Magical Express and arriving a day before reservation

[barlav]

Can Magical Express be used if you arrive the day before your resort reservation? We are going to be arriving the night before and staying at a hotel at the Orlando airport but still want to use Magical Express as early as possible the next morning. Has anyone done this before? How does this work with luggage etc.. Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Very easy....just find a flight that will arrive at MCO around the time that you wish to be using the DME. Give that flight info to the people at DME when you book it. You can then stay anyplace that you want and go back to the airport on the morning that you will ride the DME.

For the luggage you will have to pick it up when you fly in and take it with you. Then bring it with you to board the DME the next morning. A bit of a hassle but if you were arriving after 10pm you would have to do it anyway.

 

[barlav]

Thank you! That's great! I see they run starting at 6am. I haven't found any flights that arrive before 10am at Orlando. Would I just be able to give them the earliest flight for that day say 10am and arrive for Magical Express at 7 or 8?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Thank you! That's great! I see they run starting at 6am. I haven't found any flights that arrive before 10am at Orlando. Would I just be able to give them the earliest flight for that day say 10am and arrive for Magical Express at 7 or 8?

American has a flight from Miami that arrives at 8:05 a.m. Delta has a flight from Atlanta that arrives at 9:15 a.m. There are undoubtedly other morning arrivals, although the airport gets much busier later.

More importantly, there are Disney's Magical Express (DME) coaches running in both directions between WDW and MCO early in the morning because guests need to catch early morning departures (and coaches need to head back to WDW for more pick-ups).

You don't have to provide bogus flight information to be able to use DME from MCO to your resort on your check-in date. You can legitimately use DME, regardless of how you arrive at the airport (any airline, or even by bus, rental car, or hotel shuttle) on the day of your resort check-in.

Just call DME Guest Services at 1-866-599-0951. Tell the agent when you want to go from MCO to WDW.

Guests who are able to use DME on their flight arrival day can avoid tips for checked luggage because Disney covers the expense. Bags are left in the room once the room is ready.

However, when taking your bags to the DME coach yourself, have money ready for tips. It's customary to tip anyone who handles your bags. That would include the hotel shuttle driver, the DME driver, and bell services at your WDW resort -- because it's unlikely that your room will be ready in the morning, so you'll have to have your bags held.

 

[goofy4tink]

You really don't have to find an early arriving flight. It's hard to find a flight that arrives early enough to list if you want to take DME at 7am. Just make your reservation for that day. You can really list any old flight info if you want. As long as DME has you listed in their system, you can ride it pretty much whenever you want..at least going to WDW!!!
Your bags will be put beneath the bus you are on. When you get to your resort, the bags will be handed back to you. A gratuity will be expected by the driver. Then, when you check in at the resort, if a room isn't ready for you yet, you will have to leave your bags with Bell Services/Luggage Assistence. They will also expect a gratuity when they bring your bags out for you later on.

 

[Zerosinthecloset]

You really don't have to find an early arriving flight. It's hard to find a flight that arrives early enough to list if you want to take DME at 7am. Just make your reservation for that day. You can really list any old flight info if you want. As long as DME has you listed in their system, you can ride it pretty much whenever you want..at least going to WDW!!!
Your bags will be put beneath the bus you are on. When you get to your resort, the bags will be handed back to you. A gratuity will be expected by the driver. Then, when you check in at the resort, if a room isn't ready for you yet, you will have to leave your bags with Bell Services/Luggage Assistence. They will also expect a gratuity when they bring your bags out for you later on.

This is totally correct. We've done it a couple of times when we got in late to MCO. No need to find a fake early flight. We were down at the DME area early, and there were only 6 or so of us on the whole bus. We were able to check into PO, drop off our stuff, and be at rope drop at a park with plenty of time to spare.