ME...Why? Why would Disney give you FREE transportation?

[Fabooliss]

Do I understand this correctly, sorry I'm new to DIS

So when you arrive at Orlando Airport, Disney has a FREE shuttle called ME that will take you to certain resorts? (we're staying at POP) and then when you are departing they will return you to the airport? WOW that's great and like pp said the Mouse is smart

It's even better than that! The free shuttle will take you to the resort (any onsite resort, includes POP). They also pick up your luggage and deliver it to the room. No standing at the carosel waiting for it, they pull it right off the plane. It does however take about 3 hours for your luggage to arrive, so pack anything you need right away in your carryon. They'll do the same on the way back, depending on your airline (this is what "participating airline" means in the literature.)

(Welcome to the Dis!)

 

[CleveRocks]

Do I understand this correctly, sorry I'm new to DIS

So when you arrive at Orlando Airport, Disney has a FREE shuttle called ME that will take you to certain resorts? (we're staying at POP) and then when you are departing they will return you to the airport? WOW that's great and like pp said the Mouse is smart

You'll probably learn a lot more by reading one or two of the "sticky" threads at the top of the Transportation forum. Disney's Magical Express serves ALL Walt Disney World owned-and-operated resorts -- that means it DOESN'T serve Swan/Dolphin, Shades of Green, and the hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd. near Downtown Disney.

DME is round-trip bus transportation, as well as luggage delivery from the airport to the inside of your resort room. You might also qualify for baggage delivery from your resort directly to your airline, but that (and ONLY that) depends on what airline you use to fly home.

Go and check out the relevant sticky threads. See you in a few hours ....

 

[dopeyprincesses]

thank you Fabooliss! I'll have to find that list of "participating airlines"

Congrats on your recent WDW trip!!!

 

[dopeyprincesses]

Cleverocks - thank you for your reply also! I'll go check out the sticky threads but I'm a speed reader so I'll see you in a few

 

[kaytieeldr]

dopeyprincesses: ALL airlines "participate" in Disney's Magical Express on your way TO Walt Disney World. You make your reservations in advance (again, see the sticky threads to which CleveRocks refers) and a few weeks before your trip, you'll get a DME packet in the mail. It will include two luggage tags for each person on your reservation; you attach them to your luggage as per the instructions included, check your luggage in at your home airport, and it magically appears in your room several hours after you check in. The service even includes the tips, so you don't need to be in your room!

On your way home, if you fly on an official "participating" airline, you can check in for your flight at your resort and check your luggage through to your home airport. If you're flying home on a non-participating airline, you can still use Magical Express - you just need to bring your luggage with you and check it and yourself in at the airport.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The car rental companies have undoubtedly seen a drop in business. However, most arriving passengers at Orlando International aren't headed to on-site Disney resorts, and the car rental companies are still renting cars to those passengers.

The Mears Transportation company, which previously operated the paid shuttles to WDW resorts, now operates the DME motorcoaches (but does not run the overall DME service). So Mears is probably doing just fine.

I imagine that the livery services (limos and towncars) have been hurt the most. These services were primarily of value to WDW resort guests because of WDW's excellent transportation system -- and it's likely that most former livery service users are now using DME.

I would just like to point out not everyone who flys into Orlando International Airport & if they are staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel uses Disney's Magical Express. My family & I who always stays onsite flys to Orlando every December however we rent a car for several reasons. We like to shop at such places offsite like the Premium Outlet Mall, eat at various offsite restaurants and since we go to Clearwater Beach after visiting WDW, we need a car to get there. So while your claim that most WDW Resort guests who fly into Orlando International Airport do now take Disney's Magical Express instead of renting a car maybe true, it is still incorrect because not every family who stays at WDW does use Magical Express my family being one example.

 

[CleveRocks]

So while your claim that most WDW Resort guests who fly into Orlando International Airport do now take Disney's Magical Express instead of renting a car maybe true, it is still incorrect because not every family who stays at WDW does use Magical Express my family being one example.

No, he's correct. MOST means most. It specifically does NOT mean "all," it means at least one more than half and at least one less than all.

He never said every family uses DME. He never said your family uses DME. He said MOST do. The fact that your family does not use DME is consistent with what he said.

 

[bavaria]

However, most arriving passengers at Orlando International aren't headed to on-site Disney resorts, and the car rental companies are still renting cars to those passengers.

Horace is pointing out that unlike many here may believe, there is a whole other type of traveller at MCO - those travellers who stay offsite, are there for conventions, business, or other reasons. I am often in MCO on business.

All of those types of travellers don't use DME.

Reread his post

So while your claim that most WDW Resort guests who fly into Orlando International Airport do now take Disney's Magical Express instead of renting a car maybe true, it is still incorrect because not every family who stays at WDW does use Magical Express my family being one example.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

No, he's correct. MOST means most. It specifically does NOT mean "all," it means at least one more than half and at least one less than all.

He never said every family uses DME. He never said your family uses DME. He said MOST do. The fact that your family does not use DME is consistent with what he said.

Once again I was not disagreeing with Horace that a lot of guests staying onsite use Magical Express. All I am saying is it's hard to prove that without actuall numbers to back up his information.

 

[Edd]

3rd opton: They could have turned down the Disney offer and than there would have to be another company who might subvert themselves to Disney. I doubt anyone else would have bent over to Disney. Everyone else was either to big to accept the Disney contract as written or to small to be able to help Disney. Mears just happened to be the perfect size for Disney to influence. The free shuttle would still be in the future if Mears had not accepted.

Here is a statement made to Mears employees through interoffice memorandum by Chuck Carns, CEO. "At no time during those discussions and negotiations." setting up Mears as primary transporter for the DME, " did we know the service would be free to the guest." This statement was made to employees announcing the the participation of Mears in the DME service. What would have Mears done if Disney had told them the service would be free? Did Disney plan to price the service when the demand became apparent or maybe mislead Mears to get their agreement to the contract. Yes, I have an original copy of the memo dated 12/29/04.

The DME is presently transferring out an average of 150,000 passengers a month. There is an average of 3 million passengers that come into MCO monthly. That is 5% of the total passenger average. I haven't seen any figures that tell how many of the 3 million monthly passengers actually go to Disney, but I would estimate at least 1 million per month.

Disney has estimated they will bus out 2 million per year.

 

[bavaria]

Once again I was not disagreeing with Horace that a lot of guests staying onsite use Magical Express. All I am saying is it's hard to prove that without actuall numbers to back up his information.

I still don't understand - I don't see anywhere that Horace has stated that a LOT of guests use DME.

Edd, thanks for providing those figures - very interesting.

I suspect that there is also a large number of travellers who don't know that DME exists, even though they are staying onsite. I have friends who stay at the GF every year and don't use DME because they didn't know about it. I don't think that I've ever been told about it while making a telephone booking.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So while your claim that most WDW Resort guests who fly into Orlando International Airport do now take Disney's Magical Express instead of renting a car maybe true, it is still incorrect because not every family who stays at WDW does use Magical Express my family being one example.

Let's see if I'm reading this correctly... My statement "may be true" but "it is still incorrect." How can it be true if it's incorrect?

Please allow me to restate the two main points that I wrote earlier:

• There are still plenty of people renting cars at MCO, because people arriving at MCO have many different destinations in Central Florida.
• It's likely that most former livery service users are now using DME. (Please notice that I didn't say "all guests" and I specifically referred to former livery service users, not to people who rent cars).

My assumption is that guests who like using WDW on-site transportation (and who previously used the Mears shuttle or a livery service) are more likely to use DME than guests who prefer to drive a rental car from one part of WDW to another. However, DME is free, reliable, and pleasant. So I'm sure it's attractive to many (but certainly not all) former rental car users too.

Once again I was not disagreeing with Horace that a lot of guests staying onsite use Magical Express. All I am saying is it's hard to prove that without actuall numbers to back up his information.

According to the Orlando Sentinel link that I posted earlier in this thread, "From May through December of 2005," Disney's Magical Express "carried more than 1.1 million passengers."

Are those "actual numbers" good enough to "prove" that a lot of guests staying on-site use Magical Express? By now, with the full year of 2006 and the partial years of 2005 and 2007, millions of guests have used Magical Express.

Now these numbers certainly wouldn't prove a statement such as, "no WDW guests rent cars at MCO anymore because they all use DME," but I never said anything even close to that.