New Direct Express Airport to Resort Service Announced for 2022

[mrsap]

New Direct Express Airport to Resort Service Announced for 2022

“Mears Connect” will offer the same safe and reliable service the company has provided millions of guests for decades. The Mears Connect service will initially operate between the Orlando International Airport and resorts in the Walt Disney World area. It will provide fast and convenient transportation service for visitors in high occupancy vehicles, thereby reducing traffic and lowering environmental impacts. Guests can expect scheduled service, luggage handling, convenient airport terminal staging, and return trips from resorts to the airport. In addition, Mears will offer enhancements to ensure greater convenience and vehicle options. Pricing for all services will be announced later this year, along with the launch of a custom reservation platform.

 

[SwanVT2]

New Direct Express Airport to Resort Service Announced for 2022

“Mears Connect” will offer the same safe and reliable service the company has provided millions of guests for decades. The Mears Connect service will initially operate between the Orlando International Airport and resorts in the Walt Disney World area. It will provide fast and convenient transportation service for visitors in high occupancy vehicles, thereby reducing traffic and lowering environmental impacts. Guests can expect scheduled service, luggage handling, convenient airport terminal staging, and return trips from resorts to the airport. In addition, Mears will offer enhancements to ensure greater convenience and vehicle options. Pricing for all services will be announced later this year, along with the launch of a custom reservation platform.

Awesome.

 

[robinb]

I assume it's not free and that this is a step backward.

 

[mrsap]

I assume it's not free and that this is a step backward.

It doesn’t appear to be, but nice to have another option. Once pricing comes out, we’ll be able to determine if the price is worth it.

Quoting the article...
‘Pricing for all services will be announced later this year, along with the launch of a custom reservation platform.’

 

[robinb]

It doesn’t appear to be, but nice to have another option. But I guess once pricing comes out we’ll be able to determine if the price is worth it.

Quoting the article...
‘Pricing for all services will be announced later this year, along with the launch of a custom reservation platform.’

It's exactly the same as before Magical Express. If I were a business person, I would start a new limo car service. They were very popular back when we all had to choose between options that cost money: a rental a car, a taxi, Mears or a limo service. Limo services costs were on par with the cost for a family of 3-4 on Mears and you got a grocery stop along the way.

 

[Shellyred8]

As long as it's reasonably priced and is only servicing the WDW resorts, we will probably use it. But if they are going to stop at half a dozen resorts/hotels between the airport and WDW, we will probably go the route of hiring a car service of some sort. We really like the current DME, so I'm hopeful that this will be very similar and that they don't change much in regards to the routes they take.

 

[WEDWDW]

Even if they keep the same WDW Routes,losing being able to put the tags on the Luggage at your home Airport and next seeing your Luggage in your Resort room was what made DME AWESOME!

Also,though not part of DME,losing RAC was another major BUMMER.

Arriving and departing WDW is now much more of a "hassle".

 

[Dyefrog]

I sent Disney a note recommending scrapping the proposed tram model from Orlando Airport to WDW and beyond in favor of the Boring Tunnel like what's been build in Vegas. The mayor of Miami just returned from visiting and will be incorporating it in the future down there. It seems a much more economical and forward thinking solution which follows along the same innovative thinking Disney has prided itself on. We shall see.

Boring Tunnel

 

[Elle23]

I don’t want it if it’s just some generic bus. I want my Mickey Mobile!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Meh. It will cost as much as an Uber for our family anyway, and won't have the magical Disney touches that made it worth the wait. So much of what was appealing about DME was giving the kids their magic bands when we landed, and they would run up to get them scanned by the smiling CMs, who would give them a Mickey sticker and direct us to the right line. Then the Mickey bus would show up, to great celebration, and the cartoons and quizzes onboard would put everyone in the Disney spirit. And yes, it was free, and before the pandemic included the check in to hotel luggage service, so wonderful for single parents and folks with mobility issues. I appreciate that Mears is trying to provide an option, but we won't be using it. If I have to pay anyway, I would rather go straight to my hotel.

 

[The Mayor]

No way they are leaving MCO with less than a full bus!!! it wouldn’t make sense for profit margins so you can bet the wait times are going to be a lot longer than Magical Express!!

 

[Ismo]

I would have happily paid for the DME. I’m bummed since next Jan/Feb will my husband’s first trip to WDW and I would have loved for him to have that experience. If it’s not going to be the themed Disney buses and basically the same experience, I think I’d rather book a car service or something. I don’t mind handling my own luggage, but for me DME was the best purely for that ability to hop on your resort bus and watch the video on the drive to the parks. It was just super convenient and it made it feel like you were at Disney the second you stepped into MCO.

 

[Dave006]

Also,though not part of DME,losing RAC was another major BUMMER.

Resort Airport Check (RAC) may return when guest levels return to normal.

I sent Disney a note recommending scrapping the proposed tram model from Orlando Airport to WDW and beyond in favor of the Boring Tunnel like what's been build in Vegas. The mayor of Miami just returned from visiting and will be incorporating it in the future down there. It seems a much more economical and forward thinking solution which follows along the same innovative thinking Disney has prided itself on. We shall see.

The original plan was for the Brightline Express train spur to run from (MCO) Airport to a DS transit station but that has been delayed several times until 2024. Tunnels don't work well in Florida. Even in Miami they have concerns about constant drainage. They flood. As a reminder Main Street is on the 2nd floor of the MK and the Utilitdors are the 1st floor.

And yes, it was free, and before the pandemic included the check in to hotel luggage service, so wonderful for single parents and folks with mobility issues. I appreciate that Mears is trying to provide an option, but we won't be using it. If I have to pay anyway, I would rather go straight to my hotel.

Sorry but it was never free the price was built-in for every guest whether they made use of it or not.

Dave

 

[Dyefrog]

Resort Airport Check (RAC) may return when guest levels return to normal.

The original plan was for the Brightline Express train spur to run from (MCO) Airport to a DS transit station but that has been delayed several times until 2024. Tunnels don't work well in Florida. Even in Miami they have concerns about constant drainage. They flood. As a reminder Main Street is on the 2nd floor of the MK and the Utilitdors are the 1st floor.

Sorry but it was never free the price was built-in for every guest whether they made use of it or not.

Dave

The water table is not really a concern. There have been tunnels that are completely under large bodies of water, e.g. Chunnel

English Chunnel

Miami Boring Tunnel

"Addressing whether such a system could be built through Miami’s porous limestone bedrock, Suarez said Las Vegas’ system is built beneath that city’s water table and into subsoil that is much denser.

“So it’s actually a lot harder to penetrate than it would be here,” he said."

I don't know what the above ground proposal costs/mile are but comparatively, the Boring Tunnel cost in Vegas was $10MM/mile compared to the NYC Subway of $1B/mile so about a magnitude of 100X cheaper.

I also don't know what the ME capacity/hour was but supposedly the Miami tunnel can handle 60,000 people per hour. I could also see the tunnel as an opportunity for Disney to spice it up as a thrill ride, light show, graphics, etc to set the mood.

"Suarez noted the carrying capacity of Boring’s system could be as high as 60,000 per hour — higher than the Metrorail’s 50,000 people a day. Further savings stem from Musk’s tunnels being narrower than other common municipal tunnels built for handling auto traffic."

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Sorry but it was never free the price was built-in for every guest whether they made use of it or not.

Dave

I mean, if resort prices dropped $50 a person over the length of a stay to make up the difference of DME, I might find that argument compelling. I could make the same argument about free resort parking, which I never made use of over many trips, but I fully understood why folks got upset about it, because the resort rates are already so high compared to all the hotels in the Orlando area. If you're making an argument that everything should be itemized depending on a guest's use, where does it end? Perhaps you should pay a fee every time you tap your magic band to enter the pool, or every time you use the monorail. That way, if I never use the pool, I won't feel like I'm being unfairly charged for other guests' use of it. I have a feeling going totally a la carte would not make the majority of guests feel like they are having a magical time, though. That's why WDW got rid of the E-ticket system for rides.

Meanwhile, resort prices are only going up, with more and more incentives to stay on-site getting cut, like EMH hours, and 60 day advance FP+. Whether or not it was DME was "free" free, it was nice that it was included in the already high nightly rate, and it did incentivize onsite stays.