Long wait for Magical Express??

[dryomama]

Hey all you Dis Pros,
How long does it usually take from when you land at the airport in Orlando until you actually get to your resort??

I am thinking about taking a cab to our resort because we want to get there fast!

Thanks!

 

[Mousemommy1]

I don't think we've ever waited longer than 30 minutes for a ME bus. Then, once en route, it is not more than 20-25 minutes to WDW. Not bad at all...

 

[dansdad]

The actual ride from the airport to your resort will probably be between 30 and 45 minutes depending on which stop your resort is on the route. There is no telling how long the wait will be to get on the ME bus. I have walked right on and have had a 45 minute wait.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I just saw a post about this on another thread and the consensus was that it takes about 1 1/2 hours from the time you land to the time you get to your hotel. Give or take some time especially if you have to wait for another bus. The longest wait we had was for ASMu on our first visit as the line for the bus was really really long so we had to wait for another bus. We barely waited at all on our last trip but we arrived at 9:50 pm so we were practically alone on the bus LOL

 

[Sue M]

We've never waited long for our ME bus. If you take a cab, you will have to go wait for your baggage, then get it out to the curb, I don't think you'll be gaining much, and loosing about $60 for a cab, which could be spent on more fun things IMO

 

[kathie859]

OP...So you'd hang around and get your luggage and take it with you to your hotel? Frankly, I'd rather let someone else do the heavy lifting and start my vacation in a relaxed frame of mind. I'm a real fan of ME and we've never taken an hour and half to get to our resort. Depending on when you are arriving (prior to check in time?) your room may not be available so you'd have to have the bell staff store your luggage for you. If you use ME, your luggage will show up in your room once your room is available.

I'm just not convinced you'll save a lot of time overall by taking a cab!

 

[dryomama]

Thanks guys

We are just SO EXCITED to get to there!

We usually drive and this is the first time we will be flying in and using DME so I wanted to check on the time.

Our plane lands around 9:30am, so I hope we will beat the crowd...

thanks again!

 

[creamypuffs]

What is the wait time for ME to leave airport depending on? Do they have a specific schedule to depart for WDW or or we waiting for more family to head to same resorts or resort area?

Just curious.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Magical Express has always been fast for us (all trips below). It takes us longer to walk from where we get off the plane to magical express... than we ever waited. The magical express buses usually are direct only stopping at maybe 1 to 3 resorts that are close to each other anyway.

We used to schedule Cyrstal Palace for lunch on our arrival day but won't do that anymore with the new cancellation fees.... just in case there's a delay. To be on the safe side... I always figured 1 1/2 hours from the time our plane lands to when I'm at the check-in desk at our resort.. never taken that long but one never knows.

A good rule for us is to ALWAYS allow extra time to get anywhere.... not because it there's always something that slows us down (sometimes a positive thing) and I don't want to rush too much at Disney (might miss some things).

Once after we checked in, instead of rushing to the park, we decided to just wander around the resort... our room was ready withing 20 minutes so we got in our room before going to the park. We run into unexpected things in the parks (get to ride on the trolley, unexpected character appears, DS just wants to stare at the fountain in Epcot, etc.)...

 

[Missytara]

What is the wait time for ME to leave airport depending on? Do they have a specific schedule to depart for WDW or or we waiting for more family to head to same resorts or resort area?

Just curious.

It depends on the time of year and how many families are arriving/departing that day.

I arrive the Saturday after Thanksgiving and they are very busily checking people out that day (gives people a chance to get the extra day at home). They don't even wait for the buses to fill up before shuttling back to the resorts.

On slower times, they will wait until the bus is full.

You are queued with multiple resorts, that are grouped together. The grouping may be different from week to week, depending on booking of the resorts; and the bus driver is allowed to choose his own route order. So therefore, it is safe to say 70 - 90 minutes upon deboarding the plane, accounts for the wait times, which fluctuate week to week.

 

[Missytara]

Hey all you Dis Pros,
How long does it usually take from when you land at the airport in Orlando until you actually get to your resort??

I am thinking about taking a cab to our resort because we want to get there fast!

Thanks!

It is a break even situation; if you arrive on the opposite side of baggage claim, you have to go all the way up and back down again to get to it.

Then you have to wait for your bags.

Then you have to drag your bags across the airport and go to the area where the cabs are located.

Probably by then, our bus is pulling away and we are watching the welcome movie.....and enjoying the experience even quicker.

 

[vettegirl]

ME is the way to go IMO. We have always arrived at our resort in under an hour from the plane landing at MCO.

 

[rafiki14]

Take the ME. It just feels better

 

[Ilivetogo]

I'll be taking my very first ME ride March 31st. I'm so excited. I , personally, would most definitely NOT skip it for a taxi ride.
.

 

[Kimi313]

We did ME for the first time last year and LOVED it!! We arrived on a friday around noon in May, not Memorial Day weekend, and there was not a line at any of the resort queues. Our bus had maybe 3 other families on it. I felt like they had a designated time to leave and definitely didn't wait on our bus to fill. By the time we got in line to the time to FW it probably took an hour also we were the last stop of four resorts.

 

[CalicoSky]

Have only been to the World twice but so far I'm a big fan of the Magical Express. Each time was less than an hour from landing to check-in. Could a cab be faster? Perhaps. But for me, avoiding the hassle of getting my luggage, dragging it around the resort to my room, the expense of a cab, and then having to arrange transportation back to the airport, is easily worth that wait and more.

I've also found that ME actually is a great way to shift from the stress of airline travel--I spend more time waiting around there than I do for ME, certainly--and into vacation mode. All the passengers are excited (or at least relieved!), there's a "welcome" movie, and some of the ME drivers are very entertaining. On a trip earlier this month our driver, Tim, regaled us with Disney trivia (such as the length of time it would take to stay one night each in every room on Disney property) until it was time for the movie to start. He was a lot of fun and it was a great beginning of the Disney experience for us.

 

[AngelStitch]

Not more than half an hour. Probably not longer than that. The ride seems to take forever, because you can't wait fore your trip. The ride back seems to take 5 minutes.

All together, 30 - 45 minutes. i love watching the video they play.

 

[dclfun]

We have to wait for a wheelchair accessible bus so sometimes our wait is a little longer. They do have information though about our flights and are monitoring when we land so that they can pull a bus around for us. They do things with such care and precision! I love taking DME for the reasons mentioned- the drivers are often fun and funny, and we love the movie. If we aren't excited enough by this point we're about to jump out of our skins! My dd and my 2 1/2 year old grandson will be taking DME in a few weeks and although Logan won't understand what's going on, hopefully he'll enjoy the whole experience of riding on such a fun mode of transportation.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

When I stayed at POP 4 years ago I think it was - I was off the plane and at the resort 45 minutes later. That was crazy. I have never had it take so short of a time since.

Lately it's been closer to 90 minutes which is fine with me too. I like not driving and getting to relax on the bus.

 

[lustergirl]

Use the Magical Express. You get the chance to watch the video and hear the characters sing and dance, who wants to miss that?