Magical Express at 12:10 a.m.

[Mama Lo]

Is magical or not so magical?

We are surprising our kids, 10 & 12, with a quickie trip this weekend. It's a double surprise since we are bringing our two nephews 6 & 8, who also don't know. So excited!

Since we will be out numbered 2 to 1, given the time that our plane is due to arrive and the fact that we will be well past bedtime I am considering going via private car.

I'm looking for anyones experience with early am arrives and their travel time to WDW.

We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge.

Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

You could get lucky and have a fairly short wait time for a bus...or, you could end up waiting quite a long time. People have reported both experiences.
It might be worth the addtl expense of a car service. The driver will meet you in baggage claim and help with luggage, then take you directly to the resort. I love DME, and use it almost exclusively. But, in this case I would be very tempted to hire a car service.

 

[vatali]

the biggest issue is the luggage. if you can deal without having it that night, then go DME. they will be waiting (most times) and get you on your way shortly. but if you don't explicitly tell them not to bring your items up, there is a good chance at 230 AM you will get a knock on the door.

On times when we arrive late, we just abandon it until early in the AM, one of us gets breakfast ready, or gets kids ready, and the other adult goes and gets the bags from the desk.

This is the main advantage of a private car, everything you need is with you.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

the biggest issue is the luggage. if you can deal without having it that night, then go DME. they will be waiting (most times) and get you on your way shortly. but if you don't explicitly tell them not to bring your items up, there is a good chance at 230 AM you will get a knock on the door.

On times when we arrive late, we just abandon it until early in the AM, one of us gets breakfast ready, or gets kids ready, and the other adult goes and gets the bags from the desk.

This is the main advantage of a private car, everything you need is with you.

This info on the luggage is incorrect. Luggage service stops at 10:00 p.m. any one arriving after 10:00 p.m. is advised that if you put the yellow tags on your bags, they will not be delivered till the next day. If you need your luggage that night don't put the yellow tags on and you will have to collect them at baggage claim.

 

[sam_gordon]

the biggest issue is the luggage. if you can deal without having it that night, then go DME. they will be waiting (most times) and get you on your way shortly. but if you don't explicitly tell them not to bring your items up, there is a good chance at 230 AM you will get a knock on the door.

On times when we arrive late, we just abandon it until early in the AM, one of us gets breakfast ready, or gets kids ready, and the other adult goes and gets the bags from the desk.

This is the main advantage of a private car, everything you need is with you.

Having DME take care of luggage isn't an option to begin with. Any flights arriving after 10p will not have luggage collected.

Depending on the cost, I would also be tempted to get a car service.

 

[Mama Lo]

Thank you for all the replies.

We are only bringing carry on this trip so no worries about the luggage.

I am thinking we will spring for the private car to ensure the, hopefully, quickest route to get the kids tucked it.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The other option is staying at the MCO Hyatt and then taking the ME the next day. We just did this in December when we had a late arriving flight, and I think it's an awesome option to have. We were in our room about 10 minutes after deplaning...can't beat that!

 

[LegalEze]

We just reserved a private car service ourselves, and it was very reasonably priced. After last time (taking 90 minutes from the time we got on the bus to finally getting to the resort) hubby didn't blink an eye when I mentioned it. I'm sure the prices vary according to your dates, but we were able to get a good deal. Good luck!!