Magical Express Departure Day

[I❤MICKEY]

How does the Magical Express work when you are leaving WDW. Our flight is at 7:00 PM. Will they assign a time for us to catch the Bus? How far before the flight time? I have two little ones and I would prefer not to be waiting at MCO hours and hours in advance. Any insight is appreciated.

 

[KPetty725]

Yep, you give them your flight times and airline info and they tell you when/where to meet. My experience has always been that it's been about 3-4 hours before the flight time, depending on if I was one of the first picked up or the last. They try to get you there 2-3 hours prior to your flight so you have plenty of time for security. The nice thing about MCO is that there are TONS of shops. We hit the Universal and SW shops b/c we never go to those parks so the merchandise is different. That easily kills an hour with my two girls.

 

[Alesia]

Your pick up time will be scheduled for 3 hours (plus or minus 15 minutes) before your flight. The time that they assign is the time your bus is supposed to leave, so you need to be there, completely ready to go, 15 minutes before that.

 

[Kimberle]

You'll be picked up approx. 3 hours before your flight. Allow 1 hour to the airport as you may be making other stops. Security lines at MCO can be long. I've never found myself with "to much" time at the airport.

Plus, if there are any issues with your seats, you'll have to take with the gate agent. (Our last flight, there was a plane change and the computer threw everybodies seats all over the plane. The crew was great, and managed to "refit the puzzle" to allow families to sit together.)

P.S. Both our ME buses last week had shoulder seat belts. If you've car seats, you'll be able to use them on the bus. (I don't know if ALL the buses have been upgraded yet.)

 

[goofy4tink]

How does the Magical Express work when you are leaving WDW. Our flight is at 7:00 PM. Will they assign a time for us to catch the Bus? How far before the flight time? I have two little ones and I would prefer not to be waiting at MCO hours and hours in advance. Any insight is appreciated.

DME will give you a pickup time of about 4pm...between 3:45 and 4:15. This should get you to MCO by about 4:45-5:15, possibly a bit earlier. Here's the thing...if there are any issues, it could take longer. No one wants to be hanging around an airport for hours on end. BUT....at MCO, you really do want to be there 2 hrs prior to your flight. Security can take a huge amount of time. Now, if I get there 2.5 hrs before my flight? Security takes about 10 mins. But let me be running late and get there 1.5 hrs prior to departure? Yeah, security takes 30 mins, at least!!! Murphy's law I guess.

So, the night before you are due to leave your resort, you will be given a notification that gives you your DME pickup time. You can, most likely, check your bags and get your boarding passes in the morning before heading to a park. Depends on the airline you are flying. Then, be sure to be back at the resort at least an hour prior to your stated p/u time. Get your carryon bags out of storage, have everyone use the restroom one last time, and be out at the DME bus area 15 mins prior to the time you were given. The time given is the time the bus leaves, NOT the time you should arrive at the bus stop..people have been left behind because they arrived too late!!

 

[I❤MICKEY]

Ok, new question. Based on your responses we will be picked up about 4:00. Will we be able to check out of our room, store luggage and use the pools? Is there a place where we can get changed?

 

[Alesia]

Ok, new question. Based on your responses we will be picked up about 4:00. Will we be able to check out of our room, store luggage and use the pools? Is there a place where we can get changed?

Yes and yes.