I mean that being able to use the transportation freely is a perk only available to those staring at a resort now.
They have eliminated many of the previously available perks to staying onsite, and without offering anything new they now have an exclusive perk to staying onsite.
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I voted for package delivery and extra magic hours. In both those cases, I am talking about the late 90s/early 00s versions.
One of my best memories of DisneyWorld is lapping Splash Mountain with my younger brother when we were there for my high school graduation trip in 2001. It was probably 12:30 am and we just went around and around because nobody was in line and the cast members didn’t make us get off the ride.
As for the package pickup, I remember that everything we purchased was sent to the room, and on the day before checkout it was sent to the front of the park instead. As an adult I have more money to spend on merchandise than I did when I was 18, but I buy less because I don’t want to be bothered with carrying it around all day. Now I just make stop at Disney Springs and buy myself a new shirt and maybe a bag, and that’s it. It doesn’t matter that much anyway, since the merchandise is 90% the same at all the stores now.
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… but anyone can use the transportation once you are on property… except for DS buses/boats that are now reserved only for resort guests or those w/ ADR.
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I voted for other b/c I wanted more that two things on the list. I feel for families having to deal w/ luggage in the airport and wish they would bring the ME back. I think pkg to resort delivery would increase their profit margins; I know I have saved myself hundreds of dollars on impulse purchases. I think the extra magic hours from the before days were worth it, but not anymore. I think the free MB could be a solution to monitoring the pools and buses.
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Well - I didn’t say it was an AMAZING perk. 
But they’ve created exclusivity without creating anything.
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I liked the way you phrased it 
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My first vote hands down was DME. That was such a huge perk to booking on property.
My second vote was a tossup between EMH and MB. Considering MB’s are rechargeable and fairly inexpensive I went with EMH.
Could you imagine the last minute deposits on bounceback offers they could book by having an interactive touchscreen computer on the back of the headrests on your bus to MCO? (I’m envisioning something like Delta’s seatbacks). I know for sure I’d be swiping my CC while on the tragical express!
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It isn’t without cost to Disney. They have to pay the people who verify who gets on the bus.
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I miss all the extra hour events, like Early Morning Magic at MK and paid nights at AK. I know that means WDW was “selling the same park” 2 - 3 times in a day. However, the attendence was always so low that it made the extra expense worth it. Plus, they had meals, snacks and drinks included.
I rarely used Magical Express because I formerly got a rental car on most trips. I needed to be able to whisk my family out of the parks ASAP when they got hot and tired. These days I go solo more often and use Uber while staying off-site. If DME was available I’d be more inclined to book on-site.
I guess I’m so used to Universal closing at by 8pm, or earlier, that I’m OK with the current operating hours. It doesn’t feel like it’s closing early at all. (If Extra Hours came back, we’d have more time in the parks - even if you have to pay more. I already buy MNSSHP, MVMCP and Jollywood to get those longer hours anyway!)
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I just remembered how Pre-Park Opening Breakfasts used to be a thing. I never did one myself but I was in awe of the planning prowess that allowed folks to be in the park before it opened and position themselves for a head start against the rope drop crowd.
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True. But the hourly cost of a ?dozen? CM’s vs staffing a whole park for an extra 3 hours is a big difference. Or running MDE.
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YES!
We did those at MK and EP for our big trips in 2011 and 2016. Game changer. We had a fantastic character breakfast, and were at the front of the RD pack. We ate at the Crystal Palace breakfast two days on a row just to be at the head of the pack for MK, and did Akershus at EP.
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It was great! You’d get there so early and RD everything. A lot of people would go eat first, but I’d tend to go closer to 10am. The food bar would be a sticky mess and sometimes they’d already be trying to clean up, but you’d still be able to eat something. You could do 7DMT back when it was “the hotness” and all of Fantasyland before the park even opened to day guests! Then go to the rope at Tomorrowland and be waiting to get on Space Mt. before anyone! 
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Oh yes - those were great. Especially at Be Our Guest!
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Back in 2019, we did the EMM at HS and also at MK. We rode 7DMT 3-4 times in a row, and same for SDD at HS. It was great!
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I loved DME because it was so easy. Not having to get our bags made us feel a little bit special and even waiting for a bus was like a fun experience for my kiddo. (Who still loves riding the Disney buses.) It also would make me more likely to stay at WDW and less likely to venture over to Universal.
I have actually purchased fewer items because they no longer deliver to the hotel. Now we wait until the end of the night/trip and buy less.
I would love longer hours - or at least night hours at AK and in the summer when it’s hot. It’s a bummer that most people never see the tree of life or pandora at night.
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My votes went to (of course) Magical Express, and longer operating hours. Which parks should have longer operating hours? I say all of them, but Magic Kingdom & Epcot in particular. MK should be open until midnight most nights and Epcot should be open until 11pm most nights.
I was glad to hear Len mention the old E-Ride nights as kind of the first iteration of extra magic hours. They don’t get talked about enough. We took advantage of them a couple of times - in fall of 1997 and 2000. The price in 1997 was actually $5 pp. I always say it was the best money anyone has ever spent at WDW. MK was so empty, it was such an incredible experience.
I don’t necessarily think any of the perks are “profitable” on their own - with the possible exception of resort merch delivery. However, the goodwill and positive feelings they create (which is too difficult to put a number on), definitely generates indirect revenue as people will think fondly about their trip remembering how easy and convenient Disney made things for them giving them a desire to return. They will also speak fondly about their trip to friends and family potentially spurring others to book a trip. Positive word-of-mouth is still the best marketing there is.
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Well said! And welcome
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We used to try and do PPO breakfasts almost every day. One time it lead to one of our most memorable moments. At an early breakfast in Crystal Palace there was an older CM walking around talking to guests. He chatted with us a few minutes and then asked if we wanted to be the Grand Marshalls for the Festival of Fantasy parade. Ummmmm…..yes!!!
The early PPO breakfasts were great in all parks, but especially MK. Just something about walking up an empty Main St with only some CMs preparing the park for opening.
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I think getting rid of the PPO breakfasts turned out to be a better thing for Disney at the end. There were so many people who would get upset when they got a PPO ADR, and then the park hours were changed, and it was no longer before park opening. Like MK changed from opening at 9 to opening at 8. I get why they wanted to do that, but it was just such a first world problem, and people acted like their entire vacation was ruined because of it.
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