What Will We Do After Magical Express Ends?

The biggest piece of Disney news in the past few weeks has had to do with the end of a perk that many fans have grown to love. That is, Disney's Magical Express.

Magical Express is a free shuttle from the Orlando International Airport to your Disney Resort Hotel, and was a perk available to Disney Resort Hotel guests only. One major benefit, aside from it being free, is that upon arrival in Orlando, you did not have to pick up your luggage. Instead, you would proceed directly to the shuttle area and take a bus directly to your resort (possibly by way of one or more other resorts). Your luggage would arrive in your room a few hours later.

This service also includes a return trip to the airport, once again free of charge, which is called the "Tragical Express" by those more tongue-in-cheek fans.

Disney recently announced that they will end Magical Express service on January 1st of 2022, which has many return guests all up in a tizzy. Disney was not forthcoming about why they will end the service or what options would be available after the service ends, but we can imagine both the reasoning and the options in the future.

Let's start with why, which is decidedly less clear cut than what to do after the days of Magical Express. There are two main reasons we can think of for why the service has to end. First, and this is our speculation as Disney would never say this, is that the hospitality business has taken a hit in 2020. Cuts are being made everyone, and while we fans would like to think Disney is too grand an empire to be subject to the economic crunch, the truth is, they are. Disneyland remains closed, theme parks around the world are intermittently opening and closing, and there have been layoffs. People aren't flying as much and therefore aren't at the airport to take the Magical Express as often, and right now demand to visit the parks exceeds supply of tickets with proper social distancing. And let's be frank, Disney hasn't made money on the Magical Express. This has been truly a perk.

The second reason we speculate the Magical Express is ending is a bit more interesting, and ties into what to do after life with the Magical Express... and that is the Brightline high speed rail coming to Orlando soon. This high speed rail service already serves West Palm Beach and Miami, and this lien will be extended to the Orlando International Airport in 2022. Then, the line will be extended to Tampa, including a stop at Disney Springs, in the second half of 2023.

Photo credit: theculturetrip.com

Image credit: High Speed Rail Alliance

While probably faster than the Magical Express bus, the develop of the high speed rail after Magical Express still leaves Disneyfiles with some questions.

What about my luggage?

This is a fairly valid question. After all, the "magical" in Magical Express was the fact that your luggage just kind of showed up and you never had to dilly dally around at the baggage carousel. But was it really that magical in reality? I recall many a later-than-intended evening waiting up for my luggage to arrive at my room so I could go to bed that first night. While theoretically, you could be out partying in the parks, evenings on a long travel day really did pose a challenge for my energy while I waited for my bags to arrive, which always seemed to take longer in evenings. And for many travelers arriving late in the evening, luggage service wasn't even available at all.

On the other hand, it's fair to say that Disney's current transportation infrastructure beyond the Magical Express isn't particularly made to be luggage-friendly. And if the rail service only goes to Disney Springs, you're looking at a Disney transportation bus or boat to your resort. I cringe at the thought of lugging even a carry-on sized suitcase onto a packed bus, which they are at many times of the day. That said, it's possible. If I can lug my luggage around the tube stations of London during rush hour, I can probably lug my luggage onto a Disney bus, crowds be damned. Though I might also reconsider my luggage strategy in general. I can probably survive Disney on a backpack alone as long as I have plenty of coins and detergent for laundry.

What about most of 2022 and the first half of 2023?

Yes, if you were reading keenly, you will have noticed there is a gap between the end of the Magical Express and the beginning of the Brightline. But believe it or not, there has always been ways to get to Disney World from the Orlando International Airport! I was traveling to Walt Disney World well before the Magical Express and I assure you, there are plenty of options. Among them:

• Rental car - this would be the most expensive option (remember, parking at Disney is not cheap) but would give you the most flexibility

• A local shuttle service or taxi - Even after the Magical Express, when I interned at Disney, I was not eligible to take the transportation service intended for guests, so I took a Mears Shuttle. It was just as convenient, but had a small price tag.

• Uber - probably the least expensive option for now, and the most direct. What's nice about Uber is you will get the car to yourselves and that means a direct ride in peace to where you are staying. And with all of these options, you can also consider using the Sanford Airport, which never was serviced by Magical Express, and which often has less expensive flight options than Orlando International

Why even stay at a Disney Resort Hotel?

Not only is the Magical Express being retired at the end of this year, but so is Extra Magic Hours, which will be replaced by "early entry" later this year. The intent behind "early entry" might be good, but the practice doesn't seem to offer as much as Extra Magic Hours. The goal, according to Disney, is to spread the surge of guests across parks. Disney resort hotel guests can choose which park to enter early each day. But here's the kicker - it's only a half hour early, which seems to replacement to the hour in the morning, or the up to three hours in the evening that Extra Magic Hours offered. With many parks soft opening early anyway, a half hour is hardly anything at all.

So what remains? Well, so far, earlier Fastpass Plus booking remains, and if you are traveling during the highest capacity times of year, it might matter because parks close due to capacity in phases and non resort guests are barred from entering parks approaching capacity before resort guests are. But it's not much.

Until you remember the bubble. We've mentioned the bubble before but it's so real. If you stay on Disney property, the real world all but ceases to exist. Every moment, every interaction, is a Disney interaction, and when you're talking about a leader in guest service, that is priceless. Not everyone will agree with me, and that's fine, but the bubble is what will keep me visiting Disney resorts until they actively start penalizing us for doing so.

---

We hope we've helped if you had questions about how you are going to get to Walt Disney World in 2022 and beyond. Maybe you have tips or a suggestion you want to share too. If so, leave a comment or head on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment there. You can also follow us there to see when new blogs are posted. Until next time...