Will DME end, and when?

[Miss Mickey Mania]

I know that Magical Express was introduced to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Has anyone heard if or when the free service will end? I wonder if it will continue for a fee. It's perhaps too much to hope that it will continue for free.

Louise

 

[ducklite]

Well, they did it to keep people on property, making it more difficult for them to spend their money elsewhere.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if down the line they begin to start charging a small fee for it, once they've got people "hooked". It will still be less than using a car service or renting a car, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a $5-10 each way fee implemented. My guess would be $5-7 per adult and $3-5 per child, with a slight discount if you purchase r/t.

Anne

 

[helenk]

It is suppose to continue free until the end of the 50th Anniversary, other than that, Disney really has not said anything.
If would be nice if it continued to be free, but it would not make good business sense for Disney. I would be willing to use it if they charge a nominal fee.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I know that Magical Express was introduced to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Has anyone heard if or when the free service will end? I wonder if it will continue for a fee. It's perhaps too much to hope that it will continue for free.

Officially, Disney's Magical Express is complimentary through the end of 2006. After that, there are no promises of any kind.

My guess is that DME will remain complimentary. Sure it's costing Disney a fortune, but Disney is smart enough to focus on their overall profit at WDW.

Consider the many positive business advantages of DME to Disney, including:

• Discourages car rentals, so most DME guests spend all of their dining, shopping, and entertainment dollars on site at WDW, instead of going off site part of the time -- essentially, Disney owns your wallet from the time you step off the plane in Orlando;
• Increases the perceived value of staying in on on-site WDW resort, so WDW room rates can be higher, with fewer discounts and fewer unfilled rooms;
• Increases WDW guest satisfaction though a great first impression and last impression (now the the bugs have been worked out of DME), leading to more return business and positive word of mouth.

Even now, DME is not really free. We pay for it indirectly. But that works out to be good deal for Disney and for guests.

 

[quicksilver]

I know that Magical Express was introduced to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

Has anyone heard if or when the free service will end? I wonder if it will continue for a fee. It's perhaps too much to hope that it will continue for free.

Louise

The free service is supposed to end in Dec.2006. After that no one knows if they will decide to continue with it's free offer. My opinion is they will surely start charging and it will definitely not be less than the old Mears shutlle was ($29.00 round trip per person), not with the extra services like lugage to your room and etc. Remember there are 3 companies working together with WDW to offer this service (Mears, Bags, and the airport security). All must be paid to offer their seperate services. It is said that Disney is now paying $25.00 to Mears alone (per person), so I can not see the whole service being any cheaper than $35.00-$40.00. Only time will tell though...

Even though Disney gains a lot by keeping people in their property with free ME, I can not see the share holders liking the fact that millions are being lost every month. Of course they will have to calculate if the loss in earnings from ME will be compensated by people spending more inside the parks and resorts. Again, my guess is that Disney has a lot more to gain by charging for ME than there is by keeping people in their property.

My rough estimate is there are at least 50,000 people using ME today per month. So 50,000 x $35.00 = $1,750,000.00 (If only $35.00 per person).I would say that is a lot to spare in exchange to a possible extra dinner or a few souvenirs people would buy with the money saved with a free shuttle.

Also my opinion. People who are looking for the best bargain and wish to save the most they can to travel (because otherwise they couldn't) will NOT buy anything they wouldn't buy if they had to pay for a shuttle. They will keep that extra savings to pay their credit card bill for the trip. That's what I would do anyway...

Disney is smart enough to offer nice packages for their resorts and tickets, and on top of it charge for Shuttle service as they have being doing for many many years. Disney is Disney, and travel to Orlando is in its all time high again; people will come no matter if there is a free shuttle or not.

One more of my many opinions (sorry)... There has been a lot of fights down here already because of ME, one of them mentioning "Dumping". Well, Disney's argument is that is free fo a while so it is not "Dumping" but only a promotion supposed to last untill the end of their 50th anniversary in Dec 2006. So, if they continue after that period to offer it free, than the fights will begin for real and with concrete arguments from all rental car companies, limo services , resorts outside Disney, and etc....

 

[seashoreCM]

If Magical Express is ultimately declared a failed experiment by the company board of directors, that is no different than a movie that turned out to be a bomb or a ride or attraction that did not go over well (Stich?).

Enough people charge everything to their room that Disney has a handle on how much more people may have spent because they came by ME and did not have a rental car or grocery stop.

There is a lot of room for keeping ME and tweaking it a little starting in 2007, maybe starting with a small charge say five dollars each way.

Anyone remember how much the ground transportation option for Disney Cruise Lines costs? (or how much was taken off your cruise package if you declined the ground transportation?) One trip for airport to seaport, one trip from seaport to resort, one trip from resort to airport, or reverse direction.

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

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

One more of my many opinions (sorry)... There has been a lot of fights down here already because of ME, one of them mentioning "Dumping". Well, Disney's argument is that is free fo a while so it is not "Dumping" but only a promotion supposed to last untill the end of their 50th anniversary in Dec 2006. So, if they continue after that period to offer it free, than the fights will begin for real and with concrete arguments from all rental car companies, limo services , resorts outside Disney, and etc....

Gregory,

Thank you for offering your perspective. As the owner of a respected towncar service, could you please share how DME has affected your business? Are you still getting the guests who are staying at deluxe resorts, and only losing those for whom cost is the only consideration? Or have you been surprised by DME in any way? (I'm not asking for any company secrets.)

Strangely enough, Disney get the same "captive audience" from guests who take towncars as from guests take DME (with the only difference being that the towncar grocery stop allows may slightly cut into Disney's snack and bar business). And, for guests arriving by towncar, Disney saves the expense of DME.

 

[quicksilver]

If Magical Express is ultimately declared a failed experiment by the company board of directors, that is no different than a movie that turned out to be a bomb or a ride or attraction that did not go over well (Stich?).

There is a lot of room for keeping ME and tweaking it a little starting in 2007, maybe starting with a small charge say five dollars each way.

I believe, even though it is hard for me to say it, that ME is a success and will always have it's public. However, when it is no longer free they will only have a small drop in reservations. Remember, Mears shuttle was sold directly through Disney and many (MANY) people did not even consider the Towncar option because they thought it would be more expensive. But this small drop for them will be a HUGE increase for us (All of us Limo services I mean...). They will not stop the service, but will, in my opinion, charge for it (and it will certainly not be $5.00).

Anyone remember how much the ground transportation option for Disney Cruise Lines costs? (or how much was taken off your cruise package if you declined the ground transportation?) One trip for airport to seaport, one trip from seaport to resort, one trip from resort to airport, or reverse direction.

I think DCL is $70.00 round trip per person from MCO to Port (maybe WDW to Port round trip). Not 100% sure though.

This question (and the answer) is exactly one of the factors I believe Disney will also charge for ME. They have been charging for DCL for about the same service for a long time now...

 

[quicksilver]

Gregory,

Thank you for offering your perspective. As the owner of a respected towncar service, could you please share how DME has affected your business? Are you still getting the guests who are staying at deluxe resorts, and only losing those for whom cost is the only consideration? Or have you been surprised by DME in any way? (I'm not asking for any company secrets.)

We, as I belive many others in the same line of business, lost at least 50% of reservations since May 2005. That number includes ALL guests staying in either deluxe or budget resorts. We are surviving now with all the guests staying in other "non" disney resorts (inside Disney) as well as Universal, International Drive and Kissimmee resorts. Of course Disney was the big piece of our pie...

This drop affected greatly the smaller (owner operators) services. The others, like us, will not be taking vacations for a while...

Now is wait and see...