Magical Express first timer

[eagles1281]

Traveled to Disney a few times and have always used rental cars. Wanted to try the DME service for our next trip in Feb. First visit with our new baby girl who will be 1 when we arrive.
Do you recommend using ME or get the rental car again?
Biggest question is understanding the departure. If my check-out is 11am and flight does not leave until 7pm, what do I do. Figured I would check-out and visit a park or DTD for a while and then get to the airport. How does this work?
Is there a certain time when the shuttle leaves the resort?

 

[VAN]

If you are comfortable using Disney transportation, then I'd forgo the cost of a rental car.

My DH and I are choosing to take DME to our resort and then rent a car once we are at Disney (cheaper than airport + DME handles the checked baggage).

Anyway, regarding departure. DME will leave specific instructions for you regarding the time of pick-up. It will be approximately 3 hours prior to your flight time, though. If you go to the parks, you will need to return to your resort to board the bus. It is my understanding, that they will only pick you up at the resort you had been staying and not a resort of your choosing (e.g. the one nearest the park you will be visiting on your last day).

Again, I think DME works quite well; but you will have to determine whether or not you need a car while on Disney property or if the bus service meets your needs.

 

[wdwrich]

Your DME departure time will be three hours prior to your return flight. Note that they will pick you up at your resort, even though you may have checked out by 11am, so if you go to a park or elsewhere, you will have to return to the resort for DME. Plan to be back to the resort at least 15 minutes before the scheduled DME departure time.

 

[bgirl29]

You will recieve a slip in your room the day before you leave letting you know what time your ME bus will leave your resort.

 

[goofy4tink]

As already noted...you will get a notice the day before you leave the resort, telling you what time your pickup will be the next day. If you have a 7pm flight, your pickup time will be about 4pmish. You need to plan on being back at the resort, at the bus stop, ready to go, about 15 mins before the stated pickup time. The time you are given is the time the bus is supposed to pull out.
Now....if you are flying home on a 'participating' airline, you will be able to check your bags right there, at the resort, in the morning. You will get your boarding passes as well. If you are not flying one of those airlines, then you can just leave all your bags with Bell Services/Luggage Assistence. Then, when you return to the resort to get the DME bus, you can get the bags out of storage, and take them to the bus with you. They will be put underneath your bus, and you will get them when you arrive at MCO. Then, you will check them with the airline, get your boarding passes and head off to security.

As for times that the buses come and go...it all depends on whether or not there are guests at a particular resort that need to get to the airport. If you are assigned to a bus that leaves at 4pm, but you miss it and just figure that you can get the next bus in 30-45 mins, you may be out of luck. There may not be any other guests from your resort that need to be at the airport for 5 or 6 hrs. Which means another DME bus won't be stopping there for at least 90-120 mins, which is going to have you missing your flight! So, in short, the buses do not make continuous loops between resorts and MCO. It is need based.

 

[ntsammy5]

We love DME - it's the most compelling reason to stay onsite.

 

[mooneyda]

I too love magical express and will always use it as long as it is available. I love getting off the plane and heading right for the bus check.No stopping at bag claim. you just can ot beat it.LOL

 

[eagles1281]

Thanks to all for the info. Will def. choose to try out the DME for this upcoming trip. Cannot wait.

 

[Captgerryf]

Just back from 5 days at Saratoga Springs and this was my first time staying on a Disney property.

The wife and I were undecided as to using the DME or rental car option so we decided to do both and see what was "better". Of course this experiment cost $200 for the rental car through E-Z, but since we are going back in January to stay at BLT,we thought it was worth the expense to get the answer.

We were pleasently suprised at the efficiency of DME. The wife and daughter used DME and my son and I went to the rental car counter. A greeter from DME was right at the bottom of the escalator on the Ground Transportation level to direct people to the DME counter as well as answer questions. We landed around 9:30 on Sunday morning, so your arrival time might result in longer wait times for both the rental car counter and DME.

Turns out, both of us breezed right through our respective lines and both pulled into Saratoga Springs Check-In at the exact same time. Total trip time from airport to resort was about 30 minutes. Unfortunately I missed the second toll booth on the BeeLine and spent an hour on the phone getting that squared away but that is another story, but another reason to take the DME and not worry about tolls, fill up of the rental at inflated gas prices etc.

Besides DME, we wanted to try out the Disney Tranportation system to get from the resort to the parks and all around the Disney property. We tried just about any mode of transport you could think of, monorail, buses, water taxis, shoe leather express and found all to be very efficient. No more than a 10 minute wait for any bus and every driver was very helpful in explaining what bus you should be on to get to a specific location. All of the stops are clearly marked as to what bus you should be on to get back to your starting point, but if you can't figure it out, the drivers are more than helpful. All were clean and the AC was spectacular after walking in the heat around a park. The drop off locations were right next to the entrances and certainly beat walking from any parking lots if we had driven the rental and decided not to wait for a tram.

We used the rental car one time and that was to go to the grocery store (Winn-Dixie) that is probably 2 miles from Saratoga. Could have just as easily taken a cab and several cabs were sitting outside of Winn-Dixie when we arrived, probably waiting for folks from a Disney resort to take them back.

The only issue with DME is the three hour prior to flight departure time. Actually, they ask you to be there about 3 hours and 15 minutes prior to your flight to check your bags (for participating airlines) but you can take your bags to airline check-in starting at 5 a.m. and when you leave you can just be at the DME pickup point at the 3 hour prior time. It gets your to the airport well ahead of time, so be prepared to sit awhile for your flight. Turns out iIhad to have the rental car back before my wife and daughter even left on the DME, so I had an even longer wait at the airport.

All in all, the DME and Disney Transportation is the way we will go for all future Disney trips.

 

[eagles1281]

Also, are you limited to how many bags for check in, I read one per person. What if I have say 3 bags for two adults and an infant (1yr).

 

[CleveRocks]

Also, are you limited to how many bags for check in, I read one per person. What if I have say 3 bags for two adults and an infant (1yr).

No limit.

They are sending out only one DME luggage tag per person, but you can request more, no charge.

 

[angelarainey]

we are using a stroller through the airport...what does express do with them?

 

[clkelley]

The buses are full size motorcoach buses with luggage storage underneath. The driver will store anything that you can't bring on the bus with you underneath the coach and you retrieve it when you reach your destination.