Orlando Airport ground transportation update

[nicmicnut]

Below is from www.teamrodent.org
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The final approval of the Ground Transportation rule changes.0Posted by Ed in General (Thursday December 15, 2005 at 9:51 am)

After watching the past three weeks, as the drama unfolded, regarding the Disney Magical Express it has become apparent that the Airport Administration is becoming very aware of who they are dealing with.
Disney Corp. is a very unforgiving giant. It has created a path of destruction, in its wake, of many small businesses. It deals in treachery and deceit to accomplish its goals. The giant has one thing on its mind and that is to make money for its stockholders. Remember, that is the reason Eisner was dismissed from the reins of the mouse. He was not making enough money. With a dismissal comes a new promise, by the new head, to not do what the previous did. Disney is bent to put anyone on its knees that appears to be in its way.
Keep in mind the Disney contract with the airport. In it they specified they would not transport any passengers not signed up prior to landing Orlando. They completely broke these rules and went on to try to cover it up. The Orlando Sentinel, a paper backing the Disney progress has refused to comment on it, knowing the contract violations were taking place. The Disney officials denied it, as they admitted their greeters were responsible responsible to putting people aboard the shuttle. Even the Disney greeters, Mears Transportation employes, continued to solicit passengers who had not signed up for the DME prior to landing Orlando. Regulation call for a “passenger manifest” and even though at times one was visible, they were not referenced before speaking with passengers.
The ground transportation representatives who legally greet passengers on the second floor will now be able to watch the Disney greeters. They cannot solicit and can only talk to passengers that are listed on their manifest that is provided. They will have to check first before they talk to them. If they don’t check the passenger should be referred to the information desk to obtain information. Any Disney representative who talks to a passenger without checking a manifest is subjected to the same rules of solicition everyone else is. If the passenger is referred to the information desk than the passenger should be given the ground transportation alternatives like every other passenger is given.
Legal drivers who are on the second floor and see these violations need to get some “*@#&” and call GOAA when the Disney greeters are not following the regulations. I can guarantee you Disney/Mears will not let these regulations stop them. They need, for financial purposes, to put every passenger on the Disney Magical Express they can talk to.

 

[seashoreCM]

The Magical Express reservation system is not absolutely perfect. REports abound of guests calling in weeks before their vacation starts and finding mistakes in their ressies, or no ressies at all.

There is no way to ensure guests have a decent and proper let alone seamless and magical experience if a passenger manifest has to be strictly abided by. Magical Express must continue to be sensitive to the needs of the arriving guests.

Disney's actively soliciting walk up guests now and apparently definite plans to charge for Magical Express some time in the future are contradictory strategies. Even now there is no incentive to solicit additional guests for ME because it does cost Disney something per person to transport them. It must even be noted that guests taking limos will be on site for the same length of time as guests taking Magical Express.

By the way, are or were there many limo companies offering walk up rides at Orlando Airport? Who else offering a predetermined fare to Disney is ME competing against for walkup passengers?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[SeaSpray]

I'd like to know SPECIFICALLY how many people are being transported via ME who were not originally scheduled. I can't believe it's all that many. I would think that MOST people have already decided, prior to leaving their homes, which mode of transportation they'll be using to get from MCO, to the Orlando destination. I know that when we get off the plane, we head directly to the baggage area to see our smiling limo driver waiting for us

I've personally seen the CMs at the airport with the big white gloves, on several occasions, and I have not seen them approach anyone. But I think that if a Disney guest approaches them and inquires, there is nothing wrong with allowing them on ME.

Disney made Orlando. If they want to let a few extra guests on ME at the last minute, so be it.

Personally, we use TIFFANY TOWNCAR (and on all trips except 1 when it was just DH and I so we used a regular towncar, we've used their stretch limos) every single time we arrive in Orlando, whether we're going to Disney World or heading out to Port Canaveral for a Disney Cruise. So we do support the local businesses, and we will continue to do so, regardless of ME.

But I have to say, I think that all this nit-picking is ridiculous.

(This next part of my comment is absolutely NOT directed at the transportation business, but rather a general comment. In fact, we've always had wonderful, professional service from Tiffany Sorry, I'm on a roll, and I just need to express this. LOL):

Many people in Orlando seem to "hate the mouse". They work for Disney but gripe about their salary, hours they work, etc. You know what, then go get jobs elsewhere down there. When I'm on vacation, I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR how much you dislike your job. I am usually a compassionate person, but if you don't like your job or your situation, then stop complaining and get up and DO SOMETHING about it.

 

[disneyag]

Amen to SeaSpray!

Orlando exists today mainly because of Disney. I don't want to go to Disney (or even to my local mall) and hear about how someone hates their job. Poor customer service! On our last trip to WDW this summer, it seemed that many towncar companies were still busy; however, our towncar driver spent half of the trip to AKL griping about ME. Jeez, how annoying!

 

[safetymom]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-disneyexpress1505dec15,0,2584864.story

I found it interesting how the Airport authority wants to limit how many people can use DME. What if you are the next person that wants to use the service? Will they make you take a towncar????

 

[CarolA]

Lets see.... we have reports of limo companies with RUDE drivers, late drivers, unsafe drivers etc... And they want to blame someone else when folks don't want to pay for a LACK of service!

To any Limo companies reading this... you'r actions have pretty much convinced me... NO WAY! I will either use DME (Even when I have to pay) or rent a car...

Have you ever heard of biting the hand that feeds you????

And if I am EVER even spoken to by one of these "limo" drivers in any way that CAN appear to be a solicitation... I will be reporting you (and I have been solicited in Orlando by limo drivers... I think some of the "signs" are covers for solitiation!)

 

[nicmicnut]

Airport transportation solicitors are also violating The City of Orlando Vehicle For Hire (VFH) Chapter 55 Sec. 55.31. (9) (b). So, the police should arrest the illegal solicitors, if the Orlando police are aware of illegal activity and they do nothing about it, that would be a serious problem for the City. Since the Greater Orlando Airport Authority (GOAA) won't enforce the rules, the police will have to..

I'm not talking about Disney regarding this, they are not a transportation company, Mears.. yes, also other transportation companies, limo, town car, van, bus, taxi, etc.. they have to abide by Orlando VFH rules. Laws are written for a reason.

Yes, it's true about the many violations written on the www.teamrodent.org message board, I've seen it at the Orlando Airport.

The above is my opinion only, I'm not a lawyer, I'm just trying to stimulate some awareness for conversation.

 

[safetymom]

It seems to me that if anyone wanted to follow the story they would read for themselves on team rodent.

The people of Orlando want it both ways. They like the fact that is a highly visited resort town and all the business that comes with it. But they want the main reason lots of folks come to Florida crippled in how they do business. Just my opinion.

 

[WillCAD]

I'm with the towncar companies on this one.

For 34 years, Disney had no provision to get their Guests from MCO to WDW. They allowed other businesses to grow into that gap, creating a thriving transportation trade, then suddenly started a new service that cut deeply into that trade overnight.

Sure, it's a service that they should have provided all along, but it took them 34 years to wise up. And when they did, how did they do it? By contracting with Mears, a company whose crappy service is legendary among hard-core Disneyphiles.

DME has had a host of problems in the months since it began operation, including overbooking (to the point of making Guests wait over an hour even though they had pre-booked ressies), rude drivers and attendants, and more lost luggage than a major airline. Then the DME employees (who are NOT Disney employees, but Mears employees) violate a long-standing and well-known rule in standing on the 3rd level of MCO. Hey, Mears has been operating at MCO for a very long time - you think they didn't know about the rule?

I'm a renter. I have used Mears, and I hate their service. And since DME is just Mears with a new paint job, I won't use DME, either. I'll stick with my rental cars, thanks.

This is not to say that I don't think Disney has a perfect right to offer their own transportation from MCO-WDW. They certainly do! In fact, it's a glaring mistake to have waited over 30 years to actually do it, but when they finally decided to do it, they contracted with an established company that stunk up the joint instead of developing their own company to do it, which saved them all kinds of money, but resulted in sub-standard transportation and in violation of several very important rules regarding ground transportation at MCO.

The situation is almost certainly temporary, however. I cannot imagine Disney continueing DME as a totally free service for long. Eventually, they will have to try to recoup the expense by charging extra for DME service, and when that happens, people who take DME will either demand proper service for their money, or go back to the towncars.

In the meantime, just because Disney built Orlando does not entitle Mears' DME division to violate the rules at MCO.

 

[safetymom]

Nobody should violate the rules but it seems the Airport authority was eager and willing to have DME. Once it got up and going it seems due to public pressure they changed the rules and Disney was the last to know.

It should be interesting to see what happens when Universal starts running their own service. Will there be the outcry from the transportation companies that Disney got?

 

[CarolA]

Umm..l

Disney actually wanted a high speed train to take you directly from the airport to Disney... It's not like they have not attempted to take this business before.

Sorry, but reading Team Rodent has pretty much turned me off limo companies. If that's the way they think that they are "entitled" to something.... They are not entitled to my money.

Also, most of the ME stories I read on here are very positive. There were issues the first few weeks but they appear to be ironed out and it's not like I see tons of folks waiting on buses when I fly in and out of MCO!

I wish I could say the same for Limo companies, but for every positive story I see at least one Horror story.

 

[NotUrsula]

Remember, DISNEY wasn't soliciting where they were not supposed to; Mears was. Disney's bad for partnering with them, but in Orlando, Mears is the second-biggest gorilla in town (after the one with the large ears, of course.) Mears is a huge business, they supply almost every bus charter in the entire metro area. If you have a convention and need a lot of busses, there is really only one company in Orlando who can provide them in any kind of serious numbers.

I'm sure Mears caused the capacity problems, too, by putting their cash passengers in fcfs seats and letting the reserved ME passengers queue up behind them. I'm betting that it was written into the contract that Mears could place Mears fares to WDW onto the ME busses on a space-available basis. In reality that means almost any time, because ME passengers are not assigned to a specific departure time or bus number.

That article from the Sentinel quotes Disney as saying revenue is up $1.6 million since they put the service in. That's their money, over and above what they pay to Mears. I'm not so sure they won't decide to keep it free, but I suspect that, as the wholly-owned cruise ships replaced the Big Red Boat, the day will come when you'll see ME drivers wearing purple pants.
Jobbing it out made sense while they waited to see if it made money, but now that they know that it does, elimination of the middleman probably will happen sooner than later.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've used DME 3 times now. I've always had good, efficient service. It took me about the same time to get to my resort as it did when I used a towncar service. As far as Disney soliciting those with no travel arrangement previously made....didn't Mears do the exact same thing for years? You could go to the Mears desk and book a ride to WDW. Yes, it was easier to do it ahead of time but there were those who hadn't planned that well. Now, those without plans can still go to the Mears desk and they then pay for the ride and are put on the DME bus, right alongside those of us who are using it for nothing (so to speak). I really think it will be interesting to see what happens once Disney starts charging for DME. It's going to happen..it's just 'when'!! Many different dates being bandied about.
I have been solicitied by towncar drivers down in the baggage claim area in the past. Not a good feeling at all. I have had to actually go looking for my reserved towncar driver in the past. THat time it took us 10 minutes to find him..he was out having a smoke!!! Same thing happened when we were to leave our resort. He was parked way down the road at the time he should have been loading my luggage in his car. We had waited 15 minutes for this driver before my dh went off in search only to find the car way down that road...just sitting there. We have had good service with some towncar companies and bad service with others. When DME starts being a paid transportation service, we shall see how it all shakes out. Until then, I will remain a vocal supporter of DME...it has always been a good ride for us...clean, fun, quick. This time next year....could be a whole different story guys.

 

[shoes99]

I'm sure Mears caused the capacity problems, too, by putting their cash passengers in fcfs seats and letting the reserved ME passengers queue up behind them. I'm betting that it was written into the contract that Mears could place Mears fares to WDW onto the ME busses on a space-available basis. In reality that means almost any time, because ME passengers are not assigned to a specific departure time or bus number.

.

I stood right next to a party of 4 in line at MCO who paid for the Mears transportation because their TA did not tell them about DME. They were mixed in with the DME passengers. There was no separate bus or line for Mears cash passengers. We all rode the same bus.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Just to clarify a few points:

The cast members at the Disney Welcome Center at the airport, and the ones that are in question about the 3rd floor -- they are all true Disney cast members. Several of my co-workers left my current work location to go over to DME, and love working there. The DME Call Center, those are also actual Disney cast members.

The Mears employees are the people outside the doors, standing by the bus, scanning your boarding pass, and the actual drivers.

The folks operating the Resort Airline Check-In Desk is another 3rd party contractor.

Do I think Disney will in-house the DME operation? No. There have long been rumors about in-housing the DCL coaches, but that will never happen either.

In regards to luggage handing... Disney and/or it's 3rd party contractors scan the barcode on those bags no fewer than 5 times between the airport and Disney. GPS even tracks the trucks on the way to/from the resorts. So Disney always knows where those bags are. Lets not forget airlines are great about luggage not making connections... so don't be so quick to blame DME for lost luggage.

 

[PCFriar80]

"rude drivers and attendants, and more lost luggage than a major airline."

WillCAD-
Do you have facts to back this up or are you just making generalizations? Is the luggage actually lost or just delayed?

 

[WillCAD]

"rude drivers and attendants, and more lost luggage than a major airline."

WillCAD-
Do you have facts to back this up or are you just making generalizations? Is the luggage actually lost or just delayed?

According to my source, who is a researcher for a major WDW guidebook, DME lost over 2,000 peices of luggage in its first 60 days of operation. Not misdirected, not delayed, but totally lost, never again to be found - and they reimbursed each Guest for those lost items.

Unfortunately, I don't have any more recent figures that tell whether that 2,000 piece total has significantly decreased. I would assume that it has, since the first 60 days would logically be the worst for mistakes of that type, but annecdotal evidence suggests that luggage is still being lost by DME on a daily basis, somewhere between MCO and WDW.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Considering they handle over 10,000 people per day, assuming one piece per person, 2,000 pieces over 60 days might sound like a lot, but it's really only 0.3% of all luggage. I'd want to see what percentage the airlines lose in order to get a true comparison.

 

[WillCAD]

According to this article, the permanent luggage loss rate is only .005%. If your figure of .3% loss by DME is accurate, that means that DME lost luggage in those first 60 at 60 times the rate of the airlines.

As I said, I'm sure that has improved significantly in the intervening months, but considering the staggering rate of loss in those first 60 days, I would not call it an auspicious beginning to the service.

I would be very interested to see the current loss figures, if anyone can find them.

 

[Pinnie]

I had an incident last week at the BCVs. Under my door was the ME information for the room NEXT DOOR! Those people had a flight for 8:30 a.m. and were long gone by the time we got up and sent the paperwork to the desk downstairs. The guy at the desk told me, "It happens alot"

How hard is it to read the room numbers on a door and slip it under the correct one?

The same thing happened to our friend staying at OKW in November. He got someone's ME information under HIS door.

I'll stick to renting a car, thankyouverymuch.

pinnie