No Magical Express Bus .. Would this bother u?

[donaldlovesdaisy]

No I don't thnk it would bother me. On the plus side you did not have to make a bunch of stops before you made it to your resort!

 

[goofy4tink]

It has not happened to me, but I would be thrilled! A van probably means you'd get to your hotel alot faster, with fewer stops. Have fun!

Yup!!! That would be my thought as well.
While I love riding the actual DME bus, my vacation starts the second I get off the plane. When I'm on that tram, heading to the terminal...I am, for all intents and purposes, on vacation!!!
You know what bus I hate more than the regular yellow Mears bus??? The DCL bus!! I've been put on that bus before.....it made me so sad that I wasn't going to port!!!! Now, that's disappointing....

 

[philatiger]

We would love a van too, means we get to the resort faster.

However, most of us on the boards have been to the parks so many times it really doesn't matter to us. We took friends with their 3 year old last December for their first visit, I would have been disappointed if they didn't get to be in the ME bus, it's a great start for their first experience but it wouldn't have ruined the vacation. I think for first timers the ME bus just helps to fuel to the excitement.

At the end of the day we have no control over the transportation, just have to make the best of it.

 

[Tigger's ally]

(plus, even if it is a cartoon, who wants to watch a movie about a plane crash when you're about to board a plane??)

Tell me about it. I have a quick weekend surprise trip planned for me and DW two weeks from this Friday and she wants to go see that Denzel "Flight" movie this weekend. I'm thinking Bond, James Bond myself.

 

[Magpie]

Not only wouldn't I care, but I'd be relieved to see that they'd pulled another vehicle out of their fleet to ensure that we got to our resort in a timely fashion.

I'd MUCH rather take a van, than sit on my duff for an hour at the airport, waiting for a "proper" ME bus to come along, just so they can show me a long commercial during the ride. However appealing and entertaining a commercial it might be.

I appreciate ME's commitment to getting me to my resort as fast as humanly possible.

 

[Dizzytime]

Nope, would not bother me one bit, just want a ride. Philosophically speaking about life, in this rare case it's about the destination, not the journey.

 

[atp]

Yes, it would bother me a little.

It would not ruin my trip, but to me, ME is part of the experience and something I look forward to, so yes, I would be a little upset if I didn't get to experience it. I would feel like I might as well have rented a car or taken a cab or something.

 

[BBG-BLT]

I wouldn't care one bit if Aunt Tilly came and picked us up as long as I don't have to fetch my baggage and drive to WDW.

I love DME!!!

 

[CraftyMommy]

I would probably say, "Oh bummer" and then I would realize I get a direct route to my resort making for a quicker arrival to the Magic. My next expression would probably be, "Woohoo!"

 

[Sammie]

not in the least.

 

[Angebee]

I'd be a little bummed, but since I've already had the experience I'm sure I'd get over it rather quickly. That said, no one else in my family has ever stayed on site before let alone used the Magic Bus so if we don't get it this trip my 'little bummed' will upgrade to 'disappointed.' No that anyone but me would know the difference anyway. It's just a nice way to start the experience a bit early.

 

[AuroraRora]

It wouldn't ruin my vacation or anything, but I would be a bit disappointed. There's something about getting off the plane and the first people you come across are the ME staff and you get on the bus and it's magic from there onwards. Even landing in the middle of the night once and being one of only three people on the bus, I still enjoyed getting on the bus and watching the welcome video on the way to the resort. On my most recent visit my family flew in from separate places and met up at the resort - it would have been my Mom's first time on the Express but a regular yellow Mears bus took them to the resort instead. I could tell she was really disappointed to have seen all the ME buses sitting there and a boring yellow one happened to be their bus.

 

[LoveMickey]

I would not be upset. The one and only time I did dme, we were in the airport for over an hour. Our line was so long, we had to wait for 2 busses

 

[silver236]

This happened to us on the return trip to the airport. Just as a ME bus pulled up a driver came up to us and said "X Family, I'm your driver to the airport" and brought us over to a 15 passenger van. I was a little bummed at first but then I thought hey, we'll get to the airport quicker. Well, that was before a stop at Shades of Green, GF, and Contemporary to pick up other single riders.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not in the least. It's transportation. The van is likely quicker transportation. Of course I've seen the movie so many times that I don't watch it anymore.

However, I have seen posters on here get upset when they are put on a van, a yellow Mears bus, or even the Disney Cruise bus. They want that yellow bus with Mickey on it. They go so far as to say they should be guaranteed one. The reality is that Mears will use whatever it needs to, in order to move passengers.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

Since this will be our first time using Magical Express, I think I would be a bit disappointed. It would not last long now because so many have said it can get you to your resort quicker. Plus, now I'll be a bit prepared for the possibility.

I have a very difficult time when I am expecting something and get something else. It's not just a personality quirk...I have a diagnosis for it. Sometimes folks forget that children with "issues" become adults with "issues."

As a note, I would not get upset if a particular ride was down or restaurant closed or I had to wait longer for a dinner reservation because I know those are possibilities. That's why I come here...to have as much knowledge as I can about different scenarios so I can keep what I perceive as negative issues to a minimum.

 

[2Tiggies]

Not in the least. It's transportation. The van is likely quicker transportation.

^^^ This!

While I would be disappointed, since we do this every year, I would rather get there quicker, given the choice.

We had the opposite: ME 'forgot' to stop at POFQ when we were leaving. Our pick up time was already 45 later than they say they will collect you, but I have learned over the years that you always get to the airport in plenty of time.

The short story is that we arrived at MCO, courtesy of a taxi called by Bell Services (who were great by the way), and were lucky to make our flight.



But yes, my initial reaction was to be disappointed to miss out on the ME experience because it really is part of the vacation - both ways - for us

 

[Schmeck]

I'm glad they don't waste a huge bus to transport 6 people to the resort. Think of how much exhaust fumes you didn't spew out into the Disney air!

 

[KNovacovschi]

I understand your disappointment.
When we were there in July, we had a regular Mears bus for our return trip to MCO. The driver put in a Madagascar movie instead of the regular Disney farewell one-- I missed seeing the Disney movie.. (plus, even if it is a cartoon, who wants to watch a movie about a plane crash when you're about to board a plane??)

We had the regular Mears bus for return as well in October. However we only had an advertisement for video and not an actual movie. I was a little sad to be leaving so it didn't really bother me.

 

[ols386]

Just to be clear for those who don't know...

Mears is the company that actually owns and operates Disney's Magical Express (DME) for Disney.
(They are under contract with Disney, but Mears actually runs DME.)

Mears-owned buses are the ones painted with the DME colors and characters.

If Mears doesn't have enough guests scheduled to arrive at the airport to fill a regular DME bus (or there is a reason for the DME-painted buses to not be available at a given time) they can send another vehicle in their shuttle fleet (bus, van, towncar, cab) to deliver guests to WDW.

This is what I thought.

No, it really wouldn't bother me if I went on a Mears bus or a Disney bus.

As long as I got from the airport to my resort.