Comments About Disney's Magical Express

[Kelrykengab]

We used ME on our last trip and we liked our experience with the exception of the 2 hour long wait at the airport to get the bus! From what I have read this is a fluke, so I am HOPING that in 12 days we will have a different experience. Crossing fingers.

 

[dizneedoll]

We used ME for the first time on our last trip and it was just ok. First of all, I couldn't find the ME counter at the airport. I followed the initial signs down to level one but then saw no signs indicating whether to go left or right so we just started walking. And walking and walking and walking. There was no one else down there, just lots of empty car rental counter. It was kind of creepy. Finally after what felt like miles and miles later, we saw a sign that said ME was now on the other side of the airport. Which meant going back up to level 2 and crossing over and going back down to level 1. Finally we found it. OK, so that was no big deal really. But still, after an 8 hour flight hiking across 10 miles of airport was not welcome. The line was not long but it did move slow. Once checked in, we had no wait before hopping right on the bus. Everything after that went just fine. The only thing is I thought I would be fine without having my luggage for a few hours. Nope. I was so stressed out about my bag. I kept thinking what if it's lost or they misplace it. It did take longer then usual for the luggage delivery. We were checked into POR by 6pm, the bags arrived just after 11pm.
Next trip I'm renting a car for the first time and I'm nervous about that but I'm renting because I can't stand the WDW bus system anymore. I would use ME again and would recommend it though.

 

[sjsjbrook]

my first trip there was no ME, so we had to use a taxi which at the time cost $40. It took us a long time to find where to pick one up. It was very confussing, all the time carrying bags for two adults and a five year old. On the way back we had to call a taxi to get us back, we had to stand in the parking lot at the Caribean and wait.

Our next trip we took ME and we loved every minute of it. We were happy to be in Florida (our flight just made it out after a major snow storm). It didn't seem that long to wait for the bus, (it could have been about 20 minutes), we didn't have to go and find our luggage, and we got dropped off right at our resort. After going to out room, we managed to be in the MK an hour and half after landing. Going home I don't remember having to wait for the bags to be unloaded. It was convenient and easy. If I were staying on site I would gladly use it again.

Next time we are staying off site and renting our first car.

 

[BriarRosie]

I'm not sure if people were aware of DME being part of Mears, I wanted to mention that first before I put in my .02.

Before DME, I used to pay for the Mears shuttle transportation. It was usually one of those vans that carry 7 passengers, but on occasion, I was directed to a motorcoach bus. But, it was so disorganized trying to get the pager, and then after being paged, getting assigned to a vehicle. I would sometimes wait 40 minutes just to be put in a vehicle, then wait an additional 10 minutes for Mears to get as many people in the van/bus as possible.

At that point, I started renting a car because I found my time was more valuable. I even started doing a routine of picking a car up for a day, then dropping it off at the Dolphin (National/Alamo is my rental of choice) the next day after a grocery run. On my last afternoon, the day before I had to leave, I would pick up a car at the Dolphin so I'd have it for my return trip to the airport. It worked great.

Here's where DME comes into play. I decided to try it because it was free. The luggage tags were convenient, and the luggage was delivered as expected. As for my experiences at the airport, they've varied to "ok" to "wow, I didn't expect to be leaving this quickly!"

Usually I'm waiting in the corral to the busses for about 10-15 minutes before they load a bus. Then I'm waiting about another 15 minutes before the bus leaves the airport. On my December trip, I had good queue karma, because I didn't have to wait long in the corral. I arrived just as they were loading a bus. I expected to wait for more people to load onto our bus, but the driver left within 5 minutes. I've never experienced it so quickly before, and I doubt I will in the future.

I think 30 minutes from entering the corral to the bus pulling out of the airport lot is normal, at least for me. YMMV.

 

[AnninIowa]

I love ME if we are arriving earlier in the day; unfortunately, we are coming from Iowa and always have a connecting flight. That means we usually get in around 9 pm. So not only do we have to wait for the bus, we always have to go to at least one other resort before our own and then wait in the room for our luggage to arrive sometime in the middle of the night. This last trip we used FL Tours, which was GREAT!!

My advice is that if you are arriving later in the evening and still want to use ME, then definitely get your luggage yourself. Only takes a few more minutes to grab it off the luggage carossel and take it to the bus yourself. You have to tip the bus driver for helping with the luggage, then, but to me I prefer it to waiting all night for my bags.

 

[Iggipolka]

We always use ME and travel to WDW two or three times a year. I love it and thus far (knock on wood), haven't had any negative experiences.
We travel from the West Coast, so usually get to MCO around 5 or 6pm. I don't think we've ever had a line to get on the bus and maybe a 10 minute wait for the bus to move.
Our luggage arrives at our resort within the 3 promised hours, usually within a couple of hours. That's totally fine with us because by the time we get to the resort (1 hour drive time), get checked in and grab some dinner, it's been two hours. Our luggage generally arrives soon after we get to our room. A few times, we've gone to MK and come back to our room and found our luggage waiting for us. Perfect!

While I dislike having to leave WDW three hours ahead of my flight, it's really not that big of a deal. As a bonus, the bus stops at several resorts, so I've gotten to see some resorts I'd never see otherwise.

Nothing but positive feelings about ME for me and I've already got it booked for my June trip.

 

[clomahony]

Just to add my 2 cents as well. I took ME last year for my trip with my kids and found the trip to Disney very enjoyable.

The trip back to the airport; however, was more difficult. I got to the waiting area at All Stars Movies 45 minutes ahead of time and just before the bus turned up a group of students arrived and jumped on the bus ahead of the rest of us waiting and took up the entire bus so Disney transportation called in another bus which took a while to get there. I was fortunate that my flight was delayed or I would have missed my flight.

I don't hold this against Disney but given the amount of time it can take to get to or from Disney, I'll be renting a car from now on. My biggest reason though is to avoid having to take buses in the future - but that's another topic.

 

[Madi100]

Nikki, I couldn't agree with you more. We love using ME. It's great to leave your luggage at your home airport and not see it again until you are in your room. We have never had a problem, ever, not even the time we switched flights by a DAY. We had one flight where we arrived at 11 PM, so we took our luggage. Otherwise, it's been perfect. We are always the first and last stop on the route. So we never have to visit other resorts.

We used to use towncars before ME and I just like ME better. I never felt comfortable being in a car where the driver is constantly on his phone and it's just a little too cozy for comfort. Now, if I had to choose between a towncar and paying for Mears, I'd probably opt for the towncar. But, Disney has a fan in me of ME.

 

[Illini Disney Guy]

We have never used a town car service but have rented a car (we own a time share off property) and when we have been staying on property used ME. We had no problems with it but it was just my dw and me. It takes a little while but that is ok with us. We are never in a huge hurry. We will use it again when we stay on property as to save the car rental fee.

Tom

 

[sjs314]

I love the ME and RAC service. Years ago it was tireing and time consumeing to get your bags once you landed and draged them out to wait for and board the Mears transportation which I do think cost something like $25 per Adult then remember to call a day ahead to schedule a pickup time for the airport to go home, again dragging your bags to check in and get your boarding pass.
It is now so efficient, drop off your luggage, board your plane, arrive at MCO board the ME get to your resort knowing your bags will be delivered to your room not to mention the RAC service when leaving , the convience of them printing your boarding passes so you have them in hand before you get to the airport all helps to make your vacation just a little more carefree and much less stressfull

 

[DrMomof3]

We're huge fans of ME. We have 3 kids in car seats and we're so grateful to leave the seats at home and let someone else take care of the bags! My DH is not as big as Disney fan as I am but ME is a major selling point for him.
On one trip we didn't receive our luggage tags but still had no problem with having our bags delivered. Everyone was helpful and nice.
We make sure that we pack all necessities in our carry-on (bathing suit, change of clothes, etc.) so we don't need our luggage right away. (Of course there was the trip that I packed a change of clothes for everyone except me and then the little one puke as the plane was landing but I ended up with a really cute new outfit....)
You sacrifice a certain amount of autonomy - Disney decides which resorts the bus goes to first and what time you get picked up - but you gain convenience. For us it's a huge plus!!! (In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a nervous nellie who likes to get to the airport 2 hours in advance anyway!)

Amanda

 

[stitch teacher]

Hi everyone!

My family loves the ME! Primarily my mom and I travel together, and it's wonderful to check our luggage at our home airport, and it appears in our resort room while we are out and about. My dad joined us two years ago (his first trip back to the World since 2001) and he was very impressed with ME. Trust me, he's not that easy to impress!

I also love the movie they show as you are driving to the World. Totally gets us in the spirit.

 

[drakethib]

Not to sound like a sour Sam, but i think I would rather walk to WDW the use ME again.

With that being said the last time I used ME we arrived at 900 pm and it waited on bus it seems like forever before they left.

We ended up getting a car service back to the airport.

Yes I know it is "free" but someone can have my seat. Ymmv

 

[eeyorelvr09]

I love ME. I have only been to WDW 2 times and am going back in October. I have not had any problems with time getting to my resort of luggage being dropped off. I love the movies on the bus! My first trip our bags arrived about 20 minutes after we got into our room. the second time our stuff was there by the time we got back from AK.

I do not like having to be picked up 3 hours early becaue I like spending as much time as I can at WDW. I just have to face the facts.

Overall, ME is not bad, in my opinion.

*NikkiBell*- Cali won't be too bad getting the luggage. We waited about 15 minutes until we got our bags and the additional car travel from LAX. We are going to be MUCH closer to DLR. Hopefully, we will get to PPH a little faster.

 

[FireDancer]

ME comes up often on the Transportation board and the responses are pretty much the exact same you get when anyone asks about a restaurant on the dinning board. Some people love it, some hate it, most are in the middle.

 

[Brian in Austin]

I just got done listening to Kathy's comments about Magical Express and thought I'd chime in. I have used the service since it first began several years ago and absolutely LOVE it. The fact that I can drop off my luggage at my home resort and not have to worry about transporting it to my room is excellent. It makes flying less stressful and much, much more comfortable. I always cringe when I see people on ME getting their luggage in Orlando and struggling to put it on the ME bus. Why bother? Let Disney do it for you!

On a recent trip, my ex-boyfriend's luggage was delivered by ME. We called, and it was discovered that the airline actually lost the luggage. However, Disney's ME was able to locate it very quickly and deliver it before any issue came up. That goes to show how organized their system is.

While it is true that Disney picks you up three hours before your return flight, I have had no issues with this. You do not have to rush through the airport and can even browse in some of the stores before you leave. The only time that it became an issue for me was if my return flight was delayed. At that point, you spend quite a bit of time in the airport. Again, though, Orlando's airport has so many wonderful stores and food options that it isn't that painful.

I am disappointed that ME does not exist out in California. It's something I am definitely going to miss this August when I visit DLR. The service is excellent, and I will continue to recommend it to anyone visiting the World.

My Wife and I had the same kind of experience with DME and we also loved it. It was very convenient and very organized. (which I happen to like a lot!) In fact our last trip was by far our best and Disney gets better every time we visit. Should we fly for our next trip, we will be using DME.

 

[Gwendolyn]

As a dutch we had to retrieve our luggage ourselfs at baggage claim. But still we loved the Magical Express.

I remember that film they played. Its the same as 4,5 years ago

We booked for the Magical express again. And I'm looking forward to it.

 

[8lovesmickey]

We have had good and not-so-good experiences with ME. Our first use we arrived later in the evening (9 or so I think) and had to sit on the bus for almost an hour waiting for other flights to land to fill the bus up more. We were exhausted and sweaty and ready to get to WDW, so it was annoying. We were also annoyed that no one got on the bus to tell us when we would actually be leaving - we just waited. Once we got going, it was good. Our luggage was delivered without a problem and our return trip was non-eventful.

Our second time was much better. I think it helped to land in late morning. There was a line to get on the bus, but it moved quickly and once we were on board we took off right away. We checked into the hotel, put our carry-ons in hold at bell services and went to the park. When we returned, our bags were in our room and all was well.

We also used the resort baggage check-in for the way home and it was fabulous. We checked our bags at the Pop first thing in the morning, put our carry-ons on hold at the bell desk and went to the park again. We had to be back at 2 for our ME bus, so at that time we got the carry-ons and headed out - our luggage was already on its way. We didn't feel like we wasted any time waiting around or hauling our bags. We maximized our park days also.

I guess that's a mixed review, but we will definitely use it again. For me part of the vacation experience is not worrying about a car - letting other people do the work.