Can I do This With Magical Express??

Bill From PA

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That
Joined
Nov 8, 1999
As with most things, there are aspects of this new service that appeal to me but other things that put me off. The idea of no baggage waiting and an expidited check-in are a plus, being delievered to my resort on a bus that makes multiple stops is a minus. Does anyone know if I can book the service for our arrival, let Disney take our bags to our resort while we use a TownCar to go directly to a park? Would we still have to check-in ourselves, and if so, could we then have the TC drop us at the resort (ahead of the bus full of ME arrivals), get that done and go park hopping? Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.

Bill From PA
 
From what I understand you have to be on the bus to get your luggage picked up.
 
CarolA,

Why am I not surprised that you were the first to answer? You've provided me and others a ton of useful info and I thank you.

After posting I found a faq with the following:

Can a Guest book a “luggage only” transfer?
No.

Still, how can this be enforced? If I book this service, the bags are pre-tagged by me and sent to the resort via a separate truck if I understand properly. Maybe I have to be at the resort to check-in, maybe not, that's not clear to me. What's to keep me from skipping the 'Welcome Center' stuff and taking a TC to my resort and just checking in? If check-in is automatic, so much the better. What's Disney going to do, take the time and effort to match every set of luggage with a warm body on a bus before sending both along to a resort? I suppose time will anwser all these questions and I'll be watching this carefully.

Bill From PA
 
I don't think we know yet.

Maybe as you board the bus they check you off and if you don't get on neither does your luggage? I guess we will find out May 5th!
 


I would think there may be some security issues with putting unattended luggage on the bus. :confused3
 
disnutt said:
I would think there may be some security issues with putting unattended luggage on the bus. :confused3

They don't put the luggage on the bus for arrivals. The tagged luggage will be pulled behind the scenes in baggage claim and loaded onto trucks to go to WDW.
 
but I am going to send Disney a copy of this thread and ask for a response. I plan on taking the ME and I want to know that they are being very aware of what luggage is on those busses. It's a matter of security. I will post and let you all know what Disney says.
 


lsteadman said:
but I am going to send Disney a copy of this thread and ask for a response. I plan on taking the ME and I want to know that they are being very aware of what luggage is on those busses. It's a matter of security. I will post and let you all know what Disney says.


The luggage isn't on the busses. They will use a truck to deliver the luggage from the airport to the resorts.
 
I would hope that the busses could also take you to the parks. If you get all checked in at the airport, why not jsut go straight to the parks. The whole purpose of ME is to avoid the hotel lines and start enjoying your vacation. Your luggage will be in your room when you get there, whether or not you get there before or hours after.
 
Bill From PA said:
Still, how can this be enforced? If I book this service, the bags are pre-tagged by me and sent to the resort via a separate truck if I understand properly. Maybe I have to be at the resort to check-in, maybe not, that's not clear to me. What's to keep me from skipping the 'Welcome Center' stuff and taking a TC to my resort and just checking in? If check-in is automatic, so much the better. What's Disney going to do, take the time and effort to match every set of luggage with a warm body on a bus before sending both along to a resort? I suppose time will anwser all these questions and I'll be watching this carefully.

In another thread, Lewisc and I had an interesting discussion about people who will try to use the free luggage transfers without riding the coaches. Officially, Disney does not allow this. Lewisc made a good point that there's nothing to prevent someone from booking the Magical Express coach and luggage service, tagging their bags with Magical Express tags at their home airport, and then renting a car or taking a towncar at Orlando Airport anyway. My response was that Disney will figure out something to discourage this practice, but I don't what that will be. See "Magic Express AND car rental" at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=740999
 
Quote: "My response was that Disney will figure out something to discourage this practice, but I don't what that will be. "

We shall see!

Bill From PA
 
kirbsam said:
I would hope that the busses could also take you to the parks. If you get all checked in at the airport, why not jsut go straight to the parks. The whole purpose of ME is to avoid the hotel lines and start enjoying your vacation. Your luggage will be in your room when you get there, whether or not you get there before or hours after.

Nope, that won't work. You have to check-in to your resort. The ME has nothing to do with resort check-in. It does enable you to do your airline check-in upon resort check-out, thus avoiding check-in lines at the airport (if you are using a participating airline). In order for your baggage to go to your room, you will have to be checked in and you have to do that in person. The ME buses will run between airport and resorts. Now, if you choose to go directly to a park as soon as you get off the bus, I guess you could do that. But I think you will be better off if you check-in to your resort first.
 
Thanks guys, I just had a vision that has made up my mind not to use the ME. All the resort guests arriving at once will make an awfully long line at check in. YUCK! I think it'll be worth the 90 bucks!
 
Of course no one knows exactly how all this will work since it hasn't begun yet and I don't pretend to know anything more than what I have read. I have never even used Mears so I don't even have any exsperience in that area. That being said I can't help but to wonder if people were to try to send their bags on through ME and then take an alternative form of transportation that it may hold the bus up, waiting for people who are actually not coming. I say this because if we are signed up for the service with our flight info included I would imagine they would have a list of passangers they are exspecting at a particular time. Wouldn't if be a safe assumption that they would try to wait for exspected passangers to board the bus before leaving for the resort? or do you think we are to just hop on the first available bus like we would to go to the parks from our resort?
 
artblessed said:
Wouldn't if be a safe assumption that they would try to wait for exspected passangers to board the bus before leaving for the resort? or do you think we are to just hop on the first available bus like we would to go to the parks from our resort?
There are other reasons why a guest might not head right from the arrival gate to the Disney Welcome Center. The biggest reason would be because passengers may be quite hungry on arrival. After all, the airlines have pretty much stopped serving meals in economy (except for the "buy on board" meals that some airlines now offer.) So, with no luggage to worry about, it makes sense to stop at Chili's or Macaroni Grill in the Orlando Airport terminal for an hour or so before heading the Disney Welcome Center.

I don't think Disney's Magical Express coaches will wait for every guest with a scheduled arrival, if it means delaying other guests. But I think Disney will develop daily coach schedules based on the assumption that most guests will head straight from their arrival gate to the Disney Welcome Center.
 

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