Magical Express from the airport to the resort

[daisy1031]

My mom and I are going to use the Magical Express to get to our hotel, and she keeps talking about how the bags are going to be taken to the resort, we wont have to wait for them at baggage claim etc.

I am kind of nervous about getting on the bus to the hotel and leaving our bags at the airport. I get that we get tags that we put on our luggage before we check them for our flight that indicates that we are going to Disney World, but how are they taken from the Airport to the hotel??

I am kind of nervous/parinoid about leaving my stuff there, and making sure they get the the right resort... my mom has had a few issues travling and she gets where she is going but her luggage doesn't... so while she thinks its great I'm nervous about leaving it there lol... Also once our luggage is on the way to the resort, how do they know my bags are going to our resort etc...

I am kind of more inclined to pick up my bags at baggage claim and then getting on the express.. How often does the Express leave the airport etc???

Has anyone had any issues with getting their bags when they have had them delievered to the resort??

 

[figment_jii]

My mom and I are going to use the Magical Express to get to our hotel, and she keeps talking about how the bags are going to be taken to the resort, we wont have to wait for them at baggage claim etc.

I am kind of nervous about getting on the bus to the hotel and leaving our bags at the airport. I get that we get tags that we put on our luggage before we check them for our flight that indicates that we are going to Disney World, but how are they taken from the Airport to the hotel??

I am kind of nervous/parinoid about leaving my stuff there, and making sure they get the the right resort... my mom has had a few issues travling and she gets where she is going but her luggage doesn't... so while she thinks its great I'm nervous about leaving it there lol... Also once our luggage is on the way to the resort, how do they know my bags are going to our resort etc...

I am kind of more inclined to pick up my bags at baggage claim and then getting on the express.. How often does the Express leave the airport etc???

Has anyone had any issues with getting their bags when they have had them delievered to the resort??

The yellow tags you put on your luggage at home, specifies your name and resort you're staying at. This is what is used to determine where to send the bags after they are unloaded from the airplane. It's my understanding that the bags never get to the carousel. If you want to pick up your bags at luggage claim do not put the yellow tags on them.

ME leaves the airport fairly frequently, but it depends on how busy it is and how many people there are. When you check-in, you'll be directed to a line that corresponds to the resort you're staying at. They group resorts together so you'll probably be sharing a bus with a couple of other resorts. I've seen buses leave half empty and others wait until their full...generally allow about 90 minutes.

I've used ME several times and never had problems with the luggage delivery service. It takes about three hours after you arrive for your bags to show up ini your room, but you don't have to be there to receive them.

WDWinfo has a pretty good page on ME and answers a lot of questions. You might look at it to see if it helps you decide.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/Transportation/magical-express.htm

 

[DonnaL]

Magical Express does indeed get your bags to your room "magically". Actually,
if you use the special ME tags which are sent to you, your bags never even get to the public baggage claim area. They are claimed "backstage" at the airport by the BAGS/Magical Express people and delivered to your resort. The ME tags are coded as to which resort each bag needs to be delivered. We have used ME and the bag delivery several times successfully and only once was there a problem.....someone decided to pack glass bottles of baby formula in their checked bags and when those bottles broke in the other persons baggage it leaked all over mine. Fortunately, I learned years ago to pack all my clothing in plastic travel bags inside my baggage, so nothing inside was wet or ruined....only my bag.....and Disney provided a comparable bag to the one which was ruined. However, I will say sometimes there is a several hour delay between the time YOU arrive at your resort and your bags do. They do tell you this up front.......your bags can arrive up to three or four hours after you do. So.......bottom line is......if you are that uncomfortable with it......don't use the yellow tags and go to bag claim yourself for your bags before you board your ME bus and just take the bags with you on the bus (they will load them beneath the bus for the ride to your resort). However, keep in mind.......you should tip the driver for loading your bags under the bus and also when you get to your resort if you utilize bell services to get your bags to your room you will need to tip there also.

 

[aubriee]

I go to WDW several times a year and always use DME. We've never had a problem. As soon as we get off the tram at MCO we just go straight down to DME, hop on the bus, check in at our resort, go to a park, and when we get back to our resort that night, our bags are waiting in the room for us. On our last day our boarding passes are on our door, we call RAC and pay for our checked bags, then we drop off our luggage at the RAC desk, go to a park, make sure we're back at the resort about 3 1/2 hours prior to our flight, hop on the DME bus, go through security, and when we arrive home our bags that we dropped off early that morning are there waiting for us. Again I use DME several times a year and have never had a problem. We love the service.

I hate it when people don't use it as it was designed to be used though. People hauling their checked bags onto the DME bus slows it down for everyone as we must wait until those bags are loaded before we can leave the airport and then they must be unloaded at each resort before we can get off.

 

[minnierocks]

We used ME for the first time in March and it was wonderful! Not having to pick up our luggage and have it "magically" appear in our room was our favorite part of the whole experience...

 

[goofy4tink]

Here's how it works...basically. You put those yellow luggage tags on your checked bags at home. Then, you check them the same as you usually do at your departure airport. When you land at MCO, you will get off the plane and head directly to Side B, level 1 and go to DME and get checked in and onto the bus.
Your bags will be taken off the plane. As they come off, baggage handlers will see the yellow tags on them. They will now be pulled and set aside for the DME baggage people. They are scanned by DME CMs. At this point, the bags are put into groupings based on where they are going. Then split further into smaller groupings...and scanned again. When they are put onto the luggage trucks, to head to their final destinations, they are scanned again (from what I understand). Then, it's on to the resorts. The bags are off loaded at each resort, and scanned for the last time...I believe.
It is now up to the resort luggage handlers to get the bags to each room.


When you check in at the DME counter, you will be asked how many bags you checked. If you tell them you checked four bags, they will be looking for four bags. IF they scan only three bags, they will then start the search for that last bag. You don't need to do anything.

There have been instances where the wrong bags have been put into resort rooms. This is one big reason for late arrival of bags....but just call Bell Services/Luggage Assistence and they can figure it out.

You stand a much larger chance of the airlines misdirecting your bags than DME. Be sure to pack anything you may need for the first day or night of your stay in a carryon bag...just in case the airline sends a checked bag to Detroit!!! At least you'll have clean clothes and such for the day.

 

[Sandi]

I hate it when people don't use it as it was designed to be used though. People hauling their checked bags onto the DME bus slows it down for everyone as we must wait until those bags are loaded before we can leave the airport and then they must be unloaded at each resort before we can get off.

Me, too! One of my favorite parts of ME is the luggage delivery to our room. If you're arriving late, you do have to claim your luggage at the airport and haul it onto the bus with you. The trip to the resorts is slowed down significantly when the driver has to unload bags for all the passengers.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Let them handle the bags...one of the best perks Disney has....we have never had a problem

 

[daisy1031]

Thanks guys, I am feeling better about doing the magical bag handling. The idea of just leaving my bags at the airport is scary for me lol, but its nice to know that they scan them so that they are being tracked. My mom has has her bags lost on regular trips a few times, and ever since then I'm paranoid when I travel with her that her bag is marked to be lost lol..

but would be nice to be able to get on the shuttle right away and begin our day of having fun!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Thanks guys, I am feeling better about doing the magical bag handling. The idea of just leaving my bags at the airport is scary for me lol, but its nice to know that they scan them so that they are being tracked. My mom has has her bags lost on regular trips a few times, and ever since then I'm paranoid when I travel with her that her bag is marked to be lost lol..

but would be nice to be able to get on the shuttle right away and begin our day of having fun!

If you use DME as designed and the airline misdirects your luggage DME will handle everything for you with the airline. If you don't use the yellow tags AND don't check in with DME then you are stuck at the airport dealing with the airline's baggage department. Since it seems like your mom is a magnet for misdirected bags from the airline I think i would let DME handle the bags.

 

[Wendy5055]

I would feel totally comfortable allowing Disneys ME handle the bags. We have done so numerous times and never had any issues.

Just be sure to pack a change of clothing and/or swimsuit (if planning to swim when you arrive) as it may take some time before your bags will arrive in the room.

Disney really does make even travelling a Magical experience!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It's my understanding that the bags never get to the carousel.

While that is the process sometimes the checked bags with the Magical Express tags do make it onto the carousel. For example a few years ago while my family and I were waiting for our bags at MCO the ones with the Magical Express tags came out on the carousel and never got picked up while we were standing there, because they kept going around and around.

 

[goofy4tink]

While that is the process sometimes the checked bags with the Magical Express tags do make it onto the carousel. For example a few years ago while my family and I were waiting for our bags at MCO the ones with the Magical Express tags came out on the carousel and never got picked up while we were standing there, because they kept going around and around.

And there are always exceptions. There is always a chance that something out of the ordinary can happen. It doesn't happen all that often.

 

[blum74]

1/2 the reason I use the ME is so I don't have to lug my luggage with me. I've never had a problem. 2 times my luggage arrived almost immediately. This past trip (last week) my luggage arrived later, but still w/in the 3 hour window. I always pack a pair of shorts in my carry on so I can get to the hotel and change into shorts and hit the park. This past trip I put our swimsuits in our carry on luggage and we hit the pool before dinner.

 

[daisy1031]

Thats a good idea of puting a swimsuit in my carry on and maybe a pair of shorts too..We are coming from Oregon and we have been having COLD 55 degree rainy weather and flying at night so want to be warm on the plane, to there where its 90+ and humidity.. I was tempted on wearing light pants or capri's on the plane so I dont freeze but was dreading burning up once we get there espec with the shock to the system lol... I definately feel better on letting them take care of my bags now

 

[goofy4tink]

Thats a good idea of puting a swimsuit in my carry on and maybe a pair of shorts too..We are coming from Oregon and we have been having COLD 55 degree rainy weather and flying at night so want to be warm on the plane, to there where its 90+ and humidity.. I was tempted on wearing light pants or capri's on the plane so I dont freeze but was dreading burning up once we get there espec with the shock to the system lol... I definately feel better on letting them take care of my bags now

Fly in a pair of lightish capri's, short sleeved shirt with a sweatshirt over it. That way, you won't be dying of heat when you arrive in Florida..just remove the sweatshirt and stick it in your carryon. Then, when you get to your resort, you can pull out your bathing suit and have a nice swim, and later put on shorts. That's how we handle it now.

 

[minniestheone]

We have just decided to try DME and they do not have enough time to send us luggage tags. Should we get our own luggage then? I don't want people on the bus to be mad at us?!!

 

[Jestocost]

We have just decided to try DME and they do not have enough time to send us luggage tags. Should we get our own luggage then? I don't want people on the bus to be mad at us?!!

Even without the DME luggage tags you can still use the luggage transfer service as long as your flight arrives between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. You will need to take your luggage claim checks to the DME Welcome Center and stop at the desk to provide the claim information and a description of your bags. They will send someone to collect them from the carousel and get them into the DME luggage transfer system.

 

[Mkrop]

Thats a good idea of puting a swimsuit in my carry on and maybe a pair of shorts too..We are coming from Oregon and we have been having COLD 55 degree rainy weather and flying at night so want to be warm on the plane, to there where its 90+ and humidity.. I was tempted on wearing light pants or capri's on the plane so I dont freeze but was dreading burning up once we get there espec with the shock to the system lol... I definately feel better on letting them take care of my bags now

What time do you arrive in FL? And what resort? the last time we took a late flight we were staying in AsSp and I read here that are bags would not be delivered after 11pm to the room until the next day.

So since our flight arrived at 9:30 or 10, I forget, we retrieved our luggage and brought it to the bus ourselves.

 

[jparc]

Last trip my magic express tag was removed from my bag at my point of origin. ( I saw it missing when my bag went on the plane) Magic express still found my bag and delivered it to me at my resort with no problem. They simply scanned my luggage claim at the magic express desk at MCO and located it. Put a new tag on and delivered it to my room later that evening. Better them wasting time searching for it than me!!