Disney's Magical Express Question

[peekkaboo]

Hi,

I am a little confused, we are taking Westjet from Toronto Pearson Airport to Orlando International Airport. We are using Disney's Magical Express bus to our resort. On the Disney's website, where they have all the info about Magical Express, it says something like upon arrival we have to claim our luggages and bring it over to the Magical Express center for them to bring it to our resort? But a friend of a friend who recently went to Disney (also from departed from Pearson airport) told me she checked in her luggage at Pearson and didn't see her luggage again until she got to her resort.

So, my question is, for those of you who know, do I skip the claiming my luggage part and just go straight to the Magical Express bus? I guess the idea of claiming your luggage is to go through customs? But do we do that at Pearson in Canada? so therefore won't have to when we arrive in Orlando?

 

[minnie mum]

If you go thru Pearson you will preclear Customs there. Make sure you have your DME tags on your bags. You do not need to pick up your bags at all. They will be delivered to your WDW resort about 3_4 hours after you check in.

However if you are flying into the US from a Canadian city that does not have preclearance (not common nowadays), if you are flying in from any other country, OR IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER TEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT, you will then have to claim your own bags before getting on the bus.

 

[peekkaboo]

If you go thru Pearson you will preclear Customs there. Make sure you have your DME tags on your bags. You do not need to pick up your bags at all. They will be delivered to your WDW resort about 3_4 hours after you check in.

However if you are flying into the US from a Canadian city that does not have preclearance (not common nowadays), if you are flying in from any other country, OR IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER TEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT, you will then have to claim your own bags before getting on the bus.

So as long as I am departing from Pearson, I should be fine? we are schedule to arrive in Orlando at 1:30pm Thanks!

 

[Disneylover99]

So as long as I am departing from Pearson, I should be fine? we are schedule to arrive in Orlando at 1:30pm Thanks!

Yes, no need to pick up your luggage. Just make sure your yellow resort tags are on your luggage.

 

[Orph]

Thank you for sharing your experience everyone. I have the exact same question, but now it is a little clearer thanks to everyone's info.

Is there a way to confirm that my luggage will be picked up by DME? Dont want to be an idiot and leave my luggage at Orlando Airport by accident.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

One thought for you to consider - if you have your luggage sent directly to the resort, there may/will be a significant time lag between when you arrive and when your luggage shows up.

If you're the type of person (like I am) that immediately wants to take a shower/change my clothes after getting off a flight, you may want to consider not tagging your bags and just picking them up off the carousel and taking them with you on the bus.

 

[Disneylover99]

Is there a way to confirm that my luggage will be picked up by DME? Dont want to be an idiot and leave my luggage at Orlando Airport by accident.

As long as your yellow resort tags are on your luggage, your bags will magically appear in your room.

 

[Disneylover99]

One thought for you to consider - if you have your luggage sent directly to the resort, there may/will be a significant time lag between when you arrive and when your luggage shows up.

If you're the type of person (like I am) that immediately wants to take a shower/change my clothes after getting off a flight, you may want to consider not tagging your bags and just picking them up off the carousel and taking them with you on the bus.

I think it also depends on when you arrive. We typically arrive late morning/early afternoon and we have never had a room ready for us at that time. So for us, there is no point in picking up our luggage at the airport.

We just pack our swimsuits in our carry ons and plan to swim, go to DTD, or hit the parks when we arrive.

 

[chelseabun76]

Because of my sisters last experience with late arriving luggage, we are packing one full change of clothes, toothbrushes, etc. in our carry-ons just in case we don't see our luggage for awhile.... best to be prepared. I loved that we didn't have to deal with claiming our baggage, etc. it's a great perk!

 

[DVCALMA]

Just a reminder that if you arrive before 10 pm you do not have to be overly concerned about your DME bag tags. I booked a vacation with very short lead time, 4 days prior to MCO arrival, and we could not possibly receive our DME package. We just went to the DME counter and presented our airline luggage claim tags and they can pick them up with those. Long delivery times to your room is a bigger concern. It can take many hours.

 

[minnie mum]

Because of my sisters last experience with late arriving luggage, we are packing one full change of clothes, toothbrushes, etc. in our carry-ons just in case we don't see our luggage for awhile.... best to be prepared. I loved that we didn't have to deal with claiming our baggage, etc. it's a great perk!

Packing a change of clothes and toiletries in your carry-on luggage is simply smart traveling no matter where you are travelling to. Nothing worse than finding out that the airline has misplaced your luggage and it will be a day or 2 until you are reunited.

 

[TagsMissy]

So as long as I am departing from Pearson, I should be fine? we are schedule to arrive in Orlando at 1:30pm Thanks!

Irrelevant of Pearson; if you leave from any Canadian airport and pre-clear customs you don't need to collect luggage. One of the things I love about DME

 

[peekkaboo]

Thanks ladies! Now I dont gotta worry about my luggage after checking them in

 

[TagsMissy]

Thanks ladies! Now I dont gotta worry about my luggage after checking them in

Have a great trip when you go!

 

[hdrolfe]

Very glad I saw this! And hoping it works from Ottawa Travelling with my 5-year-old son in January and was worried about having to manage our suitcases, carry-ons, and not lose him lol. If I can "forget" the checked bags... so much easier! I thought it only worked within the US so am very happy now.

 

[ccudmore]

AC and WJ flying direct from Ottawa will pre-clear so your bags will go straight through.If you're on a charter flight, you may or may not pre-clear. The airline can tell you for sure.

 

[4stroke]

I'll add a data point here -
We've used Disney's Magical Express over a dozen times throughout the last few years, each time having our luggage sent through the system with our "yellow tags", directly to our room. Never had a single issue with the bag delivery!

Our times for delivery to the room have varied, of course, from at earliest, 45min after room check-in, to approx 4-5 hours after room check-in (we were at the parks, so delivery took place sometime before). I'd say the average wait time we've experienced is about 3 hours from room arrival.

As long as you have all your critical items in your carry-ons, and some park essentials, the wait for the checked bags is no big deal!

Make sure you put your yellow tags on each bag before airline check-in, and that's all!!

4S

Apr/08: Offsite ~ Apr/09: Offsite ~ Apr/10: CR ~ Oct/10: Disney Paris Offsite ~ Apr/11: CR ~ Oct/11: CSR & POFQ (Purchased DVC ) ~ Jan/12: BLT & VWL ~ May/12: BLT & VWL ~ Oct/12: BLT & POR ~ Jan/13: SSR ~ May/13: VWL ~ Jan/14: BLT

 

[Tilnar]

Very glad I saw this! And hoping it works from Ottawa Travelling with my 5-year-old son in January and was worried about having to manage our suitcases, carry-ons, and not lose him lol. If I can "forget" the checked bags... so much easier! I thought it only worked within the US so am very happy now.

It works from Macdonald-Cartier International -- no worries. (We clear customs here in Ottawa, just like Pearson).

The only sad bit is that it doesn't work on for the return flight.