ME elimination affect on rental cars and parking

[skeeter31]

I don't see that happening. The plan of the Brightline is to run from Miami all the way to Tampa eventually. I think it was designed for people traveling within Florida. I don't think their plan was to have hundreds going from MCO to DS. They may have planned people going from Miami or West Palm to DS, then how much more room would they have at MCO?

I don't see the government subsidizing Disney transportation. Plus busses can take you all the way to the resort. The train seems like a hassle.

Exactly. The point of the Brightline train isn’t for Disney guests. That’s just a stop along the way. And that’s IF this even gets built. There has been talk of a station near DS for almost 20 years now by different companies and Brightline is so far behind on their timetable to complete the first section of this track I don’t see this happening for at least another 5+ years. There isn’t even government or FDOT approval for the train right of way from MCO to Tampa yet. This is a way far off in the future plan, if it even happens. And Brightline isn’t going to operate numerous trains a day back and forth between MCO and WDW when that’s not their MO for this service.

 

[DebbieB]

I paid $400 for a full-size sedan for 12/18 - 12/24 out of MCO, and that was only after working it down from $500 via stalking. Just like the Disney resorts, the rental car companies will charge as much as demand allows, and when demand is high enough, the prices can get very high.

I don't see a lot of people paying that. Depends on how much Mears is. We used a Town Car on our last trip last fall, it was $75 each way plus tip. We used Uber 2 or 3 times within WDW.

I don't mind driving but a lot of people don't like it.

 

[Cheburashka]

I don't see a lot of people paying that.

The lines at the MCO car rentals that week were severe, so a lot of people do pay it. I agree that not everyone will pay it, but plenty of people will. Especially when you're talking about people who are already spending $500 - $900 per night on their Disney resort room.

 

[DebbieB]

The lines at the MCO car rentals that week were severe, so a lot of people do pay it. I agree that not everyone will pay it, but plenty of people will. Especially when you're talking about people who are already spending $500 - $900 per night on their Disney resort room.

Wonder how many were staying offsite? When you are paying for a cheap off site hotel/rental home, a rental car add-on to get around doesn't seem bad. I just can't see paying that to have the car sitting in the parking lot most of the week. Plus non-DVC have to pay for resort parking.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I used to rent a car all the time before DME. In the early/mid 2000’s it was around $120 for the week with National Emerald Aisle. It was after DME started that prices increased dramatically. With increased competition, they may come down again.

We also always rented a car for many years, from the time we bought DVC until DME started (2005?, I think). Since then, we rent about half the time or only for a portion of our trip, when we are driving to or from a cruise or combining WDW with a beach resort stay in Vero Beach or St. Pete Beach. We were less affected by parking difficulties at BWV prior to DME because DVC members still enjoyed free valet parking (except for the usual gratuities) at the resort. We always used the valet in those days, so never knew or cared exactly where the car was parked. Now, we sometimes experience the parking squeeze when we have a rental, and have only bothered when we need it for another portion of the trip. However, we will go back to renting a car every trip with the elimination of DME and the Resort Airline Checkin luggage programs. That combination was too convenient to pass up if we were not renting a car. I’ll deal with the BWV parking situation, perhaps treating myself to an adult beverage when I finally get back to the room after playing the parking game. I always pick up and drop off DW at the door anyway, so only one of us has to experience this in any case.

It’s more difficult to predict future pricing for rental cars. Right now, the rental companies have reduced their inventories significantly because of reduced demand. Also, I think I’d noticed that they had also started holding rental cars longer prior to sending them to their captive sales outlets, but that may be governed by the residual values in used rentals being subject to the demands for lower mileage used cars. In any case, it may be 2023 or even later before leisure travel rebounds to such an extent that the rental companies ramp up inventory to meet increasing demand. They presumably use pretty sophisticated modeling to balance inventory and pricing to maximize profitability in a competitive market. If your competition has excess inventory so they lower prices to keep more of their cars on the road, do you match them or try to keep the same profit level with fewer cars renting at higher prices. As they say, it’s complicated.

 

[Cheburashka]

Wonder how many were staying offsite? When you are paying for a cheap off site hotel/rental home, a rental car add-on to get around doesn't seem bad. I just can't see paying that to have the car sitting in the parking lot most of the week. Plus non-DVC have to pay for resort parking.

Yes, but we drove to the parks and other Disney destinations and that was great. Saved us a lot of time and hassle. There will probably be a decrease in resort guests using Disney bus transportation after ME is eliminated.

 

[sam_gordon]

If there is a track between Disney and the airport you could run trains continuously back and forth. However, you still have to get people from the Disney train station, and their luggage, to their resort. Perhaps they will expand the Skyliner for that.

Everybody keeps bringing up the luggage on the train, but there's a very easy solution to that. You have a check in station at MCO. All the bags get tagged with the appropriate resort (can even be color coded if desired), and taken on a separate truck. You can pick up at your resort after 'x' hours.

In the end, I think some kind of driverless car system is coming. You get off your flight, walk to a boarding area and hop in a driverless car that takes you directly to your resort. Different cars would be available for different family sizes and needs. The question is how long the gap will be between this and where we are now.

I feel that gap is going to still be a long time coming, probably at least 10 years. Just my opinion though.

However, you still have to get people from the Disney train station, and their luggage, to their resort.

As I said above, you take care of the luggage at MCO. Then either use existing busses or special busses just for arrivals.

Regardless, people are acting like DME has always been there. WDW opened in 1971, DME didn't start until 2005. Yes, it wasn't the large attraction when it started, but we traveled to WDW a number of times before DME started. We did rental cars & town car services. Was DME a nice "perk"? Sure. But I find it extremely hard to believe that would be the reason for someone to NOT go. Maybe it's the straw that broke the camels back for some people, but on it's own, it's nothing.

 

[DebbieB]

Everybody keeps bringing up the luggage on the train, but there's a very easy solution to that. You have a check in station at MCO. All the bags get tagged with the appropriate resort (can even be color coded if desired), and taken on a separate truck. You can pick up at your resort after 'x' hours.

I feel that gap is going to still be a long time coming, probably at least 10 years. Just my opinion though.

As I said above, you take care of the luggage at MCO.

There’s going to be a cost for the luggage transfer. Disney picked that up before.

 

[JimMIA]

Brightline currently runs Miami to West Palm, one train an hour each way.

Actually, Brightline is not running at all. They stopped in late March due to Covid, and they are currently focused on finishing the WPB - MCO segment.

Their other current focus is building three additional South Florida stations. Port Miami is under construction. Boca Raton and Aventura are planned, and I believe both have gotten the required local government approvals.

That looks like they are going to have kind of a blend service in South Florida -- the long-distance stuff from Miami to MCO, but also some level of local travel between West Palm Beach and Miami. There is currently a commuter service (Tri-Rail) between West Palm Beach and the Miami airport, with Metrorail connections to downtown. However, Brightline will have a significant advantage over Tri-Rail because their line will be much more through the center of the cities, with stations very close to the action centers of those cities.

When Brightline starts back up, I think we will take a ride up to Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale, or City Walk in West Palm Beach, just for something to do and to see how it is.

 

[sam_gordon]

There’s going to be a cost for the luggage transfer. Disney picked that up before.

And they may in the future also. My point was just that there IS a possible solution. Transportation of luggage isn't what would kill the project.

 

[johnsbelt]

Sounds like a good time to start looking at alternative airports. We almost did this last year. Tickets to Tampa were much cheaper, but we decided the hassle of getting to the hotel made MCO worth it. Now, not so much. I bet getting a rental will be easier elsewhere too.

Agree with looking at alternate airports. That said, what is true one year will not be true the next. My wife and I flew down to Tampa for the RV shows in 19 and 20 and stayed in our DVC villa. In 19 both the airfare (Southwest) and car rental (through Costco) were cheaper when flying into Tampa and in 20 it was the opposite. We went the same week of the year and traveled on the same days of the week as well.

Another plus on the Tampa side is that you don't have tolls between WDW and the airport. But Tampa is further.

Just need to stay flexible.

John

 

[goofy4tink]

Have to agree with sam gordon on this one. I see Disney bringing in BAGS again. They would take the appropriately tagged bags from MCO to the resorts, pretty much the same as DME handlers did. Then, baggage is handled the same way it was with RAC when leaving WDW.
As far as the train goes? I'll believe it when I see it. DME stops on 12/31/2021. Brightline isn't supposed to be finished, in that area, until late 2023, which probably means sometime in 2024. And this is per Brightline's site! I'm not at all sure a train is a good, viable alternative to DME. We would probably see a train coming, and a train going, at all times.
Rental cars? Here's the thing. The vast majority of guests are not comfortable driving in WDW. I wasn't until about 6 years ago!! And that was after about 50+ trips. I finally started renting a car. I haven't used DME is a long time. So, what do I foresee happening? I see towncar services coming back, in force. I see Mears stepping up, probably contracting through Disney, to provide a discount service...just like they were doing prior to DME. I highly doubt that we are going to see a huge influx of rental cars...not at the prices that are currently being charged now, and adding daily resort parking to the mix.
I guess we shall see what happens. People got to WDW with little issue prior to DME, they will again.