HORROR STORIES w/Magic Express

[Eeyore4me764]

Well I just got back and not sure if I would use again.

I liked when I arrived at the Orlando airport (Tuesday evening at 8:30 pm)went to the check in desk for DME and it was about a 5 min wait to check in and then was directed to the POP Century line. We waited there about 30 minutes. We were the only ones in line for POP for the first 20 min. Other resorts only had about 5 people in each line and they boarded quickly with the exception of one other resort they had to wait just a bit less than us. We got on our bus with just our carry ons (I did pack a couple of necessities just in case the luggage took a bit...a recommendation I received from fellow disers...thanks!!) We were waiting for the little movie....and no movie. So I was a little bummed about that. But figured no big deal wasn't my first disney trip. Checked into the hotel about 10:00 pm and then decided to get something to eat at food court. By 11:00 pm when we returned back to our room our luggage was there!!! So that was great, didn't have to deal with carting it all over the place. For the return...we flew Southwest so at the suggestion of other disers...(thanks again everyone) we went to front desk 24 hours before departure and they happily printed the boarding passes for us. But we didn't use the DME on the way back. When I found out we had to head to the airport 3 hours before our flight....we decided that we wanted to spend more time in disney. Had some last minute things we wanted to accomplish. So we rented a car from the Disney Car Care Center and dropped it at the airport. This way for our 7:55 pm Flight we were able to leave at 5:00 rather than the 3:15 that DME requested we be at the bus.

I think the DME concept is a great idea!!! Depending on rental car rates, I may do the same thing again on our next trip in august and again in October. I liked not renting a car at the airport made it easier to get to resort....but i liked having a car at the end of trip to do a few things, (car rental rate was 13.50 per day....so that was awesome for an intermediate car....)and be able to get a little more time at Disney.

I too think the title should be changed....I mean things happen, have to go with the flow sometimes...I mean from the responses that I have read so far...I haven't seen any "horror" stories that are that bad, just that stuff happens......Thanks again to all the disers who gave suggestions and responded to some of my requests. We had an awesome time....cant wait to get back!!!!

 

[CleveRocks]

But we didn't use the DME on the way back. When I found out we had to head to the airport 3 hours before our flight....we decided that we wanted to spend more time in disney. Had some last minute things we wanted to accomplish. So we rented a car from the Disney Car Care Center and dropped it at the airport. This way for our 7:55 pm Flight we were able to leave at 5:00 rather than the 3:15 that DME requested we be at the bus.

YIKES! DME assigned you a bus time 4 hours and 40 minutes before your flight departure? That's a new record for DISboards!
That kind of schedule (4 nours 40 minutes before flight) would make me very unhappy, too!

The funny thing is, you said you had a 7:55 p.m. flight and balked at the idea of DME picking you up 3 hours before the flight, so instead you rented a car and were able to leave at 5:00 p.m., which is 2 hours 55 minutes before your flight. I'm glad you got to do whatever you wanted to do, I'm just a little puzzled by the math ....

 

[goofy4tink]

i didn't have all of my medication in that certain bag, most of it was on my carry on but not everything could fit into my carry-on.


i don't think that your comparing my bad experience with a restaurant was really accurate. i understand where you're coming from, but that's completley different. if my kids were hungry and crying i'd go to a McDonald's where i knew the food was fast, not to a sit down restaurant.

we DID go to the DME welcome center and told them our bags weren't tagged, and they told us that since they weren't tagged that we would have to go and get them ourselves. when we came back with them, they were there loading all of the luggage, and took ours, and put it all underneath the bus. it wasn't an "incorrect assumption" of anything. i was just retelling what happened.

Any luggage that goes underneath that bus you are on, comes off at the resort the same time you get off. I'm not understanding why you weren't allowed to take your luggage with you. Usually, the driver stows the luggage under the bus, drives to the resort, unloads the bags, the customer grabs their bags, and then heads into the resort to check-in. If the room isn't ready, you then can leave your luggage with the bell services people who will then deliver it to the room when it is ready. I can't imagine why you weren't allowed to take your bags with you...that's contrary to anything I have heard or seen.

 

[Barbers2005]

We used ME on our trip 5/16-5/23 and we just loved it. It was nice not to hassle with getting the luggage at MCO. When we got the ME counter there was hardly any wait and we walked right onto the bus for the resort. We went shopping at DTD and when we got back (about 3 hours later) the bags were there. Our airline was spirit, so we had to check our own bags at the airport, but that wasn't too bad. We had the resort hold our luggage while we went to MK and reclaimed it right before the ME bus came. When we arrived back at our home airport, I kept remarking to Dh "I wish there was a ME to take us back home." 45 minutes peering at a luggage carousel...ugh.

...Can you get off the bus at your resorts and stand there and wait for them to unload your luggage and take custody of it right then ?Or do you have to wait for them to bring it to you?

The way it was explained to me by the folks at Disney, the airport pulls aside all the luggage with yellow tags. That luggage is loaded onto Disney trucks and sent to a central sorting location. There, it is sorted by resort and sent on trucks or vans to the individual resorts. Once at the resort, the luggage is delivered to your room. So, the only people who have their luggage on the bus with them are the ones who claimed the bags themselves and brought them to be loaded on the ME bus. Everyone else gets their bags later, but since Disney did all the work, that's A-OK with me!

 

[Eeyore4me764]

The funny thing is, you said you had a 7:55 p.m. flight and balked at the idea of DME picking you up 3 hours before the flight, so instead you rented a car and were able to leave at 5:00 p.m., which is 2 hours 55 minutes before your flight. I'm glad you got to do whatever you wanted to do, I'm just a little puzzled by the math ....[/QUOTE]


Well if DME took us to the airport at 3:15 then I am sitting in MCO for all those hours; instead we headed out of downtown disney at 5:45 dropped our bags at Southwest and dropped our car and made it to our boarding gate 30 minutes before our flight. This way I was able to do what I wanted to do...(shop at downtown disney ) for 2.5 hours ..... much better than lugging my carry on stuff around the airport for 3 plus hours!!!

I am originally from Jersey and I know that Jersey week in Disney very well!! Have fun!!!