Magical Express Question...

[CindeBella]

*Approximately* how long does it take to get from MCO to your DW resort via Magical Express?

In the past, we have taken Mears to and from the airport while staying at the Swan/Dolphin. I am considering a different resort for our next trip, either BW or FW, but the thought of staying on the bus for a long period of time is not appealing. Should we a direct shuttle instead?

 

[supersuperwendy]

I've heard about 90 minutes. I haven't used the service yet myself, but we're trying it in may.

 

[OKW Lover]

You should expect it to take 2 hours, and then be pleasantly surprised when it only takes 1.5 hours. That's from the time you land to when you actually arrive at the hotel.

 

[goofy4tink]

The average time from deplaning to resort checkin is running about 70 minutes. That's about what it's going to take you even if you choose to use a towncar service. My experience has been thus..
off plane at, say, 1:00 pm. Bathroom break, 1:05, get to DME checkin area, 1:15 (at the longest), checkin and head to bus line, 1:25, get on bus, 1:35 (also longest wait I've had), wait for bus to load before it pulls away, 1:45. Depending on which of three stops your resort is...30 mins to first WDW resort, it could be between 2:15 and 2:30 when you get to your resort. But, like I said, these times are the longest times I've had to wait. Usually the checkin line and the bus line have taken me a total of 15 minutes, then the longest wait, on the bus, has been 10 minutes. The one time it took me close to 85 mins was when we were the third stop and the second stop had a ton of people that needed to get off and gather up their bags, from under the bus.

The one time it has taken me less than one hour to get from the airport to my resort was when I used a towncar service and had only carryon luggage, bypassing the baggage claim area. That time it took me 50 minutes total to get to the resort after deplaning. I love DME and will take it whenever it is an option for me. The lack of DME service is the one downside of staying at either the Swan or the Dolphin.

 

[goofy4tink]

You should expect it to take 2 hours, and then be pleasantly surprised when it only takes 1.5 hours. That's from the time you land to when you actually arrive at the hotel.

Not sure where the two hours, or even the 1.5 hrs comes from. I've used DME about 4 times now and it has routinely taken me 70 mins to get from the plane to my resort. As I said previously, the one time I was in the 90 min. range was when I was number three on the stop route and a ton of folks got off at number 2. Very few people are reporting 1.5-2 hr time frames, at least not here on the DIS.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

We have used it 4 or 5 times now as well and we are at about the 50 to 60 min. time frame fron stepping off the bus until getting in line at check-in.

Last trip was about 1h10m as wew were the 4 stop at SSR and the bus got tied up at OKW for abour 20 min as they were painting the sidewalk/curbs at the bus loading area and it had everything backed up.

 

[CindeBella]

Thank you for all of your responses... that time does not seem bad at all. I was afraid it would be a long drive as I rembered in Cancun That trip left me with a bad feeling for shuttles that go to various resorts. I should have known Disney better.

As for taking a town car to Swan/Dolphin. We usually arrive MCO at 11am and arrive at Epcot by 1pm, after unpacking and changing clothes. We've always felt we made good time.

 

[bytheblood]

We usually land a little after 11 and we are the Lobby checking in around 12:30.

 

[OKW Lover]

Not sure where the two hours, or even the 1.5 hrs comes from. I've used DME about 4 times now and it has routinely taken me 70 mins to get from the plane to my resort. As I said previously, the one time I was in the 90 min. range was when I was number three on the stop route and a ton of folks got off at number 2. Very few people are reporting 1.5-2 hr time frames, at least not here on the DIS.

It comes from my own personal experience. 1 hour, 45 minutes in early December to get to VWL.