Luggage Question When flying out of Canada re: Magical Express

[scrappinginontario]

When flying out of Canada, In the past we needed to claim our luggage and then recheck it with Magical Express.

When my mom flew out of Toronto 2 years ago this no longer happened.

A friend booked flights yesterday and the travel agent said they would need to claim and recheck their luggage.

If you've flown out of Canada (Toronto in particular) can you please tell me what the current process is?

Tia!

 

[gem21]

Never flown out of Toronto (Montreal only), but the way it is here is you check your bags and then when you go through customs they scan your boarding pass and a picture of your luggage comes up on a screen and they ask if it's yours and that's it. Never had to take my luggage with me through customs (only Canadian customs on the way home).

But that's in Montreal... sorry couldn't be more help!

 

[PBuggy]

You should get luggage tags in the mail, which you put on your checked bags before dropping them off at the airport. You do not need to collect them in Orlando, Disney will take care of transporting them to your resort. However, if your flight arrive after 10 pm (I believe) you will have to collect your checked luggage and take them to the Magic Express counter.

 

[Tinkershelly]

Collecting and rechecking your luggage happens because you need to be in possession of all your things when you cross the border, an the US needs to have visual proof of that. If you are flying from Toronto to Orlando directly you will be crossing the border in the Toronto airport. So the process is that you check in with the airline, check your bags so that they are matched to you visually, go through security, and then clear US customs and immigration, and on to your gate for your flight to Orlando. With this scenario there is no need to reclaim your checked bags at any time during your trip as the US has already matched your bags to you. If your trip starts at another airport and you have a layover in Toronto, as I do in a couple of weeks, then the process is different. I will be checking my bags in Halifax and flying to Toronto. When I arrive in Toronto I will follow the signs for connecting US flights where I will collect my checked bags, then recheck them so they can make the bags match to me, go through US customs and immigration and security again, then proceed to the gate for the connecting flight to Orlando. This process also applies if you cross the border into Canada in the middle of your trip.

It's much easier and faster to go through all this at the beginning or the end of the trip than in the middle.

 

[maddiel]

. If your trip starts at another airport and you have a layover in Toronto, as I do in a couple of weeks, then the process is different. I will be checking my bags in Halifax and flying to Toronto. When I arrive in Toronto I will follow the signs for connecting US flights where I will collect my checked bags, then recheck them so they can make the bags match to me, go through US customs and immigration and security again, then proceed to the gate for the connecting flight to Orlando. This process also applies if you cross the border into Canada in the middle of your trip.

We recently flew from Halifax-Montreal-Las Vegas and were very surprised that we didn't have to collect our checked baggage in Montreal. I don't think we had to confirm a photo of them either. On the return trip we flew Las Vegas-Houston-Toronto-Halifax and we did have to claim our luggage and recheck it in Toronto (which was a real PITA because our flight from Houton was delayed and it took forever for the luggage to reach the carousel - everyone from our flight who had a connection had to sprint back though security to their planes.)

M.

 

[Cottager]

My experience flying direct from Pearson to Orlando on Air Canada Rouge this past May:

• Take your bags with you through US Customs (yellow ME bag tags attached).
  
• Drop your checked bags on the conveyor just prior to Security.
• Bags show up in your Disney hotel room.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks so much everyone! @Cottager, your clear, concise answer is what I'll send to my friend.

 

[SLSerna]

Hoping you don't mind my adding to your question!
We fly out in a few weeks, and i was wondering the same thing. HOWEVER...we decided to fly a day earlier than our WDW vacation starts (to get an EARLY start at the parks in the morning), and we're staying at an airport hotel the night we fly in. Will we be able to get our luggage? Or does luggage with the MDE tags go onto a separate conveyor for the MDE people to collect? I am wondering if i should maybe NOT put the MDE tags onto our luggage until after we arrive in Orlando. And then put them on as we are head to the MDE area in the morning.
Hope that makes sense.

 

[shameless3]

I think it depends if you have a pre-clearance through American customs at your airport in Canada. For example, in Halifax (after 5 am) you would pre-clear customs in Halifax and your bag would be checked through to Orlando and onto the magical express, even if you had a layover in another US city.

However, if you leave before customs opens at 5 am or after 5 pm, or if your layover is in Canada you usually have to pick up your bags when you land in Orlando and go through customs there.



I hope that was clear and easy to understand!

 

[shameless3]

Hoping you don't mind my adding to your question!
We fly out in a few weeks, and i was wondering the same thing. HOWEVER...we decided to fly a day earlier than our WDW vacation starts (to get an EARLY start at the parks in the morning), and we're staying at an airport hotel the night we fly in. Will we be able to get our luggage? Or does luggage with the MDE tags go onto a separate conveyor for the MDE people to collect? I am wondering if i should maybe NOT put the MDE tags onto our luggage until after we arrive in Orlando. And then put them on as we are head to the MDE area in the morning.
Hope that makes sense.

Don't put your yellow tags on the bags! Magical Express bags are taken off the plane and placed in a separate area and you will have no access to them. I have stopped putting my tags on if I land late at night. Instead, I collect my bag and carry it to the bus where the driver places it in the baggage storage.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

When flying out of Canada, In the past we needed to claim our luggage and then recheck it with Magical Express.

When my mom flew out of Toronto 2 years ago this no longer happened.

A friend booked flights yesterday and the travel agent said they would need to claim and recheck their luggage.

If you've flown out of Canada (Toronto in particular) can you please tell me what the current process is?

Tia!

We always fly out of Toronto and always stay on property.
We tag our bags with the yellow tags provided by Disney and do not see our luggage after we check it with our airline - until it is delivered to our resort room.

That said.... our last 3 trips we have taken the last flight of the day out of Pearson (Air Canada once & Westjet twice) our departure time was approx 9pm here, getting us into MCO at 11:20/11:30 pm. Those arrival times meant we had to grab our luggage from the baggage carousel & take it with us to the ME. On those flights there is no need for the yellow tags.