Magical Express - Is it worth it??????

[BringingUpDisney]

The only trouble I have with ME is trying to get to use it fully without having the schlep the luggage. The last few times we flew in to MCO arriving late in the evening, spent the night in an airport hotel and caught ME the next morning. This was a lot of luggage hauling until we got to ME and could let them take over.

The next trip we are trying to either meet up with our East Coast friend at her airport where we will stay the night and then take an early flight out or do a red-eye to MCO. Traveling with an almost 3-year old on a red-eve doesn't seem like much fun.

I wish we had the star trek transporters - now that would be "Magical"!!!

 

[Christinaxo]

Hello!

So I have a question about ME. Our flight is arriving pretty late around 8pm. I have read that it can take a long time to get your luggage to your room. Would it be recommended to just grab our own luggage to ensure its not delivered several hours later, since we are arriving so late? How would that process work if we decided to do that, would we just load them on the bus ourselves? Thanks for any advice!

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

Hello!

So I have a question about ME. Our flight is arriving pretty late around 8pm. I have read that it can take a long time to get your luggage to your room. Would it be recommended to just grab our own luggage to ensure its not delivered several hours later, since we are arriving so late? How would that process work if we decided to do that, would we just load them on the bus ourselves? Thanks for any advice!

This is what I am doing too. We also arrive around 8pm and don't really want to wait for my luggage to arrive. I believe the driver will put the luggage on the bus and also remove it once you get to your resort. It seems we are arriving the same day and time. We will be at POR, how about you?

 

[jump00]

Reminder it is free, so not sure if 'worth it" is relevant.

Well it;s relevant if it takes over 1 1/2 hrs to get to your resort and longer on the way back to the airport. I love how fast a town car is and no lines.

 

[goofy4tink]

A me question..... So if we drive to Orlando form Miami, drop off the rental, stay at a resort can we still take the bus to the airport to depart to ny? I was assuming you don'thave to do it both ways but want to check before we book.

Oh one more thing... If we returned our car to the airport (so not coming off a flight ) could we take the express bus to the resorts?

You can book DME just one way. But in all reality? You may be better off returning it to the airport, taking the DME to the resort and then back again.

Hello!

So I have a question about ME. Our flight is arriving pretty late around 8pm. I have read that it can take a long time to get your luggage to your room. Would it be recommended to just grab our own luggage to ensure its not delivered several hours later, since we are arriving so late? How would that process work if we decided to do that, would we just load them on the bus ourselves? Thanks for any advice!

If your flight arrives ontime at 8pm, you'll get to your resort by 9:15ish. Which in turn means that your luggage could take until midnight to get to you!!!
If it were me? I would leave the yellow tags off the checked bags, and then go to baggage claim and get them myself upon arrival at MCO. Bring them to the DME bus with you, and be prepared to tip the driver $1 per bag.
Now....the fly in the ointment??? If you arrive on Side A of MCO, you have to get to the main terminal via the tram (everyone does and ends up at the same place), then you go to Side A baggage claim which is down a level..level 2. Then, you get your bags, return to level 3, where you started after getting off the tram, cross the center of the terminal area, and over to Side B. Go down, past baggage claim on level 2, and on to level 1, ground transportation.
IF you arrive on Side B, your bags go to the Side B baggage claim, which is right on the way to DME. So, not an issue.

The only trouble I have with ME is trying to get to use it fully without having the schlep the luggage. The last few times we flew in to MCO arriving late in the evening, spent the night in an airport hotel and caught ME the next morning. This was a lot of luggage hauling until we got to ME and could let them take over.

The next trip we are trying to either meet up with our East Coast friend at her airport where we will stay the night and then take an early flight out or do a red-eye to MCO. Traveling with an almost 3-year old on a red-eve doesn't seem like much fun.

I wish we had the star trek transporters - now that would be "Magical"!!!

Well, anyone arriving past 10pm has that same issue! Which is why I won't book a flight that arrives later than 6pm. I want to have my bags delivered, and I want to go to bed at a decent hour after unpacking!

 

[RIdisfan]

We love doing the ME We feel that we save lots of money on the car rental. So it is fun and save the cash . We have fun on the bus with the other people that are going to have the time of our life at WDW The best is that you do not have to drive in Fla a no falt state for insurance , one accident can take away from your good time . Do the ME and have fun the whole trip :

 

[Christinaxo]

This is what I am doing too. We also arrive around 8pm and don't really want to wait for my luggage to arrive. I believe the driver will put the luggage on the bus and also remove it once you get to your resort. It seems we are arriving the same day and time. We will be at POR, how about you?

Thanks for the info!! And I just noticed that, how funny! we will be staying that first night at POP since we are getting in so late, and then moving on to WL the next day!

If your flight arrives ontime at 8pm, you'll get to your resort by 9:15ish. Which in turn means that your luggage could take until midnight to get to you!!!
If it were me? I would leave the yellow tags off the checked bags, and then go to baggage claim and get them myself upon arrival at MCO. Bring them to the DME bus with you, and be prepared to tip the driver $1 per bag.
Now....the fly in the ointment??? If you arrive on Side A of MCO, you have to get to the main terminal via the tram (everyone does and ends up at the same place), then you go to Side A baggage claim which is down a level..level 2. Then, you get your bags, return to level 3, where you started after getting off the tram, cross the center of the terminal area, and over to Side B. Go down, past baggage claim on level 2, and on to level 1, ground transportation.
IF you arrive on Side B, your bags go to the Side B baggage claim, which is right on the way to DME. So, not an issue.

Wow! Would it be an option to just let DME grab our bags and leave them at the Luggage area at the resort? We are only staying one night at POP (due to the late flight) and then checking out in the morning, off to the park, then checking in at WL. If we pack everything in our carry on for the next day I am wondering if it will be easier than lugging all of that back and forth for just a few hours! (I heard POP is pretty big!) Also all of that movement just to get bags seems a bit much I kind of liked DME having to do all the work especially since its FREE

 

[maxiesmom]

Hello!

So I have a question about ME. Our flight is arriving pretty late around 8pm. I have read that it can take a long time to get your luggage to your room. Would it be recommended to just grab our own luggage to ensure its not delivered several hours later, since we are arriving so late? How would that process work if we decided to do that, would we just load them on the bus ourselves? Thanks for any advice!

Arriving at 8pm I would still let ME handle the bags. It is always smart to pack what you need for the first 24 hours in your carry-on, just in case the airline misdirects your luggage. So as you shouldn't need anything from your checked bags right away, let them handle the bags, and then have the resort hold them until you need them. A quick phone call and they will bring them up to your room.

If you do decide to get them yourselves, you must leave the yellow tags off of them. You have to know ahead of time if you are getting them yourselves or not, no last minute decision allowed. Pick up your non yellow tagged check bags from the luggage carousel and take them to the ME bus with you. The driver will put them under the bus for the ride to your resort, and then give them back to you at your resort. It is customary to tip a dollar or two a bag when the driver hands them back to you.

 

[twinklebug]

Wow! Would it be an option to just let DME grab our bags and leave them at the Luggage area at the resort? We are only staying one night at POP (due to the late flight) and then checking out in the morning, off to the park, then checking in at WL. If we pack everything in our carry on for the next day I am wondering if it will be easier than lugging all of that back and forth for just a few hours! (I heard POP is pretty big!) Also all of that movement just to get bags seems a bit much I kind of liked DME having to do all the work especially since its FREE

You can do that - of the three times in the past that I've used DME to handle our bags on late arrivals, each and every time they called the room at 1-3am to let us know our bags were there. Just be prepared for a ring.

After a long afternoon of travel I just want an undisturbed night's sleep, so I now take care of the luggage myself.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks for the info!! And I just noticed that, how funny! we will be staying that first night at POP since we are getting in so late, and then moving on to WL the next day!



Wow! Would it be an option to just let DME grab our bags and leave them at the Luggage area at the resort? We are only staying one night at POP (due to the late flight) and then checking out in the morning, off to the park, then checking in at WL. If we pack everything in our carry on for the next day I am wondering if it will be easier than lugging all of that back and forth for just a few hours! (I heard POP is pretty big!) Also all of that movement just to get bags seems a bit much I kind of liked DME having to do all the work especially since its FREE

Probably. Tag the bags, and let DME move them. When you get to Pop, stop by the Luggage Assistence office, off to the right of the main entrance. Tell them to please hold the luggage until the next morning, when you will be transferring to WL. Then, get up bright and early, head to the luggage office, give them the info they need to transfer the bags. And you can give them the carryon stuff as well.
And then head off to a park and then over to WL after a few hours of fun.

 

[squirrel4569]

One of the things we love about flying to Disney is using ME. The kids love riding the buses. They think it's a treat. Then we also don't have to bring car seats and haul our bags around. It's so nice to drop your bags at your home airport and you don't pick them up again until you get back home. Bell service brought our bags to and from our room and we didn't have to mess with anything.

When we arrived we followed the signs through MCO to the ME buses, found our bus and got on. We waited a few minutes for the bus to fill up and then headed out. It wasn't a long ride and like others have said, the movie passes the time and builds anticipation. The kids love it.

The only downside to the ME is that there is a bunch of you that land at the resort at one time, which floods the check in desk. Again, depending on time of day that could take some time to get through. I still wouldn't spend the money on a car though.

Pop had an airport check-in desk on-site (I'm assuming that all Disney resorts do) and we got our boarding passes and all of that right at the hotel. We got to MCO, went through security and had time for lunch before our flight took off. Again it was nice not to have to mess with our bags except to line them up in our room for the bell service.

Some people a) don't like to wait on others and b) plan things for their arrival and departure days. Those people would dislike ME. We don't plan anything on our travel days since the potential for delays are huge. That also means we're not really missing anything or wasting time. On our upcoming trip our flight is scheduled to land at 1:30. If we get delayed and don't get to the resort until 7pm we're still OK. We'll have a late dinner but that's about it.

 

[Christinaxo]

Arriving at 8pm I would still let ME handle the bags. It is always smart to pack what you need for the first 24 hours in your carry-on, just in case the airline misdirects your luggage. So as you shouldn't need anything from your checked bags right away, let them handle the bags, and then have the resort hold them until you need them. A quick phone call and they will bring them up to your room.

If you do decide to get them yourselves, you must leave the yellow tags off of them. You have to know ahead of time if you are getting them yourselves or not, no last minute decision allowed. Pick up your non yellow tagged check bags from the luggage carousel and take them to the ME bus with you. The driver will put them under the bus for the ride to your resort, and then give them back to you at your resort. It is customary to tip a dollar or two a bag when the driver hands them back to you.

Yellow Tags? Is that something I need to wait for in the mail? Im Sorry, again its my first time to WDW If I get the bags myself and take so long (as lucky as I am my children and fiancé are nicknamed "turtles" because they move at the slowest pace everrrrr lol) will the bus leave? Silly question I know but I just dont know what to expect and that makes me so nervous!

Probably. Tag the bags, and let DME move them. When you get to Pop, stop by the Luggage Assistence office, off to the right of the main entrance. Tell them to please hold the luggage until the next morning, when you will be transferring to WL. Then, get up bright and early, head to the luggage office, give them the info they need to transfer the bags. And you can give them the carryon stuff as well.
And then head off to a park and then over to WL after a few hours of fun.

This actually sounds like exactly what I need to do. We will prob be up at the crack of dawn considering the kids will be so excited so it will work out even better!! Thanks for the suggestion!

You can do that - of the three times in the past that I've used DME to handle our bags on late arrivals, each and every time they called the room at 1-3am to let us know our bags were there. Just be prepared for a ring.

After a long afternoon of travel I just want an undisturbed night's sleep, so I now take care of the luggage myself.

Hopefully if I ask them to hold onto the luggage they wont call lol but if they do they will just get my please just let me sleep "thank you" voice! haha

 

[jw50]

Yellow Tags? Is that something I need to wait for in the mail? Im Sorry, again its my first time to WDW If I get the bags myself and take so long (as lucky as I am my children and fiancé are nicknamed "turtles" because they move at the slowest pace everrrrr lol) will the bus leave? Silly question I know but I just dont know what to expect and that makes me so nervous!

Yes, you will get the yellow tags in the mail 30-45 days before your flight along with your ME voucher. Even if for some reason you do not receive the yellow tags you can take your baggage claim tickets to the ME desk at MCO and they will use those to claim your luggage for you and deliver it to your resort.

Basically as soon as one bus leaves another shows up so there is no concern about "missing" the bus from MCO to your resort. Now when it is time for you to leave the resort going home if you miss the bus at your resort that could be a problem depending on when the next ME bus is scheduled to pick up at your resort.

 

[fr spodo komodo]

I would recommend not using them as I have used them twice and both times have been woken up at 3/4 am for my luggage to be delivered.This is usually after arriving at 2/3 pm..We use fl magical tours to get from mco to the GF.Its great value,friendly service and I don't have to worry about my luggage taking a magical trip of its own

 

[donnot]

I and my 4 kids will be arriving in Disney in a few weeks on Saturday night (really Sunday morning) at about 12:30 a.m., staying at POR. We used ME last time for the same resort and it took us some time to get there as I think we were the last stop of about 4, but at least they took our bags.

This time, because we are arriving so late I see that we will have to get our own bags from baggage claim. Then I was thinking that we'll be the only ones on the bus, but I read somewhere that they actually take you to more resorts as they still wait to have a full bus before leaving the airport. Then I was wondering, how can you get your luggage so that you can go to sleep? Because it's so late and you've "bussed" it yourself to the bus anyway, do you take it with you off the bus?

I have actually reserved a car after thinking about all this, but of course then I get "buyer's remorse" that I won't actually use the car for anything but going back and forth to the airport. Thanks for any experience or opinion you can provide!

 

[Christinaxo]

Yes, you will get the yellow tags in the mail 30-45 days before your flight along with your ME voucher. Even if for some reason you do not receive the yellow tags you can take your baggage claim tickets to the ME desk at MCO and they will use those to claim your luggage for you and deliver it to your resort.

Basically as soon as one bus leaves another shows up so there is no concern about "missing" the bus from MCO to your resort. Now when it is time for you to leave the resort going home if you miss the bus at your resort that could be a problem depending on when the next ME bus is scheduled to pick up at your resort.

OOO ok that makes sense! LOL thanks for all the info!

 

[maxiesmom]

This time, because we are arriving so late I see that we will have to get our own bags from baggage claim. Then I was thinking that we'll be the only ones on the bus, but I read somewhere that they actually take you to more resorts as they still wait to have a full bus before leaving the airport. Then I was wondering, how can you get your luggage so that you can go to sleep? Because it's so late and you've "bussed" it yourself to the bus anyway, do you take it with you off the bus?

If you take your bags to the bus they will hand them over to you when you get off of the bus at your resort.

My only experience with a late-ish arrival and DME was a few years ago. However it was not a positive one. We landed at 11 pm and were not standing at our resort check in desk until 1 am. We boarded the bus, and then we sat there for a while. There were a few understandably over-tired kids who were not happy. We waited some time before the bus left the airport, and then our resort was the 4th stop. We went to CSR, AKL, ASMu, and then our stop at the Sports.

As much as I love using DME during the day, I won't use it if I ever again book a flight in that arrives after 10 pm. If I have to stop and get my bags, I would rather pay for a towncar and the be on my way from there.

 

[donnot]

If you take your bags to the bus they will hand them over to you when you get off of the bus at your resort.

My only experience with a late-ish arrival and DME was a few years ago. However it was not a positive one. We landed at 11 pm and were not standing at our resort check in desk until 1 am. We boarded the bus, and then we sat there for a while. There were a few understandably over-tired kids who were not happy. We waited some time before the bus left the airport, and then our resort was the 4th stop. We went to CSR, AKL, ASMu, and then our stop at the Sports.

As much as I love using DME during the day, I won't use it if I ever again book a flight in that arrives after 10 pm. If I have to stop and get my bags, I would rather pay for a towncar and the be on my way from there.

Thanks. I was trying to save money and hit the ground running on Sunday morning, but I'm thinking about those tired kids too. I am probably going to stick with my rental car.

 

[donnot]

I have thought about having some basic groceries (drinks and maybe some breakfast stuff) delivered to me at POR. My question - will they put the stuff in the room for you before you arrive or do you have to have it delivered to the front desk and take it to the room yourself?

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I usually plan about an hour from airport to resort.