Walt Disney World to cancel airport shuttles starting in 2022

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - JULY 11: A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance on July 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The theme park reopened despite a surge in new COVID-19 infections throughout Florida, including the central part of the state where Orlando is located. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - JULY 11: A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance on July 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The theme park reopened despite a surge in new COVID-19 infections throughout Florida, including the central part of the state where Orlando is located. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

A trip to Disney World will now cost you a car ride from the airport.

If you are traveling to Disney World and flying into Orlando come January 2022, you will need to have transportation options available to you when you get there.

Tom Bricker of the DisneyTouristBlog.com just reported that starting in January, 2022, Disney World will not longer offer the Disney Magical Express option that took you to and from the airport to one of the Disney resorts.

Disney is citing, among other things, the use of Uber and other available options that have become more of a norm in the United States over the last year. The move really isn’t all that surprising given the fact that we knew changes would be coming in a myriad of forms after so much had changed in 2020 due to COVID.

Bricker also points out that the services are not owned or operated by Disney but by MEARS, a local transportation company that also provides some transportation from non-Disney hotels in the area to Disney Parks. All of the Disney transportation services within the Disney area will remain running for guests of their hotels and from park to park.

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Lastly, Bricker mentioned that the “Minnie Van” service is likely not to return. This service was like a Disney version of Uber. You could be picked up at your hotel and taken anywhere on property. The vans were decorated with Minnie Mouse polkadots.

Through 2021, the Disney Magical Express will continue to bring you from the airport to the hotels but after that, you will want to make your own arrangements and that isn’t entirely a bad thing. Renting a car gives you a lot more flexibility and freedom to see more of the Orlando area instead of being stuck in the Disney world.