Fist timer on Magical Express

ZebraDomeCrazy

ZebraDomeCrazy

Silliness is one of my best qualities!
Joined
Jun 6, 2006
Hi all! We always use a car service from the airport to our resort. This trip we thought we would try Magical Express. We are flying into Mco Sept 7th at 10am, and flying out Sept 13th, at 10:55am. I have a few questions....

1. How long is the average time from landing at airport to getting to the resort (Boardwalk Inn)?
2. How many resorts do you stop at on the way?
3. What time are you picked up at your resort? How many hours before your flight?
4. We are traveling during a very slow time at wdw - does that increase our travel time, either waiting for a full bus, or sharing buses with several resort stops?

We use the car service for about $150 round trip, but we love the fact that we get to the resort and to the parks quickly. Years ago, we would use the Mears buses, and it was really hit or miss. Sometimes it added almost 2 hours travel time to the resort. I was thinking that the time we would save waiting for our luggage before the car service takes us to resort, would be about the same amount of time waiting/traveling on Magical Express. Do you think it's a good idea to save that money and give Magical Express a try? Thanks for your advice!:thanks::daisy:
 
1. I'd plan for about 2hrs total.
2. Last time we were at Boardwalk (Nov '14), it stopped at CBR first.
3. Usually 3 hours prior to flight departure, so you'd be on a 7:50ish bus.
4. Not sure. Our longest waits have been at busy times, around school holidays and summers.
 
1. 70 to 90 minutes is typical. It could be a bit longer.
2. There's not a set schedule. It could be 0, it could be 3.
3. For a domestic flight, your pickup will be 3 hours (plus or minus 15 minutes.) The time you are given is the time your bus leaves - make sure you are at the platform, completely ready to go, 15 minutes prior to that,
4. No.
 
1. As others have said, the general rule of thumb is to allow about 90 minutes from when you land to when you're walking into your resort. It can vary depending on how long it takes to de-plane, how long you have to wait for the bus to leave MCO, traffic and how many stops the bus makes before going to your resort. I have had it take 2 hours, but that was the longest I've experienced.
2. The buses will almost always go to more than one resort, but it's not a set schedule in terms of which resorts are on the loop and which order they are visited. I usually stay at the BWI and it hasn't ever been the first stop when I've been on MDE (it was either the second or third when I was on it, but I'm sure that can vary).
3. The pick-up time is usually about 3 hours before your flight is scheduled for departure (domestic flights). They'll give you a pick-up time when the confirm your MDE reservation the day (or so) before you leave. I think BWI usually picks up either 15 or 45 minutes after the hour (when I've been there). As others have said, you will need to be at the stop 15 minutes before the pick-up time (to be safe), so be sure to leave enough time to pick-up bags from Bell Services (if you left any).
4. I don't think going during the busy time will necessarily impact how MDE functions. You may have to wait a little longer for the bus to fill up, but I'm not sure it would be that noticeable.

In terms of the cost issue...I really like not having to deal with my luggage at the airport. If you take MDE, the service will pick-up your luggage and deliver it your resort room. No hauling luggage through the airport, to the car rental/taxi stands, unloading it at the resort, etc. So for my family, we really enjoy that part of MDE. In terms of the time...using a towncar will save you some time, but you still have to allow time for getting your luggage, getting to the car rental/taxi stand, and driving to WDW. I don't think you'll save much more than an hour to be honest.
 
ZebraDomeCrazy said:
Thank you. Trying to weigh out our time vs our money, lol
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figment_jii said:
In terms of the cost issue...I really like not having to deal with my luggage at the airport. If you take MDE, the service will pick-up your luggage and deliver it your resort room. No hauling luggage through the airport, to the car rental/taxi stands, unloading it at the resort, etc. So for my family, we really enjoy that part of MDE. In terms of the time...using a towncar will save you some time, but you still have to allow time for getting your luggage, getting to the car rental/taxi stand, and driving to WDW. I don't think you'll save much more than an hour to be honest.
Click to expand...

IMO if you get a town car AND wait for your luggage I would imagine the time would be about the same or maybe a bit shorter. You could also use just the baggage service and have the ME take care of getting it to your resort and still get a town car. But I don't think it will save you a ton of time
 
Jimsig said:
IMO if you get a town car AND wait for your luggage I would imagine the time would be about the same or maybe a bit shorter. You could also use just the baggage service and have the ME take care of getting it to your resort and still get a town car. But I don't think it will save you a ton of time
Click to expand...
You technically can, but you're not supposed to. There's a sticky about it at the top of the transportation forum.
 
Some of my 'average' times....
DME......75 mins average. Short as 60, once a long as 85.
Towncar.....checked bags....60-65 mins
Carry on only.....45
Mears shuttle....(van, about 6 yrs ago).....90 mins.

Actually, for my trip last week, I took DME to the resort. Had a rental car and drove in from Tampa...dd was meeting her BFF at MCO, so we drove there so they could ride the bus together. But I booked a car service for the return to MCO. It was the day after the 24 hr event.....I needed that extra 45 mins a car service gave me!!! DME would have picked us up at 8:30, car service picked us up at 9:15.
 
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Thank you everyone! Now I have another question on this..... How long before your bags get to you? Thanks again :thanks:
 
Ok, that's actually better than I thought it would be. We will be hitting Epcot as soon as we check in, so 3 hours is no problem. You all may be swaying me to try Magical Express this trip!:flower1::flower1:
 
I love ME but never use it for luggage service. Always get our luggage and then go to bus. Waited over 6 hours for luggage the one and only time we used luggage service. I like having it with me. Even with getting luggage it hadn't tsken us more than two hours to resort. But we don't go to parks much Ny more so we aren't in a hurry. And the last several times we've gone room is ready so we can take bags up and get unpacked before heading out to pool.
 
kaytieeldr said:
Which is a sacrifice she made just so she could provide well-rounded information for this board.


Or else she'd seen me drive.... :rotfl:
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Awww, come on now!!! I did it only to gather personal info for the board!!! I needed first hand info!!

As for that 'pack your carry on for the first 24 hrs' argument? Here's my latest sad tale of woe (and I have several regarding this, as some of you know)....my dd, 21, her bff, 20, and I checked into POR on a Sunday afternoon, around 7ish. The room had been ready since before noon, but I was in Tampa. So, dd and I drove to MCO, returned the car, and met her friend, and then rode the DME bus to POR. Of course, dd and I had our bags with us since we had arrived in Tampa the previous day. Her friend had checked her bag and had a backpack with her. Now, this young lady has a lot of allergy issues...so one would have expected her to have anything she may have needed, just in case, in her backpack. We got checked in, and headed to BLT to watch Wishes from ToTW. We got back to the room around 11ish. No bags.
Now, there had been an issue, evidently. We were originally staying at Pop, and that's what our DME tags said. But, I got such a good deal at POR, in a RR, that I made the change. Everything remained the same....reservation number was the same. I have made a resort change and had my bags get to me just fine. When we got to DME checkin, we were directed to the Pop line...nope, told them POR. It took them awhile to figure that one out! They asked if we had any checked bags...just the one for dd's friend! It took them about 10 mins to go into the system and make sure that the bag would go to POR, not POP. They told us to always cross out the old resort and write in the new one. Completely different than what I've always been told.
So, when dd's friend called down to Luggage Assistance, she was told her bag was 'in transit'. Another hour went by....at 12:30, I called down...not happily. Well, it seems that the bag had, indeed, gone to Pop, and sat there. It finally got to her at about 1am!
She couldn't go to sleep because there was a special cream she needed as well as some other stuff. She said she didn't have a smaller container for it, so it couldn't go in her 311 baggie...geez girl, go buy a smaller jar and transfer the stuff. She said that since her first DME experience was flawless, she figured this one would be too!! Yeah, not so.

So, long story short? Pack what you need for the first 24 hrs in that carry on bag. If you can't find a small container of what you need, buy an empty one and transfer the stuff. Travel is hard enough, with things you can't change. No need to stay awake until the wee hours waiting for a bag.

Oh yeah....and be sure to cross off the old resort name and write in, carefully, the new one. If they had actually scanned the thing, it should have given them the correct info. Evidently not.
 
ZebraDomeCrazy said:
Ok, that's actually better than I thought it would be. We will be hitting Epcot as soon as we check in, so 3 hours is no problem. You all may be swaying me to try Magical Express this trip!:flower1::flower1:
Click to expand...

Just to clarify...Disney says in their paperwork that your luggage will arrive within 3 hours of your arrival at your resort. We once waited 4 hours, and another time 9. I prefer to bring the luggage ourselves, because there is nothing more frustrating than arriving in Orlando before noon and still having to keep your kids up later than you wanted them because your luggage hasn't arrived.
 
jtowntoflorida said:
Just to clarify...Disney says in their paperwork that your luggage will arrive within 3 hours of your arrival at your resort. We once waited 4 hours, and another time 9. I prefer to bring the luggage ourselves, because there is nothing more frustrating than arriving in Orlando before noon and still having to keep your kids up later than you wanted them because your luggage hasn't arrived.
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Another example of why to pack everything you need for the first 24 hours in your carry on. Take DME out of the mix for a moment (although it's possible your mix up was caused by them), it's MORE likely (IMO) the AIRLINE will misdirect/not load/not unload/etc your bag. If the airline doesn't get the bag to DME, they can't deliver it to your resort. If you don't have your bags, but your night clothes are in your carry on, you put the kids to bed then call bell services and ask them to hold deliveries until the morning.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pack for the first 24 hours in your carry on. You should do this when flying ANYWHERE, not just Disney.
 
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