Disney Transportation - Use it or Lose it?

[Mousemommy1]

One of the things we love about Disney is that we don't need to worry about transportation. We love Magical Express. Sometimes you can wait a little while for a park bus but IMHO it beats finding your rental in the massive parking lots, getting into the HOT car that's been sitting in the heat all day and then driving unfamiliar roads.

 

[fly girl]

OP, what resort are you staying at? Some resorts share busses (ie, Epcot resorts) so you have to add that time to stop at other resorts in your plans. It's not a deal breaker to us, but it can be a small nuisance.

Also, with the 1 year old, be prepared to break down your stroller every time. You'd do that anyway in a car, but just a heads up to be prepared with the busses.

We love ME. It's so easy, and hassle free. You'll get to the airport early no doubt, but I'd rather be early than stressed about missing my flight.

We typically go without a car rental and do just fine.

 

[escriven75]

We've used DME many times on past visits. One word of warning however, this past time I let them collect our bags for us (we had ALWAYS got them ourselves) and they took forever to arrive at the hotel. We hadn't packed swimwear in our carry-on bag for arrival and checked into the hotel later, around 6pm with no intention of heading to the parks until the next day. The kids just wanted to swim before we went to sleep. I don't recall what the official delivery time listed on the website is for your bags to arrive....i believe it says approx 3 hrs. Needless to say it was more like 5 or 6 hrs until the bags arrived at the hotel. And we had them call when they arrived at the hotel and went to the lobby to retrieve them ourselves otherwise, it would have been another 2 hrs for them to get delivered to us at our room. So, while I've always loved the ME bus, we decided we'd NEVER have them deliver our luggage again. My kids said "this isn't very magical, we just wanted to swim". I realize it is a helpful service for some but we should not have used it. The pool was closed by the time we finally got our bags and we missed dinner bc we were waiting in the room hoping our suitcases would arrive soon. Just putting in my 2 cents in case it helps avoid someone's else's disappointment.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I'm good with the transportation. Sure it gets a little crowded but no biggie really. It beats the alternative of trying to pack a scooter in a car and opting out of adult beverages at dinner.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

We've used DME many times on past visits. One word of warning however, this past time I let them collect our bags for us (we had ALWAYS got them ourselves) and they took forever to arrive at the hotel. We hadn't packed swimwear in our carry-on bag for arrival and checked into the hotel later, around 6pm with no intention of heading to the parks until the next day. The kids just wanted to swim before we went to sleep. I don't recall what the official delivery time listed on the website is for your bags to arrive....i believe it says approx 3 hrs. Needless to say it was more like 5 or 6 hrs until the bags arrived at the hotel. And we had them call when they arrived at the hotel and went to the lobby to retrieve them ourselves otherwise, it would have been another 2 hrs for them to get delivered to us at our room. So, while I've always loved the ME bus, we decided we'd NEVER have them deliver our luggage again. My kids said "this isn't very magical, we just wanted to swim". I realize it is a helpful service for some but we should not have used it. The pool was closed by the time we finally got our bags and we missed dinner bc we were waiting in the room hoping our suitcases would arrive soon. Just putting in my 2 cents in case it helps avoid someone's else's disappointment.

I wouldn't say you need to opt out all together but you should consider putting a few essentials in your carry on. This is really best practice any way in case your luggage gets lost.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We always fly, so we use Disney Transportation. We have usually had good luck with it and enjoy not having to drive ourselves. We tend to stay at resorts that only have one pick up area (POFQ, POP) which we like.

I would definitely vote 'yes' to the DME. We love getting off the plane and on to a bus without having to worry about collecting and carrying our checked luggage. Then, it magically appears in our room. Also, your 1 year old might like to watch the tv on the DME bus on the way to your resort.

 

[escriven75]

you should consider putting a few essentials in your carry on

....essentials yes but swimwear, sunscreen, pool shoes, pool toes etc we do not bother with on our carry-on. We prefer to keep those bags light and bare minimum. It is a great service for some I just wanted to post my experience in case it helps anyone else avoid the same. We don't mind grabbing our luggage ourselves and having it right away with us gives us the freedom to not have to wait for it when it does take a while to arrive.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Love Disney transportation! For me there is a certain sense of relief once I'm on DME--I know that I have nothing to worry about but a week of Disney in front of me. We pack some essentials in our carry on for just in case. We usually check in and then head to a park for a meal and a few hours of fun-you can check your carry on bags with bell services. By the time we return to our room our bags are there-magic! We stay at CSR and they have had excellent bus service. I would be stressed out about driving around there, so I'm fine to let them do the driving!

 

[LetsTalkWDW]

....essentials yes but swimwear, sunscreen, pool shoes, pool toes etc we do not bother with on our carry-on. We prefer to keep those bags light and bare minimum. It is a great service for some I just wanted to post my experience in case it helps anyone else avoid the same. We don't mind grabbing our luggage ourselves and having it right away with us gives us the freedom to not have to wait for it when it does take a while to arrive.

I learned from traveling over the years, that a change of clothes (but no shoes) is essential to have in your carry-on (not just at Disney). My luggage was lost on a business trip to Japan once and I spent 3 days in the same pants and shirt and yes underwear (yuk). It's Disney and it's warm so a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and extra underwear is not that much (and a bathing suit, why not).

I prefer to carry a slightly heavier carry-on than mess with my very much heavier checked bags.

 

[WEDWDW]

Love DME,Love Disney Transport,Love not having to drive a car for a week!!!!

Also,the new Bus Arrival Boards they are gradually rolling out are awesome!

 

[Accident]

We've always used the transportation with a couple exceptions where we grabbed a taxi for a tour start. Time wise? it can go either way. We're on vacation so taking a little longer, being a little lazier, etc doesn't bother us too much.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

We always drive to Disney (live a few hours away), but once we are there, we always use Disney busses.

We took our son at 7 months and 1, and we never had an issue with his stroller on busses. You have a larger group too, so it should be easy for someone to fold it and hold on to it on the bus.

If you drive, you will probably have to take a tram in the parking lot, and you will need to break down your stroller for that too.

 

[Travis B]

We usually take a cab to the parks in the morning. That way we don't have to get up super early to get to a bus stop and wait 20 minutes for a bus (I get really antsy waiting for a bus when I want to get somewhere in a hurry) and we don't have to worry about stopping at another resort or stop at the same resort. A cab will cost about $20 from any point to any point at Disney. We'll usually take a Disney bus when we go back to the resort as we are in less of a hurry.

This is something we did too that I forgot to mention. We like cabs or Uber as a supplement to Disney transport for early breakfast at a resort, etc.

 

[EvieBug]

....essentials yes but swimwear, sunscreen, pool shoes, pool toes etc we do not bother with on our carry-on. We prefer to keep those bags light and bare minimum. It is a great service for some I just wanted to post my experience in case it helps anyone else avoid the same. We don't mind grabbing our luggage ourselves and having it right away with us gives us the freedom to not have to wait for it when it does take a while to arrive.

It's been a few years since our last ME trip...so do you suggest going to baggage claim, fetching your family bags and then taking them and your party to the ME line? Thus assuring your bags are on the same bus as you?

We definitely don't want anxiety about our bags arriving ages after we do!

 

[Fizban]

Ok, I am in need of some advice. We are going in first half of September, 6 of us + a 1 year old. Is Disney transportation (buses) efficient? What are the wait times like in September? Will I save time driving? We went last June, and rented a car, and not sure if the time we spent parking and then walking would be more than waiting for the bus etc. And what about the Magical Express?? Didn't use that last time either!

It depends on where you are staying. Most buses are within 20-25 minutes to any park. I have personally experienced( and will never stay again) horrible bus transportation from CBR. The water transportation is slower, but more relaxing. I really take advantage of the transportation. When we arrive my car keys go into the safe and stay there till we check out.

 

[OKW Lover]

Ok, I am in need of some advice. We are going in first half of September, 6 of us + a 1 year old. Is Disney transportation (buses) efficient? What are the wait times like in September? Will I save time driving? We went last June, and rented a car, and not sure if the time we spent parking and then walking would be more than waiting for the bus etc. And what about the Magical Express?? Didn't use that last time either!

Disney buses are "efficient" in that they move a lot of people. They aren't necessarily the quickest. However, you won't find any significant difference in bus wait times in September than any other time of year. Disney adjusts bus frequency and capacity according to hour-by-hour need each day. Having said that, we drive everywhere except the MK. When driving to the MK you have to park in the main lot and then take the tram to the monorail/ferry and then on to the MK turnstiles. A Disney bus will drop you off near the turnstiles, making that a faster route.

Magical Express has the advantage of being free. The "Express" part is in the eye of the rider though. Some folks report getting right on a bus and it leaving minutes later. Other folks experiences are that they wait a long time for a bus, then they sit on it for 20 minutes before it leaves, and then they stop at two other resorts before finally getting to theirs. Your experience will most likely fall someplace between.

 

[tlmadden73]

I like the transportation as I generally hate getting in/out of a car and parking. Yes, it's slow .. and probably easier to hop with a car than the buses, but if I was staying on-site I wouldn't take a car to MK or Downtown Disney .. but I may take my own car to the other parks.

I guess it depends on your plans.

 

[Jeannie in NJ]

we have not rented a car since we started staying on site. We love Magical Express, it is the beginning of our vacation to us. We love stopping briefly at the other resorts, it gets us excited to get to our own resort. We also head to the parks at all different times for ex. on our last trip my sil would get up very early and head to MK (monorail) and then around 9 my daughter and I would head over and then finally dh and ds would show up somewhat later. Also since my kids are teens, they can just hop on the monorail or bus to head back to the resort without us if they want to. We also stayed club level and it was easy for any of us to go back to our resort on the monorail (we spend most of our time at MK and epcot) for snacks if we wanted to.

 

[kerstfan1]

i Always use Disney transportation as i hate to drive in a forgein country and why pay when something is "free"

 

[harrowgirl]

We are trying something different this time around. Usually if we stay onsite we just do Disney transportation. Last trip we stayed offsite and rented a car. We are doing a split stay this time around (half onsite, half off). We are keeping the car the whole time. What I found I didn't like about the car was that we were all stuck coming and going at the same time. My son has autism, and during our offsite trip there were a couple times where it would have been nice to be able to just have one of us take him back to the condo for a break, and my daughter and the other of us to keep touring parks. So this time we are having our heavy park days during our onsite portion of the trip. We will drive to the parks, but then we can split up, and 2 of us take the bus and 2 drive back if we want or if our son gets overwhelmed. I could see a similar benefit if you have older children and a baby/toddler. It depends on how well the little one will sleep in a stroller.