Magical Express Question

[BeLLaNoTTe]

Hi All I have a trip booked for late March into early April and i am SUPER excited. I already have all my reservations booked including Magical Express. I know it is verye arly to be concerned about this but it will keep me at ease if i could have an answer to this question..

I will be arriving at MCO late on March 30 and i have a ressie with M.E but I was wondering if I have to pick up my own bags at baggage claim or does Disney pick them up for me? If Disney does pick up my bags do you think that our bags will arrive at our hotel room the next morning or that night when we check in? If i picked up my own bags would it be better so i can have my bags with me?

 

[tampaguys]

You do not need to pick up your bags, Disney does it for you (which is why you need the special DME luggage tags). The luggage is transported in unmarked white trucks which basically follow the passenger buses to the resorts, so don't panic when you don't see them putting your bags into the bus. Your bag will arrive at your room the same evening that you do. Depending on how busy it is, there may be a little delay, so I recommend having one bag that you carry with you for any items you anticipate needing as soon as you get to the resort, as well as any essential items like medicines.

 

[CleveRocks]

Hi All I have a trip booked for late March into early April and i am SUPER excited. I already have all my reservations booked including Magical Express. I know it is verye arly to be concerned about this but it will keep me at ease if i could have an answer to this question..

I will be arriving at MCO late on March 30 and i have a ressie with M.E but I was wondering if I have to pick up my own bags at baggage claim or does Disney pick them up for me? If Disney does pick up my bags do you think that our bags will arrive at our hotel room the next morning or that night when we check in? If i picked up my own bags would it be better so i can have my bags with me?

About 8 weeks ago, my flight arrived at MCO around 10 p.m., and DME got me to my resort by about 11 p.m. (actually, it took 56 minutes landing to drop-off). At around 1:15 a.m. we got a call that our luggage was ready to be brought up, but we asked that they hold it 'til morning. We called for it around 6:30 a.m. and they brought it up a few minutes later.

What I had PLANNED to do was at the time of check-in ask both the front desk and Bell Services to hold my DME luggage 'til morning, so we wouldn't get a phone call or knock at the door in the middle of the night. I guess Disney excitement made me forget my plan.

No matter where you fly, it's always a good idea to take a well-stocked carry-on -- what if the AIRLINE delays your luggage??? If you do this, it won't rightly matter when your DME luggage gets delivered, because you'll have your immediate needs in your carry-on.

If you choose to pick up your own bags at baggage claim, this will just delay you getting to WDW, because you'll have to wait at baggage claim. ALSO, if you choose to pick up your own bags, don't put the yellow DME tags on them. Bags with yellow DME luggage tags don't make it out to the public baggage claim carousels.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

There was one report that very late at night guests had to go get their luggage from the carousels, yellow tags or not.

Not sure whether this actually happened but it would be counterproductive since the bus would have to wait for them.

Despite some postings on message boards such as this one, there was never a requirement for guests on late flights to retrieve their own luggage. Bags with yellow tags are handled by Disney (and Disney's contractor), regardless of when a flight arrives.

The Magical Express motorcoaches do not wait for guests with reservations to arrive. They are dispatched, as needed, after guests check in at the Magical Express counter.

I agree with Eric (CleveRocks). Especially if I were arriving late at night, the last thing I'd want to do is spend an additional 20-60 minutes at the airport going to baggage claim, waiting for my bags, dragging them through the airport (possibly from one corner to the other corner of the huge terminal building), and dealing with them at the resort.

I'd take carry-ons for overnight, and I'd request DME luggage delivery of checked bags the next morning.

 

[UBSHANG]

Since baggage delivery can typically take between 2 to 3 hours after arrival, DME personnel suggested that we do not use the yellow tags on our luggage when arriving in MCO after 10:00 PM.

Picking up our luggage in baggage claim instead of going directly to the DME bus only took an additional few minutes and certainly did not have any affect on the DME departure time. We still had to wait for 20 minutes on the bus after the checking in our luggage with the driver.

Another service of DME allows you to check your luggage and receive your boarding passes at the resort airline check-in if you are departing on a participating airline. This time-saving convenience prevents you from having to check-in your luggage at the airport.

 

[stitchlovestink]

We were in a similar situation where we arrived very late at night in August. I think we landed around 10:30 and we were almost 30 min early. I didn't pick up our luggage. DME got us to POP about 45-50 min after checking in at the DME desk. I didn't think to mention anything to the front desk about luggage as I was told they automatically hold it until morning when you check into your hotel room that late at night. So I had packed everything we would need for 1st night and next morning in our carryon (except banned liquids). Had a knock on the hotel door about 1:15 am to deliver luggage. I was o.k. w/ it since I was too excited to sleep. DH and both DD's were asleep though. It worked out great for me. Since I was too excited to sleep, I got almost everything unpacked and that made me just tired enough to finally drop off to sleep.
I would say, do what works for you. Just keep the Yellow Tags (and whether or not to attach them to your bags) in mind when you make your decision. Enjoy.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Since baggage delivery can typically take between 2 to 3 hours after arrival, DME personnel suggested that we do not use the yellow tags on our luggage when arriving in MCO after 10:00 PM.

Good point. There are some DME phone people who make that suggestion. But that doesn't mean it's the only option.

Picking up our luggage in baggage claim instead of going directly to the DME bus only took an additional few minutes and certainly did not have any affect on the DME departure time. We still had to wait for 20 minutes on the bus after the checking in our luggage with the driver.

I guess it depends on how you define "an additional few minutes."

If your baggage claim was directly above the Magical Express Welcome Center; and the baggage handlers unloaded all bags from your aircraft with exceptional speed, rushed them to baggage claim, and set them out on the conveyor belt with lightning speed; and you were lucky enough to have your bags emerge first; I would still think it would be more than "an additional few minutes."

Let's face it. Orlando International is huge airport, and it normally takes quite a while for all bags to emerge on the baggage claim conveyor belt.

Sure, DME guestf can claim their own luggage (just don't use the yellow tags). Some guests want to be reunited with their bags at the airport. But guests need to be aware that this means spending more time at the airport — sometimes significantly more time.

If you had to wait 20 minutes for your motorcoach to depart, chances are that you missed one (or possibly two) earlier motorcoach departures to your resort.

 

[T+C]

When you get to the motorcoach with your "carry-on", do they stow it, or do you take it with you on the coach like you do on the plane?

 

[goofy4tink]

When you get to the motorcoach with your "carry-on", do they stow it, or do you take it with you on the coach like you do on the plane?

If your 'carry-on' is smallish then you can take in on the bus with you. If it's a bit larger and doesn't fit comfortably, at your feet basically, then is should go under the bus. I've done it both ways. There really aren't any overhead bins on the bus like on the plane. There is small storage up there, but it's pretty small.

 

[UBSHANG]

I guess it depends on how you define "an additional few minutes."....If your baggage claim was directly above the Magical Express Welcome Center; and the baggage handlers unloaded all bags from your aircraft with exceptional speed, rushed them to baggage claim, and set them out on the conveyor belt with lightning speed; and you were lucky enough to have your bags emerge first; I would still think it would be more than "an additional few minutes."..

I would not be so quick to refute the legitimacy or question the validity of my personal experience with DME, or imply that the events in my story were somehow fabricated. Our flight had arrived in MCO at 10:00 PM at night. The airport was absolutely not crowded, and the DME Welcome Center was completely empty. MCO is a huge airport as you indicated, but we still had to walk the same distance to the DME Welcome Center as those without luggage.

By the time we arrived at the baggage claim area, which was located on the level directly above the DME Welcome Center, our luggage was already on the conveyer belt, and consequently took only "an additional few minutes" to claim.

If you had to wait 20 minutes for your motorcoach to depart, chances are that you missed one (or possibly two) earlier motorcoach departures to your resort.

Three other passengers who were already on our DME bus that night had used their yellow tags in order to by-pass baggage claim, but they still had to wait longer than us to depart. Shortly after boarding, the driver announced that he was waiting for another group of passengers to board. Those two passengers were on our flight and had by-passed baggage claim, but inexplicably managed to arrive on the bus after us. The reason? They stopped to buy hot dogs to eat on the bus....

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I would not be so quick to refute the legitimacy or question the validity of my personal experience with DME, or imply that the events in my story were somehow fabricated.

I'm sorry that I questioned your account of your experience. I believe you.

My most recent experience at Orlando International Airport baggage claim was different. It was about three weeks ago. We were not using DME (because we were not going to WDW until several days later), so we had to claim our own luggage. We went straight to baggage claim after arrival. I didn't time it, but we waited around for a while for the bags from our flight to begin appearing on the conveyor belt. My first bag was the very first bag to appear! But I had another bag this time. A bunch of bags would appear; then nothing for a while; then more bags. Finally, my second bag was the very last bag to appear. I remember thinking that if we had been using DME, we would probably already be on our way to WDW.

The point is that detouring to baggage claim takes time; waiting for bags takes times; and carrying those bags to DME takes time. The amount of time will vary depending in the location of an airline's baggage claim within the huge airport, whether baggage handlers are available to unload the aircraft immediately, and how long it takes for the bags to be unloaded at baggage claim. Typically — but admittedly not always — DME guests who retrieve their own bags will be on a later DME motorcoach to their WDW resort than DME guests who go straight from their arrival gate to DME.

 

[ANNABETH]

I have a question that's a little different. I've booked DME but we keep going back and forth about renting a car.

If I use the DME yellow luggage tags and then once we get to the airport, decide to rent a car, will my luggage still arrive a my resort as originally planned ??? Even though I'm not on the bus ?

 

[goofy4tink]

I have a question that's a little different. I've booked DME but we keep going back and forth about renting a car.

If I use the DME yellow luggage tags and then once we get to the airport, decide to rent a car, will my luggage still arrive a my resort as originally planned ??? Even though I'm not on the bus ?

And that my dear DISer, is the $100,000 question!!! Many have asked, but we have no 100% definitive answer. DME was not brought about as a luggage delivery service. In fact, many believe that Disney instituted DME in order to help prevent folks from renting cars and leaving WDW proper to eat or, worse yet..head to those 'other' parks in Orlando.
So..if you book DME, but then decide on a rental car, but decide to send your luggage on with the yellow tags anyway, your bags will 'probably' get to WDW. Probably. There are no assurances. Me? I would rent a car if need be, but I would send everyone else on the DME in order to activate the reservation. When you check in at the DME desk, they give you vouchers for everyone who is taking the bus. Then, technically, the bus driver is supposed to scan the voucher. These two actions are 'supposed' to alert the DME luggage people that your luggage can be sent along it's merry way to the appropriate resort.
But....no one can say, for sure, at least to my satisfaction, that the bags will all get to the proper resort/room if no one boards that bus, but arrives via a rental.
Hope that helps a bit.