Magical express good?

[eculmone]

We r meeting family at resort. They come in a day later and they r driving. We have never done DME because we like the store stop and not stopping at all other resorts. Our BIL and SIL will be doing the store stop for us. Booze, mix, juice, milk etc. so we decided to give DME a try.

So my question of the day is do you like ME yes? No? Pro's vs Cons? We'll be arriving at noon to our resort and plan to hit the parks and not be back to our room until after 8pm so I don't think it will be a problem as we wont need our luggage right away. What say you all? YEAH OR NAYS?

 

[ancestry]

Absolutely! I love using DME and look forward to it.

 

[maxiesmom]

During the day, I love Magical Express. For late night flights I have found it too time consuming, especially now as you have to go pick up your luggage and haul it to the bus if your flight lands after 10pm. For me the luggage pickup is one of the best parts of M.E.

 

[hushupu]

We love DME it is very convenient. you just get off the plane get on a bus go to the hotel and check in and your luggage magically follows you there

 

[IhrkeFamily]

Love it!

The cost savings alone makes it worth it. Plus it feels like you Disney vacation starts sooner. It's a nice way to relax on the way to the parks and watch the Disney promo video. Much better than standing around waiting for luggage!

My biggest piece of advice is to know what you are doing when you arrive at the resort and plan accordingly. You may not get your luggage until 3 hours after you check in at the resort. If you have a plan and use your carry on to make sure you have what you need, you should be fine.

I'm not sure where you are staying, but the Disney buses don't share with a lot of resorts and some with none. We stayed at POR and almost always just stopped at the various bus stops around POR. A couple times we dropped off at POFQ, but it was during quieter times and not at the end of the night when exhausted.

 

[ColoradoDisney]

We used Magical Express for trip to Wilderness Lodge in June. We loved it. It was so easy. We landed at MCO (Orlando) and walked downstairs to the Magical Express loading area and walked on to the air conditioned bus. I loved not picking up or worrying about our luggage. I honestly don't even remember if the WL was the first stop or not, I was so relaxed so I don't even worry about it. Departure was just as easy.

If you are worried about not having a car, we did rent a car for a day during our stay. We used the on site car car center. That was easy.

Is Disney transportation perfect? No. If you use Disney transportation enough, you are bound to have a bad experience. Maybe it will be waiting a long time for a bus from a theme park or being on the bus when your resort is the final stop. For me, the stress of not worrying about luggage, parking spaces, toll roads, directions make using Disney provided transportation a no brainer.

 

[eculmone]

so far so good We are arriving at mco around 11 a.m. and we are staying at Grand Floridian. When we first went to disney 13 years ago, we had to contend with others being dropped off at their resorts and the vans were bumpy and horrible. We soon found limo service that ended up costing the same as mears and we got a free 30 minute store stop so we've never looked back... but now I'm hoping it's just straight to our hotel and I'm hoping to be at our resort for noon? Or thereabouts? Anyhow, keep em coming... so far I like what I'm hearing

 

[goofy4tink]

DME is not a non-stop type service. There are at least three resorts per route, sometimes four. But, unlike Mears of old, all the resorts are WDW resorts. You may be the first stop, you may not...no way to be 100% sure.
If you land, ontime, at 11am, you can plan on being at GF by 12:30. An hour would be really, really good time. I have had only one or two DME rides that were around an hour...gate to resort. Note I say gate, not landing...two different things. The times it took me an hour were the times that I was able to go right to the bus lines, then there was no line at the buses and I was able to just get on board a waiting bus..which then promptly left and we were the first stop. But, the average is around 80 mins lately. Used to be 70 but it seems to be getting a bit longer lately.

 

[eculmone]

DME is not a non-stop type service. There are at least three resorts per route, sometimes four. But, unlike Mears of old, all the resorts are WDW resorts. You may be the first stop, you may not...no way to be 100% sure.
If you land, ontime, at 11am, you can plan on being at GF by 12:30. An hour would be really, really good time. I have had only one or two DME rides that were around an hour...gate to resort. Note I say gate, not landing...two different things. The times it took me an hour were the times that I was able to go right to the bus lines, then there was no line at the buses and I was able to just get on board a waiting bus..which then promptly left and we were the first stop. But, the average is around 80 mins lately. Used to be 70 but it seems to be getting a bit longer lately.

Thanks for an honest answer. I use to hate when my mom told me we'd be there in 5 minutes as a child and then half an hour later we'd still be driving. It made me so upset as a child. Having a realistic answer let's me plan (in my mind) for unexpected/expected realistic delays

 

[eculmone]

See, I'm already bummed that it's going to be over an hour once we land but it's better I'm upset now then when I get there and expect Disney to be moments away. Does anyone think that paying such a high price at this resort might have a bearing on where we stop first or is it crowd related drops? i.e. if more people getting off at POP they stop there first and GF last if only one or two sets of guests?

I'm just spoiled from having a chauffer waiting at the luggage pick up, taking our luggage and whisking us away to the grocery store then up to the front doors of the resort.

 

[tjmw2727]

See, I'm already bummed that it's going to be over an hour once we land but it's better I'm upset now then when I get there and expect Disney to be moments away. Does anyone think that paying such a high price at this resort might have a bearing on where we stop first or is it crowd related drops? i.e. if more people getting off at POP they stop there first and GF last if only one or two sets of guests?

I'm just spoiled from having a chauffer waiting at the luggage pick up, taking our luggage and whisking us away to the grocery store then up to the front doors of the resort.

Honestly even with a towncar and no grocery stop an hour is optimistic! The trip from airport to WDW is 40 minutes, you have to wait on your bags and then pack the car etc. Of course for some the personal service is worth the cost even without the time savings.

My average trip via DME is also 70 minutes but I find it stress free and I love that it is "free". My average trip with a towncar is only slightly faster when staying at the Dolphin where DME isn't offered.

The resort groupings and order of drop off are based on the resort locations not price per resort.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

We stayed at AKV last trip. Stops were Pop, Carribean Beach, AKV...so price doesn't determine stop.

GF should share bus with Poly and Contemporary. I think when we stayed at Poly; we were the last stop.

Honestly, we love ME. It is convenient, and your luggage being delivered is wonderful (except later arrivals...9 pm could mean a midnight knock.) I enjoy seeing the other resorts. I've never stayed at Pop or Carribean Beach, so it was neat to see them.

Then again, we love the buses too . When we drive, we park the car for the stay and use all Disney transportation.

 

[goofy4tink]

There is really no correlation between the price of the resort and the DME service it gets. It's all about where the resorts are along a route.

As far as being bummed about it taking more than an hour, here are my 'times' using various types of transport.

Car service with carryon bags only.....45 mins, gate to resort.
Car service with checked bags.....60 mins
DME.....from 50 mins (no waiting at any point) to 85 mins (going to POP but it was the third of three stops with a huge wait at the first two stops due to excessive luggage being off loaded). Most times are around 70 or so mins.

If you use DME, you save yourself about $130 but it takes you about 20 mins longer. Take a car service and yes, it's a bit quicker but is it worth the money for that half hour??? Only you can answer that question.

 

[mygyky]

Go with DME. The move the bag for you part is great. Check in and just head to the park. Have fun!