Keep your own luggage on Magical Express

[jpantonini]

First off, the Disney Magical Express is a really great idea, but it does have some flaws. When we went in September 2006 we took the Magical Express route from the airport to Saratoga Springs. The line to get your pass was very long but went fairly quickly (about 20-30 minutes) - I guess you just have to get used to lines! The only negative was out luggage was lost for a full day even though properly tagged and registered. Apparently a cart of luggage went missing and our was on it. My brother and his family came later in the day and also did Magical Express, but did not tag their luggage and just took it with them. The Magical Express folks gladly put their luggage under the bus and they had no problems at all. The next time we go we will keep our luggage with us! Hope you Magical Express is smooth sailing.

Joel

 

[kaytieeldr]

Unusual experience - which I am NOT doubting. Long lines are generally caused by entire parties waiting in line, even though only one member of each party actually needs to.

When I went in September 2006, there was NO line or wait at the Welcome Center. I went directly to the counter, got checked in, got escorted to "my" bus, and we left about twenty minutes later (understandable, since I was the first person to board and DME really isn't a personalized transportation service - if I'd wanted that, I could have paid for a car service).

Don't know what time my luggage arrived, since I was off enjoying a Wishes Cruise when it did. On the other hand, I changed rooms the next day and the RESORT lost my luggage for about twelve hours.

The next time I go, I will check my luggage through from my home airport to my Disney resort, as usual

 

[Edd]

Long lines are also caused by passengers arriving from many different airlines at the peak time of the day. Also a lot depends on the season. If you come in at 0800 in the morning you will walk through the Disney line. If you come through at 1100 - 1200 during easter vacation times the lines will get long. Certain times of the month you will wait in line and a lot of other times you will breeze through. I have watched several times and they do not allow full families standing in line, The Disney reps will make sure of that, when they see that happening.

 

[goofy4tink]

The operative word here is 'if they see it happening'. I've stood in that line, albeit not for 20-30 mins., and seen groups waiting together. I have heard the CM tell people that only one person in the group needs to be in the line, but that person is often ignored. Families, with their luggage in tow, all waiting. It sometimes looks like the airline checkin counter!!
But, if you do arrive at a busy time of day/year, you could find a longer than normal line. I have been in line in August, Oct, Dec, May...and always late morning/early afternoon, and there has never been more than an 8 minute wait. Yep, I time it every time. I'm obviously getting there at the right time of day/year.

 

[keishashadow]

Two issues with dragging your luggage onto ME bus:

1) limited room to stow it; guess you'd have to wait for the next bus if it's full.

2) last Oct. our bus stopped @ the CBR, then BW before finally getting to BC. Wasn't much fun to wait 10 - 15 min while the driver off-loaded/sorted luggage for quite a few people @ each resort; slowed it down for everyone else who didn't.

Other than carry-on luggage, think it defeats the purpose of getting guests to the resort in a timely manner; especially during peak travel dates.

 

[Edd]

Everyone keep picking up your luggage and pretty soon it will start taking you 2 to 3 hours to get to your resort. Let Disney do it and quit worrying about it. I personally think they shouldn't allow you to bring your luggage to the bus for transportation.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

Everyone keep picking up your luggage and pretty soon it will start taking you 2 to 3 hours to get to your resort. Let Disney do it and quit worrying about it. I personally think they shouldn't allow you to bring your luggage to the bus for transportation.

Ok, that is a bit of a rude statement. People have things in their luggage that they may need right away and are not able to put in their carry ons because of the new TSA rules. If you feel like the bus will be held up 2-3 hours then do yourself a favor and take a limo.

 

[keishashadow]

Ok, that is a bit of a rude statement. People have things in their luggage that they may need right away and are not able to put in their carry ons because of the new TSA rules. If you feel like the bus will be held up 2-3 hours then do yourself a favor and take a limo.

sorry, but I think he has a very valid point.

Perhaps (to avoid inconveniencing those who don't want to be "held up 2-3 hours" to accommodate other's special needs) a separate bus during peak/busy times could be implemented for those who MUST have their stuff with them; call the other buses Express service, i.e. strollers/carry-on's only.

just seems more people are dragging their luggage with them & slowing down the rest of us, some very anxious to see mickey-not the loading areas of other resorts. It is a REAL problem when multiple stops are involved (see above post).

Personally, don't plan on using again until this situation is addressed. Since it wouldn't surprise me to see them start charging for the service; perhaps that will help reduce the sheer volume of guests/luggage.

no flames, I've had my luggage go missing on airlines before; know what it's like.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

sorry, but I think he has a very valid point.

Perhaps (to avoid inconveniencing those who don't want to be "held up 2-3 hours" to accommodate other's special needs) a separate bus during peak/busy times could be implemented for those who MUST have their stuff with them; call the other buses Express service, i.e. strollers/carry-on's only.

just seems more people are dragging their luggage with them & slowing down the rest of us, some very anxious to see mickey-not the loading areas of other resorts. It is a REAL problem when multiple stops are involved (see above post).

Personally, don't plan on using again until this situation is addressed. Since it wouldn't surprise me to see them start charging for the service; perhaps that will help reduce the sheer volume of guests/luggage.

no flames, I've had my luggage go missing on airlines before; know what it's like.

A separate bus is a very good idea. I've never taken ME so I'm hoping we'll have a good experience with it. And we will NOT be brining our luggage on the bus with us. We will, however, have our carry-on.

 

[keishashadow]

A separate bus is a very good idea. I've never taken ME so I'm hoping we'll have a good experience with it. And we will NOT be brining our luggage on the bus with us. We will, however, have our carry-on.

enjoy your trip!

Cost-wise, it's a great offering.

 

[Lewisc]

There are very few items that have to be checked luggage that a passenger needs right away. The 3oz rule handles most items. Remember airlines sometimes put luggage on the next flight or otherwise delay bags.

The only exceptions I can think of are sports equipment like golf clubs or tents for FW campers.

The number of passengers that grab their own bags is limited, I don't think it slows down the bus. Remember most of the roller bags we carry on the plane get stowed under the bus. I don't think the extra 2-5 minutes it takes the driver to unload a few check bags at each stop is a big deal.

Ok, that is a bit of a rude statement. People have things in their luggage that they may need right away and are not able to put in their carry ons because of the new TSA rules. If you feel like the bus will be held up 2-3 hours then do yourself a favor and take a limo.

 

[kkmauch]

I have to agree with some of the earlier posts here. It's very rare that Disney will lose a person's luggage if it is tagged correctly. IMHO, I think if Disney is going to allow people to bring luggage on the bus with them, they should have to indicate it somehow in the booking process, have a limit on the number of pieces a person can bring on the bus (put all the immediate necessities into one checked bag and let Disney take care of the other bags), and perhaps have a designated "luggage" bus for people who need to bring more than a carry on.

When you have to stop at 3 resorts before getting to your own resort and you have to wait for people who brought 3 kids and 6 pieces of luggage on the bus it gets a little old.

 

[mcr5298]

I just might have to carry my own luggage onto ME on my next trip.

I didn't receive my tags yet and we are leaving in 25 days. I called DVC Member Services today and somehow are reservation got lost.

The Member Services Rep told me today we could still use the shuttle but we would have to pick up our own bags.

I wanted the full treatment as we have two small children.
Hopefully all goes smoothly.

Does anyone have any experience booking in less than 30 days and getting their packet in time?

 

[mcr5298]

I have to agree with some of the earlier posts here. It's very rare that Disney will lose a person's luggage if it is tagged correctly. IMHO, I think if Disney is going to allow people to bring luggage on the bus with them, they should have to indicate it somehow in the booking process, have a limit on the number of pieces a person can bring on the bus (put all the immediate necessities into one checked bag and let Disney take care of the other bags), and perhaps have a designated "luggage" bus for people who need to bring more than a carry on.

When you have to stop at 3 resorts before getting to your own resort and you have to wait for people who brought 3 kids and 6 pieces of luggage on the bus it gets a little old.

While I can agree with you that it gets old. With my situation, I am booking less then 30 days in advanced (Disney lost my reservation) and might not get my tags in time and was told to pick up my luggage and take it to the bus.

Magical Express sends off the request into the great unknow and there is no way to expedite a request to be sure it arrives in time.

 

[Poohbear123]

Onto Southwest and carry it off, and ONTO...... ME! Saves me time, thats for sure!

 

[goofy4tink]

Okay, let's all take some deep breaths here. There are those of us that remember the 'good old days' when Mears was you answer for low cost shuttle between MCO and WDW. And we remember oh so fondly that ride...you made several stops within MCO, then you may, or may not, head to WDW. Sometimes you got the fun of stopping at off-site resorts that were 'on the way'. Then you might have to stop at 6 or 6 WDW resorts as well. And all that luggage was right there with you!! Oh man...it could be brutal at times. There were horror stories about people riding on that bus for 3 hrs. before they finally got to their resort. So, for us, who have those memories, an addtl 15 mins on a DME bus is no biggie.
People need to realize that this isn't a personal, one on one service. There are going to be a lot of other people riding that bus. And they will be going to a different resort than you are, and they will have bags that need unloading. Their reasons for having said baggage is their business, not ours. If getting to your resort that quickly is that big a deal, then book a towncar service and take your own baggage as well.

I really don't mean to sound harsh, but this is getting silly....I can't believe people are complaining about a wait of 5-8 minutes, per resort, while people get their bags unloaded. The one time it took me 85-90 mins to get to my resort, POP, we were the last of three stops. We stopped at either CBR or CSR..can't remember at the moment, and AKL, then it was on to POP. At each one of the preceeding stops, it took about 8 mins. to get people off the bus and their luggage taken out and put on the walk. It normally takes me about 70 mins...so an addtl 16 mins is not going to kill me. Or make me get impatient with others starting their own WDW vacation.

There is a mode of transportation for everyone. Some will cost, some will not. They give varying degrees of service. You need to decide what is most important for your family.

 

[tjmw2727]

I have used ME three times now. Once I got my own luggage from the carosel myself and brought it on the ME bus. It was a late arrival and with young kids I didn't want to wait for a morning delivery or be woken up at night. The other two times I used the luggage delivery feature and it was wonderful, timely and very convenient. My first choice would always be using the luggage delivery feature but there are some circumstances that may prevent that.

I for one am happy to have the choice and don't think it takes that much longer to get to a resort as a result of those who bring bags via ME. I also doubt that the luggage hold will fill up as the bus was designed to hold the luggage in the first place. In addition many of the airlines don't participate in RAC so a good number of passengers returning to MCO must bring their bags via ME.

As long as Disney allows bags to be transported on ME I will do that if necessary. Remember its free - if you don't want to make multiple stops or wait for others to get bags you can get a towncar or cab. Although then you would have to get your luggage anyway!

TJ

 

[Lewisc]

Passengers taking a bus trip are generally limited to one bag. A lot of the hold space is used for roller bags that were carryons. There isn't enough room in the hold for a full bus of passengers with all their bags.

Really not a problem, I'm sure if there isn't enough space Disney will just have some of the bags sent to WDW on the luggage trucks.

The driver seperates the bags in the hold by resort. Guests that bring their checked bags don't really delay unloading by more than a few minutes. The driver is going to have to remove the carry on bags from under the bus. How much longer does it take to remove another half dozen bags? Really not a big deal.

I for one am happy to have the choice and don't think it takes that much longer to get to a resort as a result of those who bring bags via ME. I also doubt that the luggage hold will fill up as the bus was designed to hold the luggage in the first place. In addition many of the airlines don't participate in RAC so a good number of passengers returning to MCO must bring their bags via ME.

As long as Disney allows bags to be transported on ME I will do that if necessary. Remember its free - if you don't want to make multiple stops or wait for others to get bags you can get a towncar or cab. Although then you would have to get your luggage anyway!

TJ

 

[keishashadow]

I really don't mean to sound harsh, but this is getting silly....I can't believe people are complaining about a wait of 5-8 minutes, per resort, while people get their bags unloaded. The one time it took me 85-90 mins to get to my resort, POP, we were the last of three stops. We stopped at either CBR or CSR..can't remember at the moment, and AKL, then it was on to POP. At each one of the preceeding stops, it took about 8 mins. to get people off the bus and their luggage taken out and put on the walk. It normally takes me about 70 mins...so an addtl 16 mins is not going to kill me. Or make me get impatient with others starting their own WDW vacation.
quote]

Guess everyone has a different threshold as to what is acceptable.

For us, our trek of nearly 2 hours (with 3 stops) was way too long to reach our resort, guess we're 'spoiled' by usually renting a car. Not counting the time we spent on-line waiting for the bus either. Never thought it would take that long, felt bad for the families with small children who were getting fussy.

Live & learn, glad we did rent a car for later part of trip & back to MCO.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Ok, that is a bit of a rude statement. People have things in their luggage that they may need right away and are not able to put in their carry ons because of the new TSA rules. If you feel like the bus will be held up 2-3 hours then do yourself a favor and take a limo.

Edd doesn't use DME. He's a private transportation provider in the Orlando area AND a great source of information regarding what's going on at the airport (policies, etc); AND he's offering his opinion. Long-winded way of saying I don't believe his statement was rude

The Member Services Rep told me today we could still use the shuttle but we would have to pick up our own bags.

The Member Services Rep is wrong. As long as you have a reservation (and it's still possible your tags will come; my reservation got 'lost' and a very nice CM Fedexed new tags to me a week before I left) you simply go to the Welcome Center with your claim checks and a description and count of your luggage. The CM checking you in will show you an album of luggage; you show them which yours resemble; they locate your luggage and process it just like all the yellow-tagged bags. You could also take a picture of your suitcases to show them; you could also attach some very distinctive ribbon to your bags and bring a sample of that with you.