Magical Express and Extra Magic Hours Terminated Permanently From 2022

[Guest]

Haters got to Hate, moaners got to moan

we love using the magical express, its a nice start to the trip

BUT

lets not forget only a short while ago people were moaning about the wait times for the DME bus's, people were not going to stay onsite because you might have to wait for 1 hour at the airport to get the bus to your hotel

The train link should be done by then, jump on the train and head to DS, then use the WDW transport to get to your hotel, its not that bad, you will not have to visit other hotels that share the same DME bus, you will not have to wait 1 hour to board the bus, you will not board the bus and then sit around waiting for 45 mins for the bus to fill up

I am not sure its a big enough issue to stop people staying on-site, but by the looks of it, it is ? ?

[macdonald]

Funnily the last few trips the DME has been a poorer service ,as in "waiting for ages before leaving and not somehow the jolly ride it used to be ,so much so that last time we went we did consider a uber although stuck with DME ... i remember time gone by when we were so excited to travel on the DME but for me now apart from saving money on airport transfer (which is still a good bonus) it would not be a big miss... in fact at the moment i do not have a great desire to rush back to Disney at all, i miss all these little things that has greatly mounted up!

[DonnaD]

Originally Posted by Kraken

Firstly, any Universal bus service from MCO would not be called Universal Express for obvious reasons - that trade-mark name is used for their equivalent of FastPass. But good point taken - this is a real opportunity for Universal, should they want to go down that route.

You can be 100% certain that Disney had ALL the usage figures for the Magical Express. They could (& doubtless did) drill all this data down by country of origin of the guests who used it / flight numbers etc.

Given the American obsession with the car, I am *guessing* that a fairly low% of US guests used the service. Certainly when I've been in car rental queues over the years (before Alamo did the direct to garage service) the majority of people waiting to rent cars seemed to be American.

It does strike me that these changes seem to be based on the US visitor model. Americans get very little paid annual leave compared to us Brits - as such they visit for short trips (a week would be long, think 3-5 days as normal). Based on this, they will not notice too much of a difference. It's the overseas visitors - like us - who go for 2-3 weeks who will be hit hard in the pocket.

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Spot on. The average American flying in for a short stay at an (overpriced) Disney hotel room is just going to grab an UBER or hire a car. No need for expensive taxi rides any more for anyone with a smart phone.

Americans frankly have no real tradition of coach transfers on package holidays and are more likely to find queuing up for one and then stopping at other hotels on the way pretty annoying. Sticking Disney characters on the outside didn't really change the experience very much for me.

The whole point of ME was to keep people from renting cars and therefore encourage them to stay in the Disney bubble. The ease of getting an UBER now to other parks, restaurants etc. prevents people from being trapped onsight anymore anyway.

[lov2dibb]

Expect there’ll be an announcement in a few weeks of a ‘brand new’ coach service that’ll be ‘even better’ than the Magical Express for ‘only’ $xx ! Per person each way!

[duchy]

Why $200 to replace DME ? Even XL is $50 each way .

Originally Posted by AliceCooper9

2022 we were thinking about but
No Magic hours just 30 Magic Minutes now which are absolutely pointless but we can take that hit as we rarely used them.
No free magic bands $50 for 4 ppl, again not that big a deal.
No free Magical Express this adds another $200 expense now this make me consider alternative hotels.
IF NO free dining for 2022 which seems certain because of all these cutbacks.
On top of that 2022 will be packed because of the 50th. We are really considering our options.
Offsite hotel at the Disney Springs and make the best out of it or even avoid Florida altogether and try California/Japan.
We will know about Free dining soon so the decision will be made in April.
Kids loved the Magical Express. Sad times.

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[KBRB]

Originally Posted by DonnaD

Spot on. The average American flying in for a short stay at an (overpriced) Disney hotel room is just going to grab an UBER or hire a car. No need for expensive taxi rides any more for anyone with a smart phone.

Americans frankly have no real tradition of coach transfers on package holidays and are more likely to find queuing up for one and then stopping at other hotels on the way pretty annoying. Sticking Disney characters on the outside didn't really change the experience very much for me.

The whole point of ME was to keep people from renting cars and therefore encourage them to stay in the Disney bubble. The ease of getting an UBER now to other parks, restaurants etc. prevents people from being trapped onsight anymore anyway.

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Until they ban Uber from hotels and parks.

A quick look over at the DIS boards shows they are just as mad as we are about it.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by KBRB

They have removed nearly every single perk from staying on site in short order.

I’m glad this latest removal of EMH and the ME does not affect you but try to be a bit more understanding to those it does rather than calling people haters and moaners.

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Nah. Don't like something about Disney your a hater or a moaner.. par for the course these days I'm afraid. Heaven forbid people have alternative views...

[miked1e]

Originally Posted by DonkeyCentreArf

Someone said earlier about tipping points and to me this is also a bit like the Virgin vs BA discussions.

Virgin were always seen as a premium service, it was the little things around service, better entertainment, food and ice creams, etc that gave that premium impression. Over the years, Virgin cut back on some things and other airlines caught up so Virgin became just another airline.

If you look at all the extras Disney used to provide, you were happy to pay a bit more for the overall product while understanding that the rooms were not as good as many hotel chains - especially the value and moderate resorts. Over the years the benefits were reduced - like DDP quality - or removed - such as free resort parking, free magic bands, etc.

It seems that DME is the tipping point for many - even those that have not used it. If the rival hotels have any sense, they will capitalise on this with keen pricing and 'extras' as it is a great opportunity to take business away from the Mouse.

Disney may regret this one as it takes years to build up a reputation (as Universal found) but even longer to rebuild one.

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I can guarantee that Disney will not have to ‘rebuild’ its reputation... it is, and always will be the primary draw to Orlando.

Whilst adding some needed competition, other parks / hotels etc are great for the area.

Of course this can drive complacency, but Disney are not stupid and are the market leaders for some reason.

[aprilshack]

Chip away the things that make Disney Disney. If there are no incentives to stay on site then i won't be. I am not paying hundreds of dollars to stay in what is in esscence a motel room without decent incentives. An extra half hour in a park? Ooh how generous. Jesus. So i would need to add an extra $100 or so on a trip? Lovely.

[miked1e]

Originally Posted by aprilshack

Chip away the things that make Disney Disney. If there are no incentives to stay on site then i won't be. I am not paying hundreds of dollars to stay in what is in esscence a motel room without decent incentives. An extra half hour in a park? Ooh how generous. Jesus. So i would need to add an extra $100 or so on a trip? Lovely.

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How much awake time do you spend in those ‘motel’ rooms? Just curious.

Personally I see the extra 30 mins in the morning every day across all four parks a better option than the hour at one park per day.

We do not use evening hours anymore and always early starters.

Don’t have to get up as early ie extra 30 mins in bed... great.

Hotel guests dispersed over the 4 parks and not one... great.