How many people use Magical Express? Pros/Cons?

[maxiesmom]

Eh...never have given it a second thought. We fly out of MSP in the dead of winter and I wear capris, a t-shirt, a hoodie and flip flops. The less clothes I have to deal with, the better. I put my kids in crocs and my DH does the same thing. A little dirt never hurt.

I'm with you. I don't plan on licking the bottom of my feet after going thru security, so I have no problem wearing my slip on shoes. I do keep socks in my carry-on, just in case my feet get cold on the airplane.

 

[backyardponder]

The only bad experience we've had with DME was when there was an accident on the 417 Toll Way. We were stuck for about an hour. Of course, the taxi's, limos, etc. were also stuck.

 

[mickey2000]

IMO I don't want to be trapped on property. I enjoy things off property and am able to zip anywhere on property within minutes. I have rented a car so many times I can drive from the airport to WDW without paying one toll

As an example I have a 10 day rental with Alamo with a BJ's coupon for a mid sise car for $178 total with all taxes and fees. Now I can go to church, outlets, shopping, even Krispy Kreme donut shop

I dislike Disney buses JMO !!

 

[danall]

ME is the way to go, you check in at the airport and drop off your bags. When you arrive at MCO all you need to do is go the Disney Counter and get on the bus which will drop you off at your resort. Disney will take care of your bags and deliver them to your room within a short period of time. ME is the way to go.

 

[goofy4tink]

Biggest con with DME. Some guests don't want to end their trip at their own resort. They want to go from their lunch at Kona or from their final visit to DHS directly to MCO. A car service will pick you up at a location you chose about 2-2.5 hours before your flight. A person relying on Disney transportation would have to leave POLY more then 4 hours (probably 4.5) before their flight in order to be sure of getting to their resort in time for the DME bus.

A car service or rental car lets you end your trip at a location other then your own resort.

I completely understand that many people want to head to MK for a few last hours of fun, then eat at, say, Kona, and then take DME back to MCO....but having to go all the way back to their resort is time consuming and that means they have to block out an addlt hour of their last day to do that. BUT...the vast majority of people have sizable carryon bags, and where would they leave those when not returning to their hotel??? I suppose they could check them at a resort close to a park, since the bags most likely wouldn't fit in a park locker. Will Bell Services allow you to leave bags with them if you aren't a registered guest??
I just figure it's too much work to worry about that 60-90 mins of 'lost' time when using DME. I usually fly just before noon, which means a pickup time of about 9 (which means breakfast for me and then onto the bus), or later in the day, late afternoon/early evening, which means p/u around 3ish...gives me plenty of time for a last morning/early afternoon in the parks or eating. I just don't fly at 2pm....hate that time frame. So, no flying out for me between 1 and 6.

 

[disneychic2]

DH and I absolutely love to use DME! It has never taken us that long to get to Disney and the bus trip really gets you in the "Disney" spirit (not that we need much help there! lol) If you want to rent a car to get around Orlando or the parks, you can rent a car at Disney. The convenience of leaving your luggage for others to handle is so nice! Also, we always tip a few dollars to the driver even though we only have our carry-ons. We've always had wonderful drivers. Give it a try, I think you'll be glad you did!

 

[LSchrow]

....Or the weird driver who insisted we play triva games, or else he would shut the air conditioning off. He also had us say Abracadabra before he would go thru any gate. .

we had that guy a few times...he also pumps the brakes in time to music it does get a bit annoying since his antics are non-stop for the entire ride.
i haven't seen him in a while, but heard there were a few complaints. i wonder if he is still driving....?

other than that, which was far from our worse transportation experience (including rental car, limo), DME is still our MCO-WDW transportation of choice (we do rent a car at the dolphin once we arrive at the BWVs)

 

[edk35]

I completely understand that many people want to head to MK for a few last hours of fun, then eat at, say, Kona, and then take DME back to MCO....but having to go all the way back to their resort is time consuming and that means they have to block out an addlt hour of their last day to do that. BUT...the vast majority of people have sizable carryon bags, and where would they leave those when not returning to their hotel??? I suppose they could check them at a resort close to a park, since the bags most likely wouldn't fit in a park locker. Will Bell Services allow you to leave bags with them if you aren't a registered guest??
I just figure it's too much work to worry about that 60-90 mins of 'lost' time when using DME. I usually fly just before noon, which means a pickup time of about 9 (which means breakfast for me and then onto the bus), or later in the day, late afternoon/early evening, which means p/u around 3ish...gives me plenty of time for a last morning/early afternoon in the parks or eating. I just don't fly at 2pm....hate that time frame. So, no flying out for me between 1 and 6.

I am trying to decide what to do for our return. I am going to book our flights in the next day or two. Sometimes it would be NICE to just check out and GO straight to the airport however we have NEVER done that. We are the ones flying out between 2 and 6. We usually go over to DTD and have lunch/shop on our last day. If we use ME then we either DON'T do that or we fly out later to accomodate the 3 hour thing. Hmmmm decisiosn decisions. It is hard for me to decide because we arrive at 5:00 pm on our first day.Then the next 4 days will be our park days and then day 6 is our departure day. So it is a quick trip. I supposed we can go to DTD on our arrival night..since we are close by staying at OKW. Plus our bags probably won't even be there until 10:00 to our room if we try ME. need to figure this out. LOL

 

[maxiesmom]

we had that guy a few times...he also pumps the brakes in time to music it does get a bit annoying since his antics are non-stop for the entire ride.
i haven't seen him in a while, but heard there were a few complaints. i wonder if he is still driving....?

That is him! I hope his is not driving anymore, as his antics were more than a bit annoying. I have never seen so many people obviously happy to arrive at the airport and be off the bus!

I like it when the drivers engage the passangers, and I miss the drivers being able to talk to us on the way to the parks. But that ME driver took it way too far.

 

[edk35]

That is him! I hope his is not driving anymore, as his antics were more than a bit annoying. I have never seen so many people obviously happy to arrive at the airport and be off the bus!

I like it when the drivers engage the passangers, and I miss the drivers being able to talk to us on the way to the parks. But that ME driver took it way too far.

I miss the bus drivers being able to talk too. A lot of drivers were a lot of fun.

 

[Missytara]

I miss the bus drivers being able to talk too. A lot of drivers were a lot of fun.

I was lucky enough the first year, in 2000, to be the first person for the bus for CBR. It was a little bit of time before people started checking in and getting to the bus (the old days when everyone had to check-in at the desk), and I got a chance to chit-chat with the bus driver. His name was Mike and he was hysterically funny.

I suddenly realized he was talking very loudly, almost screaming.

I said, Mike, stand next to the exhaust much?

He said, YEAH, HOW'D YOU KNOW!

Lucky guess.

 

[edk35]

I was lucky enough the first year, in 2000, to be the first person for the bus for CBR. It was a little bit of time before people started checking in and getting to the bus (the old days when everyone had to check-in at the desk), and I got a chance to chit-chat with the bus driver. His name was Mike and he was hysterically funny.

I suddenly realized he was talking very loudly, almost screaming.

I said, Mike, stand next to the exhaust much?

He said, YEAH, HOW'D YOU KNOW!

Lucky guess.

Funny!!

 

[CleveRocks]

I was lucky enough the first year, in 2000, to be the first person for the bus for CBR. It was a little bit of time before people started checking in and getting to the bus (the old days when everyone had to check-in at the desk), and I got a chance to chit-chat with the bus driver. His name was Mike and he was hysterically funny.

That was a typo, you meant 2005, right?

 

[edk35]

Okay thanks everyone. We are going to USE ME. THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES.

 

[Tink813]

Use it every time we go....and NEVER had a problem!! They get you there pretty quickly and comfortably!!