Claim your own baggage for Magical Express

[vanreg]

I've heard that it takes hours to get your luggage if you use magical express. Has anyone ever claimed their own baggage and just loaded it under the magical express bus? We are thinking about doing this Saturday.....our plane arrives in the late afternoon and I don't want to wait half the night for our luggage.

 

[Boncho]

Well, I've heard lots of different things. Last year my sister and her family let Magical Express look after their luggage and they only waited a couple of hours. Now us, my son and I never put our ME tags on our luggage so that we can claim our own luggage and put it on the bus; that way we have our luggage right away. So, even though my sister and her family had good luck with the luggage service, we're still going to claim our luggage this year.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes, you can do this. Just do not put the yellow luggage tags you get from DME on your checked luggage. Those yellow tags tell the luggage people to pull those bags out before they ever get to the baggage claim area and then they go on the resort trucks.
So....don't put the yellow tags on your checked bags. When you get to MCO, just head down to baggage claim, get your bags and go down to DME checkin desk. You can take your bags with you and the driver will stow them underneath your bus. But remember, if you do this then you will want to consider tipping the driver. Anyone who 'touches' your bags should be considered for a tip.

 

[latexscooter]

We had to do this for our trip earlier in the month. We didn't get the tags before our trip so we had to. It really wasn't a hassle. Our luggage pick-up was in Concourse B just like ME. So I let my hubby and friends pick up the luggage while I went down one level to ME and checked us in. They arrived just before I checked in and we were off. It wasn't a chore at all.

In a trip on a previous year my sister-in-law only put the ME tags on 3 of their 6 pieces of luggage. So half was picked up by ME and the other three we got. When we got to the hotel the room wasn't ready but when we checked in later in the day the luggage showed up about 10 minutes later. So thus far the experience has been pretty positive. I'd pack a "day bag" with a change of clothes and a swimsuit but I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[tjmw2727]

Yes you can, I have done it both ways. Like a pp said if you want to claim your own luggage just skip the yellow bag tags and go get them from the baggage carosel as usual. Bring them to the ME desk check in and the driver will load them under the bus for you. I felt this was a service worthy of tipping.

The flight where I picked up my own bags was a late evening flight, arriving at MCO about 9ish so I didn't want a middle of the night or first thing in the am luggage delivery. The other two times were afternoon arrivals and our luggage was in our room at the most about 3 hours after we checked in. It could have been sooner but we were out enjoying lunch and the resort (arcade etc) and not in the room when the luggage was delivered.

I am using ME again in April and with a morning arrival will use the luggage delivery serivce. My personal feeling is when we are on a flight that arrives after 6ish we will get our luggage, prior to 6pm we will use the luggage delivery feature.

HTH
TJ

 

[CleveRocks]

Before you make up your mind, I just want to make sure you realize that you don't have to sit around and wait for your luggage -- it is delivered to the inside of your room whether you're in there or not.

 

[Disney_Fanatic]

DBf and I always picked up our own luggage instead of having ME picking them up and delivering them to our room because we always arrive MCO on a late flight. We don't want to wait for our luggage when it's already 8-9pm. Just don't put the yellow ME tags on your luggage and you can pick them up at the carousel and bring them on the bus.

Another suggestion would be packing a smaller carry-on with your necessities for one day, bring it with you on ME and check the rest of the luggage directly to the hotel by putting the yellow tags on them.

 

[laura001]

I have heard of people doing it either way also. We are going to pick up our own luggage and take it to the bus with us (tipping the driver of course). I am such a worry wart that I would stew all day about whether or not our luggage was going to be there.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Yes. You can throw away the yellow tags and retrieve your own bag(s) at baggage claim.

But the big question is, why would someone want to throw away the best part of DME?

Why would someone want to deal with luggage at the airport and at the hotel? Why would someone want to spend an extra 20-60 minutes at the airport before boarding a DME motorcoach? Why would someone want to pay tips to those who assist with the luggage, rather than letting Disney pays the tip for inbound luggage service?

Actually there are some good reasons not to use the DME luggage service, such as wanting to be able to set up a tent (that was sent as checked luggage) at Fort Wilderness, without possibly having to wait until after dark.

It seems the number one reason why some people choose to retrieve their own luggage has to do with control — wanting to know that the luggage made it onto the flight, and wanting to arrive at their resort hotel with luggage.

For the rest of us, it's great to breeze through the airport and arrive at the resort as soon as possible. It's great to check in at the resort without the burden of checked luggage. And it's great to find our bags waiting in the room after returning from a park, from a pool, or from dinner.

My advice is to pack carry-ons with anything you'll need right away. Then let Magical Express deliver your checked bag(s) to your room while you're out dining or having fun (or the next morning in the case of late arrivals). Disney pays the inbound bellman tip for luggage delivery, so you don't have to wait in your room.

 

[jimmalru80]

We have used DME on our past two trips but I think we'll pick up our bags at baggage claim and take them on the bus with us this year. We arrive early at MCO when we travel (9:30am), and always set our first night dinner early as well (5:30pm). We stay at the BC and had several "close calls" with getting our luggage in time for showers, change of clothes and travel from the BC to our first night dinner. I'd rather play it safe and know that our bags are there.

 

[Skroops]

We have done it both ways. For us, we travel often and it's not a big deal to wait at baggage claim and walk over to DME. Even if you have to switch terminals (depending on which airline you fly) it's not that big of deal. For us, it's maybe a 20 minute delay getting our bags and heading to ME. We usually end up taking late flights, so that is what we prefer. To switch terminals, you just go up to check-in level and walk across the airport. There are often luggage assistants around looking for tips if you have a lot of bags...they'll even get your bags on to the ME bus. No biggie IMO!
The convenience of having your bags delivered to your room is awesome, but IMO, mostly for morning or daytime flights. You can head to the parks straight away from checking in (or pre-check in).

 

[Edd]

On my last trip I figured out why some people want to pick up their luggage and take it with them. Having someone else doing it for you is nice, but I felt good about having my bag and getting it to the ship and than having it delivered to the room shortly after you get in.

You can get your stuff out of the bags and hang them up. I really didn't feel good about leaving the room and possibly having to come back later, when I was more exhausted, and do that chore. People traveling for 1/2 a day or maybe even 6 - 8 hours that day don't really feel like hitting the parks or doing anything to tire them out any more. Besides there isn't to much left to do after about 5:00 to 6:00 in the evening, unless you want to waste a full days ticket for 2 - 4 hours in the parks, why not just get the room straighten out, put the clothes from the luggage on hangers or away and than finish up the evening with a few drinks and dinner.

Can you imagine doing that, late in the evening, when you are dead tired or early the next morning when you are looking forward to a full day in the parks? That didn't seem like my piece of cake.

 

[Lewisc]

Your post makes some sense.

MYW Ticket pricing gives you extra days for almost free. It costs an extra $2.13 to go from a 6 day base ticket to a 7 day ticket. Some guests may pay the extra money to see Illuminations or Wishes the first night of their trip.

I take an early am flight and get to my resort before lunch. I'm at the pool, at a park or in the restaurant food court while my luggage is being delivered. A late afternoon flight and I'd be having dinner. I might follow your suggestion if my flight was arriving after dinner and had no interest in going to a park my first night.

On my last trip I figured out why some people want to pick up their luggage and take it with them. Having someone else doing it for you is nice, but I felt good about having my bag and getting it to the ship and than having it delivered to the room shortly after you get in.

You can get your stuff out of the bags and hang them up. I really didn't feel good about leaving the room and possibly having to come back later, when I was more exhausted, and do that chore. People traveling for 1/2 a day or maybe even 6 - 8 hours that day don't really feel like hitting the parks or doing anything to tire them out any more. Besides there isn't to much left to do after about 5:00 to 6:00 in the evening, unless you want to waste a full days ticket for 2 - 4 hours in the parks, why not just get the room straighten out, put the clothes from the luggage on hangers or away and than finish up the evening with a few drinks and dinner.

Can you imagine doing that, late in the evening, when you are dead tired or early the next morning when you are looking forward to a full day in the parks? That didn't seem like my piece of cake.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I used ME last Feb and had no complaints EXCEPT for the fact that they ignored our DO NOT DISTURB sign and delivered to our room at 11:30pm when DH, the kids & I were trying to sleep

When we got in from our dinner all but 1 of our bags was there. When we noticed 1 missing we called down & asked them to look for it noting that it was late & we didn't need it until the next day. As it got later & later I called the front desk and THEY told me to put up the DND sign & that it would be honored but it was absolutely ignored.

This time we are flying in at 5:00 PM so we will get our own stuff.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I've heard that it takes hours to get your luggage if you use magical express. Has anyone ever claimed their own baggage and just loaded it under the magical express bus? We are thinking about doing this Saturday.....our plane arrives in the late afternoon and I don't want to wait half the night for our luggage.

I used to always do this. However, that was when DME was in the A terminal, the same as Continental. This last time, after DME moved to the B terminal (I wonder why), I did it and I'll never do that again unless they change back to the same terminal as my airline. If your baggage claim is in the other terminal from DME, after you claim your luggage, you have to shlep back upstairs (and I had quite a wait for an elevator to go up), and then go all the way down to level 1.

 

[Santa]

Our last trip we used DME for the first time. Some in our group of 6 did not realize when it's 20° in Cincinnati that it's pretty close to 70° in Orlando. We waited about 4 hours for our luggage to show then the DW & I went to bell services and it was sitting outside the storage area all organized along with others. We waited about 15 minutes to see if someone was doing something with the luggage but the bell hops were standing around so we went up and asked if we could get our luggage and was told rather abruptly "we'll bring it too your room in a little while". I let them know we had been waiting on it for 4 hours already and we will take it with us. I then called the others in our group & they too came and got their luggage.

I think this next trip we will claim it ourselves and take it on the DME bus with us.

 

[keishashadow]

as i put on my flame-proof suit here, enjoy my vent ...

1st (and only hopefully) usage of ME to BCV last Oct. saw us cooling our heels @ the CBR;

then whole scenario repeated @ BW...

while luggage was sloooooowly offloaded for guests.

Is it the end of the world? - no but, i'm raring to go once i hit disney property...don't want to spend it sitting in the driveway of another resort.

Did i want to sit and take an extra hour out of my vacation so others could get their luggage early/bring it with them? - no

IMO, would be swell if each resort had a "dedicated" bus (dream on lol).

At the very least, they need an express bus for passengers who AREN'T fiddling with luggage; why do those who have their luggage sent ahead need to be tripped up by this accommodation ?

 

[Lewisc]

You said you have your flame-prrof suit on so I'll feel free to fire up.

I hope Disney doesn't go to a dedicated bus for each resort. I like having to wait less than 15 minutes for my bus to be dispatched. I don't want to have to wait at MCO for 30-60 minutes before a dedicated bus has enough guests to dispatch.

Same with an express bus. Many of us have to let the driver stow our carryon bags under the bus. How much extra time does it take the driver to remove an extra handful of bags. Probably less than 5 minutes per stop. The extra 10 minutes we have to wait for the driver to unload would be instead be spent at MCO waiting for a bus to be dispatched.

DME works because of the volumne of passengers. That allows Disney to dispatch the buses frequently. Any change that causes Disney to dispatch the buses less frequently, from MCO, is a big negative.

I'm not sure when we'll see it but the logical extension of DME is to allow us to check in at MCO, get a room key etc. We'll either get a room assignment or told to call and get it later. DME could then bus us directly to a theme park. The parks might need some larger lockers for our carry on stuff.

as i put on my flame-proof suit here, enjoy my vent ...

1st (and only hopefully) usage of ME to BCV last Oct. saw us cooling our heels @ the CBR;

then whole scenario repeated @ BW...

while luggage was sloooooowly offloaded for guests.

Is it the end of the world? - no but, i'm raring to go once i hit disney property...don't want to spend it sitting in the driveway of another resort.

Did i want to sit and take an extra hour out of my vacation so others could get their luggage early/bring it with them? - no

IMO, would be swell if each resort had a "dedicated" bus (dream on lol).

At the very least, they need an express bus for passengers who AREN'T fiddling with luggage; why do those who have their luggage sent ahead need to be tripped up by this accommodation ?