Magical Express Poll

[TinkerbEllnor]

After hearing many horror stories about DME, I am curious as to others experiences to the timeliness of DME. This is just in regards to the bus service, not luggage delivery.

For the purposes of this poll,
Late on Arrival = more than 1 hr from flight landing to bus departure OR more than 1 hour from bus departure to arrival at resort
Late on Departure = missing your flight

Thanks for your input. Feel free to add in any comments you wish.

 

[CleveRocks]

I've gotta ask, WHAT HORROR STORIES???

Have there been a few problems here and there? I'm sure there have been. I think I've only read of ONE of them here on the DIS. Literally ONE. Not bad for a service that's had over 4 MILLION users so far. It's been so successful and so popular that even though it was originally supposed to end in the Fall of 2006 it was extended through at least the end of 2011.

I've read people on here complain of horror stories (not mild complaints, not even medium complaints, but self-described horror stories), but then it turns out that they didn't know how the system worked and made some unwise moves that a little bit of homework would have easily avoided, such as reading the materials Disney mails to future DME users.

Also, I find it interesting that you're asking for everyone's experiences, yet your "poll" only lists negative outcomes.

WHY SO NEGATIVE???

 

[debster812]

ITA with everything Cleverocks said.

I've used it 3x, and could not have been more pleased.

What horror stories have you heard???

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

I should clarify- the horror stories were self described horror stories by those who experienced them. It seems that the people who have bad experiences are VERY vocal about them, so I was looking for a more impartial view.

And for the record, the poll did not ONLY list negative outcomes. In the body of my post, I only clarified the definition of "late" for the purposes of the poll. "Late" can be subjective.

I'm glad to hear it worked out well for you.

The poll originated because I am worried about missing the return flight home because we have a MD appointment the next morning. A delay coming into the parks is not that big of a deal, but when you are trying to make a flight, a missed flight can leave a bad end to a good vacation.

 

[CleveRocks]

I should clarify- the horror stories were self described horror stories by those who experienced them. It seems that the people who have bad experiences are VERY vocal about them, so I was looking for a more impartial view.

And for the record, the poll did not ONLY list negative outcomes. In the body of my post, I only clarified the definition of "late" for the purposes of the poll. "Late" can be subjective.

I'm glad to hear it worked out well for you.

The poll originated because I am worried about missing the return flight home because we have a MD appointment the next morning. A delay coming into the parks is not that big of a deal, but when you are trying to make a flight, a missed flight can leave a bad end to a good vacation.

GOTCHA!

In my own defense, when I responded to your post there was no poll available, only the text of your post. The poll is now visible, and I see what you're talking about.

 

[clkelley]

Our family members have use Magical Express multiple times and have had NO problems.

Quick transport to our resort, our bags always arrived later that day. (On our mid-day arrivals, we check-in and head for the parks, usually not arriving back to the resort till late, and our bags have always been there).

The one time I had a very late night arrival, by the time I got to Ft. Wilderness, checked in, and went to the restroom, my bags (and tent and bed) arrived and the van took me and my stuff to the site all at the same time.

Our pickup was always within 5 minutes of our scheduled time and we got to the airport within plenty of time.

Now granted, there have been minor "glitches", but not MEs fault.

My hubby uses an ECV and rather than worry about a lift bus, we store it underneath the bus. ME drivers are not allowed to load them, so we just use our teenage sons and load it ourselves, or we remove the batteries and load it ourselves.

One time at Ft. Wilderness, my son had a 5:30 am ME pickup time. He requested that Ft. Wilderness pick him up from the site at 4:30 AM. Well, they were late, (and being inexperienced my son did not call the front desk soon enough (or wake me up)), when he did finally call the front desk, they picked him up right away and paid for a cab for him to get to the airport on time.

Also, at Ft. Wilderness, some bags had not arrived. Well, we called the front desk and they brought them right away. (It was raining some that day, and they did not want to open our tents to put the bags away while we were out).

One time we had connecting rooms, and instead of splitting out the bags per room, they were placed all in one room.

(As you can see I'm having a hard time finding things wrong).

To be honest, back in the days of Mears and using TownCars, I had lots more problems. Also lugging my own bags was not fun.

My only real complaint is the Resort Airline Checkin Desk. Their hours and the 12 hour max on checking luggage aren't condusive to my preferred travel times.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Where are all the "horror stories" that Magical Express supposedly generates?

I've used Magical Express four times, roundtrip.

Each check-in at Orlando International was a little different. The check-in line at the Disney Welcome Center varied from 0-10 minutes. The time from check-in until the motorcoach departed varied from 2-20 minutes. Twice, our resort was the first stop, and twice, our resort was the third stop. Magical Express is a shared service, so there's some luck involved. Overall, the outbound service varied from perfect to very good.

The returns to Orlando International were all fine. The motorcoaches were on time. Each of the four times, we made one stop at another resort and then headed directly to the airport.

Actually, there have been Magical Express "horror stories" on this board. A few times, people have posted about luggage delivery. The story typically goes something like this... They arrived at their resort in hot, sunny Florida, in their winter clothes from up north. They were livid that their bags didn't reach their room until a couple of hours later. (Clearly, they hadn't read their packets.) Common sense should have told them to pack carry-ons with anything they would need the first several hours. Even if they didn't read the packet, common sense should have told them that their bags needed to be unloaded from their aircraft, sorted, trucked to their hotel, and delivered by bellmen who aren't just twiddling their thumbs waiting for one family's baggage.

 

[CleveRocks]

I've read people on here complain of horror stories (not mild complaints, not even medium complaints, but self-described horror stories), but then it turns out that they didn't know how the system worked and made some unwise moves that a little bit of homework would have easily avoided, such as reading the materials Disney mails to future DME users.

Just as the doctor ordered, there's an example on another thread TODAY of someone very vocal and upset about a terrible thing that happened on DME, but it turns out it was an unrealistic expectation rather than a true horror story:

On Sunday my parents (68 and 64) and my uncle and his girlfriend (70 and 65 - note girlfriend is very ill) were picked up at 7:50 AM at Old Key West. They showed their tickets and told the bus driver they were going to JetBlue. When the bus arrived at the airport the bus driver told EVERYONE on the bus to get off. He had dropped off everyone at the ARRIVAL terminal for American Airlines. My parents stayed on the bus and told the bus driver they were DEPARTING on JetBlue. The bus driver would only keep saying "off, off". My parents saw their luggage out on the street so they got off. The bus driver then took off. They had to walk to the other side of the terminal and try to find JetBlue. Yes they had plenty of time but they were given no answers and dropped off in entirely the wrong place and for arriving not departing.

OK, the driver seemed uncaring and rude, there's no excuse for that -- he should have been helpful rather than apparently aloof. But other than that, there is NO HORROR STORY HERE.

DME drops off only in 2 locations at the airport, once on the A side and once on the B side. In both cases, it's down on level 1 of the airport, the typical place for people arriving at the airport, not where people go for departures. People departing need to go to Level 3 where the skycaps and ticket counters are. People taking DME walk into the airport on Level 1 and then take the elevators to Level 3. So the horror story about being dropped off on the wrong level is actually just standard procedure that it known and written about.

Also, the poster was angry that her parents were dropped off at the wrong airline. Again, it's public knowledge that DME drops off at only one location on each side of the terminal and not at every airline. So the horror story about being dropped off at the wrong airline is actually just standard procedure that it known and written about.

So you can see what I mean, I hope ... many vocal complaints about DME would not have been complaints if people did their homework. For example, if the prospect of being dropped off at the airport on the wrong level and perhaps a long walk from my airline counter was unacceptable to me, I'd choose to avoid DME and pay for a different way back to the airport. Or even if I didn't like it too much but was willing to put up with it because it's free, then it wouldn't be a HORROR STORY, it would be a choice, a trade-off.

Just an example, hope it helped.

 

[gcrw11]

We've never had a bad experience at all. We've used it numerous times and love it. I hope that it stays forever because we haven't needed a car in a few years because of this service. We've never waited more than 10 minutes to leave from the airport. And yes, they make you get there 2 hours before your flight, but you won't miss your flight because of this reason.
Please, let's keep this a positive thing so that Disney will keep it forever.

 

[kkmauch]

A lot of people have used ME many times. For me, I picked ON time for both ways. Although, the first time I used ME, just a couple weeks after it first started, I waited at the airport for over an hour to get on a bus. Since then, my service has been exceptional, I've had no problems and I have always been on time to my flight and resort.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So you can see what I mean, I hope ... many vocal complaints about DME would not have been complaints if people did their homework. For example, if the prospect of being dropped off at the airport on the wrong level and perhaps a long walk from my airline counter was unacceptable to me, I'd choose to avoid DME and pay for a different way back to the airport. Or even if I didn't like it too much but was willing to put up with it because it's free, then it wouldn't be a HORROR STORY, it would be a choice, a trade-off.

Yes. It's a good point that some people have been annoyed at being dropped on Level 1 (the ground transportation level), with just one stop on the Terminal A side and just one stop on the Terminal B side.

In defense of those people, neither the mailed Magical Express packet nor the "transportation notice" on the day prior to check-out describes how the motorcoach drops off guests at the airport. The driver describes the process as he approaches the terminal.

It is reasonable to expect guests to read the materials that Disney provides. But guests should not have to hang around message forums such as this one to do "their homework."

I guess the drop-off process doesn't bother me. We've always used Resort Airline Check-in (which is not an option with some airlines nor with very early departure times), and we've always arrived with plenty of time until boarding time. So going up escalators or an elevator and walking to the appropriate TSA check-point was never a problem.

However, guests who are surprised to arrive with a mountain of luggage two levels below the departure level (and possibly a significant distance from their airline's counter) may legitimately be disappointed.

 

[ncbyrne]

I voted on time arrival/departure, but actually only used it one way MCO/CSR. We rented a car onsite for the week and drove back to the airport.

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

I suppose "horror story" was a poor choice of words on my part... didn't mean to ruffle feathers.

Its great that people's experiences have been so positive with DME. I am looking forward to our first ride with them in 9 days (single digits, )

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

At this point, 2 people have selected "On Time Arrival/ Late on Departure" in the poll.

The OP defines "Late on Departure = missing your flight."

Did 2 people really miss their flights? Or did some people take the poll without reading the definition? Perhaps, were they simply actually answering that their DME motorcoach arrived some time after their scheduled pick-up time?

I've been reading DME posts on this board since the dawn of DME. I've read a few cases of when DME passengers arrived at the gate when their flight was already boarding. I've never read a single case in which someone got to the gate too late to board their flight.

With millions of DME passengers since the DME program started, I have to believe that it's possible that a few people (out of those millions) missed their flights, despite being at their pick-up location on time. But I find it very hard to believe that 2 out of 25 (that's 8%) actually missed their flights.

 

[simzac]

Love ME. Have used it twice and will continue to use it as long as Disney offers the service

 

[NewJersey]

It was great..no complaints.


IMO, people have way too much stuff to complain about. If people don't want to take it, then pay for a rental car. 'nuff said.

 

[michamato]

We have used Magical Express twice in the past year. I thought it was very easy, and I would keep using the service. I especially LOVE the fact that we didn't have to go to baggage claim on the way to the hotel!!!

 

[Evil Genius]

We've used ME 4 times since it inception and we have found it wonderful. No matter what type of resort we are heading to it's worked out well for us. I've seen some stories of people complaining about ME, and understand their frustration, but it is one more thing that you need to research to understand what it does.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Okay. Four people have now "voted" for "On Time Arrival/ Late on Departure" in the poll, and the OP defines "Late on Departure = missing your flight."

If you are one of those four people, did you actually miss your flight?

Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume that those four "votes" are either from people who didn't read the OP's definition or from people who are just trying to give Magical Express a black eye (possibly because of a financial motive).

Has anyone on this board actually missed a flight if they were at their resort's DME pickup location at the scheduled time?

 

[Luckymommyx2]

We've used ME 3 or 4 roundtrips and we've had no problems at all. The kids love to ride the bus and it's been very convenient for us.