If you stay on Walt Disney World property and visit by flying into Orlando International
Airport, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of, and maybe even used, Disney’s
Magical Express.
It’s the free bus transportation offered to guests traveling to and from MCO on their
Disney vacation.
It makes a lot of people’s lives easier.
However for what seemed like a great idea, Disney’s Magical Express actually had a
pretty rocky start.
Disney was always looking for ways to get guests to stay on Disney World property.
MGM Studios, Pleasure Island, Downtown Disney, Typhoon Lagoon.
These were all essentially attempts at offering experiences that guests might otherwise have
looked for elsewhere in central Florida.
The more total of a package they’d offer, the longer people would stay on property,
and the more money they’d spend there as a result.
So in 2005 Disney took yet another step in that direction by introducing Disney’s Magical Express.
The idea was pretty simple and clever.
Offer free bus transportation between Disney World and the airport to guests staying on
property and you reduce the odds that guests will rent cars for their trip.
Less rental cars means less of a chance that they’ll drive off property for the other
theme parks or other Florida offerings.
It offers the temptation of a more simplified and all-encompassing Disney vacation.
Disney kicked off the program by partnering with the Mears Transportation Group for what
would be a year long testing period.
Their initial deal with Orlando International Airport had them paying the airport 50 cents
for every passenger they picked up.
Disney was getting what they wanted, Mears was getting a contract, the airport was getting
revenue, and guests were getting a totally optional and free perk that made their trip
easier.
It was a win-win-win-win scenario… except it wasn’t.
Naturally, there was one group who didn’t like this program at all: Orlando’s local
cab, limo, and livery drivers.
Disney World was a major draw for Orlando travelers, and they feared that Disney’s
program was going to eat into that business.
They’d ultimately be right, but there wasn’t really anything they could do about it.
It’s not like Disney was breaking any rules.
Well, actually, that’s exactly what the drivers accused Disney of doing.
You see, one of the aspects of the Magical Express program was that Disney had cast members
standing outside of the main terminal on the third level to greet guests, answer questions,
and direct them towards the buses.
The Greater Orlando Livery Association argued that this was in violation of MCO’s policy
against soliciting on the third level and created an unfair playing field.
Disney countered that because the guests using Magical Express had to sign up for their rides
before the trip, they weren’t actually doing any soliciting.
However some cab drivers claimed that Disney was guilty of taking on passengers who hadn’t
actually signed up for the service.
So in September of 2005 The Greater Orlando Livery Association reached out to the Greater
Orlando Aviation Authority, who ran MCO, and formally asked them to end their partnership
with Disney.
Over the following months there was a lot of back and forth, not just between officials of all these organizations,
but also through the media.
Hearings were held that fall by the GOAA to try and find a solution.
In an effort to placate the cab drivers, MCO forced Disney to relocate their greeters to
the second level.
They also made Disney replace their own cast members at the airport with Mears employees,
since Mears was technically running the service on behalf of Disney.
The Livery Association continued to argue that the deal was harming many small businesses,
some to the point of bankruptcy.
Meanwhile the Magical Express service itself was booming.
Guests were overwhelmingly in favor of the perk, and by that point it was shuttling up
to 10,000 guests a day to and from Walt Disney World.
As the end of the test period approached, it became clear to everyone that the Magical
Express buses weren’t going anywhere.
That said, the Aviation Association wasn’t about the let the program continue as-is either.
GOAA Chairman Jeffry Fuqua admitted that they made mistakes in how the test was structured,
and now that they had almost a year’s worth of data, they’d be able to renegotiate the
deal.
After an outside consultant looked at the program, it was discovered that the airport
was actually losing money on Disney’s Magical Express.
It was bringing in revenue due to the 50 cent per person fee, but that revenue was being
offset by the lost business of smaller livery companies, who were usually paying a higher fee.
So the renewed deal involved bumping up the 50 cent fee to 75 cents, with the ability
to later bump it up again to $1.50 in 2010.
Additionally the Magical Express would have to move their operation from the A side of
the terminal to the B side, which was more commonly used for buses.
Disney would once again be allowed to station their own cast members by the buses, but in-turn
they weren’t allowed to setup similar operations at any other airport within 100 miles of MCO.
With the new deal in place, Disney announced that Disney’s Magical Express would be sticking
around until at least 2011 and would remain free to guests.
While the livery association continued to argue that it’s existence was hurting independent livery business
by an overall 30%-40%, Disney countered that the program created over 600 jobs in the Orlando
area both through Disney and through Mears.
Today Disney’s Magical Express is still around and still free to guests staying on property.
It’s inception, as is often the case when an established business model is shaken up,
was met with resistance.
However it not only survived the gauntlet as a business venture, but more importantly,
it won the approval of the people using it, and so it has since become just one more element
in what makes a Disney vacation unique.