New Express Transportation: $19/day or $29/week-SERVICE ENDING AUGUST 23RD 2017

[bluezy]

No notice of increase, but par for the course with Disney. The ridership has sometimes still been low...on some trips, there are no riders, at all. They will need to set a rate that is somewhere between being acceptable in guests' minds, and where it's no longer a reasonable cost for a service that is a nice perk, but not necessary.

Perhaps they need to set seasonal rates, much like the one-day park passes, or offer more options than just a one-day pass and a seven-day pass. Using the pass for all seven days is still a fair price for the service, but there is a huge per-day cost difference for someone only using it for two days.

Disney website has a notice about different operating hours on 02/26/2017:

"Please note that on February 26, 2017, Express Transportation service will only be available from 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM. The service will then return to its normal operating hours beginning February 27, 2017. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

I think they'd make a lot more money if they made it an add-on option to the tickets right off the bat (as opposed to buying it there in person), but I understand why they probably can't offer that while this is still in the testing phase. We tend to park hop a few times during our stay but usually not directly from park to park -- we hop after an afternoon break at the resort. However, if I had the option to add this service when we're booking our package or at any point prior to arrival, I'd probably add it "just in case". Maybe we'd use it, maybe we wouldn't -- but I suspect we would. There are definitely times that we're leaving a park and talk about going to another park for lunch or dinner (depending on the time) but decide it's just not worth the hassle and head back to the resort instead. I could see us using express transportation in those situations. But sometimes it's nice to know you have something just in case you need it. I'm not sure my husband would be willing to pay the price (as inexpensive as it is) for the Express Transportation if we're buying it on the spot. But if I tell him I added it to our tickets when I bought them (or some time before we arrived at Disney) so we might as well use it, he wouldn't bat an eye. Same thing with park hoppers. I know some people only purchase that add on if they actually decide to park hop while they are there. I can guarantee you we would never park hop if we did that. But because I buy it ahead of time, he doesn't even think about it. And he doesn't worry about whether we park hop once, 5 times, or never during a stay.

 

[Anal Annie]

Where do you sign up and pay for this service? At guest services? Your resort? At the bus?

 

[texasgingerbread]

I'll still pay it! Hope it's there in June.

 

[texasgingerbread]

Where do you sign up and pay for this service? At guest services? Your resort? At the bus?

- all 4 ticket windows and Guest Relations
- Disney Springs ticket window
- Disney hotel concierge locations
- Swan & Dolphin ticket desks
- Kiosks at Express Transportation check-in locations

 

[Day-Day]

A nearly 21% increase in the weekly rate and 27% in the daily rate is not a "small" increase. This may be another test by Disney to see how far they can go with the price. Of course, they may have underestimated their costs but it doesn't sound like there has been a big usage (demand).

I'd think that is where they could generate more revenue; find ways to increase demand (e.g. better marketing). Raising prices won't do that.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I suspect Disney could increase demand for this with more marketing. And I thought that the price was CRAZY low... never expected that to stick!

 

[tlmadden73]

Dang .. such a steep increase for the single day service that only existed for two months that I doubt a lot of people didn't even know about.

But still . .the amount of time savings I am calculating (skipping security, getting dropped deep inside the park) is hard to put a value on.

I was hoping to use this service (only one day) in a month (doing DHS until 12:30 and then hopping over to MK (and then back) .... $45 for my family of 3 (+1 infant) was easier to swallow than $57 .. geesh. The multi-day ticket seems like a good price if you are definitely going to hop for several days of your trip.

Since we decided to do a throwaway room to save money on parking (and Magic Bands) .. I'd love to just drive, but I know how long it will take to get from DHS to MK .. get to the monorail, take monorail to MK, get through security .. and then walk to a "land" for the first ride. I would guess I will easily save 30-60 minutes by taking the Express bus, so I probably will still pay that price.

Maybe we will just packing lunches for that day and maybe hitting QS instead of TS for dinner. (There is only so much money to go around, Disney ).

I guess on the bright side, they are going to keep it if they bothered to increase the price and I can now assuredly plan on this.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It wasn't worth it to me before, so it really isn't now. However, we are paying through the nose to stay at BC, so what do I know? HA!

 

[Anal Annie]

- all 4 ticket windows and Guest Relations
- Disney Springs ticket window
- Disney hotel concierge locations
- Swan & Dolphin ticket desks
- Kiosks at Express Transportation check-in locations

Thanks! We'll be there June 30-July 8 (so over the busy July 4th week). We have APs so we'll definitely hop ALTHOUGH we're not planning on hopping at all on July 3rd or July 4th. We'll just grin & bear it with the crowds on those days. We usually take an afternoon break back at the resort so I don't know if we'd use this or not. Perhaps if the crowds are THAT bad we might tho. Good to know that we could just sign up at the kiosks last minute if we decide to use it!!!

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks! We'll be there June 30-July 8 (so over the busy July 4th week). We have APs so we'll definitely hop ALTHOUGH we're not planning on hopping at all on July 3rd or July 4th. We'll just grin & bear it with the crowds on those days. We usually take an afternoon break back at the resort so I don't know if we'd use this or not. Perhaps if the crowds are THAT bad we might tho. Good to know that we could just sign up at the kiosks last minute if we decide to use it!!!

Make sure you bring payment if you plan to do that. They can't take your MB as payment at the kiosk. Unless something has changed recently. I bought it at the resort so I didn't have to worry with it in the park

 

[Anal Annie]

Make sure you bring payment if you plan to do that. They can't take your MB as payment at the kiosk. Unless something has changed recently. I bought it at the resort so I didn't have to worry with it in the park

What? As in cash or credit card? We don't usually carry any these days. Hmmmmm. We would likely decide on the fly. Can they use MB at Guest Services inside - like at Town Hall?

 

[AngiTN]

What? As in cash or credit card? We don't usually carry any these days. Hmmmmm. We would likely decide on the fly. Can they use MB at Guest Services inside - like at Town Hall?

Yea, like cash or credit card. I do think the can use the MB at GS. Just not at the kiosks. Hopefully someone else will confirm that. We purchased at the resort, just to be safe.

 

[lugnut33]

Time for Disney to test how much people are willing to pay.

My best guess is it will quickly escalate to $50 for length of stay and I think most people would be fine with that.

 

[DaisyJ]

Yea, like cash or credit card. I do think the can use the MB at GS. Just not at the kiosks. Hopefully someone else will confirm that. We purchased at the resort, just to be safe.

That's poor planning on their part and one way to get rid of last minute, spontaneous riders. Fix that stupid roadblock and I bet ridership would increase.

 

[erc]

Well, it just became not really worth it for shorter stays. Especially if you were not going to hop every day. Guess I will go back to researching the other hopping transportation options.

 

[erc]

So wasn't there a time when there wasn't free park to park bus service? Seems like I remember in the past you had to take a bus to a resort and then get on the park bus you want from there. I take it there are direct buses now? I'm not talking the Express service, the normal bus service. How often do these buses arrive and leave each park?

 

[hiroMYhero]

So wasn't there a time when there wasn't free park to park bus service? Seems like I remember in the past you had to take a bus to a resort and then get on the park bus you want from there. I take it there are direct buses now? I'm not talking the Express service, the normal bus service. How often do these buses arrive and leave each park?

There continues to be "free" park-to-park bus service at the front of each park.

With that service, you have to go through Security and the Entrance touchpoints. Plus, those buses don't run on an exact timed schedule.

You can definitely hop between parks via buses from the front of each park.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I didn't read all of the posts
What comes to mind instantly is that it beats Uber because of the car seat requirement. We will be travelling with a family that has 3 small children. While $117 sounds steep for one family - trying to Uber with a 3 car-seat need has to be difficult.

 

[AngiTN]

I didn't read all of the posts
What comes to mind instantly is that it beats Uber because of the car seat requirement. We will be travelling with a family that has 3 small children. While $117 sounds steep for one family - trying to Uber with a 3 car-seat need has to be difficult.

Yes it would be. You'd need 3 cars as they only offer 1 seat per car

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Yes it would be. You'd need 3 cars as they only offer 1 seat per car

It's been years and years since I had to think about car seats LOL

Thankfully, I really enjoy entering the parks the regular way but I can see the advantage of going directly. Maybe next time ;-)