How long is Magical Express MCO to SSR

[mjf]

I'm (hopefully) arriving at Orlando airport at 5pm tomorrow afternoon and I'll be staying at SSR. I'm debating whether or not I should ask my parents to come pick me up and potentially have to deal with rush-hour traffic or, possibly, taking Magical Express.

I've never used the Magical Express service before. I DON'T have the ME bag tags so my plan would be to pick up my luggage and take it on the bus with me. Is this even possible to do without booking in advance? How long does the ride take? Is it a milk run? Or is it direct to SSR?
Where do I go to get it?

I am trying to determine if its worth the hassle for someone who is not familiar with Orlando to come pick me up in rush hour traffic or would it better to take ME. It should be noted that at 5pm tomorrow I will be desperate to get to SSR, I will have been up since 4am, and 2 days delayed (original flight on Saturday evening from snowy Ottawa was cancelled, along with my rental car).

Thanks for any advice.

 

[DMKEDM]

First...major sympathy on your travel problems...can't blame you for being "desperate" to get to SSR!

No clue about the difficulties (if any) of driving to/from MCO-WDW in rush hour...but lots of experience w/Magical Express to SSR...

First, you get the motor coach on the third level (down) at the airport--I think it's B Concourse, but there will be signs...it's really quite easy to find...it's the level below baggage claim.

Yes, you can pick up your own luggage and bring it w/you on the bus...you will have to call ME, tho, to give them your SSR reservation number in order to be "allowed" on the bus...they will also pick up your luggage using your claim tags and a description, even w/out the yellow luggage tags--I've never tried that, but they say they'll do it...

It's about a 30-minute ride from the MCO bus stop to SSR...whether you stop at other resort(s) first depends ... on occasion I've been on ME when it stopped at SSR first, in the middle, and last...possible other stops include OKW, CBR and POR...I find it sort of interesting to see the other resorts (altho I'm always impatient to get "home"); it does add time to the trip, but not too much...

It's possible that you'll have a significant wait at ME prior to loading onto a bus, and/or on the bus prior to departure...again, it has happened both ways for us...on average (this is the non-scientific "it feels this way" reaction!), I'd say no more than 15-20 miinutes from getting off your plane to getting on the ME motor coach...

Good luck w/today's travels, and w/whatever decision you make on using ME...for us, we've only been tempted once to blow it off and take a cab...(and that was one of those random "no explanation" situations where we were experiencing a longer-than-usual wait for our bus...I think that one time (and only that one time) we waited a good 30 minutes in line (after waiting in the ME line to check in!) before we got on our bus...

Have fun at WDW/SSR!

 

[disneynutz]

I'm (hopefully) arriving at Orlando airport at 5pm tomorrow afternoon and I'll be staying at SSR. I'm debating whether or not I should ask my parents to come pick me up and potentially have to deal with rush-hour traffic or, possibly, taking Magical Express.

I've never used the Magical Express service before. I DON'T have the ME bag tags so my plan would be to pick up my luggage and take it on the bus with me. Is this even possible to do without booking in advance? How long does the ride take? Is it a milk run? Or is it direct to SSR?
Where do I go to get it?

I am trying to determine if its worth the hassle for someone who is not familiar with Orlando to come pick me up in rush hour traffic or would it better to take ME. It should be noted that at 5pm tomorrow I will be desperate to get to SSR, I will have been up since 4am, and 2 days delayed (original flight on Saturday evening from snowy Ottawa was cancelled, along with my rental car).

Thanks for any advice.

ME must be booked in advance. You can't just get on the bus without a travel voucher.