Universal Airport Shuttles?

[Ryan]

Got a UOR survey today about vacation packages. One of the ideas thrown in for incentives is free airport transportation along with kids staying for free, free room upgrades, free dining plans and free breakfast. (in another part, free Blue Man Group tickets were offered)

I naturally clicked on every mention of the airport transportation. Universal needs to have their own version of Magical Express, and I'm glad it may now be a possibility.

 

[Mad Dog]

Got a UOR survey today about vacation packages. One of the ideas thrown in for incentives is free airport transportation along with kids staying for free, free room upgrades, free dining plans and free breakfast. (in another part, free Blue Man Group tickets were offered)

I naturally clicked on every mention of the airport transportation. Universal needs to have their own version of Magical Express, and I'm glad it may now be a possibility.

Those survey questions might be a good sign. I did a Universal survey middle of last year with those same questions. The fact they're repeating similar questions now may indicate they're giving this some serious thought.

 

[Scott W.]

I'm actually surprised they're not already doing airport shuttles. It seems like a no brainer. Bring in guests without a car and trap them.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm actually surprised they're not already doing airport shuttles. It seems like a no brainer. Bring in guests without a car and trap them.

Probably since they had so few hotel rooms before CBBR & Sapphire , the numbers would have been pretty small. With the number of rooms they now have, plus more coming on line, it's as you say, a no brainer. :thumbsup:

 

[amityboattours]

Whilst the natural thinking is that anything free is an improvement (it would save me $100 roundtrip each time we visit), part of me thinks about the shuttle operators who'd lose a lot of trade from such action. We have a great relationship with our regular guy and it's one of the best parts of our vacation when we arrive, not having to battle people/strollers or deal with other people's 'little angel's' on a bus for an hour (not including the wait for one too). The cost would also no doubt be absorbed into higher room rates for all at the on-site hotels, even those who'll never use them. I'm no snob, but it's kinda worth $50 to me to just get straight to Cabana Bay in 20 mins after an 8+ hour flight.

 

[Ryan]

I dunno, Mears has often had horrid customer service when I call them so I have no real qualms.

Although gathering the immense amount of off-site hotels in Orlando, I think they'll be fine.

 

[Joel]

This doesn't really affect us Floridians, but I know that when my friends fly down for HHN they always ask what the cheapest way from the airport is.

 

[graspthesun]

I'm sure they could pull together the statistics of the percentage of people that drive in vs those that fly in and then look at the length of stay stats and come up with a number. I imagine it would increase the room rates by less than $5 a night to have this service.

 

[s8film40]

I dunno, Mears has often had horrid customer service when I call them so I have no real qualms.

Mears would likely be the ones providing the "free" shuttle.

Mears is one of the operators for Magical Express also.

 

[Joel]

Mears would likely be the ones providing the "free" shuttle.

Mears is one of the operators for Magical Express also.

And the new Universal buses right?

 

[s8film40]

And the new Universal buses right?

Yeah, taxis also. They pretty much handle as much transportation as they can get away with.

 

[Ryan]

Mears would likely be the ones providing the "free" shuttle.

Mears is one of the operators for Magical Express also.

Well then, I have zero qualms then.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Maybe after Aventura opens they can offer this option. Uni doesn't have as much hotel rooms as Disney.

 

[Scott W.]

Whilst the natural thinking is that anything free is an improvement (it would save me $100 roundtrip each time we visit), part of me thinks about the shuttle operators who'd lose a lot of trade from such action. We have a great relationship with our regular guy and it's one of the best parts of our vacation when we arrive, not having to battle people/strollers or deal with other people's 'little angel's' on a bus for an hour (not including the wait for one too). The cost would also no doubt be absorbed into higher room rates for all at the on-site hotels, even those who'll never use them. I'm no snob, but it's kinda worth $50 to me to just get straight to Cabana Bay in 20 mins after an 8+ hour flight.

I think if they're not prepared to add parking to the price of rooms, I can see them charging for the buses. I know the topic is free shuttles but charging $20 for a return bus journey, could easily sell.

 

[s8film40]

I think if they're not prepared to add parking to the price of rooms, I can see them charging for the buses. I know the topic is free shuttles but charging $20 for a return bus journey, could easily sell.

Adding parking is different than adding buses. If they decide to pay for the parking there's no real benefit to Universal. If they pay for the bus service the benefit is it keeps guests from renting a car and therefore theoretically keeps them on property. This is a better deal for Disney since their property is larger and spread out at Universal this could easily just be giving some I Drive establishments some extra business.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Adding parking is different than adding buses. If they decide to pay for the parking there's no real benefit to Universal. If they pay for the bus service the benefit is it keeps guests from renting a car and therefore theoretically keeps them on property. This is a better deal for Disney since their property is larger and spread out at Universal this could easily just be giving some I Drive establishments some extra business.

Just want to start by saying that I am coming from the point of view someone who drives to Orlando. I often wondered how much I was paying for Magic Express in my room rate when I stayed at Disney, no biggie, but often I felt over charged for a room.

I think if a guest were smart and staying at UoR for multiple nights, they would see that they would be adding $24 a night in parking fees by renting a car. If I were to fly to Orlando for a multi night stay at UoR , I wouldn't rent a car and would see paying for round trip shuttle service to/from the hotel/airport as cheaper than paying for parking, not to mention the cost of renting a car.

Anyway, I have no real stake in any of this...I just wouldn't want to see rates increase as a way to bring in a 'free shuttle'...but the realist in me knows that (even w/ new capacity) it keeps feeling like it is harder and harder to find a 'deal' on a room at UoR anyway, so I know their success means more $$ from me regardless (if I chose to continue to stay on site).

 

[s8film40]

Just want to start by saying that I am coming from the point of view someone who drives to Orlando. I often wondered how much I was paying for Magic Express in my room rate when I stayed at Disney, no biggie, but often I felt over charged for a room.

I think if a guest were smart and staying at UoR for multiple nights, they would see that they would be adding $24 a night in parking fees by renting a car. If I were to fly to Orlando for a multi night stay at UoR , I wouldn't rent a car and would see paying for round trip shuttle service to/from the hotel/airport as cheaper than paying for parking, not to mention the cost of renting a car.

Anyway, I have no real stake in any of this...I just wouldn't want to see rates increase as a way to bring in a 'free shuttle'...but the realist in me knows that (even w/ new capacity) it keeps feeling like it is harder and harder to find a 'deal' on a room at UoR anyway, so I know their success means more $$ from me regardless (if I chose to continue to stay on site).

That's a good point. Charging for parking has essentially the same affect as offering a free shuttle.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I'll play devil's advocate for a moment.

Do we really need airport shuttles any more? Magical Express was killer back in it's day. But, it's pretty slow. I'd much rather just grab an Uber today. Considering how much a vacation costs and how long an airport shuttle takes, I'm saving money with a Uber or Lyft

 

[Teebin]

I wonder if Uni would attempt to do a custom deal with UBER? Large corps like to tie in control...

 

[s8film40]

I wonder if Uni would attempt to do a custom deal with UBER? Large corps like to tie in control...

I would think that would be more expensive. The per person price on a bus that's part of a big contract deal really isn't that high.