Joined: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 4196 Location: Sanford, Fl
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:37 am Post subject: Magical Express Doing Great, But Some Still Aren't Happy
Disney's Magical Express (the service where Disney picks you up from Orlando International Airport) is doing great, but it is still hurting their rivals and might even involve a lawsuit soon:
Quote:
Disney's Magical Express thriving at OIA; rivals cry foul
Jason Garcia | Sentinel Staff Writer
February 21, 2008
Though it is not yet 3 years old, Walt Disney World's popular but controversial airport shuttle and check-in service is luring so many tourists that the company soon might have to expand at Orlando International Airport -- and fight off an antitrust lawsuit.
Disney transported more than 2.1 million passengers last year from the airport to its resorts and cruise ships, according to newly available figures. That's nearly 9 percent more traffic than it handled in 2006, and it's the first time the Disney service has crossed the 2 million threshold in a year.
At peak travel times, the company's Magical Express buses to Disney World and its Disney Cruise Line buses to Port Canaveral carried more than 12,000 passengers in a single day. During one month -- September 2007 -- Disney carried away more than one of every seven travelers who landed at OIA.
The rapid growth of Magical Express could cost Disney.
Disney's contract with OIA allows the airport to make Disney add a second customer check-in location when the company carries more than 2.2 million passengers in any 12-month period. Should that happen, Disney would have to divide its theme-park and cruise-line shuttle operations and rent more counter and queuing space at opposite ends of the main terminal.
Disney currently pays nearly $1.3 million a year to rent counter, office and other operating space at the airport.
Spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said Disney expects to pass the 2.2 million threshold this year. Some airport officials think it will happen as early as March or April.
"When we do reach that benchmark, we will plan with the airport authority on what steps will be operationally needed to ensure the highest level of service for all airport guests are met," Suarez said. "We're excited about growing DME further."
For all it success, Disney's Magical Express has been unable to shake controversy.
Other transportation companies continue to accuse Disney, which does not separately charge customers who ride Magical Express, of running its smaller competitors out of business. At least one operator, Premier Exotic Limousines, recently pulled out of the airport in large part because it couldn't compete with Disney's service, co-owner Jenaid Abdulhakeem said.
Rival operators say Disney shouldn't be allowed to advertise Magical Express as a "free" service when the company can simply bundle the costs of running the shuttle and luggage service into the price of its hotel rooms.
"Nobody can run 40 to 50 buses a day for free," said Miguel Hernandez, the owner of M&J Tours and Transportation Inc., which operates two stretch limousines, a town car, an SUV and a 15-seat van. Hernandez said his business has fallen nearly 30 percent since Magical Express began. "We can't compete with 'free.' "
Disney's Suarez said Magical Express has been a boon for all of Central Florida because it has eased congestion in airport check-in lines and at baggage-claim carousels, reduced the number of tourists on the road in rental cars, created new jobs, and been an extra lure in getting more travelers to visit Orlando.
Still, the National Limousine Association says it is considering challenging Disney on antitrust grounds.
"It's being looked at," said Barry Lefkowitz, a lobbyist for the Marlton, N.J.-based limousine association, though he conceded that such a challenge would face long odds. "We're trying to work out some kind of game plan."
While it has had little trouble filling its buses, Disney has had more difficulty boosting customers' use of Magical Express' related return-flight check-in option. That's the service through which guests can check in for their flights home and drop off their luggage before they even leave Disney property.
Guests who don't use the remote check-in service can still ride the Magical Express shuttle. But company executives have made it a priority to encourage use of the baggage service, too, in hopes of freeing visitors to spend even more time in Disney's theme parks before they leave for home.
There's another incentive: Disney's deal with OIA includes a provision capping the amount it can be charged -- provided by June Disney gets at least 65 percent of its Magical Express riders to use the remote check-in option when they return to the airport. OIA currently charges Disney 75 cents a rider, which cost Disney nearly $1.6 million last year. Under the cap, OIA could not raise that charge beyond $1.25 per rider.
Disney, though, has yet to reach an agreement with Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at OIA, that would allow Southwest passengers to use the remote check-in service. Every other major domestic airline already participates in the program -- which reduces the amount of luggage that has to be screened in OIA's main terminal -- but Southwest alone is responsible for more than a fifth of OIA's traffic.
Southwest and Disney had hoped to have a deal in place early this year. But Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis says the airline is concerned that Disney and the company it contracts with to run the check-in service, Orlando-based Bags Inc., would be overwhelmed by Southwest passengers. The airline, she said, expects at least 80,000 of the nearly 320,000 passengers Southwest brings to Orlando every month would use Magical Express.
"With the number of bags we have, the number of customers we have, it would just be difficult for them to handle that load," McInnis said, adding that Southwest processes more bags at OIA on a per-passenger basis than it does at any other airport in the country.
"We're working with them to try and automate the process," she added. "We are close."
Sounds to me like the competitors have a big case of sour grapes.
To the comment, that they can't run 50 buses for free. I as the rider am not paying any more for it, so to me it is Free.
As to the rest. Disney is not prevent folks from using other services, they are simply fulfilling a need in their own way. That way happens to appeal to a large market.
I say great for Disney. It is this method of welcoming the customers in as soon as they land until they take off, which is keeping alive the magic that other things they are doing is starting to tarnish.
I'm not one to root for the giant businesses (ie I hate Wal-Mart), but this is an instance that is better for the guests and adds to their experience, as opposed to having to shell out MORE money just to get back and forth to the airport.
If the little businesses (ie limo companies) want to compete, come up with a BETTER business plan that makes paying extra worth it. Pick up luggage, offer something other than a ride, store bags, etc. There are many things these places can do to entice people to use them rather than Magical Express. But instead, they are going to whine and moan over how unfair it is.
Boo hoo...run a better business and stop crying about it!
(and for the record, we've NEVER used Magical Express, we always rent a car...personal preference, not an objection to the service) _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
I've personally never used it for myself. But I have used ti for the wife and kids. It is nice to know that the company is reliable, will be there when needed, and will take care of the kids to the standards I want. and for Free.
So to agree with Daveypoo... Folks, offer me something better, and I'll give you the business.
Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 707 Location: Lake Buena Vista, FL
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject:
DME for free, or nearly $60.00 each way in a Checker cab.. (Checker & Yellow Cab, as well as Town & Country I think, are all run by MEARS Transportation.) They do have quite the monopoly!
We have used ME about 4 times. There have been a few long waits, but generally we are very pleased with the service and will continue to use it.
And anybody who likes the warm and fuzzy feeling have having a rental car sitting in a resort parking lot for a few days, send me some of your extra cash. _________________ [
Joined: Oct 10, 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Frontierland
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:39 am Post subject:
What also gets me is that people seem to forget their history so quickly. Orlando is basically a huge travel destination BECAUSE of Disney. Universal would have set up wherever Disney was. These travel companies are there because of the Disney tourists. If they don't like it, then come up with a way to compete. I realize that that is hard, but it's akin to, for instance, sports apperal companies getting upset that certain sporting teams don't do well and their teams apperal doesn't sell well. So why not get upset at the sports team oganization! However, they are making money off of them. While they do provide a service that (somewhat) helps the mother corporation, they aren't the force driving them.
Kinda like biting the hand that feeds you in my opinion.
Joined: Jan 20, 2006 Posts: 1040 Location: Lexington, TN
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:37 pm Post subject:
People in Orlando forget much to quickly about a few details Orig. Disney had the idea to build a Monorail system to and from the airport but oh no, no one wanted that "ugly thing" in there backyard. What stupid people they have tried and tried to tie Disney's hand and the Mouse always bounces back. Good for them. Funny things are that all the people that complain about the traffic in Orlando the ones around the tourists spots complain the loudest but do want to change with the times. If Disney were to install the monorail man would that curb some of this crappy traffic but thats why I live so far away from it . "Out of sight out of mind"
What would be neat as if they did install the monorail and people would take to for all of Orlando why I say that is this environmentally speaking since it's electric almost no impact on the environment. Orlando would look a little more futuristic and less dependence on oil and everything else oh yeah less bugs in the system and alot more fun riding.
Back in 95 in Orlando alone during easter only there were 95,000 additional rental cars on the road now everyone knows Easter in WDW busiest time but hey whats a few friends in Orlando.!. I applaud Disney for making the effort to curb some of the traffic n the "City Beautiful" _________________
Ich bin der Piraten zu behaupten, was mir jetzt und für immer
This is also the rail plan that's been stalled (or so it seems). Disney is willing to foot most/all the bill but no one wants it.
A monorail from the airport to Disney would be awesome! _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
Joined: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 4196 Location: Sanford, Fl
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:03 am Post subject:
Speaking of the commuter rail:
Quote:
Orlando-area commuter rail will require some bargaining
Aaron Deslatte | Tallahassee Bureau
March 12, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - With the nine-week legislative session nearly one-fourth complete, Central Florida's biggest priority — finalization of a $491million deal to bring commuter rail to the region — sits stalled on the tracks.
The biggest reason: opposition from the city of Lakeland.
CSX Corp., the company planning to sell 61 miles of its tracks through downtown Orlando for commuter trains but still run some freight trains during off hours, has made clear it needs a liability agreement to protect it from lawsuits if there are accidents.
But a handful of lawmakers are demanding that the state Department of Transportation and CSX make additional accommodations for Lakeland, which would see extra freight-train traffic through its core business district if Orlando and Central Florida counties get their commuter rail.
And those demands are holding up the bill, which is not yet introduced in the House and is stuck in Senate committee without a hearing date.
"I'm not hearing it until I feel it's all ripe and ready to go. I don't have that," said Senate Transportation Chairman Carey Baker, R-Eustis.
At the center of the fight is Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican whose husband was the driving force behind the now-repealed constitutional amendment to build high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.
Dockery says the deal that former Gov. Jeb Bush announced with CSX in 2006 was great for the company — enabling it to expand its freight operations — but a lousy one for her hometown.
The state agreed to pay about $340million to make improvements on the rail line going through Lakeland. That will divert trains away from Central Florida and help CSX ship more loads of coal, orange juice, cars and fertilizer right through the city's main drag.
"If we pay for them to have greater capacity, they can put more trains through downtown Lakeland," Dockery said.
Dockery has the power to hold up the bill because its next committee stop is the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Alex Villalobos, a Miami Republican and close ally of Dockery's.
"There's no reason to really push ahead if it's not going to be heard in Judiciary," Baker said.
Dockery wants the state to look at other ways to eventually bring commuter rail to her district and to the Tampa area. But she also wants CSX to abandon its plans to move its switchyard — now in Taft, in south Orange County — to land it owns in Winter Haven.
The company has resisted that suggestion. It also says that if it can't get liability protection, the deal is in jeopardy.
"If commuter rail does not pass, CSX will continue to run trains and continue to serve the growing freight demand in the state," said Craig Camuso, a CSX regional vice president in Tallahassee to lobby the bill. "But the state of Florida is going to miss out on qualifying for $300million in [federal transit] funds" that will help pay for commuter-rail trains.
A number of lawmakers outside Polk County are sympathetic to Dockery's concerns, uncomfortable with the liability issue or envious that in an extraordinarily bad budget year, Central Florida is in line to land big transit dollars.
"Other areas feel like they're going to be left behind," said Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, one of several lawmakers who warned about 50 regional business leaders Tuesday that the deal could face trouble.
"These are things that happen, like business negotiations. We just have to work through them," said Rep. Franklin Sands, a Weston Democrat and future minority leader who criticized the CSX deal earlier this year.
The legal issues surrounding whether taxpayers or CSX would pay to settle injury lawsuits after a wreck "are a big deal and need to be resolved," he said.
The business leaders who flew to the Capitol for the Orlando Area Chamber of Commerce's annual lobbying event were warned to press the issue with other lawmakers.
"I would ask that you help us," Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando, told them. "When $500million is sitting on the table, that's getting a lot of interest."
Top boosters for the project — including future House Speaker Dean Cannon, R- Winter Park, and Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R- Winter Garden — say they're confident the deal will be sealed by the session's end in May.
And the group got some reassurance from Gov. Charlie Crist, who hasn't weighed in forcefully on the project but told the delegation that the concept of commuter rail was "forward looking" and "a great idea."
"We just need to continue to push it along," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who planned to meet with Dockery while in Tallahassee.
"A lot of legislation doesn't get passed in the first two weeks."
I think Disney was involved at the beginning, but when the railline was moved away from Disney, they backed out. The current route does not end at Disney, Disney would need to run their own rail from the end of the commuter rail or have a bus station there. You can check the rails track here: http://www.cfrail.com/ _________________ Up or Down North, South, East, or West An Adventurer's Life is Best!
I love DME, I am so glad it is there. It makes my trip so much easier! I can understand the frustration of the "competition", but I can't see where WDW is at fault.
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