with someone more customer focused who will bring back Disney the way it used to be. Then I can go back too.

Well, right now there are a heck of a lot of people who would have gone who aren’t going due to covid. That’s why attendance is down, parks are only hitting the limited capacity on holidays, we’re seeing so many more cuts that wouldn’t have happened pre-pandemic. So your wish of people not going is already coming true thanks to covid, and unfortunately it’s causing more things to be cut.

I’ve been going to WDW since I was born. Some things have changed for better, some for worse. There have actually been a lot of improvements over the years. We always have a nice time and make lasting memories. We had an incredible trip in February. One of the best. Food was excellent, customer service top notch, transportation reliable. We are not going while covid is prevalent due to having a child who is high risk, but as soon as we feel it’s safe for him to go, we’ll be back. There is nothing that has happened this far that’s a deal breaker for us

I hope that as the covid situation improves, crowds pick up, we’ll see more entertainment return.

 

[Miffy]

From a purely cost perspective and for those who are able to use Uber - this morning if you were to take Uber to Jambo House (first hotel that popped up!)

regular that seats 3 people - about $32 one way
One that seats 6 people - about $47 one way
Comfort ? - about $38 one way

$10 extra for requested car seat, which you do on app.

I know it's not ideal for everyone, but thought seeing the prices may help. Of course they could go up by 2022, but they won't be at surge price all the time like everyone is guessing.

Now renting a car service for drop off/pick up, that's pricey!

Thanks for posting this.

For one person, this is a not-insignificant amount of money. I'm sometimes solo, if only for a day or two before my sister arrives, and DME makes this so so easy.

Maybe WDW will have buses at DS that will meet the train and go directly to your resort. If that's the case, I wish they'd say so! And is there going to be a lag between the end of DME and the start of the train service?

I love DME, and I will miss this service greatly.

The one good thing I can see in all this is that car service owners and drivers will appreciate DME's demise.

 

[fla4fun]

Question . . . Is it possible to do a one way car rental from MCO to Disney and a one way rental for the return? If I remember correctly, there used to be car rentals available on property somewhere. Just wondering if that might be a good compromise solution for people who would prefer not to use ride share, but don’t want to pay for a car to just sit in the hotel lot if they aren’t planning to leave the bubble. it would cost more than a ride share, but depending on the length of your trip, it could save some money overall. Just a thought

As a local, I haven’t had to use ME, but I am sorry for those of you who are losing it, just as many of you sympathized with us when the resort parking fees were announced. Disney finds a way to get all of us in the end . . .

 

[firefly_ris]

Question . . . Is it possible to do a one way car rental from MCO to Disney and a one way rental for the return?

Probably, but one way rentals are usually more expensive than just keeping it for the week.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Also, I understand things are tight for them because of the virus. But, they are also sturggling to fill hotel rooms right now. I just don't get the logic that taking things away is the way to entice people to come back. If I was on the fence about coming back, seeing all the stuff being stripped away would push me toward the "no thanks, I'll pass" side of the fence. I may not be a high powered CEO but that logic just doesn't make any sense to me. You're taking away some of the extras that make Disney worth going to because you are cutting costs but the executives all had their bonuses restored. I just have trouble supporting that kind of decision making.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Well, right now there are a heck of a lot of people who would have gone who aren’t going due to covid. That’s why attendance is down, parks are only hitting the limited capacity on holidays, we’re seeing so many more cuts that wouldn’t have happened pre-pandemic. So your wish of people not going is already coming true thanks to covid, and unfortunately it’s causing more things to be cut.

I’ve been going to WDW since I was born. Some things have changed for better, some for worse. But we always have a nice time and make lifelong memories. We had an incredible trip in February. Food was excellent, customer service top notch, transportation reliable. We are not going while covid is prevalent due to having a child who is high risk, but as soon as we feel it’s safe for him to go, we’ll be back. There is nothing that has happened this far that’s a deal breaker for us

I hope that as the covid situation improves, crowds pick up, we’ll see more entertainment return.

I get the people aren't going because of Covid. I also realize there are still a lot of great things about Disney, which is why I am on here because I miss it. I love being there.

Out of curiosity, what would be a deal breaker that would make you not want to go anymore?

 

[Farro]

I will say what does bother me is when Disney does something like cutting ME, which they know is going to be huge and really hurt a lot of their customer base, they never come out and give a statement! It's just "Hey, this is cut! Bye."

Like at least let's get some pillow talk - "Hey, we know this sucks, we appreciate you, had to do it, something else coming down the line, stick with us, you look real pretty today..."- something!

 

[Fanofthegame]

Question . . . Is it possible to do a one way car rental from MCO to Disney and a one way rental for the return? If I remember correctly, there used to be car rentals available on property somewhere. Just wondering if that might be a good compromise solution for people who would prefer not to use ride share, but don’t want to pay for a car to just sit in the hotel lot if they aren’t planning to leave the bubble. it would cost more than a ride share, but depending on the length of your trip, it could save some money overall. Just a thought

As a local, I haven’t had to use ME, but I am sorry for those of you who are losing it, just as many of you sympathized with us when the resort parking fees were announced. Disney finds a way to get all of us in the end . . .

Something to consider. Car rental fee for a week. $400.00 + $175 for disney resort parking and now the aggravation of driving.

 

[firefly_ris]

I will say what does bother me is when Disney does something like cutting ME, which they know is going to be huge and really hurt a lot of their customer base, they never come out and give a statement! It's just "Hey, this is cut! Bye."

Like at least let's get some pillow talk - "Hey, we know this sucks, we appreciate you, had to do it, something else coming down the line, stick with us, you look real pretty today..."- something!

Hey girl, did you do something with your hair? Oh by the way no free bus for you anymore. Have fun juggling those 3 booster seats through the airport with you. Love that hair though.

 

[Br'er Rabbit is the Best]

Sure it’s fine to be aggravated, but considering they are hemorrhaging money right now I am not really on board with sending complaint emails and nasty comments on DPB. Just my opinion.

The Walt Disney Company made combined net profits over $23B in FY 2018 and FY 2019. During a year in which Disneyland was closed half the year, WDW was closed a quarter of the year and had very limited capacity in another quarter, and they had 0 movies for half the year, the Company lost $2B. So even after all that in 2020, the company still made over $20B net profit over the last 3 fiscal years. The Walt Disney Company is doing just fine. They aren’t in any danger of going bankrupt or having to sell off any divisions of the company. Letting them use COVID as an excuse to implement cuts they have eyeing for years is shameful and we shouldn’t let them get away with it. As soon as all this is over, they’ll be seeing profits well over $10B a year considering they were making that before Disney + even got off the ground.

 

[Farro]

Hey girl, did you do something with your hair? Oh by the way no free bus for you anymore. Have fun juggling those 3 booster seats through the airport with you. Love that hair though.

Exactly!

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I get the people aren't going because of Covid. I also realize there are still a lot of great things about Disney, which is why I am on here because I miss it. I love being there.

Out of curiosity, what would be a deal breaker that would make you not want to go anymore?

Well, we are DVC and it would take a LOT for us to dump our membership. We didn’t join for any type of extra perks, but because we love Disney resorts and it’s part of the whole Disney trip experience for us. We are emotionally attached to certain resorts, the parks, etc. They’d honestly have to bulldoze Cinderella castle or something for me to not go there. I’m happy just sitting on a bench, listening to the Main Street music loop, and staring at the castle.

Seriously, though ... I am not always a Disney defender. Sometimes they do things I don’t like. I’m devastated over the loss of DME. I didn’t like FP+ at first, but over time adapted and grew to like it. The entertainment cuts hurt, but I an optimistic more entertainment will return as we move toward normal.

When I look big picture at our 5 trips in the last 4 years, they have been some of the best. Seeing Disney through my kids eyes and enjoying the same things I did as a kid is just indescribable.

 

[YesterDark]

I would also suspect that this may be a bargaining chip with the bus company for better rates.

Who knows though.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for posting this.

For one person, this is a not-insignificant amount of money. I'm sometimes solo, if only for a day or two before my sister arrives, and DME makes this so so easy.

Maybe WDW will have buses at DS that will meet the train and go directly to your resort. If that's the case, I wish they'd say so! And is there going to be a lag between the end of DME and the start of the train service?

I love DME, and I will miss this service greatly.

The one good thing I can see in all this is that car service owners and drivers will appreciate DME's demise.

absolutely - the company has said they expect it to open some time in 2022 but realistically I don't think anything before 2023 is going to happens and as these projects tend to go it could be more like 2024 or 2025

and even the company isn't saying Jan 1, 2022 so absolute best case there is some sort of gap

 

[adam.adbe]

I would also suspect that this may be a bargaining chip with the bus company for better rates.

Who knows though.

Not if both sides have already gone public. If anything it's just Disney looking to switch from paying Mears to run a Disney branded service, to Mears paying Disney to run a Mears branded service on Disney property.

 

[YesterDark]

Not if both sides have already gone public. If anything it's just Disney looking to switch from paying Mears to run a Disney branded service, to Mears paying Disney to run a Mears branded service on Disney property.

Companies can change their minds.

 

[skeeter31]

absolutely - the company has said they expect it to open some time in 2022 but realistically I don't think anything before 2023 is going to happens and as these projects tend to go it could be more like 2024 or 2025

and even the company isn't saying Jan 1, 2022 so absolute best case there is some sort of gap

The 2022 date refers to the completion of the Miami to MCO part of the line, not the MCO to WDW portion. That was rumored to be a 2023 date, but even that is wishful thinking. So there will be a substantial gap between DME and train.

 

[vincep]

Remember that before covid Disney was spending insane amounts of money. Top execs were making 10s of millions, the CFO just got an 11 million dollar BONUS. And Iger spent 71 BILLION for a cat in a sack. They don't need to care about Disney fans because they can say and do the most idiotic things and fans will throw money at them anyway. Oh we're giving you 30 minutes extra in the morning! Go to the devil.

 

[Eric Smith]

Remember that before covid Disney was spending insane amounts of money. Top execs were making 10s of millions, the CFO just got an 11 million dollar BONUS. And Iger spent 71 BILLION for a cat in a sack. They don't need to care about Disney fans because they can say and do the most idiotic things and fans will throw money at them anyway. Oh we're giving you 30 minutes extra in the morning! Go to the devil.

Cat in a sack? I'm not getting that reference.

 

[Mit88]

Companies can change their minds.

The deal doesn’t expire tomorrow. They have 11.5 months for one of the two to decide they need each other enough to either give in to the other side, or meet in the middle. Right now, the way Disney sees it that without all the resorts open, and even the ones that are open aren’t filled, why do they need to pay Mears for this service? If rooms fill up getting deeper into the year, Disney may feel it’s beneficial to them to re-up.