car service versus Magical Express

[MouseWatcher]

Is there anyone who has used both a town car service and Magical Express that can tell me if they saved a significant amount of time with one versus the other? My husband and I are traveling without the kids in October - arriving on a Wednesday at 1 pm and leaving Sat at 10 am. We have always used Magical Express and never had a problem but ,since it is such a short trip, every hour is precious to me.

Specific details - We are staying at GF and, if I remember correctly, it is not the first stop on ME.
Also, since it is the 2 of us, we could just take carry ons which would save us the time of retrieving our luggage if we use a town car service.
Third, it is a surprise bday trip for my husband, we are staying club level, and part of me thinks it would be cool to roll up with a driver versus the bus

Thanks to everyone!

 

[siskaren]

Well, first of all, there are no set routes on ME. And while I don't have first-hand experience with using towncars, from what I've read here, you probably wouldn't save more than half an hour on either end by using a towncar over ME. And while I understand wanting to maximize your time at WDW, I personally don't think the cost of a towncar would be worth it for maybe an extra hour total.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You will save about half houe with a towncar not to mention the cost involved with it.

If the half hour is important then either stay up a half hour later when you arrive. Or get up a 1/2 hour earlier the day you leave it you take DME. Problem solved.

If it were me since your trip is short i would rent a car because standing around waiting on buses to/from the parks will eat up a lot of time as well. Check out Dollar they have had some good deals

 

[Disneytam]

We loved the town car service. We stayed at the BWI and our flight arrived at ten in the morning and we were at the hotel checking in by eleven. It's also kinda cool having a driver waiting for you at the airport. I thought it saved us a lot of time on the return trip using the car service because he picked us up right at the hotel two hours before our flight departed and we had plenty of time at the airport. The cost was $85 roundtrip plus tip.

 

[goofy4tink]

Some times that I've had.....


DME...between 50 and 90 mins. Usually average is 75 mins, gate to resort.
Car service....no bags (just carryon)....45 mins
Checked bags......60 mins

All in all, you'll save maybe 30 mins....on each end...using a car service.

 

[Couchy]

we always do the car service. saves us at least 45 minutes on the way there and 1:15 on the way home. those are the min. ... i get a towncar every time

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

Yup, we are Towncar people as well!

We tried ME a few years ago. The ride "TO" the resorts wasn't really the issue for us. It was more of the ride back to the airport....

They request you wait for the bus 3 hours prior to your flight (at least that was our understanding)? We stay at the CR/BLT, which is the second stop, followed by the Poly, then the GF (the first stop being the WL). We waited over an hour at the entrance of the CR for a ME bus to show up ....the staff just kept saying another one is expected soon (that was our only experience with ME). We also (at the time) didn't realize that the bus made those 4 stops. It was just a bummer.....packed bus, and seemed forever to get to the airport.....leaving Disney is so depressing as it is.

Now, we pack up our luggage and send it along ahead to the airport with ME (3 hours prior to our return flight), and then our car service picks us up 2 hours prior to departure. We don't see our luggage again until we arrive back at our final destination.

The car service just seems to work best for us.

(Plus.....having a DS16 with Autism .....it's just easier and less stressful always knowing what to expect).

 

[goofy4tink]

I am in the camp that insists on an earlier departure time when using a car service. If you leave 2 hrs prior to departure? You won't be at the airport until 90 mins prior to departure. It could take up to 30 mins (easily) at security, then 10-15 mins to the gate (depending on how long the wait for the tram is and where your gate is). You are now about 45 mins out from departure. Most flights start boarding about 25 mins before departure. So, you have 20 mins to kill! Not a long time to say the least.
If there are any issues along the way, you could have an issue. there is a reason MCO recommends arriving at the airport 2hrs prior to departure.....much safer that way.

I had one instance where we sat in traffic, at 10am. It took us nearly 50 mins to get from WDW to MCO. And that was the one time I agreed to leaving 2 hrs prior to departure!!! Security, naturally, was a beast that day..probably due to the traffic holdups! I made it to the gate just as boarding started. Not a good thing!! I learned my lesson that day.

 

[MouseWatcher]

Thanks to everyone for your input!

 

[misst0270]

I know I'm late to this conversation but I'm considering a towncar for our Oct trip. Would any of you recommend a specific car service?

 

[goofy4tink]

I know I'm late to this conversation but I'm considering a towncar for our Oct trip. Would any of you recommend a specific car service?

I have used both FL Tours, a board sponsor, and Tiffany Towncar. Both were good.

 

[mistydoodles]

how does the car service work when you book it directly with Disney and have it added into your package?

 

[lylone]

We have used towncar and ME.
The best thing about towncar is you can have a grocery stop. When we do carryons only, then we usually ask to stop at CVS at the main gate to purchase whatever larger size liquids we need (lotion, sun lotion, etc). Plus with carryons you don't have to wait to get your bags.
ME does save you the roughly $150 trip charge and including two tips. But we have also stood and waited in line for awhile for more people to show up from our resort/area before being loaded on a bus. One time it was a good 30-45 minutes and the only place to sit is on the floor.
Going back home we have also been rushed at the airport to get through security and such on the return home.

We don't use the Bags service since one time it took forever to get the one bag and the fear of it being lost was not pleasant.

 

[Ozzygirl]

I used ME last year. We had to wait for about 20-30 minures for the rest of the people to show up and then we had 2-3 other stops before we got the AKL. It was fine with my GFs but this trip my DH wants me to "make things as easy as possible".

We also had to be in the lobby at 3am to get the ME back to MCO for a 6am flight. We stoppped at 3 other resorts on our way. (no more 6am departures home for me..I don't care what the cost!!)

I would rather have our own car and driver, be able to stop at the grocery store to get water, wine and beer on our way in, and leave 2 hours before my flight instead of 3. It is well worth the $125 for us. It all comes down to what you think your time/aggrevation is worth.

 

[siskaren]

I would rather have our own car and driver, be able to stop at the grocery store to get water, wine and beer on our way in, and leave 2 hours before my flight instead of 3.

You really should be at the airport 2 hours before your flight, not leaving for the airport 2 hours before your flight. I've read a lot of posts here about how backed up the security lines can get at MCO, and I'd much rather be sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to start boarding, than running through the airport hoping I can make it.

 

[ncc1701]

You really should be at the airport 2 hours before your flight, not leaving for the airport 2 hours before your flight. I've read a lot of posts here about how backed up the security lines can get at MCO, and I'd much rather be sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to start boarding, than running through the airport hoping I can make it.

No matter what airport we are using on our vacations (including the non-WDW ones) we always try to be there at least 2 hours before the flight. MCO has usually been the worst with TSA lines but we have sometimes run into issues in San Francisco, Las Vegas and San Diego not to mention our local Philadelphia.
I would rather be bored waiting for my flight than stressing out about making it.

 

[goofy78]

Can you add ME to your reservation, have them get your luggage and bring to the resort and take a town car to the hotel instead?

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Unless you need a grocery stop take the ME. I have done both and ME is so easy and I don't think will take much longer. We did it last year to the GF and I don't remember it being a long trip.

 

[siskaren]

Can you add ME to your reservation, have them get your luggage and bring to the resort and take a town car to the hotel instead?

ME isn't supposed to be used as a luggage delivery service without riding the shuttle. (Not that people don't use it that way, just that it's not the way it was intended to be used. Check this thread for more information.)

 

[barb45]

I know I'm late posting on this but I have done both. The last time we used ME (and in fact any time we've used ME) the line up at the airport where you have to check in for ME took an hour. Then you had to get in the next line for your resort. Finally got to a bus and all those stops before your resort seemed like a lot more than just a half hour longer than hoping in a town car. We are taking a town car this next trip because we will be travelling with 2 babies and 2 other kids. Just trying to figure out what company to book with.