Should I try Disney's Magical Express at CSR?

[goofy89]

My family and I are staying at Coronado Spring Resort in late April ( I am attending a convention) and want opinions on using DME. We are arriving at Orlando airport on a Friday morning. Really like the idea of not having to touch our luggage after we board our plane in Birmingham, however, have read some horror stories about how long it sometimes takes to get from the airport to the resort.

I have heard that CSR doesn't have to share busses with other resorts, so you usually arrive more quickly. Is this true?

If we use DME, I will probably rent a car on property to use during the week just so I'm not tied to the bus system, but using DME to get to the resort intrigues me.

Any feedback (or pointing me to the right threads) is appreciated!

 

[septbaby]

The not sharing bus comment applies to CSR transportation on site, not ME.

We used ME for our stay at CBR last summer and loved it. I even checked in for my return flight and left my luggage with ME at the resort and never had to touch it again until arriving at my home airport. I liked that convenience.

Getting from the airport to the hotel was breeze for us. The key is to be sure to pack those things you might want right away in your carry on. For us it was swim suits. While my nephew and I went to the pool and my mother napped "ME" delivered the bags to the room. We arrived at MCO just before 2pm on a Thursday, just for a point of reference.

To each his own, but ME is a big+ for me booking a Disney vacation.

 

[typhoonlagooner]

So your still planning on renting a car? If your going to rent a car, I'd just skip the ME process all together.

I've never rented a car outside of MCO but I believe Disney has a small rental car location on property. You'd need to take a cab to get there from your resort though.

We love using ME but always rely on Disney transportation when there. We find ME to be a hassel free start and love the overal system. When we were at Pop, our ME bus was shared with CSR and AKL. CSR was the second stop.

ME has it's disadvantages such as a long line to check-in, long wait if you just missed your bus, a stop or two before your resort, and having to wait to recieve your luggage... even if your room is ready. You return ride will also pick you up 3hrs before your depature flight. Even with these "disadvantages" we love the service and have never encountered any serious issues/horror stories.

Like i said though, if we were renting a car anyways... we'd save ourselves the hassle of cab fares and taking time out of vacation to pick the car up/drop it off.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Just to reiterate, we used ME for our stay at CSR and it was a great convenience! We were the 2nd stop after POP and it went on to AKL after us. We did pack swim suits, sunblock and other necessities in our carry on. By the time we came back from the pool, our bags were in the room and we got cleaned up for dinner! It couldn't have worked out better!

 

[hammie59]

From what I found, you won't need to take a cab to get your rental if you rent onsite. Most of the car companies will pick you up for free.

 

[5 blind mice]

We thought DME was great. No problems, no delays, everything went smoothly. I would give it a high recommendation.

 

[goofy89]

Thanks for the replies! Puts my mind at ease to hear so many positive experiences.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

We just stayed at CSR for a convention and used ME and WDW transportation, plus cabs for late night hotel restaurants. I didn't want to pay $500/week for an economy rental car during Presidents' week! The Coronado Springs buses all seemed to be dedicated to the resort, but keep in mind that the resort is huge, and has four bus stops.

If you want to be close to the convention center and restaurants, ask for Casitas 1 or 3 or plan to spend a lot of time walking (Thanks, Buzz!).

It took ME about three hours to deliver our luggage from the time we checked in, so you may want to pack a change of clothes in your carryon.

I thought it was a great place to hold a convention.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I staid at POFQ last year (doing csr this year) I used DME to get to the resort and got the hire firms bus to the car care centre and back again when I handed the car in again.

 

[stemikger]

This August will be the fourth time I will be using DME. I love it. It is so much more efficent then Mears which I have used in the past.

I never waited more then 15 minutes even when the line looks so long, it goes by fast.

It is so great not having to deal with your luggage and it is always at the resort in a reasonable time.

 

[CleveRocks]

My family and I are staying at Coronado Spring Resort in late April ( I am attending a convention) and want opinions on using DME. We are arriving at Orlando airport on a Friday morning. Really like the idea of not having to touch our luggage after we board our plane in Birmingham, however, have read some horror stories about how long it sometimes takes to get from the airport to the resort.

The problem is that you've read maybe 5 horror stories out of the literally 5 MILLION successful DME trips. No system is perfect. We've also read a few rare horror stories of botched rental car reservations and mechanical problems, car service drivers that never showed up, and taxi driver rip-offs. ALL of these problems are rare, but there have been those rare problems, just like DME problems are rare.

DME has been around for almost 3 years now, and transports roughly 5,000 - 7,500 guests each day. It was originally supposed to end in the Fall of 2006, to coincide with the end of the Happiest Celebration on Earth, but it was so successful with guests and management alike that in April of 2006 it was extended through at least the end of 2011. If DME was rife with horror stories, it wouldn't be so popular.

Here on DISboards, we've read very few stories of bad delays, but we read lots and lots of posts of people saying they've heard horror stories of delays. In other words, we read rumors but very very few first-hand experiences.

The average reported time from airplane exit to resort drop-off is 70 minutes. There's no substantial difference between that and how long it would take you using any of the other modes of transportation. The big time savings with DME is the freedom to skip baggage claim.

The bottom line that I recommend to people: since the time spent is just about the same no matter how you go, choose transportation on what level of service you want and how much you want to spend.

I've used DME twice and loved it. Love the luggage system and love the fact that my two personal experiences were 63 minutes (airplane to resort) and 56 minutes (airplane to resort).

 

[Guzzi]

on our last trip we used DME and found it to work well, our flight got in around 11:30 am, we were at the resort by about 12:30. The bus did stop at Pop Century resort before it went to CSR though.