Magical Express Question

[TerryU.]

Has anyone ever had any problems with the Magical Express? I really would like to know and if so how was it rectified? I'm going in May and never used this service before.

 

[tmt martins]

Tags arrived in plenty of time and were correct

ME check-in very easy 9:00am,quick and about 1hr later checking into PC 10/28

Luggage at room when we arrived from1st park at 6:00 (more on this later)

day before we left depart on door got on bus and back to MCO all OK.

Only problem was brand new luggage had about 6in. rip down the one side ME blamed SWA ,SWA blamed ME and since we did not pick it up at airport and report it right away they wouldn't take resp.
ME finally took care of us but it took alot .

We will be happy to use again in JUNE with no problem at all.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i used it in may and sept with no problems at all...no line at the check in , about 5 minutes waitin for a bus

 

[afc104]

At the airport due you have to call for the bus or is it waiting.

 

[stacy6552]

YES! They never showed up for our return trip.

However, as soon as I realized they were opperated by Mears (which we had never used because of the horror stories we'd heard), I prepaired for the worst.....

As soon as they were 10 minutes late, I asked the valet (whom we were told was in charge of ME on site). They called the stop ahead of us looking for the shuttle and assured us we would have first priority on the next bus, anticipated in 20 minutes. When the next bus hadn't showed in the next 30 minutes, I approached the valet again. He promptly rushed off the grab the manager, who hailed us a cab and prepaid for the trip.

Because its free and because Disney is the middle man, I am comfortable using them since Disney knows how to take care of you. Be prepaired, be calm, and be visable. If Disney knows something is wrong they will fix it.

 

[MareSINY]

At the airport due you have to call for the bus or is it waiting.

When you arrive at the airport you have to go to the main building, and then down to the rental car check in area. There you will see the Magical Express check in area. You give them your paperwork and they'll process you into the system (at that time they also process your return trip.) Once done they tell you where to go and the people with the big Mickey hands lead you to the correct line and on to your bus. It really is a great service, I was really impressed by it.

The only trouble we had was our tags arrived with the wrong airline listed. They showed us flying in on Air Namimbia. LOL But our TA took care of it immediately and informed Disney of the airline we were flying in on. We had no other problems.

 

[byoung]

Used it in Oct no problems. Had problems in the beginning but haven't heard lately a lot of problems. Sure there are some.

 

[Terri C]

We used them a few weeks ago. I was very pleased and would use it again in a heartbeat.

Terri

 

[BonnieBell]

I just received my tags on Friday and I leave tomorrow. If you don't have them about 3 weeks before you leave, call to see if there's a problem. They said they didn't have my address in the system, and if I didn't call Magical express I would not have received my tags.

I let you know how the rest goes when I get back.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

We had great service. There was a bit of a wait at the airport to get on the bus, but there were lots of people there, very crowded. Everything else was perfect! Luggage was in the room when we got back from MK. Bus to take us back to the airport was right on time, no other stops, just straight to MCO.

 

[jennyl772003]

We used it in August, and will be using it again in Feb.

There was a little wait for our bus, but not that long. I think they typically show a Disney video on the ride over (ours didn't, but the driver was great and talked about Disney)

We had prepared to not get our luggage right away, so we had packed a park bag. We went straight to the parks, and when we finally made it back to our hotel, all of out bags were waiting.

Our return trip, my IL's for some reason rushed us onto an earlier bus then the one we were scheduled for, so we were at the airport like 3 hours early. If we would have gotten on the right bus, we would have been like 2 hours early.

Every thing was smooth, and we will use them again.

 

[gydell]

How long is the wait once you get on the bus until it leaves the airport? The last time we used Mears we had to wait a little over an hour since we were one of the first on the bus. Hoping this has improved! Also how many hotels are on one bus? We are staying at the GF if that helps. Thanks.

 

[Tigger2252]

We just used it this past week and had no problems. We dropped off our luggage at our home airport, flew to JFK then Orlando. We did have a little problem locating the stand, as we aren't familiar with OIA. I would have liked a little better directions in the packet (maybe just clearly state that it can be found in the rental car area). We checked in around 1:00 and by the time we went to the food court, got some drinks, and returned to our room our luggage had already arrived. I was very surprised because I had heard that it could take a few hours for it to catch up. The day we left we were able to get our boarding passes and check our luggage at the hotel (there are 4 or 5 airlines that do this on-site). I LOVED THIS!! We dropped everything with them and off we went to enjoy the rest of our day. I would highly recommend Magical Express!

 

[hockeybabe]

I will use it again, but, be prepared. If you check your luggage in earlier than you plan to leave, your luggage may end up on a different flight than you are on. Not a problem if your airport is smaller, but we were flying into DFW and our luggage was waiting for us in another terminal. So we had to drive to get it. Not a big deal, but some people didn't have someone picking them up, so they had to use the airport shuttle to go get their luggage, and then get to their car...a bit of a hassle for them, some people were quite angry. Mind you, our flight was delayed by 2 hours, so everyone had spent alot of time in the MCO...not fun. It was a late arrival, around 10 pm, and the terminal our luggage was in was empty and unattended. Didn't like that much, but not sure what someone would have wanted with my dirty laundry

Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up about that. I have read that alot of posters check their luggage in with bell services for the day and have it loaded on the ME bus when they get picked up, but that would involve a few extra dollars in tips for bell services and then for the bus driver. I don't think I will worry about it next time, I'll just be aware that my luggage may have had an earlier flight!

 

[christinou]

We used them a few weeks ago, and loved it, it was very convenient, we waited about 20 minutes in the bus for the bus to fill up, then we went, it was about 45 minutes from the airport to the resort. On the way back, we had the tickets in our room the night before, gave our luggage to bell service to hold, we only had carry on. My favorite feature was the ability to have our boarding passes printed at the resort, (we flew on Delta), it was great to get to the airport, and go right to the gate. I certainly would use that service again, and the price is certainly right

 

[bcsmom]

Do you have to check your luggage or can you bring carry on's? How early do you have to leave your hotel on the day you are leaving? I usually drive, but the 10 hour drive with a 18 month old does not sound like much fun.

 

[TerryU.]

bump!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Do you have to check your luggage or can you bring carry on's? How early do you have to leave your hotel on the day you are leaving? I usually drive, but the 10 hour drive with a 18 month old does not sound like much fun.

On the aircraft, you can bring one carry-on and one personal item (both with size limits) per passenger. Whatever you carry onto the plane, you must also carry to the DME coach. If you can get everything you need into your carry-ons (especially with an 18-month-old), you're a better packer than I am!

If you check bags for your flight, you have two choices. You can use the yellow DME tags; say "good bye" to your bags at your home airport, and say "hello" to your bags after they "magically appear" in your room a few hours after you check in. Or you can throw away the yellow tags, claim your own bags at baggage claim in Orlando, and bring them to the DME coach. Personally, I think the yellow tags and the luggage transfers are the bast part of Magical Express — but some folks want to see their bags at baggage claim, even if it means taking a later coach and having to deal with their luggage at the airport and the resort.

At the end of your vacation, you'll be scheduled onto a DME coach departure approximately three hours before your flight's scheduled departure time. That sounds like a long time, but if you do the math -- accounting for travel time (including possible stops at other resorts), check-in, security, time to get to the gate, and the fact that flights board 30 minutes before departure -- three hours makes sense. Ideally, you'll have enough time at the airport to eat. But is there are delays, you might only have enough time to buy food to take onto the aircraft.

 

[bcsmom]

Thanks Horace for all the info, and no I am not a better packer I am sure of that I really do not know what I was even thinking by asking that. I guess I thought each person could carry on a bag, but it would have to be a rolling bag (not sure if it would even meet the size requirements). As you can probably tell I do not fly much, we usually just drive from Louisiana ( I hate to fly). Anyway, thanks a bunch for all the info.