How Early is M.E. for Return?

[cmjaffe]

I've been getting conflicting information regarding Magical Express... never used it before.
For the return to the airport how early is the pick up time to get to Airport?
Is it 3 hours, 3 1/2 hrs 4 hrs? Know the airlines "usually" say to allow 2 hrs. We're returning on a 7PM flight and I've asked Disney Reservations and they really don't know. Trying to figure out if we should just rent a car and return ourselves.
TIA

 

[crisi]

It depends - its between 3 and 4 hours for pickup depending on schedule. i.e. they won't schedule you if the bus schedule is 2 hours and 45 minutes before departure, but if they don't have a bus scheduled for that time of day and the pickup is closer to four hours, that is the bus you will be on.

I'd book ME and then if the schedule isn't to your liking, take a $45 cab ride. If that is the only reason to book a car, the cab will be cheaper AND more efficient. You'll want to add 30 minutes to your return time to return the car anyway, and its 30 minutes to the airport, and MCO is a two hour before your flight airport (we've been in hour long security lines at MCO) and you don't gain anything with the rental.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

For domestic flights, the pickup time at your resort will be about 3 hours before your scheduled flight time.

 

[sjs314]

For a 7 pm return flight your pickup time should be around 4pm give or take 15 mins either way. Personally I would not spend the extra for a cab as 3 hrs before the flight is totally reasonable in order to get to the airport 2 hrs prior to your flight, traffic to MCO and be very busy and you never know what delays you might run into getting there.

 

[cmjaffe]

we were going to either do ME or a rental ($90) for the week.

 

[mom2val]

.

 

[maxiesmom]

Your pick up time will be about 3 hours before your flight. And you need to be at the bus stop, ready to go, 15 minutes before that time. Busses do come early, and if they do and there is no one waiting, they will leave.

Three hours may seem excessive, but it really is not. Traffic in Orlando can be horrible. There always seems to be accidents closing down part of the highway. The secuity lines at MCO are some of the longest I have seen. You don't want to cut your time too close and end up missing your flight.

 

[Cin]

We were given a pick up time for ME that was 3 hours before our flight was scheduled. Our bus was about 10 min late but we got to the airport and through security and still had time to sit down and order drinks and appetizers and finish them before our flight boarded. I think we had about an hour and a half wait to board. So it was plenty of time. The resort gave us boarding passes for ME and it had our pick up time on it but they did tell us to be at the bus stop 15 minutes before the designated time.

 

[WicketsMom]

If you've found a rental car for the week for $90, I would definitely do that. We did ME last time, and ended up sitting at the airport for nearly two hours after going through security (had an early flight, so had to be picked up around 4:00am!). I like having the car anyway so I can go doing some exploring on our own.

(Where did you find a car for that rate? We need one for our upcoming Fall trip.)

 

[Candace]

For domestic flights, the pickup time at your resort will be about 3 hours before your scheduled flight time.

I have used ME many times, and I agree that 3 hours, give or take 15 minutes, is the norm. Just make sure you get your bags checked in early (at your resort) and be on time for the pick-up.

 

[hpfan100]

Last September it was 3 hours before flight. I thought this was crazy as I leave for my local airport 2 hours befoer flight and never have any trouble. But as I learned MCO is a disorganized, poorly operated, slow moving, somewhat stressful airport. Get there early and be prepared to wait for eons in their security "line". Sorry bout getting on the soap box.

 

[kimk2230]

We just got back on Friday. We used M.E. and our flight was at 3:00. On our door Friday morning was our boarding passes and our confirmation for M.E. Our pick up time was 12:15. We were there 15 minutes early and the bus was 15 minuyes late. We were still able to get to the airport on time and have lunch before boarding our plane. We checked out at 11:00 and checked our bags outside Pop Century. We didn't see them again til we got to the Buffaol Airport. It was great. Highly recommend M.E.

 

[bettymae1121]

Just came back today (had a great time, btw) and ME for the return trip wasn't very good. First, they couldn't print our boarding passes for some reason, even though we were on United (one of the participating airlines), which meant they couldn't check our bags, which in turn means needing extra time at the ticket counter. Then, our 8:15 AM bus disappeared into a black hole, it never showed and when the 8:45 driver showed up he had no idea what happened to our bus. Fortunately there weren't many people taking the 8:45 so we all fit. The driver (a very nice man) radioed his dispatcher to find out what happened for us (not that it mattered at that point, other than just satisfying the 8:15er's curiosity) and he said they told him either the 8:15 bus was never dispatched, or the bus broke down (they didn't know if one of their drivers was stuck on the road somewhere or not????).

So anyway, we didn't get to the airport until 90 minutes prior to departure, and still had to check two bags and get our passes. Fortunately the ticket counter lines weren't long and we had no problems checking in (we had a snafu on the way to Orlando that took 45 minutes to fix, if that had happened again going home we'd have been SOL). The wait at security wasn't bad either, and we even caught a tram just as it was departing to our gate area. Even so, we only made our flight with about 20 minutes to spare prior to boarding.

ME on the way down was perfect, I'll be happy to do that again. In the future, for returning to the airport, I think we'll take a cab or a town car instead if we have bags to check. We like to be at the airport super early in case of problems like we had at O'Hare at the start of our trip, or even just super long security lines. I'd only use ME for a return trip if I was only doing carry on.