Magic express service????

[ptmmg]

I just read in a tour book about this perk for staying on site. Is is true you can just check your bags at the airport and not have to worry about them, and then they are at your hotel. Sounds too good to be true. Also is there a free shuttle that will take you to the hotel? last time we went we used a car service to take us from the airport to the hotel this time we have added 2 more children so I don't think we would fit in a car with all our luggage.
A free shuttle would be awesome especially if you don't have to worry about luggage.
How long after you get to the hotel is your luggage there? Has this worked well for others?Has there been any problems with people's luggage not showing up at all or even very late?

 

[emmasmom]

we used the ME last november and it was great! just check your bags at your airport and the next time you see them they are in your room. it took about 2 hours at the most to get them...not a big deal if you plan for that. the bus service was good...a little hard to find if you fly continental since it is on the other side of the terminal. i'm not sure if it is still free and when that would end. a terrific deal for a family of 6! good luck.

 

[lustergirl]

Our luggage magically showed up in our room within 2 hours. I loved magical express and will use it time and time again. You are correct- once you lift off in your hometown you don't have to worry about your luggage. When it is time to go home they take your luggage and you don't see until touchdown at your home airport. The Disney DME busses are awesome. They really psych you up for your much anticipated trip. They play a disney movie dvd and the bus driver tells corny jokes. I am sure you will have a great time using DME and won't be disappointed.

 

[handicap18]

Great service!! You'll get special luggage tags with your documents that has your hotel on it. Put this on your luggage with your regular luggage tags. Check your bags in at the airport you are departing from and then Disney will collect your bags after you arrive in Orlando. All you have to do is check in at the Magical Express counter at the airport (near Budget IIRC). They will copy your baggage ticket stubs you got when you checked in at your airport and you will also identify what type your bags are. Then DME will take you to your hotel. I believe they have 4 hours after you check in at ME at the airport till when your bags are delivered to your room.

For the return it depends on your airline if you can check your bags at your hotel. The majority of airlines are included, but some are not. Sorry, I don't recall which airlines you can't check your bags for. We flew American Airlines and had our bags checked at the hotel for the return home.

It was an awesome service!

 

[DLBDS]

This link provides all the information you need to use Magical Express...

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/mexpress.htm

 

[byoung]

Used it the last 3 trips, it's great.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i guess i'll post the "bad" review lol. we never got our luggage tags in the mail, only 1 person out of our 24 person party recieved theirs, and it was for the wrong hotel anyway. when we got to our airport we had to get special tags for them, and then we had to go get our luggage at the Orlando airport and bring them to the Magical Express bus. then we had plans to go see Cirque later that night, and i had some of my medicine and my clothes in the luggage that was with the ME bus. i suggest you pack all of your meds and a spare change of clothes in your carry-on incase you need them soon. an hour and a half went by and we still hadn't gotten our luggage but we had to go to Cirque. we were told by my fiance's mother and aunt(who were staying with us) that the luggage was about another hour later. it was kind of pointless to me for us to carry our luggage to the bus, and then not be able to take it with us afterwards.

 

[Tiggerbell05]

We used it in December and it worked fine. Not a long wait to get on the bus. I think we were the second of 3 stops. We were there early in the morning (0930 or so), our room was ready, so we dropped off our carry-ons (which contained our meds and a change of clothes and bathing suits) and left for the parks. The luggage was there when we got back to the room that night. We could not do the return luggage thing because we were on USA3000, but it was not bad carting our own luggage. My travel agent said it would be free through Dec 06.

 

[seashoreCM]

i guess i'll post the "bad" review lol. we never got our luggage tags in the mail, only 1 person out of our 24 person party recieved theirs, and it was for the wrong hotel anyway. when we got to our airport we had to get special tags for them, and then we had to go get our luggage at the Orlando airport and bring them to the Magical Express bus. then we had plans to go see Cirque later that night, and i had some of my medicine and my clothes in the luggage that was with the ME bus. i suggest you pack all of your meds and a spare change of clothes in your carry-on incase you need them soon. an hour and a half went by and we still hadn't gotten our luggage but we had to go to Cirque. we were told by my fiance's mother and aunt(who were staying with us) that the luggage was about another hour later. it was kind of pointless to me for us to carry our luggage to the bus, and then not be able to take it with us afterwards.

Whether or not you got or used the yellow Magical Express tags, you still need the (usually) white baggage destination tags attached by the check in agent or skycap at your hometown airport when starting your trip.

Always pack and carry separately your valuables, medicines, etc. and also items such as swimsuits you will need right away upon arrival at Disney. Carry this bag onto the plane without using a yellow ME tag, and carry it to the ME bus.

Unlike all the other ground transportation services, ME has its counter on only one side (the A side, lowest level) of Orlando Airport.

Without yellow tags you can still have ME get your luggage and deliver it to your room. This is arranged at the welcoming area counter. It is not unusual for automatic "magical" delivery of baggage to your room to take 4 hours from your arrival and check in. You do not have to go up to the room and wait for it. Meanwhile there is seldom any problem with bringing all of your baggage to the ME bus, but if the room is not ready, you have to manage the baggage yourself for example have the bellhop store it.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

Whether or not you got or used the yellow Magical Express tags, you still need the (usually) white baggage destination tags attached by the check in agent or skycap at your hometown airport when starting your trip.

Always pack and carry separately your valuables, medicines, etc. and also items such as swimsuits you will need right away upon arrival at Disney. Carry this bag onto the plane without using a yellow ME tag, and carry it to the ME bus.

Unlike all the other ground transportation services, ME has its counter on only one side (the A side, lowest level) of Orlando Airport.

Without yellow tags you can still have ME get your luggage and deliver it to your room. This is arranged at the welcoming area counter. It is not unusual for automatic "magical" delivery of baggage to your room to take 4 hours from your arrival and check in. You do not have to go up to the room and wait for it. Meanwhile there is seldom any problem with bringing all of your baggage to the ME bus, but if the room is not ready, you have to manage the baggage yourself for example have the bellhop store it.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

i was not told anything about the ME so they didn't tell me to pack things in my carry-on. and 4 hours is really a long wait for luggage, i'd rather go get it myself.

and they are supposed to send you those yellow tags, what i was saying was, we never recieved them at all until we got to the Orlando Airport so we had to take our luggage from the luggage belt to the ME bus. i'd rather take MEARS, they worked so much better.

 

[safetymom]

You can also provide the DME desk at MCO your baggage claim numbers and they will pull your luggage and send it to the resort.

You also when flying anywhere put your medication in your carry on along with anything you may need when you first get there. That way if your luggage is delayed or lost you aren't without your medication.

 

[mx55mom]

We signed up for it and have not received our tags yet. They were sent out to us over a month ago. Guess they're not going to get here on time. That defeats the purpose. I guess we will be getting our own luggage at MCO and bringing it to the bus. Hopefully a bus will be waiting.

 

[goofy4tink]

i guess i'll post the "bad" review lol. we never got our luggage tags in the mail, only 1 person out of our 24 person party recieved theirs, and it was for the wrong hotel anyway. when we got to our airport we had to get special tags for them, and then we had to go get our luggage at the Orlando airport and bring them to the Magical Express bus. then we had plans to go see Cirque later that night, and i had some of my medicine and my clothes in the luggage that was with the ME bus. i suggest you pack all of your meds and a spare change of clothes in your carry-on incase you need them soon. an hour and a half went by and we still hadn't gotten our luggage but we had to go to Cirque. we were told by my fiance's mother and aunt(who were staying with us) that the luggage was about another hour later. it was kind of pointless to me for us to carry our luggage to the bus, and then not be able to take it with us afterwards.

I'm confused (nothing new here!)...if you had to get your own luggage and bring it to the DME bus, why did you have to wait four hours to get your luggage at the resort? If your bags were on the bus with you, you should have had them when you got off the bus.

 

[safetymom]

You still can have them pull your luggage and send it to the resorts without the tags. If you give DME your baggage claim numbers from your airline they will pull the luggage. No need for you to take the luggage to the bus.

 

[pixieprincessmom]

We did ME on 2/23. Our tags did not come in (I blamed it on post Katrina mail, but after reading this I don't know, still didn't get them). We got our own luggage at the airport and brought it to the bus. We were given the option of bringing it to our rooms or having it sent there. I had read that sometimes it takes a while to get someone to bring it, so we took our luggage ourselves. We were impressed with the service and would use it again.

 

[mx55mom]

You still can have them pull your luggage and send it to the resorts without the tags. If you give DME your baggage claim numbers from your airline they will pull the luggage. No need for you to take the luggage to the bus.

Thanks, I did read where you said that, but that makes me nervous. If there is a disney tag on my luggage it would be easier to spot. Otherwise, they are just looking through baggage that hasn't been picked up so it could sit there forever. I think I will just make sure it gets on my bus.

 

[Tinkerbellkitty]

Service was great, the only thing is your luggage will not arrive when you do, so make sure you pack what you need, in your carry on bag,including a change of clothes if needed. The resort you are staying at will hold your carry on bag, till you come back to your resort, in the evening. I do not know how long it took to get my luggage, it was too early to get in my room, I was ready to get to one of the parks. You have to make stops at other resorts, but! that makes it fun to see other resorts. The bus is very comfortable

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

Hi All!

Does anyone know if the wait for your luggage is just as long if you arrive late at night? We maybe taking a late flight and I am still planning on packing a PJ change for my little ones in the carry on,but I do not want to fall asleep and get a knock on the door at 4:30am that our luggage is there.

TIA!!

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

I think perhaps I need to call ressies back tomorrow and change that "no" for Magical Express to a "yes". Thanks for the info! ~Ev

 

[pta-mom]

We are off to DW in 23 days, have opted to do the ME and got our tickets by FedEx (to Canada!!) yesterday!!

I am glad to hear as well that the hotel (we are at CSR) will hold our carry on luggage for us after we change (from winter parka's to shorts....white legs and all!!) I'm loving DW already and I've never even been there!!!