Magical Express at all hours of the night?

[CarolA]

I have been around the airport for 10 to 12 years, daily not 7 times, so I too, am familiar with the times. I have seen luggage come out in five minutes and not 20 - 40 minutes, in fact sometimes it is coming out as you walk down the escalators. Many drivers do walk to the bullpen and pick up their vehicle and that is 5 - 10 minutes, but there are many more who park in the CVPA which is about 20 yards from where they are going to pick you up. Many times the driver will invite the passenger to walk to the CVPA with them and load the vehicle. It is possible on both sides of the airport.

Edd,
I assure that I have often waited up to 30 minutes on luggage at MCO. SW will get it out fast. USAir has it touring the airport and DL can easily take half an hour. Your 5 minutes is COMPLETELY unrealistic for ANY airport and MCO is hardly the worlds best!

I know you want to paint your business in the best manner, but FIVE minutes..

 

[Edd]

You are right. I was in a hurry to go and muffed that last statement up a bit. I have seen in come out in 5 minutes and also in 20 minutes. The average wait time for luggage is probably about 15 minutes. I think I waited about 30 minutes the other day for a lady waiting for lost luggage, and almost the same amount of time when I wasn't smart enough to ask the passenger if they had put the Disney tags on the luggage.

If you are one of the first flights arriving in Orlando during the day it tends to be a shorter waiting time. During the afternoon after 1400 hours it will get longer. US Air puts its luggage on a tour, SW is fast and sometimes beats the passengers down. DL is normally fast as I have seen passengers come down the escalator, walk straight to the carousel and pick up their luggage.

 

[goofy4tink]

Everyone is going to have a different experience with baggage. Just because one person gets their luggage in 10 minutes, does not mean that is going to be the norm. We can only listen to the experiences of others and then base of decisions on what we see. I have yet to get my luggage at MCO in less than 20 minutes....it has just never happened. Now, I'm sure there are people out there who have never waited more than 10 mins, but that has not been MY experience. I have found that the times I have gotten my own luggage and used a car service, it has taken me about 55-60 minutes to get to WDW from deplaning. Only one time has it taken less than an hour...that time I had no checked luggage, only carryon. That time we waited a fair amount of time for our driver to return with the car. We made it to our resort, from deplaning, in 48 mins (yes, I timed it!).
I think that most people will have experiences in that range. And yes, I have used a car service where we walked across the street, lugging our bags, to the lot where the towncar was. I didn't like that much either. Nothing nicer than dodging cars, lugging wheeled bags, in the heat/humidity. So....if I can get to WDW in an average of 70 mins using DME vs 55-60 mins using a towncar service and I can save myself over $100, then that's what I'll do.

If I were to arrive late at night, I wouldn't use the yellow luggage tags, I would get my own bags, and then bring them with me to the DME checkin desk. If I had to wait for awhile for the bus to get there, and load, then so be it. I would much rather have my bags with me, even if it meant a little less sleep.

 

[snowbunny]

I guess I'm hoping that at that hour, the airport won't be busy and it won't take that long to get the luggage. I would be OK going to the resort without the luggage, except that there's an item that has to be checked and that my DD is going to need by 9 am the next day. So if we do this, I think we'll have to wait on our luggage.
Thanks again for the input.

 

[Disneyolic]

US Air puts its luggage on a tour, SW is fast and sometimes beats the passengers down. DL is normally fast as I have seen passengers come down the escalator, walk straight to the carousel and pick up their luggage.

What does "put on a tour" mean? We will be arriving via USAir. How far is it from the USAir luggage retrieval level to DME counters? Is there a link to the airport map to view this, anyone know? Thank you.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't question anyone's experience. I understand luggage is very slow during the afternoon thunderstorms. I'm not sure about MCO but some airports reduce the staff late at night so passengers have to wait until it's "their turn" for the luggage handling employees.

Morning am (SW) flight my luggage got to the carousel a few minutes after I got there. Remember it can sometimes take 10 minutes to empty a plane. One passenger might post a 5 minute wait and another passenger might post a 30 minute wait for the same flight. Some passengers don't look at their watch and estimate the wait. Some passengers take a few minutes for a bathroom break and make some phone calls before proceeding to level two.

MCO does a good job, I'd be surprised if the average wait is much more than 20-30 minutes. I think a 5 minutes wait, for one of the first passengers off the plane who proceeded directly to baggage claim, isn't typical.

 

[Edd]

"Put on tour", means it takes a long time!! I personally think U.S. Air has the worst baggage handling techniques at OIA and maybe gives the other airlines a bad name.

DME is on the first floor right below U.S. Air.

 

[Disneyolic]

"Put on tour", means it takes a long time!! I personally think U.S. Air has the worst baggage handling techniques at OIA and maybe gives the other airlines a bad name.

DME is on the first floor right below U.S. Air.

Thank you Edd. I guess if we decide to utilize DME at 11 pm-ish, then getting our luggage is not really a big deal from there. Just the waiting for USAir.....