Change in Magical Express return to airport

[Mrs.Milo]

Last Friday March 5 we boarded Magical Express for our return to the airport from Allstar Music. Our bags had been checked ahead of time that morning so just my purse & a small carry-on onboard the bus. Previously if your airline was on the A side at the airport, the bus would make a stop there first, then proceed to the B side for the remaining airlines. Now when you get back to the airport the bus stops on one side only, the B side, where Magical Express is located. We were told to remain seated, that a Disney representative will be coming on board to explain the return procedure at the airport before we could exit. And that the driver would let us know when everyone's bags had been unloaded from the bus and it was okay to proceed into the airport.

Now the Disney rep had no new news for us, just repeated what the driver had already told us .....that we could walk through the airport to the A side no problem. What is the purpose of keeping everyone on the bus? We along with several other families had no bags to pick up once we got off the bus, and could tell many were not happy about the additional delay. I felt that was treating us like children. It was at least an extra 5 to 7 minutes just sitting on the bus waiting to get off.

Is everyone getting this treatment? And to whom should I complain? Magical Express? DVC?

 

[minnie mum]

If you really feel that a 5 minute delay requires a complaint, contact Disney using either if these:

email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

or send a letter to:
Walt Disney World Guest Communications
Executive Offices
Post Office Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-0040

Although I can't help thinking that between starting this thread, waiting for replies, and then contacting Disney, you've just wasted a lot more time than you did sitting on the bus.

 

[ncc1701]

If you really feel that a 5 minute delay requires a complaint, contact Disney using either if these:

email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

or send a letter to:
Walt Disney World Guest Communications
Executive Offices
Post Office Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830-0040



Although I can't help thinking that between starting this thread, waiting for replies, and then contacting Disney, you've just wasted a lot more time than you did sitting on the bus.

Maybe something unexpected happened (i.e. an accident) and they weren't able to do the drop at the A side. I think if it was a permanent move something would have announced by Disney or rumors would have been posted on this site & others. But I do think letting Disney know about the confusion you got from the driver and Disney rep is a good idea. My one suggestion as someone who had worked in retail for 20 years is to look at your email as a "teaching moment" and not a "we were inconvenienced for 5 minutes" rant. Just calmly state what went wrong so they can take steps to make improvements.

 

[seashoreCM]

In terms of getting to your airline's ticket counter, the difference between getting off Magical Express on the A side or the B side is not that great, comparable to walking the 50 yard line from one side of a football field to the other or not making that part of the walk. The ticket counters correspond to the full length of a football field's side lines. Either way you have to "get into the football stadium to arrive at a field side line" and that part is the same for both the A and B sides.

If you were proceeding directly to security then there is no difference between getting off DME on the A side or the B side. In both cases you arrive at the security and ticketing level (Level 3) in a manner comparable to getting to a sideline of a football field. The security areas correspond to the goalposts.

Some guests get off the DME bus at the first airport stop it makes, because they can walk to where they need to go more quickly than the bus can get to the other side. That is, unless the driver is unwilling to pull out their bags until the bus gets to the stop the guest declared upon boarding

Unless there are announcements to be made, the guests should be unloaded from a DME bus returning to the airport as early and as quickly as is possible. Including concurrent as opposed to consecutive unloading of guests and unloading of baggage. Five to seven minutes of delay here is not just an inconvenience; it could mean the difference between making and missing a flight. Oh! No! I just spent more than five minutes writing and editing this paragraph!

 

[parkluvr]

Last Friday March 5 we boarded Magical Express for our return to the airport from Allstar Music. Our bags had been checked ahead of time that morning so just my purse & a small carry-on onboard the bus. Previously if your airline was on the A side at the airport, the bus would make a stop there first, then proceed to the B side for the remaining airlines. Now when you get back to the airport the bus stops on one side only, the B side, where Magical Express is located. We were told to remain seated, that a Disney representative will be coming on board to explain the return procedure at the airport before we could exit. And that the driver would let us know when everyone's bags had been unloaded from the bus and it was okay to proceed into the airport.

Now the Disney rep had no new news for us, just repeated what the driver had already told us .....that we could walk through the airport to the A side no problem. What is the purpose of keeping everyone on the bus? We along with several other families had no bags to pick up once we got off the bus, and could tell many were not happy about the additional delay. I felt that was treating us like children. It was at least an extra 5 to 7 minutes just sitting on the bus waiting to get off.

Is everyone getting this treatment? And to whom should I complain? Magical Express? DVC?

We took the DME from POR to MCO on 3/13 and had the same experience. Our bus was scheduled to depart 2 hours and 50 minutes before our flight departure time, which is a little bit less than I would prefer. With the late arrivals of other guests and the driver taking his guest count and making his announcements, we ended up leaving almost 15 minutes late. Fortunately we did not experience any significant traffic delays or accidents and ended up making it to the airport about 2 hours prior to departure. We pulled into the airport on the B side and like you were told to remain seated and await the Disney representative. The representative came on and basically told us nothing and told us for our safety to remain seated until the driver unloaded all of the luggage from the underside bins. Like you, we had already checked our luggage through, so we basically sat there for 10 minutes for absolutely no reason at all. Like others have said, the A and B sides are close enough that the single stop is not significant, but I would really not be happy if the foolishness of this unnecessary delay caused me to miss my flight.

 

[minnie mum]

I would suggest that if the bus arrived 2 hours before departure and you have already checked your luggage, a 5 or 10 minute delay in offloading is highly unlikely to cause you to miss your flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

I would be somwewhat peeved if I had no bags stored beneath the bus but still had to stay on the bus! I know there was an issue with this for resort arrivals....drivers closed the doors while they unloaded the bags. Most of us felt it was more an issue of being free to get tips vs guest safety. The practice was stopped. So I don't understand why it's ok to do it when traveling back to the airport. Why should I have to sit and wait when I have no stowed luggage?
I don't have a huge issue with them stopping just the once...it's not a huge deal to get to the other side. But not ok with being forced to stay on the bus.

 

[parkluvr]

I would suggest that if the bus arrived 2 hours before departure and you have already checked your luggage, a 5 or 10 minute delay in offloading is highly unlikely to cause you to miss your flight.

I was not really worried about missing this particular flight. My concern is that when Disney starts procedures like this they are often very rigid in following through with them. In this instance, by the time we finished waiting for the representative to tell us nothing and for the driver to unload all of the luggage, it was about an hour and fifty minutes prior to departure. Just last June when we were leaving WDW and driving to MCO there was a huge rain storm that went through and the interstate was a parking lot. The drive time was over an hour due to the traffic but fortunately I had left plenty of time to get to the airport and drop off our rental car, so it was not an issue. I've also seen the security screening area at MCO back up significantly with long delays. The point of the matter is there is absolutely no reason for Disney to delay people 10 to 15 extra minutes at the airport for no reason. I am quite sure that neither Disney or Mears will pay for the fees of rebooking if I do miss my flight.

 

[disneyagain]

We had the driver announce this on our trip in December. We didn't have to wait for a disney rep. We checked out luggage at the hotel, so never paid attention once we got off the bus. I wonder if the loitering in the bus area, waiting for luggage is a safety issue

 

[maxiesmom]

I don't think it is a change to how DME operates, but a one time thing. Nothing to get excited over.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

The purpose was to keep you safe. Having all those folks mill around looking for their bag in the bus unloading area if a danger.


But feel free to complain. After all it's better to get off quickly then be safe.

 

[seashoreCM]

I was not really worried about missing this particular flight.

I can't see how you would not be worried unless you had a fully refundable ticket.

I have not heard of anyone taking Magical Express back to the airport according to the instructions and missing their flight. But if this happens I think the best thing to do is to report to the DME welcoming area for help. Some fact finding will occur at that time and if some (Mears?) person detained guests on the bus then that fact will become known then. You will not be advised of what usage Disney or DME makes of the facts gathered. I kinda' doubt that DME will suggest that next time you make a special request for an earlier DME bus back to the airport (request always granted) but I will suggest doing that.

Come to think of it, I am sure DME works some kind of magic if guests miss their flight. Like whisk them home on the back of a giant stork such as shown in the opening scene of "The Flintstones," version starring "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" 's Rick Moranis. Operations of this kind are considered backstage, similar to certain Disney behind the scenes tours, and guests are not permitted to use cameras, tape recorders, cell phones, etc. to record or publicize the event.

 

[Carriemel]

Nope, not a one-time thing. We flew out on the 15th, and were only deposited on the ME side of things (B side). We had to wait for a Disney rep to get on the bus. I do agree with the PP about the delay being a bit unreasonable, especially if you had no bags under the bus, and you kind of knew...well, anything. I've been to the airport once or twice...(I work at one), and I really didn't need anyone taking me by the hand to show/tell me what to do.

 

[goofy4tink]

The purpose was to keep you safe. Having all those folks mill around looking for their bag in the bus unloading area if a danger.


But feel free to complain. After all it's better to get off quickly then be safe.

This was an issue, at one time, when going to the resorts. And the drivers stated that it was for your safety that you were told to remain on the bus until all bags were taken out. BUT......that practice was stopped. Many guests complained about being 'held hostage' on the bus. If I have no bags to get, I want to get off that bus and start my fun. It was more a case, to the best of my knowledge, of drivers wanting to be sure they were available to stick their hands out, for that tip. I'm not sure why anyone needs to be held on the bus when returning to the airport. If you have bags stowed beneath the bus, then you go stand in a certain area, away from the arriving and departing buses...pretty simple. If you have no bags, then you get to get off the bus and go about your business.

 

[Applemomma]

We had this Saturday (March 21st). The way the driver put it was "we're only allowed to stop on B side". He did say a rep would come on but when we got there he got off, closed the door and then it looked like one of the "reps" said 'nah...not worrying about it today", he got back on and said "I guess they aren't coming on today". Nothing about staying on until all bags were off. I wonder if they were trying something new that now seems to be a bust or if they were having trouble with people grabbing bags that weren't theirs. We held on to our carryons so we didn't have to stick around and it really was less then a five minute walk. We whipped through security and were sitting at our gate less then 10 minutes from bus arrival to gate, more then an hour early for boarding.