late for Magical Express?

[foohpah]

I travel for business so have been on many flights/airports and the reports on DIS are accurate--even early morning flights, what are usually non-busy days, security is PACKED! We arrived 1.5 hrs early for a 7:25 am flight and barely made it to the gate after waiting in security....personally I would rather wait in the airport than miss my flight. Other options include PP suggestion of hotel at the airport OR you can try to change your flight (depends on airline what the fees might be) if you want to leave later in the day.

That has been our experience with early morning flights as well. Our last flight we had an early departure - 7-something. MDE picked us up super early then we made a few more resort stops before heading to the airport. Security line was crazy - the longest I have ever seen it. We made it through, went to the restroom then we were boarding. I thought it seemed too early to leave but in reality it was just barely enough. Other times with flights later in the day we seen to have plenty of time to spare but you never know what could come up. Better safe than sorry imho.

 

[tjmw2727]

I'm not planning on being late. However, my ME arrival time is 4:15 AM. Wow. What was I thinking! ?!? I doubt that will be the busiest time for ME or for the lines at the airport. But I'm not one to take chances. I just keep thinking what IF we oversleep a little and were not there exactly 3 hrs prior. I guess I'd be taking my chances then.

The problem with this is - if you miss your bus there is no way to know if/when the next bus is coming to your resort. There is no set schedule so if there are no passengers departing your resort with DME reservations no bus will arrive - could be hours in between.

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

Once we got stranded at DTD and missed our ME bus by 10 mins along with about 3 other families (bus at DTD didn't show up for 50 mins). They put us all on another ME bus within 15 mins and we were able to get to our flight with no issue at all. Not sure if having 20 people miss the bus was the reason for the expedited new bus or not.

However, I'm definitely NOT saying this is the norm or to count on this scenario to happen to you/your family (before I get flamed or anything). Just wanted to throw our experience out there as well. I would definitely suggest making every effort to get to your scheduled time as we have done on numerous other trips.

I can also attest to the reports of crazy MCO security lines. We have definitely had our share of 30-45 min waits to get through there.

 

[patrickpiteo]

The MCO TSA security lines are the worst I have ever seen...

 

[ktlm]

I always thought that the 3 hours was a bit excessive; however, we had a trip where even with that 3 hours we got to the gate as our flight was boarding. MCO is crazy. Even checking in at the resort and not having to go to the ticket counter, the security lines can be insane. If you have any issues at all with resort check in (which can happen- especially if you fly Delta as we discovered), and you wind up having to stand in line for the ticket counter in one their long lines before ever hitting security, it can take forever to get down to the gate. We have waited in that security line for 45 minutes to an hour more than once.

I would not assume that the early flights will not be busy at the airport. I don't know if your flight is on a weekend or weekday, but on a weekday there are lots of business travelers going somewhere for the day.

Get everything packed up and absolutely ready the night before except for what you absolutely need in the morning, and have everything you need to get ready laid out so you aren't looking for it. Then set the alarms on the cell phones, AND get a wake up call, And set the alarm in the room!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If you miss your assigned time, you absolve DME of the obligation to get you to the airport in time for your flight. They may be able to put you on a later bus, or call another bus for you, or they may not, but there will no longer be any sort of guarantee that you will make your flight, and if you miss it you have no recourse from Disney or their contractor that operates DME.

 

[ktlm]

I just realized you are not going to be able to use resort baggage check in that early. You are going to have to drag them to the airport and stand in line to check them in. Those lines are typically pretty long. I would not take any risk of not being on that early bus. Remember that most of the the resorts are about a 30 minute drive to the airport. If you have to stand in a long ticket counter line to check your bags, and then an even longer security line, you have a real chance of missing that flight if you only leave the resort 2 hours ahead of time. MCO is consistently the worst security line I have ever seen at any airport. I don't think we have ever waited in line less than 30 minutes there. Also, you have to catch the tram to the gates after getting through security.

 

[Mikie]

If you miss your assigned time, you absolve DME of the obligation to get you to the airport in time for your flight. They may be able to put you on a later bus, or call another bus for you, or they may not, but there will no longer be any sort of guarantee that you will make your flight, and if you miss it you have no recourse from Disney or their contractor that operates DME.

Does this imply that if you make your scheduled DME bus and somehow still miss your flight that you *do* have some recourse against Disney or Mears (they're the bus co, right?). Luckily I've never been cut that close, but I haven't read the fine print to know if they'll somehow compensate you for change fees or a hotel night if missing the last flight. . . . I suppose it might make sense since they are the ones dictating a 3-hour window, which indicates they believe that's sufficient time for all traffic, security, etc.

 

[DekrRini]

I'm so weird that I usually catch an earlier bus if there is room. I hate risking being late to catch a flight. I much rather wait in the terminal, shopping, grabbing something to eat, and sitting at the gate reading. Running through the airport at my age is just not happening.

I've never been on an ME bus that didn't stop at other resorts before heading for the airport. The last two trips I was incredibly lucky and got the TSA pre-check and didn't have much of a line at all. But the regular line looked crazy busy. Different airport, but I remember taking a really early flight out of St. Louis and it was the longest security check-in I've ever seen there. If MCO has a reputation for long lines in security, I'd do whatever I had to do to catch the ME bus.

 

[nkereina]

Unless your flight is on a a weekend, early mornings on weekdays at the airport are in fact very busy. Those are the first flights of the day. As a frequent business traveler, that's prime time for us. And also as a frequent business traveler, I can attest to the fact that MCO has got to be one of the worst security lines I've encountered. I've flown out of MCO dozens of times now and there's not been one instance I've gotten through security in less than 30 minutes. It's always a madhouse. Not sure if they are slow/inefficient, if it's because there's an abundance of families with kid, elderly folk, or what. And when I take DME, there's usually additional stops. 3 hours seems to work out about right for me. If I opted to take a cab, I might do 2.5 hours ahead but the additional cost isn't really worth the extra 30 mins, IMO.

 

[PirateD]

My sister was curious about this as well. She and her husband are flying out a day earlier than the rest of us. They both have Nexxus cards which should allow them to bypass the regular security line and were hoping to be able to reschedule ME so that they leave 2 hours early instead of 3.

 

[JanaDee]

At that hour, you're on the first bus of the day. If you aren't on time for your MDE bus, there's no guarantee that it will be there waiting for you 5 minutes later, for example. I believe that's the answer to your question. Also, at that hour of the day, I'd be worried that your MDE bus, and probably the next one, will make multiple stops to pick up people - I would guess there aren't nearly as many flights at that time, so they may make stops at other resorts. So even though you leave your resort at 4:15 am, you may not make it out of WDW property for another 30-45 minutes. That's why they build in so much buffer time. (Hopefully you wouldn't have crazy lines at security, though, once you got to MCO - but you NEVER know.)

Last time, we missed MDE. We got stuck waiting for a bus at DTD and were too late. Cab cost us $90. No joke. I was fuming. Not a good way to end a WDW visit.

MDE runs 24/7. There are people that have flights leaving as early as 5:30am that are picked up in the middle of the night.

 

[maxiesmom]

My sister was curious about this as well. She and her husband are flying out a day earlier than the rest of us. They both have Nexxus cards which should allow them to bypass the regular security line and were hoping to be able to reschedule ME so that they leave 2 hours early instead of 3.

Still not a wise move. I've been on a ME bus that spent an hour driving to different resorts before even heading to the airport. And unfortunately I'm not exaggerating at all. So one hour gone, with a 45 minute drive to the airport. Even with Nexxus they are trying to get through security while the plane is in the middle of boarding. Not a good idea.

 

[angierae]

I feel for you, we had one of those super early ME times during our 2012 trip too. I think we had a 7:30 or 8am flight back and had to be at the ME so super early. We packed the night before and just wandered down to the bus stop half asleep.

 

[seelyt2]

May I add that's important to be on time, too. We had a 7 a.m. DME pick-up time and we showed up at 7:02 only to watch the bus drive away without us. We caught the next one only because the next one had four open seats.

And like pp's have stated, we've waited a good hour and a half in security, too, so it's best to take the bus when they tell you as it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

DME will not let you schedule a later pickup. they'd have to tell DME they are on a later flight in order to be picked up later.

Your assigned pickup time is the time the bus is scheduled to leave your resort - not arrive at it.

 

[jbish]

MDE runs 24/7. There are people that have flights leaving as early as 5:30am that are picked up in the middle of the night.

*Shudder* Guess I didn't think that was even possible. I stand corrected. LOL

 

[luvmy2babies]

I found out how serious DME is on our first trip. I haven’t missed a bus; but we were in line to get on the bus when I realized I had left the vouchers on the bed. Fortunately it was still before 11am so our key cards still worked and we had a preferred room in the building right next to the main one (All-Star Movies); so I just had to run back and get it.

The bus had arrived though when I realized it. Rather than just run off, I decided to alert the driver. I told him what happened, pointed to where I had to run to. Without even blinking, he told me if I wasn’t back when loading was done he was leaving.

I stood my now very wide-eyed 7 year-old next to a CM, told her not to move, secured my 10 month old’s head to my chest (I was wearing him) and ran to the building, up 3 flights of stairs all the way to the room and back. Fortunately the vouchers were right where I thought they were.

 

[mb187143]

Unless your flight is on a a weekend, early mornings on weekdays at the airport are in fact very busy. Those are the first flights of the day. As a frequent business traveler, that's prime time for us. And also as a frequent business traveler, I can attest to the fact that MCO has got to be one of the worst security lines I've encountered. I've flown out of MCO dozens of times now and there's not been one instance I've gotten through security in less than 30 minutes. It's always a madhouse. Not sure if they are slow/inefficient, if it's because there's an abundance of families with kid, elderly folk, or what. And when I take DME, there's usually additional stops. 3 hours seems to work out about right for me. If I opted to take a cab, I might do 2.5 hours ahead but the additional cost isn't really worth the extra 30 mins, IMO.

This. I think many who fly infrequently equate an early AM flight to missing AM rush hour traffic on a highway by leaving early. The reality is quite different. Most airports are very busy in the early AM (especially on weekdays) with business travelers trying to get on those first flights of the day. At my home airport we're also combining that with most of the TSA workers just coming in for the AM shift (overnight they have a skeleton crew) so we have a lot of business travelers and an airport thats just waking up so it makes for longer lines than most expect. The times I take the early morning flights back from MCO I make sure I give myself at least 2 hours at the airport, because they regularly have some of the longest lines I have ever seen.

 

[PirateD]

Still not a wise move. I've been on a ME bus that spent an hour driving to different resorts before even heading to the airport. And unfortunately I'm not exaggerating at all. So one hour gone, with a 45 minute drive to the airport. Even with Nexxus they are trying to get through security while the plane is in the middle of boarding. Not a good idea.

Good to know! I will pass that info on to her. We haven't stayed onsite for a long time so it's good to hear how it all works. Thanks!