Complaint: Need Address for Magical Express

[disneyokw]

On Sunday my parents (68 and 64) and my uncle and his girlfriend (70 and 65 - note girlfriend is very ill) were picked up at 7:50 AM at Old Key West. They showed their tickets and told the bus driver they were going to JetBlue. When the bus arrived at the airport the bus driver told EVERYONE on the bus to get off. He had dropped off everyone at the ARRIVAL terminal for American Airlines. My parents stayed on the bus and told the bus driver they were DEPARTING on JetBlue. The bus driver would only keep saying "off, off". My parents saw their luggage out on the street so they got off. The bus driver then took off. They had to walk to the other side of the terminal and try to find JetBlue. Yes they had plenty of time but they were given no answers and dropped off in entirely the wrong place and for arriving not departing.

I do know that my parents should have gone right then and there to the Magical Express desk. They told me the story when I picked them up at New York's JFK. I questioned my mother who was sitted up front on the bus and she said the guy did not receive any radio call to quickly arrive. He only radio where he was located. They all said that he barely spoke English. Unfortunately they did not get his name or number on the card up by the window. Something I always do. Does anyone know where I can write to inform Magical Express of this situation. We are not looking for anything from Disney, but they should be aware. Also was anyone possibly on that same bus that arrived at OKW at 7:50 AM on Sunday, Feb. 11th?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Lewisc]

Your parents should have used the RAC desk and checked their luggage at OKW.

Don't waste your time complaining
Both JetBlue and American are on the "A" side of MCO. DME only has one stop on the "A" side. Ed said the airport is considering have DME stop in the middle but DME only makes one stop per side and drops off at level one. Buses aren't allowed on level three. It sounds like the rude driver is the only real complaint.

Your complaint should relate to the availability of skycaps. Your parents should have used (tipped) a skycap to take their luggage.

Actually you might want to PM Edd, I don't know if he needs/wants people to email the airport but the proposed change would have the return bus stop in the middle of the A and B side, would have CMs stationed to answer questions and would have skycaps and rental carts available.

 

[goofy4tink]

As previously posted, DME makes just two stops at MCO..one for each 'side' of the terminal. Those flying out of the A side, will get off there, those flying airlines on the B side, will get off on the B side. The bus does not stop at each airlines departure door, unlike the towncars. There is no place for the buses to park, so they have to use that lowest level.
Now, if the bus stopped at only one side of the terminal, and someone had to get to the other side, then there would be an issue. But, if I am reading the OP post correctly, this wasn't the case. It was just a lack of knowledge/communication. Perhaps the OPs family believed the DME bus would stop at the individual airlines, rather than two stops..one per side.
As for luggage, they would have qualified for the resort luggage checking. It's so easy I'm not sure why more people don't do it. They would have just had to get their luggage to the RAC desk, at least 3 hrs. before their flight. They could have had their luggage taken right then and there, and gotten their boarding passes issued. Then, no luggage to worry about at the airport. This is my favorite thing...love flying a participating airline so I can do this.
But, all in all, I'm sorry they had such a bad experience.

 

[disneyokw]

My parents did NOT have their luggage with them. They had OKW take the luggage. They just had their carry-on bag (one of those small ones and my father's backpack).

I was in Disney back in January. The bus stopped twice on the A side and then went to the B side where I got off. I never recall only one stop. Plus when we leave the airport the bus the last time went to pick-up at other parts of the terminal. My girlfriend and her family who spent Thanksgiving at Disney told me they stopped twice on the B side also because her family were the last ones on the bus.

 

[simzac]

We used ME this past Jan 8th to return to MCO. Bus only made one stop on each side on our trip.

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

We used DME in December- one stop per side is all they did. Sorry...

 

[disneyokw]

I was down January 7th to 11th. On Jan. 11th they made two stops. A co-worker in another building is going down next week and I asked her to keep an eye where they go.

 

[Lewisc]

DME is only suppose to make one stop on each side of the airport. Mears shuttle buses make two stops on each side of the airport.

A driver who stops twice on each side is either being nice or normally drives a Mears shuttle and doesn't realize DME only makes one stop per side. In order to make an extra stop the driver would need time and there would have to be an open slot. All buses stop on level one, I'm not sure why you thought your parents should have been dropped off on level three. Buses are too heavy and are never allowed on level three.

DME buses leaving MCO only stop in one location. Mears buses stop in multiple locations in MCO. There must have been a major problem if a DME bus picked up at a second location at DME.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Some buses, such as the Hertz buses, drop of on the departure level. However, although the Hertz buses look like full-size buses, they're undoubtedly smaller and lighter than the deluxe motorcoaches used for Disney's Magical Express.

Disney's Magical Express motorcoaches have a single departure point from Orlando International right outside the Disney Welcome Center on Level 1 (ground transportation level). They are supposed to travel nonstop to the first WDW resort.

As others have written in this thread, when returning to the Orlando International, the Magical Express motorcoaches are supposed to drop off once on the Terminal A side and once on the Terminal B side, always on Level 1 (ground transportation level).

Any additional stops would be an anomaly.

One secret is that if Magical Express passengers have already checked in with Remote Airline Check-in, and don't have any bags in the luggage hold of the motorcoach, then it makes sense to get off at the first stop, regardless of whether their airline's counter is on the Terminal A side or the Terminal B side. The TSA security checkpoints and the trains to the airsides (aircraft gate buildings) are halfway between the two sides, at either end of the main terminal building.

 

[CleveRocks]

Plus when we leave the airport the bus the last time went to pick-up at other parts of the terminal.

I'm not trying to be argumentative or insulting, so please read what I have to say with that in mind ....

Is it POSSIBLE that your experience was NOT on Disney's Magical Express? I ask this because people leaving the airport on their way to the resorts have only one place to leave from, and that's the DME Welcome Center, as Horace just said.

There's no place else at the airport where DME passengers go to be picked up, so I hope you can understand my suspicion that perhaps you weren't on a DME bus but on some other form of ground transportation.

I just can't figure out how and why a DME bus would make other stops to pick up passengers when leaving the airport.

In any case, it stinks that your parents had such an unpleasant experience. There's absolutely no excuse for a rude bus driver who doesn't take the time to properly and politely explain things to his guests. But as far as being upset about WHERE they were dropped off (not the driver's attitude, but WHERE he let them off), the driver followed standard procedure the way DME has been running for the last 21 months.

 

[Edd]

There is work being done on this specific project. Recently the airport modified the home page of its website. When you click on it click on skip intro. You will go to the home page. As you look at the home page look at the bottom of the picture for the question mark icon. Below it is a contact us. Click on contact us. On the new page scroll down a little and you will see links for complaints. Go to that and send in your complaint. Now I might get shot for this, but you could send it to the attention of Darrell Brantley or Chris Schmidt, Deputy Airport Director. In fact Chris had actually told me he would like to get feedback and charged me with the responsibility to make it happen. So direct your comments or complaints to him. Darrell is the GOAA guy who gets things done so you can write him to. I am the one who bugs everyone with the proposals and pushing to get it done. I do not work for GOAA.

We are working on a solution for what is mentioned above. They had meetings last week and have scheduled side "A" to be a test side. They are going to remark the whole lane with the bus lanes in the middle of the terminal. At the last talk I had, they had contacted Disney and a Disney employee would be there to greet you when you arrive back at the terminal. In fact I think I saw Disney people meeting the incoming busses a few weeks ago , but maybe it was unofficial. Also the skycaps would be available as well as luggage cart racks for the passenger convenience.

The work is in planning and the time to do it will be set up shortly. Right now there are numberous conventions coming in which has the airport on its toes trying to get people out and to their destinations. We are probably looking at a date sometime in April for the above to get done.

As far as the bus drivers go, that is a Mears Transportation problem, or Disney. The pay of bus drivers is not the greatest, and because I worked for Mears at one time, I know they have a small problem with the moral of drivers. Many times the employment of the more professional drivers is hard to come by because of the wage scale. The core of the available drivers is professional, but there is a bigger majority of drivers that go to work on a temporary basis. Disney does not control the wage scale of the DME, Cruise Line or Mears bus drivers.

One additional comment, I have heard of bus drivers dropping everyone off on one side, but didn't believe it was happening and never have spotted it. I now believe it does happen. It gets back to what drivers get paid. If you can get all your passengers off on one side than you can get back in line for your next rides. Maybe no money is changed hands but a tip to a bus driver is cash he can spend today. So the motive would be to get back in line for the next set of tips.

 

[Julylady]

I think we had the same bus driver last year. We tried to check in at the hotel but were told there was a problem with our ticket that could only be handled at the airport. We also had to take our luggage with us on the bus for the same reason.

We told the driver we were flying Northwest (B terminal). When we got to the A terminal he said something in very broken English that sounded like "everyone off." I assumed I misunderstood and stayed on the bus. Several minutes later I looked outside and saw our luggage on the sidewalk. I went out and told him we were going to the B terminal and he repeated, "Everyone gets off."

The problem was that my Mom was recovering from knee surgery and had a great deal of difficultly walking. I couldn't find a porter, or a luggage cart, or a wheelchair. It was stressful as we also knew we had a problem with our ticket and were in a hurry to get to the NWA counter!

I posted a message when I returned asking if anyone else had experienced only one drop off point and no one responded. I concluded it must have been an isolated incident, but maybe not??

 

[dudspizza]

I really thought Edd's comments were well put. The issue here is witht he driver. He was rude and he should have dropped off on both sides (A and B). However, there is supposed to be only one drop off point on each side. Any more is going beyond.

I would complain about the driver and his attitude, but that is all I see wrong here... best of luck.

Duds

 

[Lewisc]

The OP said his parents were dropped off at

dropped off in entirely the wrong place and for arriving not departing

The OP said he used DME, Maybe a DME bus had to make an extra pickup (I doubt it), Maybe a DME bus made a second drop off on each side (although that's rare) BUT I DOUBT A DME BUS EVER DROPPED OFF AT LEVEL THREE where the OP said his parents should have been dropped off.

OP seems to be mixing up DME, Mears and private transportation.

I'm not trying to be argumentative or insulting, so please read what I have to say with that in mind ....

Is it POSSIBLE that your experience was NOT on Disney's Magical Express? I ask this because people leaving the airport on their way to the resorts have only one place to leave from, and that's the DME Welcome Center, as Horace just said.

There's no place else at the airport where DME passengers go to be picked up, so I hope you can understand my suspicion that perhaps you weren't on a DME bus but on some other form of ground transportation.

I just can't figure out how and why a DME bus would make other stops to pick up passengers when leaving the airport.

In any case, it stinks that your parents had such an unpleasant experience. There's absolutely no excuse for a rude bus driver who doesn't take the time to properly and politely explain things to his guests. But as far as being upset about WHERE they were dropped off (not the driver's attitude, but WHERE he let them off), the driver followed standard procedure the way DME has been running for the last 21 months.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

When the bus arrived at the airport the bus driver told EVERYONE on the bus to get off. He had dropped off everyone at the ARRIVAL terminal for American Airlines. My parents stayed on the bus and told the bus driver they were DEPARTING on JetBlue. The bus driver would only keep saying "off, off".

As has already been established in this thread, American Airlines and jetBlue are both on the Terminal A side. There are many other airlines on the Terminal A side, including Continental, AirTran, and Southwest. The Magical Express motorcoach makes a single Terminal A stop on Level 1 (the ground transportation level) serving all Terminal A airlines. Passengers must take an elevator or escalator to Level 3 (the departure level).

They had to walk to the other side of the terminal and try to find JetBlue. Yes they had plenty of time but they were given no answers and dropped off in entirely the wrong place and for arriving not departing.

They had to walk to the part of Terminal A where jetBlue is located. They did not have to walk to the "other side of the terminal" (the Terminal B side).

The issue here is witht he driver. He was rude and he should have dropped off on both sides (A and B). However, there is supposed to be only one drop off point on each side. Any more is going beyond.

The only legitimate reason to drop off only on the Terminal A side is if there are absolutely no guests on the motorcoach going to any of the airlines with counters on the Terminal B side (such as United and Delta). That could happen, especially if the load on the motorcoach is light, but I think it would be very unusual.