Magical Express Luggage time frame

[casjen]

HI! I arrive on 12/23 at in the evening (before 8pm). We have always pulled our luggage before we ride the magical express. My DH doesn't want to drag all the bags on the bus this time. How long should we expect until the bags get to our room in the Poly? I know the time frame Disney gives but I was looking for others experiences. We have tags for the bags they sent us.

Just trying to decide what we will need in our carry ons etc.

Thanks!

 

[Hopefully]

This question is best asked on the Transportation forum, not here on the resorts forum.
Disney's estimate of 3 hours after resort checkin has proven accurate in our many trips

 

[maxiesmom]

During peak seasons the delivery window is extended to 4 hours after your resort check in time. If you land around 8 your bags should be to your room by 1:30 am. That is given the average time of 90 minutes to your resort, and then the delivery window.

 

[Muskegon78]

HI! I arrive on 12/23 at in the evening (before 8pm). We have always pulled our luggage before we ride the magical express. My DH doesn't want to drag all the bags on the bus this time. How long should we expect until the bags get to our room in the Poly? I know the time frame Disney gives but I was looking for others experiences. We have tags for the bags they sent us.

Just trying to decide what we will need in our carry ons etc.

Thanks!

What are your options with pulling your luggage? Just taking them with you at the resort or are you otherwise not seeing them at all after landing?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would bring everything you need for a good night's sleep in your carry-on, and if you don't have small children, let them deliver them in the evening so you have clothes for the morning. If you are light sleepers and don't want to take the risk of a late delivery, bring clothes for morning as well.

Because it is 12/23, expect a higher volume of ME traffic and bag traffic than at almost any other time of the year, which means the usual timeframes may extend somewhat.

 

[maxiesmom]

What are your options with pulling your luggage? Just taking them with you at the resort or are you otherwise not seeing them at all after landing?

If you let Magical Express handle your bags you don't see them at all until they bring them to your room. And that means you cannot access them either.

 

[Brancaneve]

We have only used ME once before and we collected our luggage before boarding because I left the tags at home. Do a lot of people do this? I would rather have my luggage with me and not wait.

 

[maxiesmom]

We have only used ME once before and we collected our luggage before boarding because I left the tags at home. Do a lot of people do this? I would rather have my luggage with me and not wait.

Some do. I'm not sure why, if you trust the airline to move your bags, trusting ME to move them is out of the question.

I'd rather not waste the time at the airport waiting for my bags.

 

[dancin Disney style]

If you have the option to let ME handle your bags then do so. Waiting for luggage at MCO is a long painful process. We fly in there a lot and of most of the time we have to retrieve bags. The fastest I've ever had my bags was about 35 minutes but usually they don't even start coming out for about 40-45 minutes and this is after arriving at the carousel....not after getting off the plane. Last March my DD and I waited for bags for about 10-15 minutes when they switched the carousel and then after we moved to the new location we waited a few more minutes. I then decided to leave my DD waiting for the bags while I went downstairs to complete the pick up for our rental car. I went down, walked to the far end of the building, waited in line at the kiosk and did the paper work, walked back to the end I started at, back upstairs and the bags still had not started coming out. My estimate on that particular day was that we waited an hour from the time we got to the(first) carousel until we pulled our bags off.

I'm so not looking forward to waiting for bags on my next visit to MCO....I'm arriving at 10:30pm. Of course that trip we are not renting a car and staying onsite. Unfortunately, I can't get an earlier flight that would allow ME to take my bags.

 

[Brancaneve]

Good to know dancindisneystyle and maxiesmom! I'll just make sure my carry on has all the important essentials!

 

[nkereina]

We have only used ME once before and we collected our luggage before boarding because I left the tags at home. Do a lot of people do this? I would rather have my luggage with me and not wait.

I would say most people do it. It's very convenient if people have multiple bags or small children - most airlines baggage claims are on side A which means you have to lug everything over to B to get on DME. Up and down the elevator twice. It can be a hassle.

We have pulled our own luggage before boarding DME before and have waited forever at baggage claim. At least 30 minutes each time. That being said, there have been several instances we've waited for DME for a good 30 minutes as well. Just easier without your big bags in tow, IMO.

 

[disneypanda11]

I'm going to share my recent experience with a disclaimer that we've used ME every single trip and not had any issues until this one.

We arrived around 2:30 PM and had two checked bags tagged for ME. We went straight to Disney Springs after we got off the ME bus and returned to our room around 9:00 PM. Only one of the checked bags was in our room. I figured that our airline had lost the 2nd bag and called Bell Services to find out how I should proceed. To my surprise, Bell Services confirmed my bag was not lost (yay!) but instead on-site and being "processed". They said that sometimes ME bags are delivered at different times. Ok, fine. It took another hour and another phone call before someone finally showed up to my room with the 2nd bag.

This was nearly 8 hours after we landed. Point in case, in my personal experiences, these issues are rare, but it was a good reminder that delays can and do happen, and if you absolutely need something out of a checked bag, you may be better retrieving that luggage yourself before boarding the bus, or bringing those items in your carry on.

 

[LJSquishy]

I want to say that it took about 2hrs for our bags to arrive but it actually may have been 3hrs. I'm not totally sure since we weren't in our room. Our plane landed a little before 5pm but we didn't get to the resort until around 6:30pm due to ME having to make two other stops first. I remember us getting to our room, grabbing a quick bite to eat, then heading out around 8pm or so to go to MK to watch the MSEP...we got back at 10pm (give or take) and our bags were in our room.

I would definitely plan on the 3hrs...if you don't want to wait up for your bags, I would definitely grab them at baggage claim. We debated whether to let ME handle the bags or not and we ended up packing pajamas & toiletries (and one outfit for the next day) just in case our bags got lost, delayed, etc. I think the "rule" is 3hrs from the time you arrive at your resort (not from when your plane lands) so for you, that may be around midnight.

 

[phillymummer]

Or your bag can arrive to your room before you do! This happened to us in 2012. Our flight landed around 11am. Our room was ready when we got to the resort (POR)t. We got to our room and one of our two bags was already there. My hubby was all freaked out bc it was only one bag and he made me call bell services. The second arrived sometime later (we went to MK so I have no idea when it actually showed up).

 

[scrapquitler]

HI! I arrive on 12/23 at in the evening (before 8pm). We have always pulled our luggage before we ride the magical express. My DH doesn't want to drag all the bags on the bus this time. How long should we expect until the bags get to our room in the Poly? I know the time frame Disney gives but I was looking for others experiences. We have tags for the bags they sent us.

Just trying to decide what we will need in our carry ons etc.

Thanks!

Last time we went, our flight landed at 8:30PM, we arrived at Pop about 10:15, and our luggage arrived a few minutes after midnight

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

We just got back from our trip & we stayed at AKL. We landed about 9 pm. Our luggage didn't get to our room till after 2am.

 

[siskaren]

We just got back from our trip & we stayed at AKL. We landed about 9 pm. Our luggage didn't get to our room till after 2am.

Which means you probably didn't get to your resort until about 10:30, and since DME says you're supposed to get your luggage 3-4 hours after you check in (not after you land), you were within that time frame.

 

[AngiTN]

During peak seasons the delivery window is extended to 4 hours after your resort check in time. If you land around 8 your bags should be to your room by 1:30 am. That is given the average time of 90 minutes to your resort, and then the delivery window.

Which means you probably didn't get to your resort until about 10:30, and since DME says you're supposed to get your luggage 3-4 hours after you check in (not after you land), you were within that time frame.

But how do they determine "check in" now that you get straight to your room notices, sometimes even before you leave for the airport?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

But how do they determine "check in" now that you get straight to your room notices, sometimes even before you leave for the airport?

You open the door with magic band.

They won't bring bags to a room until you have been to the room, generally and broadly speaking.

 

[AngiTN]

You open the door with magic band.

They won't bring bags to a room until you have been to the room, generally and broadly speaking.

So 3 hours after you open your door to your room? What if you arrive at 8:00 AM, go straight to the park, get your room ready text at say, 3:00 and then head to the room at 8:00 PM? Your bags won't arrive till 11:00 PM?