Magical Express luggage retrieval - always reliable?

[SugarPlumFairyUK]

Not having to stand around waiting for luggage on arrival is a fabulous service! And also not having to wait for and pick up a hire car after a long flight. Is the luggage service always reliable? Any nightmare stories? What if your label comes off in flight?
I can't help being a little anxious about leaving my luggage behind at the airport!!

[Braden's Momma]

I have used it twice now with no problems.

[siskaren]

It's not a label, it's a tag just like the one the airline puts on except that it's yellow. You can see what it looks like when attached here:

http://mouzekateerz.com/2012/05/31/magical-express/

[sam_gordon]

Originally Posted by SugarPlumFairyUK

Not having to stand around waiting for luggage on arrival is a fabulous service! And also not having to wait for and pick up a hire car after a long flight. Is the luggage service always reliable? Any nightmare stories? What if your label comes off in flight?
I can't help being a little anxious about leaving my luggage behind at the airport!!

ALWAYS reliable? As in 100%? Of course not. I don't know that anyone can give you any kind of "reliability" statistic, but it works almost all the time. I'm sure there are a handful of cases where the Magical Express (Disney) system was at fault, but they are few and far between.

If you trust your airline (who "loses/misdirects" bags on a daily basis), you should have no trouble trusting ME.

If the tags come off in flight (unlikely, they're secured like the airlines tag), your bag would be put on the luggage carousel at MCO. After they go around a number of times, they'd go to the "unclaimed" luggage area. BUT, DME is going to know how many bags they should have checked in for you (because you tell them when you arrive). If you told them you had three checked bags and they only "found" two, they'll work with the airline to find the missing bag. Whether the bag is in Orlando, at a transfer airport, or even at your departure airport, DME works with the airline to get the bag back to you.

Of course, any time you're flying, you should ALWAYS bring a carryon with enough clothes/medicines/necessities to "survive" at LEAST 24 hours.

[SugarPlumFairyUK]

Originally Posted by siskaren

It's not a label, it's a tag just like the one the airline puts on except that it's yellow. You can see what it looks like when attached here:

http://mouzekateerz.com/2012/05/31/magical-express/

Thank you for this info. Do UK travellers get this pack sent to them as well? We have booked the ME.

[Shelly F - Ohio]

As long as you have signed up for the DME service UK folks will get the packet if you have booked your trip more than 3 weeks before your arival.

[jba2]

I will caution you that if you arrive at MCO in the evening, the service may not be reliable. My husband and daughter's plane arrived at the airport at around
9 p.m. They did not receive their bags until the following afternoon. It was quite frustrating because we didn't sleep well as we were assured the bags would be dropped off soon.
If arriving in the evening, pick up your bags and bring them on the bus with you.

[jmartinez1895]

Originally Posted by jba2

I will caution you that if you arrive at MCO in the evening, the service may not be reliable. My husband and daughter's plane arrived at the airport at around
9 p.m. They did not receive their bags until the following afternoon. It was quite frustrating because we didn't sleep well as we were assured the bags would be dropped off soon.
If arriving in the evening, pick up your bags and bring them on the bus with you.

I am not sure what the cut off time is because we travel in the mornings, but I have always read on our packet info that if you arrive at the airport after a certain time that they will not get your bags and that you must get them and they will load them on your bus. I think that is what may have happened in this case.

[seashoreCM]

Originally Posted by jba2

I will caution you that if you arrive at MCO in the evening, the service may not be reliable. My husband and daughter's plane arrived at the airport at around
9 p.m. They did not receive their bags until the following afternoon. It was quite frustrating because we didn't sleep well as we were assured the bags would be dropped off soon.
If arriving in the evening, pick up your bags and bring them on the bus with you.

Most likely the bags were delayed by the airline. In which case, had they not used the yellow tags and also gone to the carousel immedately after getting off the plane and taking the airport tram, they would have found that out but it would still have been necessary to wait until the next day for the bags.

The cutoff time for automagical bag delivery is 10 PM. Then, all bags, yellow tagged or not, go to the carousels. If you step off the plane after 10 PM then go to the carousels and, if you do not find your bags there, file a claim with your airline before leaving the carousels.

There are no recorded instances on this forum where someone, following the Magical Express instructions, had to go back to the airport to resolve baggage problems. DME has always come up with something better.

[DisneyDude71]

Originally Posted by Shelly F - Ohio

As long as you have signed up for the DME service UK folks will get the packet if you have booked your trip more than 3 weeks before your arival.

What about customs?

[seashoreCM]

For those who need to clear or reclear customs in orlando, you have the choice of:

1. Putting the bags on the other conveyor belt in the customs station and Magical Express delivery works the same way as for U.S. travelers or for those who cleared customs before Orlando, or as described in replies above,
2. Putting bags without yellow tags on the other conveyor belt in the customs station and then picking them up again at the carousels,
3. Carrying the bags out of the customs station and directly to the Magical Express area or wherever you are going next.

Method 1 does not work after 10 PM, all bags, yellow tagged or not, go to the carousels.
A few guests have reported agents in the customs station occasionally disallowing method 3.

[maxiesmom]

Originally Posted by jba2

I will caution you that if you arrive at MCO in the evening, the service may not be reliable. My husband and daughter's plane arrived at the airport at around
9 p.m. They did not receive their bags until the following afternoon. It was quite frustrating because we didn't sleep well as we were assured the bags would be dropped off soon.
If arriving in the evening, pick up your bags and bring them on the bus with you.

What resort did they stay at? The value resorts stop delivering luggage at Midnight. And Magical Express tries to get your luggage to you within 3-4 hours of your checking in to your resort. Not sure if your family stayed at a value, but that is a possible explanation.

Also, if you don't want to have your sleep interrupted by your bags being delivered, all you have to do is tell the front desk to hold them. They will! Then put the Privacy Please tag in your door for extra insurance. They will hold your bags until you call down for them.

There is no way I would waste time at the airport grabbing my bags when DME would do it for me.

[LilRonGal]

I've used ME for every trip I've been on as long as they were around. The ONLY time I had a problem is when I never received my yellow tag. I gave ME my luggage tags and info but before they could pick the luggage someone else got to it and took it with her.

Disney stepped up to the plate, did a trace on the luggage and once the girl who got it realized it was mine, Disney got it from her and shipped it to me at home next day, no charge to me. (Because by the time we got everything figured out, I was back home. )

They all seemed puzzled as to why the luggage was out there able for someone else to pick. So, from what I gathered, as long as you have the yellow tag, it goes into a special place so it'll never even make it to the baggage claim area. And as I said, that was the only time I had a problem. And I've used ME since 2005 and will use it again when I go in three weeks. (We got an abundance of yellow tags this time for some reason....)

[seashoreCM]

Originally Posted by LilRonGal

I've used ME for every trip I've been on as long as they were around. The ONLY time I had a problem is when I never received my yellow tag. I gave ME my luggage tags and info but before they could pick the luggage someone else got to it and took it with her.

Disney stepped up to the plate, did a trace on the luggage and once the girl who got it realized it was mine, Disney got it from her [snip]

They all seemed puzzled as to why the luggage was out there able for someone else to pick. So, from what I gathered, as long as you have the yellow tag, it goes into a special place so it'll never even make it to the baggage claim area. And as I said, that was the only time I had a problem. And I've used ME since 2005 and will use it again when I go in three weeks. ...

That time you did not have the yellow tags so the luggage went to the carousels. When you showed the welcoming area CM your white luggage tag stubs, DME sent someone to the carousels but by then someone else had picked one up by mistake.