How long for your luggage to arrive? (Magical Express)

[Iralyn]

I'm interested to find out how much of an anomaly (or not) our experience was with Disney Magical Express.

We landed in Orlando just before 5 p.m. and made our way to the Magical Express. We had tagged our bags prior to send them off in checked baggage, etc. I knew that they say to allow 3 hours for luggage to arrive in the room so we had planned our packing accordingly. When our baggage still hadn't arrived at 8:30 p.m., we called and were told that they were still being processed. The first two bags didn't arrive at our door until 10 p.m. and the third bag didn't arrive until 10:30 p.m. I had to put my daughter to bed in a t-shirt.

We were staying at Pop Century. There were no apologies or comment about them taking so long which made us wonder if this was just the usual timing? The bell services seemed a bit confused...the guy thought he'd given me the wrong bag the second time, etc., and had trouble figuring out my name, etc.

I am just wondering before I offer advice to friends who are headed to Disney in a few months. If our experience is at all typical, I'd definitely recommend claiming their own baggage and bringing it to the DME. Maybe it is resort dependent? Or was it just a bad night in the Pop Bell Room?

 

[kaytieeldr]

The usual timing is up to three hours after you check in - nothing to do with landing. What time did you get to the resort and check in?

Advice given here regularly and from experienced fliers in general is to always pack what you'll need for the first 24 hours in your carry on luggage. Airlines are good at delaying or misdirecting luggage. Best advice for your friends is (a) pack appropriately, and (b) set the right expectations regarding timing.

If you do tell them to pull their own luggage, make sure they know (c) not to use the yellow tags, (d) that they will wait (sometimes much) longer at the airport, (e) DME picks up only on one side of the terminal, and (e) it's customary to tip anyone who handles your luggage - but that Disney does this when DME is used as designed.

 

[treehugnmama]

we have used it on 7 trips and once had that experience. Usually it is there within 3 hours….we have had it within an hour of arriving at the resort. We also had one time that we flew in around five or 6 and it was 5 hours….i remember because everyone was waiting to go to bed.

 

[GaBelle]

I've seen it take 5 hours or so. A few years ago, we stayed at the Poly and my in laws used ME. We checked in at 11:30am and they didn't get their bags until almost 5pm.
Since then, it has been much more punctual (within 3 hrs).

 

[maxiesmom]

Yep, you had the timing wrong. It is 3-4 hours after checking in at the resort, when you land has nothing to do with it.

Also, it is always wise to pack what you need right away (or within the first 24 hours) in your carry on. Just in case the airline mis-directs your luggage.

 

[Iralyn]

We were actually checked in about 6 p.m. Just checked some pics to confirm the timing and we were in our room and ready to head out again by 6:15 p.m. We were quite impressed with the efficiency of everything at that point but didn't expect the luggage to take so long. There was nothing we really couldn't survive without in our checked baggage but definitely some things that we preferred to have and we found it stressful to be waiting for the knock on the door while also trying to get one excited little girl to go to sleep. And, at first, wondering if there was some issue on the airline end of things that was the holdup.

As for my friends, I think I will double check with them regarding their flight timing (might be same as ours but maybe not) and then tell them about our experience and they can decide from there what they want to do. Taking over 4 hours from check in wouldn't have been as much of an inconvenience if we had arrived earlier in the day. Sounds like this may not the typical experience but also not a rare occurence.

 

[maxiesmom]

Next time pack what you need right away in your carry on, and tell the desk to hold the rest of your luggage. They will. Then all you need to do is call down for it when you are ready to have it delivered. You will have what you need with you, and you won't have to worry about them knocking on the door, disturbing you.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Ours usually takes at least 3 or more hours to arrive. Ever since the airline lost my moms bag a few years back, we always pack a carry-on we could live out of if necessary. This way if we run into delays with bags, we have what we need.

Anytime you have a complaint, make sure you physically go to the front desk and don't just call. Much better results when talking to a cm in person.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We've had some bad luck with DME. We've used the luggage service 4 times. The first time we used it, it was great...bags arrived within an hour of our resort check in. The second time, we got our bags 4 hours after checkin. The third time, we got our bags 7 hours after checkin. We just got back from a trip and the bags were there within an hour of us arriving. So, who knows.