Luggage on disney magical express

[TerryGriffin]

I really need my luggage when we get to the resort. I have heard they don't usually drop it off until 9/10 at night. My question is....

Can I bring my luggage with on the bus?
Is it frowned upon?
Do you think it would take to long to get my luggage that I may miss the bus?

Have you ever grabbed your luggage first before riding?

 

[magicaldisney]

You can definitely bring your luggage with you. Just make sure you don't put the yellow tags that are provided by ME on your luggage. Once you land, pick up your luggage and bring it to ME with you. Your luggage will be put in a storage area underneath the bus. Make sure to tip the driver for handling your luggage.

Just for your info.....ME delivers your luggage to your room roughly 3 hours after you land. So if you land at 2:00, your luggage should be delivered to your room by 5:00. You can go to the parks or check out DTD or your resort. You don't need to be in your room for the luggage to be delivered. You come back to your room later in the day/evening and there your luggage is, sitting there waiting for you.

 

[bushdianee]

There are buses leaving all the time, you aren't "assigned" a bus until you check in at the ME desk. We've stopped and had lunch before going to the ME area and had no problems. I've never gotten my own luggage and loaded it but have seen lots of luggage being loaded onto the bus so I'm pretty sure you can go and get your own and take it with you. Just don't put the yellow tags on your suitcases before you leave home. Otherwise just pack whatever it is you will need right away in your carryons. I usually carry on my CPAP machine, all meds, and a complete change of clothing for each person. I don't pack anything really vital or neccessary in checked luggage as you never know when it may be delayed or lost by the airline. I once had a bag show up 2 days after I arrived at my destination that was ruined and several times where my luggage didn't make it on the same plane I was.

 

[SilverMickey]

My cousins pack one bag they bring with them on ME and put the yellow tags on the rest. Then they have bathingsuits and anything else they want as soon as they get in and let ME handle the rest.

 

[DebbieB]

You can definitely bring your luggage with you. Just make sure you don't put the yellow tags that are provided by ME on your luggage. Once you land, pick up your luggage and bring it to ME with you. Your luggage will be put in a storage area underneath the bus. Make sure to tip the driver for handling your luggage.

Just for your info.....ME delivers your luggage to your room roughly 3 hours after you land. So if you land at 2:00, your luggage should be delivered to your room by 5:00. You can go to the parks or check out DTD or your resort. You don't need to be in your room for the luggage to be delivered. You come back to your room later in the day/evening and there your luggage is, sitting there waiting for you.

I thought it was 3 hours after you check-in. In November, I landed around noon, checked in around 1:30, my luggage was delivered around 4:30.

 

[karly05]

Agreed, Debbie B, I've always heard 3 hours after check-in.

To the OP, I've seen plenty of people bring their checked bags on the ME bus. As already said here, be sure you do NOT put the yellow ME tags on them and be prepared to tip the bus driver for handling your bags (they will go in a cargo hold under the bus).

I have a carry-on that I always pack with anything I would need for the first 24 hours AND anything that is valuable or irreplaceable, just in case my checked bag gets lost or delayed.

 

[OKW Lover]

As the PP's have said, you can certainly collect your own bags and bring them with you to the ME bus. Your driver will load them under the bus and get them out when you arrive at your resort. Its customary to tip the driver $1-2 per bag if you do this.

Experienced travelers will warn you that it is never a good idea to expect your checked bags to arrive on the same flight as you do. Its better to put whatever you need for the first 24 hours of any trip in your carry on bags.

So, the OP could follow that advice, let ME get the bags and tell the resort to hold their checked bags until they call for them the next morning . Might be easier.

 

[Vincent405]

I really need my luggage when we get to the resort. I have heard they don't usually drop it off until 9/10 at night. My question is....

Can I bring my luggage with on the bus?
Is it frowned upon?
Do you think it would take to long to get my luggage that I may miss the bus?

Have you ever grabbed your luggage first before riding?

Because of the poor luggage delivery we experience last trip, we got our own luggage when we went 10 days ago. No issue at all. We got our luggage and went to the bus and had it when we got to the resort and our room was even ready when we got there at noon. So we were all set. Took the luggage up, got our groceries that we had delivered, ate lunch and hit MK.

 

[katt789]

I usually take my luggage with me, I just don't like the idea of it going through one more person's hands that might screw something up haha!!

I have used it once, and friends have used it twice, and we've had no problems, it does take a couple of hours. We took everything in our carry on's that we needed that night, and then took off to MNSSHP, by the time we were home, it was there.

It's not frowned upon at all, and you won't miss the bus, there isn't a "specific bus" "for you" ie; if your plane is late, there will still be a bus there that will go to your resort!

 

[TerryGriffin]

Awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I think I want to get out bags then! )

How often to the busses run? Is it just at random or on the hour?

 

[OKW Lover]

Awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I think I want to get out bags then! )

How often to the busses run? Is it just at random or on the hour?

Going to the resort from the airport there is no set schedule. Coming from the resorts to the airport you will have an assigned time.

 

[hedberg1661]

Awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I think I want to get out bags then! )

How often to the busses run? Is it just at random or on the hour?

The "schedule" varies by the need each day. While they do "schedule/plan" for that day...I arrived super early and left really late my last trip and i had an entire bus to myself. It was great.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Awesome! Thanks so much for all the advice guys! I think I want to get out bags then! )

How often to the busses run? Is it just at random or on the hour?

Airport to hotel the buses have a route of 3-4 hotels they stop at. They generally wait until they have enough people at the airport to run a bus. If the crowd is light, they will just run the bus anyway as they have to go pick people up coming back to the airport.

For your return trip, you will be given a bus you should catch to go back to the airport. It is approximately 3 hours before your flight. If you miss it, you can catch the next bus, but that throws the drivers off, so try to be on time. They will remind you the night before when your bus leaves.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Airport to hotel the buses have a route of 3-4 hotels they stop at. They generally wait until they have enough people at the airport to run a bus. If the crowd is light, they will just run the bus anyway as they have to go pick people up coming back to the airport.

For your return trip, you will be given a bus you should catch to go back to the airport. It is approximately 3 hours before your flight. If you miss it, you can catch the next bus, but that throws the drivers off, so try to be on time. They will remind you the night before when your bus leaves.

Making it onto your assigned return bus is much more vital than just "you should" and has potentially much more serious ramifications than "throw[ing] the drivers off".

Your assigned return time is scheduled to get you to the airport with time to traverse security and make your flight. In addition, either there will be other guests assigned to the next bus, or there may not BE a bus for at least an hour. Disney is under NO obligation to transport you if you miss your scheduled return.

 

[hedberg1661]

Making it onto your assigned return bus is much more vital than just "you should" and has potentially much more serious ramifications than "throw[ing] the drivers off".

Your assigned return time is scheduled to get you to the airport with time to traverse security and make your flight. In addition, either there will be other guests assigned to the next bus, or there may not BE a bus for at least an hour. Disney is under NO obligation to transport you if you miss your scheduled return.

I agree. Don't miss your bus. It can only cause problems.

 

[JESSketeer]

When we arrive at MCO we grab our luggage and bring it with us on ME every year! Just dont put the yellow tags on your bags and they'll come out at baggage claim.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I am firmly in the grab your bags at MCO or don't expect them till the next day. Been using DME since may 2005 at least 1 time per year. And the bag handling has never gone well. It's always late never inside the 3 hr window.

Every few trips I put a yellow tag on a bag to see if its gotten better never has. I know the boards are full of bag handling with DME is wonderful. But I've never seen it.

Grab your bags and know they are on your bus. And will be at your resort at checkin

 

[starrysky]

Another one of the take your bags on the bus. We don't get the tags in the uk though we can get the ME to collect them but it's more hassle.
I've seen plenty of people who take their own bags and never had a problem.
I did worry on our last trip that the bus was running a bit behind and when we got to SSR there was a family who only had one person waiting for the bus and the driver almost had to leave them. The driver was great but you could tell he was frustrated at being held up.
I have also seen them refuse people who have missed an earlier bus.

 

[maxiesmom]

To me the whole point of using Magical Express is to have Disney handle your bags for you. Why waste more time at the airport when you don't have to?

I've used ME many times and have never had a problem with the bag delivery being late. Or with them losing my bags. But I agree with the other posters who state that anything valuable, or anything you need right away, needs to be in your carry-on. And should be even if you plan on picking up your bags at the airport. The airlines are way more likely to misdirect your bags than DME is.

 

[Schmeck]

I really need my luggage when we get to the resort. I have heard they don't usually drop it off until 9/10 at night. My question is....

Can I bring my luggage with on the bus?
Is it frowned upon?
Do you think it would take to long to get my luggage that I may miss the bus?

Have you ever grabbed your luggage first before riding?

What time are you getting to your resort? If you get there early in the day, your room may not be ready. If that happens, you can leave the luggage there and head to the parks.