Disney's Magical Express and DVC

[brianm27]

I have used Mears a few times in the past but we always regret not having a rental car. The rental car is our best friend when going to Downtown Disney or resort hopping for dinner.

The thing that we really enjoyed using this year was the resort airline check in. We flew Jet Blue. Checked our bags at the resort, got our boarding passes, and only had our carryon do deal with at rental return. Then we got to go straight to security.

We probably won't use ME (free or not), but resort airline check-in will make me think twice about using an airline that does not participate.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Rental cars may be some guests' "best friend," but they're Disney's "worst enemy." With a rental car, guests are able to spend all sorts of money off-site. Guests without a car spend all their shopping, dining, and entertainment money on-site.

Five-to-ten-thousand guests per day use Magical Express. Although it's possible to rent a car after arriving at WDW, it's likely that only a very small percentage of guests do so.

If Disney were to start charging for Magical Express, the cost of operating Magical Express wouldn't go down much. There would just be more empty seats on the motorcoaches. But Disney would no longer capture 100% of the wallets of those guests who stop using Magical Express, Guests would no longer perceive that one of the justifications for high on-site rooms rates is free transportation and baggage handling. The Disney would be likely to see room occupancy and room rates fall.

Disney is smart enough to know that the number that really matters is the bottom line. Sure, it costs money to operate Magical Express, but that money is recovered several times over through room rates, room occupancy, and guest spending.

Magical Express isn't for everyone. As this thread shows, some folks love having a car, and some folks love the feeling of taking a towncar or limo.

 

[Califgirl]

I booked a stay at OKW for May. How do I get Magical Express service? Member services never mentioned anything about it when I booked the reservation. Do I need to call them back and order it somehow?

 

[bicker]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dwm/services/detail?name=DMEAttendeesFAQDetailPage

Q: How do I make a reservation for Disney's Magical Express service?

A: If you already have confirmed your room reservations, call 1-407-827-6777 or use our convenient online form. Please provide the information at least 30 days prior to arrival.

 

[DisneyRose]

We love it. The movies are great for increasing the enthusiasm on the way to the resort. We would pay for it.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I agree

we saved huge with free dining and free ME!!

Now adding up our trip w/ limo or van service plus dining for a week...ick!!

all I can say is we should have stayed 10 days for free dining instead of just 5!!

we were dumb!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I booked a stay at OKW for May. How do I get Magical Express service? Member services never mentioned anything about it when I booked the reservation. Do I need to call them back and order it somehow?

If you booked your stay with DVC points, call DVC Member Services. DVC uses a different reservation system, so someone at Member Services needs to initiate your Magical Express booking.

If you didn't book through DVC, then simply call Magical Express toll-free at 1-866-599-0951.

You can also use 1-866-599-0951 to update flight information for Magical Express bookings that were made through DVC Member Services.

 

[salmoneous]

One thing to keep in mind is that this sort of transportation "works" because lot of people are using it. Disney has to be careful if they start charging for it.

ME works *much* better than Mears ever did. You have lots of people, so you have lots of busses, so at any given moment the wait for a bus going to your resort is pretty small. (Yeah, I know that at peak times there are *too* many people wanting the service, but you need volume for the average and off-peak times).

Start charging -> fewer people -> less service/efficiency -> greater costs + less efficiency = fewer people -> repeat.

Disney can find a way to make charging for ME work, but it's a careful balancing act. Keeping it free may end up being the best answer (note that Disney has found keeping transportation free within-WDW to be the best course of action.)

 

[jarestel]

Free stuff is always good, but until one starts to pay for the "free" stuff, one never knows exactly how good the stuff really is. Let's face it, many people would take rik-shaws from the airport if they were free. Time will tell how successful DME actually is.

 

[PKS44]

Dear friends---look at your transportation budgets for the DVC resorts this year as opposed to last and ask yourself if ME has ever been "free." Disney can keep it free by passing the cost along in the form of higher room rates for the paying guests and higher dues for DVC members as long as we have the "right" to use it....

 

[Deb & Bill]

How have the town car and limo services fared during ME? Have any of them folded, reduced service or raised prices? Just wondering.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

How have the town car and limo services fared during ME? Have any of them folded, reduced service or raised prices? Just wondering.

In another thread, the owner of a towncar company wrote:

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...​

 

[bicker]

Dear friends---look at your transportation budgets for the DVC resorts this year as opposed to last and ask yourself if ME has ever been "free." Disney can keep it free by passing the cost along in the form of higher room rates for the paying guests and higher dues for DVC members as long as we have the "right" to use it....

That's a good point. I suspect that all WDW DVC members are paying OOP (in a manner of speaking) for the privilege to use or to not use ME, and so it could be considered unfair for that to continue.

 

[CarolMN]

That's a good point. I suspect that all WDW DVC members are paying OOP (in a manner of speaking) for the privilege to use or to not use ME, and so it could be considered unfair for that to continue.

I wouldn't want our dues to pay for ME either, but how is it different from paying for other Disney transportation that I don't use? Or any other resort amenity that I don't use?

Best wishes -

 

[bicker]

I said it "could be considered unfair" -- I didn't say it "was unfair". Subtle difference, but the point is that I could imagine a reasonable person saying that the expense is, "significant and new". We all were made aware that the cost of Disney Transportation, as we know it, would be included in our fees, when we purchased our ownership interest. That wasn't the case with ME.

 

[TFMont]

If you rent points to stay at a DVC resort, are you still eligible to use Magical Express?

 

[browniemtb]

If you rent points to stay at a DVC resort, are you still eligible to use Magical Express?

Yes.....you are still a Disney resort guest. When you settle up with the renter he or she will send you a confirmation. With the confirmation number you can call member services and tell them your flight schedule for the ME. Also at this time you can book theme park tickets and Disney Dining if your traveling after April 1st.
Brownie

 

[NCHeel23]

Is Magical Express Available if I rent points insitead of booking a package?

 

[NCHeel23]

Please disreguard my last post .. I didn't see this thread until after I posted. Thanks!

 

[ChloeChipper]

We have traded into DVC using II. Are we allowed to use the Magical Express Service that other disney resorts can use? Have any of you used it? Would we be better off renting a car?