Magical Express Question

[WDWOKW92]

My wife and I are booking a trip for the end of September . We will be flying in from Philadelphia on US Air. Can we get the "Magical Express" service using this airline ? I read on another Disney website that only certain airlines were participating. Thanks a bunch and have a Disney day!

 

[safetymom]

Yes you can use ME if you are flying USAirways. You won't be able to check in at your resort for your return trip. If they were a participating airline you could have received your boarding pass and checked your luggage at your resort.

Since they don't participate you can still ride the ME but you will have to put your luggage on the bus and when you arrive at MCO you will have to take the luggage to curbside or the ticket counter to check in and receive your boarding passes.

 

[WDWOKW92]

We have the seats with US Air on hold so we can switch our ressies to a participating airline. Which ones participate in this program ?

 

[safetymom]

Here is the information. Flying a participating airline is nice but you still get the free transportation with any airline.



Q: What is the Resort Airline Check-in Service?

A: This service allows Guests to check luggage and receive airline boarding passes at their Disney Resort. At this time, remote check-in service is only available for guests flying domestically on the following airlines: American, Continental, Delta (including Song), and United (including Ted). Additional airlines may be added at a later date.

 

[seashoreCM]

Going to Disney, using Magical Express is the same for all airlines. For "non-participating" airlines all you need to do is a little more baggage handling on the way home.

You may prefer to keep your existing reservations if the fare and schedule are best for you.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[WDWOKW92]

Thanks for the help! Now, I don't want to sound "dense" or anything, but here goes. Say I fly US Airways into MCO,... I pick up my luggage at the claim area,... go to the ME line,... sign on for the next bus to my resort. My flight at the end of my stay will be late (7:30pm). Will the check-in dest at my resort hold my luggage until then? When do I need to sign up for ME for my return to MCO? I know it's probably a simple task but any help you can give me is appreciated.

 

[seashoreCM]

You should try to get return vouchers (bus tickets) and a boarding time as soon as possible, sometimes they give you these when you arrive at Orlando going to Disney, you can ask at the resort, sometimes the vouchers are not ready until the day before you return home.

If your airline does not have resort check in for the homebound flight (USAir does not), you would leave bags with the bellhop if you did not want to take care of the bags all day until you leave on Magical Express. Sometimes you need to give the bellhop 45 minutes in advance of ME pickup to get the bags back, there can be a line for the bellhop.

 

[LisaS]

Thanks for the help! Now, I don't want to sound "dense" or anything, but here goes. Say I fly US Airways into MCO,... I pick up my luggage at the claim area,... go to the ME line,... sign on for the next bus to my resort. My flight at the end of my stay will be late (7:30pm). Will the check-in dest at my resort hold my luggage until then? When do I need to sign up for ME for my return to MCO? I know it's probably a simple task but any help you can give me is appreciated.

First of all, you should sign up for ME in advance. As soon as you have your hotel and flights reserved, sign up for ME by calling WDW reservations. A few days later, call the ME number to be sure they got your info from the reservations people since some times data doesn't propigate through the system like it should. You must sign up AT LEAST 10 days prior to your trip, but sign up sooner rather than later to have the best chance of receiving your ME packet prior to your departure.

When you are flying into MCO you don't have to get your luggage. You should receive your bus vouchers and some special yellow Magical Express luggage tags that you will attach to your bags. This packet of stuff should arrive in the mail approximately 10 days before your departure date. These yellow tags allow your luggage to be collected on your behalf at MCO and trucked to your resort. I say "should receive" because ME is having trouble getting these out to people in a timely manner, but hopefully by your trip date in September they will have this sorted out. Upon arrival at MCO, you bypass baggage claim and go straight to the ME check-in desk.

The day before you are due to leave WDW, you will receive a note under the door of your room confirming your return reservation on ME and instructing you when your bus will pick you up at your resort. Since you are flying a non-participating airline, you will not be able to check in for your flight at your hotel and have your bags sent to the airport. You will have to take your bags to the airport yourself (on the ME bus) and check in for your flight as you normally do at MCO.

Since you will be leaving in the evening, you can leave your bags with Bell Services after you check out and head to a park for a while. Be sure to return to your resort at least 45 minutes before your bus is due to leave so there is time to get your bags from Bell Services. You will stow your bags under the ME bus and check them in at the airport as usual.

 

[disboy21086]

For those of you in previous posts who were concerned about receiving the bag tags on Time......

Just opened the front door and there was a FedEX Standard Overnite Envelope with all of my M.E. info in it. I just confirmed everything regarding M.E. last Tues. And I'm not leaving for another 19 days.

So Hopefully they got all the bag tag issues squared away.