Has anyone missed their Magical Express time from the hotel?

[2minny]

Curious if you can catch the next one, or if you are on your own if you miss it. We will be cutting it very close coming from Chef Mickeys. But plenty of time to catch our flight. It's just that Magical Express has you leaving so early from the hotel!

 

[sam_gordon]

Curious if you can catch the next one, or if you are on your own if you miss it. We will be cutting it very close coming from Chef Mickeys. But plenty of time to catch our flight. It's just that Magical Express has you leaving so early from the hotel!

I've never missed one. As I understand it (from reading the boards)...

1) DME is only scheduled to go to your hotel IF there are people departing. So if you have a 1:30p pickup (for example), and the next people don't need to leave until 2:30p, you've just lost an hour.
2) DME pickups are assigned. It's possible later busses might be full. So if you have a 1:30p pickup, miss it, and the 2p bus is "full", and the 2:30p bus is full, you might be waiting until the 3p bus for space.
3) It's also possible that you miss the 1:30p pickup, contact Disney (start at front desk or call DME), and there's not only a 2p bus, but there's room on it for your entire party.

Remember you're supposed to be at the pickup location, ready to board the bus and leave (you have your luggage, shopping is done, no one is in the bathroom, etc) 15 minutes BEFORE your scheduled pickup.

If I missed my pickup because of *MY* mistake, I would ask if there's room on the next bus, and if there's not, get an uber/lyft/taxi.
If I missed my pickup because of DISNEY'S mistake (stuck on a ride or transportation for an extended amount of time), I'd expect Disney to "make it right" (get me to the airport on time). Whether that's assigning my party to the next bus or arranging for private transportation. NOTE: scheduling a meal that could interfere with my pickup is *MY* mistake. Even if I needed to wait for a table.

 

[Gitelfor]

If you want to take responsibility for being picked up at your resort later than Disney's 2.75 - 3.25 hours before scheduled departure, you can give DME a flight number/departure time a little closer to your departure time. However, if your motor coach is running late, you could be risking being in a time crunch, arriving in time for your flight. In addition, if you are traveling at a busy time and need to check bags at the airport, the lines could be long, as there no longer is RAC. If you do not have TSA PreCheck, the security lines could take a while.

I don’t know how much chance there will be of hopping the next bus, while capacity is still limited due to COVID precautions.

With all of that being said, there are guests who give a later flight departure to DME, so that they are not picked up as early. But, that will be at your own risk.

Your other option would be to have your belongings with you at breakfast and catch an Uber to MCO.

 

[FCDub]

Yep, there might not be "a next one" for a while. It's scheduled based on when people have booked it. It's not like there's one every X minutes.

The solution is don't miss it. I wouldn't want to be staring at my watch every minute of an expensive meal wondering if I was about to miss my ride. I'd cancel your breakfast, move it to a different time or location, or find alternate transportation to the airport.

 

[2minny]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll just give a new "fake" flight number, so we can do our Chef Mickey's and still arrive at the airport an hour or two in advance of flight.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll just give a new "fake" flight number, so we can do our Chef Mickey's and still arrive at the airport an hour or two in advance of flight.

So you have two threads going on this. One asking if you can take ME from a different hotel (you want to leave from Contemporary because of Chef Mickey reservation). You’ve been told no and how long to plan to get back to your hotel. Now you are asking what happens and you “miss” .
You are talking about giving a fake flight number. If you give wrong information and miss the flight because you told Disney wrong time that is on you. What if there is traffic, accident or long lines at MCO? What if your hotel is first pickup location.

Please don’t call and see if you can take from a different hotel. It is not allowed and puts pressure on CM and there is no way to get luggage from your hotel to Contemporary as not allowed on Disney transportation.

 

[2minny]

So you have two threads going on this. One asking if you can take ME from a different hotel (you want to leave from Contemporary because of Chef Mickey reservation). You’ve been told no and how long to plan to get back to your hotel. Now you are asking what happens and you “miss” .
You are talking about giving a fake flight number. If you give wrong information and miss the flight because you told Disney wrong time that is on you. What if there is traffic, accident or long lines at MCO? What if your hotel is first pickup location.

Please don’t call and see if you can take from a different hotel. It is not allowed and puts pressure on CM and there is no way to get luggage from your hotel to Contemporary as not allowed on Disney transportation.

Haha, you're funny, no need to worry how I handle it!

 

[sam_gordon]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I'll just give a new "fake" flight number, so we can do our Chef Mickey's and still arrive at the airport an hour or two in advance of flight.

You didn't ask, but IMO, an hour is NOT enough time to check luggage and get eight people through security and to their gate. I'd think at least 90 minutes, and better off two hours. And the trip on DME will probably take at least 45 minutes from when you leave your resort.

 

[2minny]

You didn't ask, but IMO, an hour is NOT enough time to check luggage and get eight people through security and to their gate. I'd think at least 90 minutes, and better off two hours. And the trip on DME will probably take at least 45 minutes from when you leave your resort.

Thank you, we just moved our Chef Mickey ressie and are all good now!!

 

[Tattylou]

Curious if you can catch the next one, or if you are on your own if you miss it. We will be cutting it very close coming from Chef Mickeys. But plenty of time to catch our flight. It's just that Magical Express has you leaving so early from the hotel!

We missed it once- literally lost track of time and were running up just in time to see it drive away. We went inside to the front desk and luckily for us there was a “next” one, but she had to make sure it had room and said they only schedule them based on if people are leaving and all that. So we got lucky bc the next one could fit us.

 

[mkb3]

We spent departure day at Disney Springs and went to the bus stop 1 hour before ME left and missed our ME. Disney sent us to the airport in a Mears van.

 

[Jimsig]

We did not miss ours, it just never showed up. One of the Bell Service CM's noticed we were still sitting there about 10-15 after it was due. They made a phone call to someone but got no answer. They told us to wait for the next bus and if there was room they would get us on the bus. But if there was not room she told us Disney would be pay for our cab as it was their fault. When the next bus arrived there was plenty of room and we heard the bus driver say he had a couple groups that the same thing happened too. The bus wasn't even half full. We heard the bus driver say to the CM that Mears maybe cancelled the bus before his due to lack or ridership knowing that everyone would fit on the second bus.

 

[Eastern]

You don't have to give a fake flight number. Call ME and tell them you want a later pickup. They will read you a disclaimer that says if you miss your flight, it is your own fault. You agree to that and they give you a later pickup time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We missed it once- literally lost track of time and were running up just in time to see it drive away. We went inside to the front desk and luckily for us there was a “next” one, but she had to make sure it had room and said they only schedule them based on if people are leaving and all that. So we got lucky bc the next one could fit us.

We missed our ME return a few years ago. It was finally gorgeous weather and could enjoy some time at SAB. I allotted 15 minutes for us to change into dry clothes and walk to the pick up area. This was not enough time apparently and we missed it by minutes. There was not another bus scheduled to come for a long while so we took a taxi to MCO. IIRC it was around $80.
As a pp mentioned, without RAC more time is needed at MCO. We have PreFlight so it's usually quick getting through security but it's still not guaranteed.

I would Uber if I had a tight schedule but I would not arrive late to MCO. Not only for fear of missing our flight but also last-minute checked luggage may not make it onto the same plane. We have done that way back when we were beginners and had our luggage arrive on the next flight. What a PITA.