Magical Express Line?!

[kedz]

Spring Break saw busier DME times, but generally speaking, wait times have been relatively normal. We waited maybe 20 minutes in total on our October trip. The average time between landing and arriving at your resort is 90 minutes using DME, and I think that still holds true, with the exception of particularly busy times like Spring Break, Christmas, etc.

Buses to and from the parks were fine in my experience, with the exception of rope drop. Its not uncommon to have to wait for the next bus because they fill up much faster than before. We used Uber when trying to make rope drop, but used the buses the rest of the time and it was fine.

All of this said, I would not rent a car unless you need it for other reasons. IMO, any potential delays you may experience are minimal enough where the additional cost of the rental car and parking would not be worth it.

I appreciate all your info!! You answered all my questions. We are arriving the Sunday the day before Memorial Day. I'm hoping it will not have the same crowds as Spring Break!

 

[Ensusieasm]

Do you need to do anything to cancel your Magical Express reservation if you’re waiting on a line like this & manage to get an uber/lyft instead?

No, you don’t have to do anything.

 

[Rigby]

How hard is to get a Lyft at MCO? We’ve always taken ME but for our upcoming June trip we’re thinking of Lyft to Disney and ME back to MCO.

 

[joe-aka-papabear]

Any updates on recent lines for DME? We are arriving early afternoon Friday and are wondering what to expect.

 

[tjmw2727]

Cross posted on the just back thread and here:

I timed our trip on Saturday 4/18 - landed at 2, grabbed bags and traversed the airport (swa) to DME. No line for check in and waited about 5 minutes when the first bus pulled up - just missed it. First party in line now, waited another 18 minutes for the second bus, boarded and left immediately after the bus was loaded. It was a generic coach, no video but it was clean and comfortable, we were loaded back to front skipping rows between parties.

Only POP guests on bus so no additional stops and we were at Pop by 3:15.

 

[Mm889123]

Are they still staggering seats on ME?

 

[tjmw2727]

Are they still staggering seats on ME?

On Saturday 4/18 yes; we were assigned a row - and every other row was skipped.

 

[DaniPoppins]

We arrived at MCO on Sunday, April 18 at 12:45 pm. We only had carry-on bags so headed straight for the ME. The line was CRAZY long. It stretched way more than half way down the terminal. We walked down the line and asked someone waiting at about the halfway point how long they had been waiting, she said an hour and a half!!! And she still had a long way to go. We walked outside to the Mears taxi stand that was right there and were on a taxi on our way to the GF in 5 minutes. I am sure we were at the resort having a cold drink in the lovely GF lobby before that lady and her family were even on a ME bus! Best $70 I ever spent!!

But... on our return trip back to MCO, we were picked up on time and got to MCO in 35 minutes, no issues at all. Everyone was very well spaced out on the bus and the friendly driver even sang us a song!

 

[PrincesCJM]

We arrived on 4/16 around 3pm. Grabbed our check bags and headed down to ME. Saw a huge line but it turns out it was for a specific bus/resort (Line #9). We waited in line about 5 minutes before boarding our bus to the Grand Floridian. I was completely surprised it was that quick. We lucked out throughout the trip with transportation. Never waited for any more than 5 minutes, other than our ride back to the airport. We arrived 15 minutes early, as directed and the bus was about 5 minutes late.

 

[BarbossasWench]

Disney’s Magical Express is a joke! No buses fir ten minutes. I’ve been waiting for forty minutes for a ride. With what we pay for rooms, they should treat us better!

 

[Jimsig]

On Aptil 15th we landed around 815p and got to DME at 835p. They only had one person working the check in desk. The line was half way back to the second elevator and at least 50 people in front of us. Within 10 min is was already back to the second elevator with at least 100 people in line. It seemed that one group of about 8 people must not have had a reservation as it took forever to get them checked in as the agent was typing a lot of stuff into her computer (probably there return flight info as well). When we were two groups from checking in another agent finally showed up to check people in. By the time we got to the front the line it was now 905p. All the people around us were commenting on why they only had one person working when they had to know roughly how many people would need the service around that time etc.

During that whole time we were in the first line I kept checking and there was never more than one group in any of the resort queues as they were loading almost as soon as you got there. We were heading to Fort Wilderness and that queue had a sign that it was serving FW, Poly, and GF. There was one group in another line before us so it took about 2 min for the woman to have us scan the bands and make our way outside. They assigned us a van and we were the only ones on it and left as soon as we got on at 909p. We were going under the Disney sign at 933p and were at The Fort less than 8 min later.

 

[Gitelfor]

Here is a video from a traveler who decided to grab an Uber, rather than wait in an endless DME line.

 

[pixiedust2u]

We had friends their today who arrived mid morning and were told they had at least an hour wait. They bailed and took an Uber.

We decided to cancel our MDE reservation for June, and will hire a private transport instead. At least we will get a grocery stop in. But kind of bummed as was looking forward to the experience one last time.

I wonder who is calling the shots right now, Mears or Disney? Clearly the demand is outpacing supply, why would they want customers to have this experience?

 

[Cbaur88]

DME line today at MCO


View attachment 567979
Photo credit: Kenny the Pirate

That's how it was for us back in Nov. But the line moved so fast, I chalked up the line being long due to social distancing. Did they already start to cut back on the amount of buses being using to transport their guests? What a slap in the face by canceling this.

 

[mackmack]

So to me this looks like its just going to get worse and worse as people start traveling more. Is it worth it to just bite the bullet and grab an uber? Is the cost from orlando to disney resort around $40? Seems worth it to not stand in line for 2 hours and deal with the bus. Anyone have thoughts on that?

 

[Jimsig]

We had friends their today who arrived mid morning and were told they had at least an hour wait. They bailed and took an Uber.

We decided to cancel our MDE reservation for June, and will hire a private transport instead. At least we will get a grocery stop in. But kind of bummed as was looking forward to the experience one last time.

I wonder who is calling the shots right now, Mears or Disney? Clearly the demand is outpacing supply, why would they want customers to have this experience?

My feeling is Mears mgmt does not care at this point as Dis has given them the heave ho. Disney has already "fired them" so what is Disney going to do to them? Disney probably gave them no incentive to keep up great customer service. Granted Mears will be running there own service but that;s when they will start caring again. I have a feeling as times goes on Mears will start removing the Disney wraps on the buses so that when the new service starts all the buses says Mears and not a trace of what the DME styling looked like,

 

[pixiedust2u]

My feeling is Mears mgmt does not care at this point as Dis has given them the heave ho. Disney has already "fired them" so what is Disney going to do to them? Disney probably gave them no incentive to keep up great customer service. Granted Mears will be running there own service but that;s when they will start caring again. I have a feeling as times goes on Mears will start removing the Disney wraps on the buses so that when the new service starts all the buses says Mears and not a trace of what the DME styling looked like,

Mears has 8 months left of their contract with Disney. That’s A LOT of guests. I don’t disagree with you, but I think that mentality is unwise on behalf of Mears. As Mears will no longer be a service included in your Disney resort package, it’ll be a paid service competing with all the other paid service options (ride share, private car hire, rentals etc). That’s an awful lot of guests in the next 8 months that are going to walk away saying “I’m never doing that again!” Already you see people opting out and choosing to pay for other services.

 

[kedz]

I'm starting to think maybe we should use a car service for our upcoming trip in May . Has anyone used Orlando Transportation by Mike?

 

[Jimsig]

Mears has 8 months left of their contract with Disney. That’s A LOT of guests. I don’t disagree with you, but I think that mentality is unwise on behalf of Mears. As Mears will no longer be a service included in your Disney resort package, it’ll be a paid service competing with all the other paid service options (ride share, private car hire, rentals etc). That’s an awful lot of guests in the next 8 months that are going to walk away saying “I’m never doing that again!” Already you see people opting out and choosing to pay for other services.

Most people probably don't know who Mears are. They think that it's Disney employees driving the bus etc. Just as most people thought the DME and the baggage service were one in the same. So when the paid service starts people will think of Mears as just starting this new service in place f Disney and if they do better customer service wise a good majority will be none the wiser. Also they get a lot of first and second timers who think the waits are normal etc. Those that frequent these message boards know the difference of how it used to be etc. Those unaware will wait in line thinking it's normal. Or as I like to call it ignorantly bliss, they don't know any better so they are happy with what they get as long as it's not over the top terrible.

Also as I see it I waited 30 min just to get checked in, a couple min in the resort queue, and our van left right away and as we were the only ones we were the only stop. It was less then 90 min from the gate to the resort with a bathroom stop (we did not have to get luggage as it was already in my parents RV). I have had trips in the past where I have had to wait 5-10 min to get checked in, 10 min in the resort queue, and then 10 min for the bus to leave, and then you are the 3rd stop and it took just over 90 min from the gate to the resort. If just feels worse when you wait in one of those areas for 30 min if you know what I mean. If there wasn't a line we may have been to our resort in less the 60 min from the gate and knowing that also makes it frustrating

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I'm starting to think maybe we should use a car service for our upcoming trip in May . Has anyone used Orlando Transportation by Mike?

No. I booked with FL Tours which sponsors this tread on the THE DIS. I have never used FL Tours before. But, after reviewing several threads and listening to Pete W. speak highly of them during a podcast, I booked with them. Thus far, I have been very happy with the customer service, but I haven't actually traveled with them yet. I suppose the proof is in the pudding.