Disney's Magical Express . . . the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[kaytieeldr]

How long was your husband at the resort before you arrived?
Did he pick up any luggage at baggage claim before he went to rent the car? If not, he saved probably twenty or so minutes right there.
Did he have to wait in line to rent the car, or is he an Emerald Club (or similar) member who bypassed the line and went directly out to the garage and took a car?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

My husband rented a car while I took the kids on the ME bus from the airport. I could not believe how long it took to get to our resort-waited in line for a bus for over 20 minutes, dropped off at OKW and then the FQ. My DH was waiting at POR for us when we arrived. Laughed and said, "so was it Magical?". Not really.

I assume that you used Magical Express so that your family's luggage would "magically appear" in your room a few hours after you checked in at your resort. That means your husband was able to go straight from the arrival gate to the rental car.

To do a legitimate comparison of Disney's Magical Express only vs. a rental car only, one would need to add the time for a family to go to baggage claim, wait for their luggage, and then drag that luggage to their rental car.

I agree with Lewisc that, "renting a car is probably going to take most guests about the same length of time as using DME." A best-case Magical Express experience is likely to be faster than an average luggage wait plus a rental car. A worst-case Magical Express experience is likely to take longer than an average luggage wait plus a rental car.

The real reasons to pick between Disney's Magical Express and a rental car should be based on personal preference and cost — not on saving a few minutes either way. If having car once you're at WDW is important, then a rental car makes a lot of sense. If you're planning to spend your time on-site and rely on Disney's buses, monorails, and boats, then Magical Express makes a lot of sense — plus it's free.

 

[rkmassa]

How long was your husband at the resort before you arrived?
Did he pick up any luggage at baggage claim before he went to rent the car? If not, he saved probably twenty or so minutes right there.
Did he have to wait in line to rent the car, or is he an Emerald Club (or similar) member who bypassed the line and went directly out to the garage and took a car?

He picked up luggage at bag claim. He waited in a short line to rent the car. I'm telling you the bus took forever and no movie playing for the kids. They hated it. Thought it was long and boring. Frankly, it was.

 

[rkmassa]

I assume that you used Magical Express so that your family's luggage would "magically appear" in your room a few hours after you checked in at your resort. That means your husband was able to go straight from the arrival gate to the rental car.

To do a legitimate comparison of Disney's Magical Express only vs. a rental car only, one would need to add the time for a family to go to baggage claim, wait for their luggage, and then drag that luggage to their rental car.

The real reasons pick between Disney's Magical Express and a rental car should be based on personal preference and cost — not on saving a few minutes either way. If having car once you're at WDW is important, then a rental car makes a lot of sense. If you're planning to spend your time on-site and rely on Disney's buses, monorails, and boats, then Magical Express makes a lot of sense — plus it's free.

That would be a 'no'. We picked up our own luggage. We had heard stories of luggage taking forever, over 4 hours to show up at the resorts, so we decided to pick up our own luggage. We left each other at the entrance to the ME line. He went his way for the rental, and we stood in line for the ME. It was long and not very magical.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

We picked up our own luggage. We had heard stories of luggage taking forever, over 4 hours to show up at the resorts, so we decided to pick up our own luggage.

I bet if you had gone straight to the DME Welcome Center instead of first going to baggage claim, you would have been on an earlier motorcoach departure and you would have arrived at your resort much sooner.

By not using the inbound luggage transfers, you threw away what I consider to be the best feature of DME — the ability to say goodbye to your luggage at your home airport, bypass baggage claim at MCO, and have your luggage waiting in your room when your return from your first day's activities at WDW.

Yes, DME luggage can take several hours to "magically appear" in your room. Most DME guests don't know how long it took because there's no reason to wait in the room for the luggage to be delivered. (Disney recommends packing a carry-on because "you will not have immediate access to your luggage.")

It's a matter of luck if your wait for the motorcoach is short or long. Your 20-minutes wait in line was a much longer wait than either of my experiences with DME. And there's supposed to be a special DME video in both directions, so you were shortchanged there.

I spend way too much time on the board defending Disney's Magical Express. That doesn't mean I think everyone should use it. For some people, a towncar, limo, or rental car is a better choice. But people should make an informed decision based on an understanding of how DME works when one takes full advantage of the service.

 

[PrincessJasmine53]

I will be using ME this summer to our Disney Hotel. Can anyone tell me how we go about signing up for this? Or does the hotel do all that? We have a number of family members coming in at different times from different places. My DD, who is staying in our room will be coming about an hour after us. Do we have to wait for her since she's in the same room, or does everyone get their own vouchers for the bus? Any advise and info would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

Our flight arrives in Orlando at 8:10pm, so it'll be too late to really do anything that day anyways. And for us, DME is a benefit. Sure, it may take more time, but we don't have to pay for transportation to and from the airport. So my question is will I have my bags the next morning, or should I also include a change of clothes for the next morning in my carry on? Also, is Southwest one of the airlines that lets you check in at the resorts?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I will be using ME this summer to our Disney Hotel. Can anyone tell me how we go about signing up for this? Or does the hotel do all that? We have a number of family members coming in at different times from different places. My DD, who is staying in our room will be coming about an hour after us. Do we have to wait for her since she's in the same room, or does everyone get their own vouchers for the bus? Any advise and info would be appreciated. Thanks!

If you have a reservation at a Disney-operated resort, call DME at 1-866-599-0951 — unless you booked DVC accommodations through DVC Member Services, in which case you need to initiate DME through DVC Member Services.

You can travel on different DME motorcoaches at different times, even if you're on the same room reservation. You'll get a travel packet with a roundtrip travel voucher and two luggage tags for every guest in your room.

Our flight arrives in Orlando at 8:10pm, so it'll be too late to really do anything that day anyways. And for us, DME is a benefit. Sure, it may take more time, but we don't have to pay for transportation to and from the airport. So my question is will I have my bags the next morning, or should I also include a change of clothes for the next morning in my carry on? Also, is Southwest one of the airlines that lets you check in at the resorts?

You should receive your luggage the same evening. If you plan to go to bed early, you may want to arrange for delivery the next morning. It's always a good idea to pack cary-ons with items for the first 24 hours, regardless of where you're flying to, because airlines sometimes misroute baggage.

Southwest does not participate in Resort Airline Check-in, so your luggage will have to go on the motorcoach with you. However, others on this board have been successful in getting the front desk or the lobby concierge to print Southwest "A" boarding passes 24 hours before departure.

 

[PrincessJasmine53]

Thanks for the info Horace! Do the luggage tags have just a family name, and/or individual names of everyone in the room?

 

[NCRedding]

Princess Jasmine: We did ME to Saratoga Springs in January. OUr flight arrived at about the same time as yours, maybe slghtly earlier. We were at the resort by 9:30. OUr luggage didn't arrive until about 11:40, and only after we called to see where it was. I wish I had packed a change of clothes, and then had them hold the checked luggage til morning.

 

[Joann]

We have ME with our package but we rented a car from the airport alamo for the length of our stay can we use ME for the luggage but not us?

 

[CleveRocks]

No, you can't use DME from airport to resort as a luggage-only service. Disney has specifically addressed this issue on their official website. If your luggage is tagged but your bus voucher is not scanned as you board the DME bus, your luggage will not be delivered to your resort.

 

[rkmassa]

I bet if you had gone straight to the DME Welcome Center instead of first going to baggage claim, you would have been on an earlier motorcoach departure and you would have arrived at your resort much sooner.

By not using the inbound luggage transfers, you threw away what I consider to be the best feature of DME — the ability to say goodbye to your luggage at your home airport, bypass baggage claim at MCO, and have your luggage waiting in your room when your return from your first day's activities at WDW.

Yes, DME luggage can take several hours to "magically appear" in your room. Most DME guests don't know how long it took because there's no reason to wait in the room for the luggage to be delivered. (Disney recommends packing a carry-on because "you will not have immediate access to your luggage.")

It's a matter of luck if your wait for the motorcoach is short or long. Your 20-minutes wait in line was a much longer wait than either of my experiences with DME. And there's supposed to be a special DME video in both directions, so you were shortchanged there.

I spend way too much time on the board defending Disney's Magical Express. That doesn't mean I think everyone should use it. For some people, a towncar, limo, or rental car is a better choice. But people should make an informed decision based on an understanding of how DME works when one takes full advantage of the service.

Not following your logic on picking up our luggage or not as to getting to the resort after my DH. As you said it is a matter of luck on wait time. We picked up our luggage because it was easier to. I didn't want to wait for hours for our luggage to "magically appear." So yes, I threw away the "best features" of ME by not waiting for hours for my luggage to arrive at the resort and then waiting for it to be delivered. That, to me, is not a great feature. I didn't want the hassle of packing all the extra stuff we might need in our carry-on luggage. I wanted my luggage when we arrived in our room. So, we picked it up and took it to the ME area ourselves. No big deal. The main point is that we left each other at the same time. He got there before we did by over 20 minutes. The ride was long and boring. Not magical at all. People should make an informed decision on ME, and that includes hearing some of the "bad" stories that come with it.

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

If you have a reservation at a Disney-operated resort, call DME at 1-866-599-0951 — unless you booked DVC accommodations through DVC Member Services, in which case you need to initiate DME through DVC Member Services.

You can travel on different DME motorcoaches at different times, even if you're on the same room reservation. You'll get a travel packet with a roundtrip travel voucher and two luggage tags for every guest in your room.


You should receive your luggage the same evening. If you plan to go to bed early, you may want to arrange for delivery the next morning. It's always a good idea to pack cary-ons with items for the first 24 hours, regardless of where you're flying to, because airlines sometimes misroute baggage.

Southwest does not participate in Resort Airline Check-in, so your luggage will have to go on the motorcoach with you. However, others on this board have been successful in getting the front desk or the lobby concierge to print Southwest "A" boarding passes 24 hours before departure.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Lewisc]

No problem hearing bad stories but I don't really think your story is a good example. Most of us find the time spent waiting for the bus is similar to the time we would have spent waiting for our luggage. Most of find we get to our resort 60-90 minutes after landing which is about the same amount of time a rental car takes.

I'll disagree with your comment about carry on luggage. Airlines misdirect and delay luggage. Every passenger should have carry on luggage that includes items you'll need right after you land and items you can't be without such as medicine.

Some guests like to get their own luggage. I guess you'll be able to file a claim quicker if there is a problem, but that doesn't change the fact that even the airlines suggest you use carryon luggage for anything you can't be without if your luggage is delayed or lost.

edited to say some of us would have been interested to see what the result would have been if you went directly to the DME desk and your spouse got the luggage and then the rental car. I don't even understand why you all didn't just take the rental car.

Not following your logic on picking up our luggage or not as to getting to the resort after my DH. As you said it is a matter of luck on wait time. We picked up our luggage because it was easier to. I didn't want to wait for hours for our luggage to "magically appear." So yes, I threw away the "best features" of ME by not waiting for hours for my luggage to arrive at the resort and then waiting for it to be delivered. That, to me, is not a great feature. I didn't want the hassle of packing all the extra stuff we might need in our carry-on luggage. I wanted my luggage when we arrived in our room. So, we picked it up and took it to the ME area ourselves. No big deal. The main point is that we left each other at the same time. He got there before we did by over 20 minutes. The ride was long and boring. Not magical at all. People should make an informed decision on ME, and that includes hearing some of the "bad" stories that come with it.

 

[Pedler]

Not following your logic on picking up our luggage or not as to getting to the resort after my DH. As you said it is a matter of luck on wait time. We picked up our luggage because it was easier to. I didn't want to wait for hours for our luggage to "magically appear." So yes, I threw away the "best features" of ME by not waiting for hours for my luggage to arrive at the resort and then waiting for it to be delivered. That, to me, is not a great feature. I didn't want the hassle of packing all the extra stuff we might need in our carry-on luggage. I wanted my luggage when we arrived in our room. So, we picked it up and took it to the ME area ourselves. No big deal. The main point is that we left each other at the same time. He got there before we did by over 20 minutes. The ride was long and boring. Not magical at all. People should make an informed decision on ME, and that includes hearing some of the "bad" stories that come with it.

If I understand what youare saying then both you and your husband waited for the luggage and then when you had it you split up. He rented a car and drove directly to the resort and you took the kids to the DME line.

In that situation I would think that your husband would be there first almost everytime. He will always have a direct route to the resort where with DME you may or not be the first stop. His only wait will be in the rental car line which if you have any of the express pickup rentals it will be quick. You will have to wait in the DME line and then wait for a bus.

Horace is correct in that if you pick up your own luggage you are no using one of the time saving benefits of DME. I agree that people should hear the bad stories of DME along with the good. I am not sure that most would consider yours a bad story. For many people one of the benefits of DME is the ability to just walk off the plan and get on a bus directly to Disney without waiting for thier baggage. In that scenario Lewis is correct that the total time spent is about the same as someone that would wait for luggage and rent a car.

If on the other hand a person does not want to have DME handle their luggage and feels the need to get it themselves then about the only benefit of DME is that it is free. A rental car in that situation will almost always be faster. As for the ride being boring outside of showing the video I don't see how it can be much more interesting. Personally I found the video a bit boring myself.

If I had to guess I would say that most people that use DME do use the luggage tranfer part of the service.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Not following your logic on picking up our luggage or not as to getting to the resort after my DH. As you said it is a matter of luck on wait time. We picked up our luggage because it was easier to. I didn't want to wait for hours for our luggage to "magically appear."

The logic is that it takes a fair amount of time for someone to go to baggage claim, wait for his or her flight to be unloaded from the aircraft, wait for any bags from that flight to appear on the conveyor, wait for his or her own bags, and carry those bags to the DME Welcome Center. During that time, it's likely that at least one DME motorcoach was dispatched to that person's resort.

If someone wants to use DME and get to the resort as quickly as possible, then using DME as designed is better than wasting time at baggage claim.

Nobody wants to sit in a hotel room and wait for hours for luggage, instead of having fun at a theme park, swimming at the pool, or enjoying a meal. With DME, nobody has to wait in the hotel room. The luggage is delivered, even if the guest is not in the room, because Disney has taken care of the inbound bell service gratuity.

Packing swimwear or theme park attire in a carry-on is not difficult. A carry-on is always a good idea because airlines sometimes delay luggage. Being 100% dependent on immediate access to ones checked luggage is a bad idea, regardless of whether or not one is using Magical Express, and, in fact, regardless of whether the destination is Orlando or any other airport in the world.

Yes, some DME guests have to wait in longer lines than others. Some will be on the road sooner than others. Some will the first resort stop and some won't. If that uncertainty is unacceptable, then it's best to avoid Magical Express entirely.

I don't doubt that your husband arrived at your resort 20 minutes before you did. But it was your choice to go to baggage claim first, instead of going directly to Magical Express and taking the first DME coach to your resort.

It's not my intention to convince you to use Magical Express in the future. I just want others who read this thread to understand the circumstances of your "bad" experience with Magical Express.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Not following your logic on picking up our luggage or not as to getting to the resort after my DH. As you said it is a matter of luck on wait time. We picked up our luggage because it was easier to. I didn't want to wait for hours for our luggage to "magically appear." So yes, I threw away the "best features" of ME by not waiting for hours for my luggage to arrive at the resort and then waiting for it to be delivered.

You walked from the gate to baggage claim, then waited twenty minutes for your luggage. During the twenty minutes you waited for your luggage (instead of using all features of DME) and made your way to the DME line at least one bus - and possibly two, depending on the exact timing - would have departed for Port Orleans. (It's also possible that a bus which left while you were waiting for your luggage went directly to the two Port Orleans properties). So by delaying by choice your check-in at the Magical Express counter, you also delayed your assignment to a bus, and therefore your arrival at your resort. DME has always made clear the fact that each bus will drop off passengers at up to four resorts.

I'll disagree with your comment about carry on luggage. Airlines misdirect and delay luggage. Every passenger should have carry on luggage that includes items you'll need right after you land and items you can't be without such as medicine.
Some guests like to get their own luggage. I guess you'll be able to file a claim quicker if there is a problem, but that doesn't change the fact that even the airlines suggest you use carryon luggage for anything you can't be without if your luggage is delayed or lost.

Gotta agree with Lewis here. A report published earlier this year showed that airlines "misdirected" 10,000 pieces of luggage per day in 2005.

If I understand what youare saying then both you and your husband waited for the luggage and then when you had it you split up. He rented a car and drove directly to the resort and you took the kids to the DME line.
In that situation I would think that your husband would be there first almost everytime. He will always have a direct route to the resort where with DME you may or not be the first stop. His only wait will be in the rental car line which if you have any of the express pickup rentals it will be quick. You will have to wait in the DME line and then wait for a bus..

Good point. It's interesting that the poster and her children waited 25 minutes on the bus, then stopped at two other resorts first, then arrived at Port Orleans Riverside only 20 minutes after her husband. As for the ride being long and boring, I guess that's a matter of perception. It takes about 25 - 30 minutes to get from the airport to Disney property, I don't care how you get there. How would her children have been entertained if they'd been in a rental car instead of the bus? Why couldn't they be entertained the same way on the bus? Yes, DME is supposed to show videos (although I thought that was information about WDW in anticipation of arrival at one's resort and then the theme parks) but this particular bus didn't.

 

[disneyokw]

Back in February I utilized the DME by flying Jetblue. Arrived at Orlando International Airport about 1:05 pm. Only had my handbag and a carry-on suitcase. Waited on line for 20 minutes. Took 30 minutes to get to POFQ then to POR (where I was staying). Check-in took 55 minutes. When I arrived I was standing in-line in front of the DVC booth. Finally got my room card, went to the room to just drop off the suitcase, and call my parents. I was starving by then since I left my house at 7 AM. Really nothing at POR food court at that time so then I went to Downtown Disney and was finally eating with a huge headache at 5:20 PM. Sadly got food poison at Wolfgang Puck Express (had the Cold Thai Noodle Salad). I should of stuck with my first choice, which was a sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich. And yes the food poison ruined the rest of my trip since I found out I was bleeding in my stomach (I work in a hospital so I called the doctor I work for who diagnosed my symptoms). And no I did not report anything to Disney.

This DME trip was a test run for my parents who will be going to Disney in May. Would I do it again? I really have no choice. I never rented a car. I find it a bit wasteful since I never use it at Disney and would probably get lost (I get lost back home). I truly miss just paying Mears for a round trip shuttle to take us back and forth. I would rather pay the $50 to do the way we traveled with Mears then to use DME. When I was last in Florida in October my mother and I tried to do a round trip with Mears, but was told they could only allow me to pay for going there and that they could not pick us up with a pre-arranged ticket since we would be on Disney property and Disney only uses Mears for the DME. When I asked about calling a taxi I was told it would cost $75 to take us back to the airport. Instead I called a friend in Ocoee to drive us to the airport (back in October).

 

[tjmw2727]

I bet if you had gone straight to the DME Welcome Center instead of first going to baggage claim, you would have been on an earlier motorcoach departure and you would have arrived at your resort much sooner.
snip

I can say from experience that is not always the case. I got my own luggage from baggage claim and still ended up on the DME bus with several families from our flight who went straight to the DME check in.

TJ