Magical Express-Think about it!!

[pumpkinboy]

I am just an observer. The truth hurts!! I know!

Hmmm, now you observed this when you were waiting at MCO? Maybe for some clients to show up for you to drive to their resort, perhaps?

And of course we're all afraid of lines aren't we. That's why we love the line free Disney parks.

Yeah, let's not feed the trolls.

I have heard one report so far from a colleague who arrived early afternoon. She noted that her bags arrived at CBR before they did, and that total transit time was about an hour from when they arrived in the terminal and when they arived at their resort.

 

[jodistar]

I look forward to reading what regular DIS participants have to say about their experiences with Magical Express -- especially after Disney has had a week or two to deal with the start-up issues.

I'm with you - Let's give Disney time to work out the bugs.....any new program is sure to have them.

 

[jodistar]

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

Great information - Thanks so much for posting the link.

 

[localdriver]

You will have some good moments, but from Orlando it looks a little scary!! You see, its not Disney thats doing the buses, its MEARS, thats the problem!!
:

Put your money where your mouth is. Justify your statement, or withdraw it.

 

[bytheblood]

Can't be all that bad. Sounds like competition has you down. Oh well.......

Trolling along.

 

[eddieras]

Someone predicted 45 to 75 minutes to your resort after the bus takes off from the airport berths. So I am guessing it will take 2 hours for the bus to make a round trip fromt he airport and back. With 8 buses per zone that means one bus every 15 minutes per zone. [/url]

you're good--i called ME today because my baggage tags for next week were wrong- and i asked her how often the busses depart and she said every 15 minutes

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

There are supposedly 35 buses, I expect 3 will be "spares" anticipating some out of service. That leaves 32 buses for 4 zones or 8 buses per zone.

Don't forget, although not optimal, Mears can always use Disney Cruise Line coaches if they need more coaches than what they have in service. And if it really came down to it, they have plenty of plain white unmarked coaches, and the yellow & black coaches.


By the way... in response to the supposed 500 people waiting for a bus. Yes, this number sounds large. BUT, DME is estimated to service 6,000-7,000 guests per day. So 500 really isn't that absurd of a number. And remember, just because there are large crowds does NOT mean they've been waiting for long periods of time.

 

[safetymom]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi....story?coll=orl-home-promo&ctrack=1&cset=true

Article in today's Orlando Sentinel.

 

[theBanker]

Hi Guys, its me again. I just finished reading some of the posts on this very meritorious subject. Its Great!

I also read the 3 websites that talked about ME and they are not TRASH!!. None of them talked negative. All they stated were certain facts and maybe one page; the one below, expressed the terms of the transportation in a line by line description.

I guess we are all entitled to speak, this is a Free Country. I read the rules in this forum, the website below which was not posted as part of this forum actually fits the mold, so the facts are clear; some people don't like criticism.

I believe that competition is good and constructive criticism is part of it. By the way, I am retired, and my bean counting days are over. Now I count all the money I saved and my free time to do as I choose.


Magical Express
Magical Express Is Not Express
It Is A Bus With Multiple Stops
www.magicalexpress.info

 

[jennypenny]

I just don't get why the towncar companies are so nervous. Disney has said the service is free *this summer* only and they won't comment past that (I called a couple of times). Once disney starts charging for transportation (like it does for DCL) people who like personal service will use the towncars once again.

And if you're a good company people will choose to use the service anyway (like we are doing in August).

Jenny

 

[debster812]

I guess we are all entitled to speak, this is a Free Country. I read the rules in this forum, the website below which was not posted as part of this forum actually fits the mold, so the facts are clear; some people don't like criticism

This is very true, and everyone IS in fact entitled to their own opinion. It just seems slightly suspect to me (key words being 'seems' and 'to me') That your VERY FIRST post on these boards is in essence completely and totally bashing this new service on it's very first day of going live.

And really, you're retired, so you went to MCO just to hang out, and watch people getting on Magical Express busses? There are lots more enjoyable hobbies, methinks.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I just don't get why the towncar companies are so nervous. Disney has said the service is free *this summer* only and they won't comment past that (I called a couple of times). Once disney starts charging for transportation (like it does for DCL) people who like personal service will use the towncars once again.

Actually, the ME service will be complimentary through the entire Happiest Celebration on Earth, which runs through the end of 2006. That what Disney has said all along.

After that, the ME service could remain complimentary, if Disney concludes that ME makes more money than it costs to operate.

 

[CarolA]

I guess we are all entitled to speak, this is a Free Country. I read the rules in this forum, the website below which was not posted as part of this forum actually fits the mold, so the facts are clear; some people don't like criticism.



Magical Express
Magical Express Is Not Express
It Is A Bus With Multiple Stops
www.magicalexpress.info

Yes, and we are all invited to respond to you as we see fit.

I have no problem with you posting, but there are TWO issues here. One if you have so much info where have you been before?

TWO! The last link is an advertisement. Which makes you even more curious Advertising is against the board rules and I assume that soon a mod will remove yours.

 

[bytheblood]

WOW! theBanker - your posts just don't hold water. You are retired, hanging out at MCO on Disney's official launch day of DME. You then come here to report/insult it and provide bad mathematical equations which makes no sense considering the volume Disney is expecting...crowds 12 times the size of what you described. Wow, no wonder you are not counting beans, the numbers must not be adding up.

 

[JudicialTyranny]

Can you give us a little more info on your specific situation?

For example, had you received your luggage tags ahead of time and did they have your flight info printed on them?

Did you go to the luggage carousel with a CM, or did you just hand over your claim checks? If you gave them your claim checks, did they give you a copy of them?

My travel agent received my tags on Tuesday and overnighted them to me so I had them on Wednesday (I left Thursday morning).

The ME booklet did not have my flight information, but my TA called them and they did have it in the system. I do not know if they print flight information on the actual tags themselves - it was not on mine.

When I got off the plane, I took the tram in MCO and when I got off, I walked a short distance and there was a ME rep there who told me where to go (side "A", level 1, which is a bit of a hike).

When I got there, I had to "check in" at the ME desk by filling out a form with the names of everyone in our party (5), my departing flight info, and a few other things - nothing unusual.

The guy at the desk assured me that I would get my luggage. He said someone would take the form I filled in and enter it into their system.

They stamped my ME vouchers (one per person, which came in the packet). He said I needed those to get on the bus for my return trip. (He also said they would check them when I got on the bus, but they didn't.)

There are something like four queues with signs listing the destination resorts. Some lines had only one resort (Carribean Beach for example) where others like mine had a few (FW, CR, GF, and one other). Our line was fairly long, while others had a few people only.

We didn't get on with the first busload, but the next bus came quickly and we got on that one. We were one of the last people to get on that bus, and there were people behind us.

Timing wise, our flight got in at about 3:10 and we arrived at CR (the second stop for the bus) about 4:45. As I said before, the bus driver drive rather slowly and there was some trouble with the wheelchair ramp at FW - some problem positioning the bus to unload the wheelchair.

Check in was fairly quick. When we got to our room, no luggage. We went to get something to eat after resting and I asked Bell Services about the luggage. They said it was running up to 5 hours behind.

We stopped back at our room at 7:30 PM and our luggage WAS THERE!!!

My estimation is that it arrived between 6:30 PM and 7:30 PM because I was in the room at 6:30 PM and it was not there.

So.... after having visions of having no change of clothes our whole trip... all seems to be OK!

Other than the axiety about the luggage, I think everything went very smoothly. There were LOTS of ME people at the airport to help.

 

[seashoreCM]

maybe one page; the one below, expressed the terms of the transportation in a line by line description.
Magical Express
Magical Express Is Not Express
It Is A Bus With Multiple Stops
www. magicalexpress. info

Quoting from the above site:

"What you get with the Magical Express :
(snip)
You may not get complimentary transportation back to the Airport! "

Wrong. You had jollywell better get to ride the Bus back to the airport.

 

[BettyCv]

JudicialTyranny,

Thank you for the info! Glad to hear it went pretty smoothly for you. Still no tags here. We leave 5/15.

Betty

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

What really bothers me about the "Disney's Magical Express is not Express, its a Mears Bus!!" website is:

• It seeks to disparage ME, rather than pointing out the virtues of a towncar service in a positive way.
• It tries to mislead, with statements like "You may have to find and load your own luggage on the Bus" (even though the whole idea of ME is that you check your bags from your home airport to your WDW resort room, where they 'magically' appear), and "You may not get complimentary transportation back to the Airport!" (although everybody gets complimentary transportation back, and passengers on some airlines can even check their bags and get their boarding passes at their WDW resort).
• The sponsoring company is hiding behind the anonymity of the Web, without identifying themselves.

A towncar operator could easily talk about how good their towncar service is. Just as many WDW guests gladly pay more for the higher-end resorts at WDW, they will gladly pay more for the convenience and personal service of a towncar service.

Unfortunatley, there seem to be a few folks in the towncar business who want to give everyone in their business a bad name.

By the way, ME is not a "bus" service. A bus is a vehicle that transports passengers on city streets or within WDW. ME is operating motor coaches, with airline-type seating and on-board video. It's a different kind of vehicle.

 

[Lewisc]

The website also talks about being on bus with strangers and possibly not even being able to sit next to your family members. Doesn't really sound different than the buses we take to the parks.

Some people may rent a car and drive to the parks but I think we all suspect the owner of the website is a towncar company. I haven't heard of anyone who uses a cab or towncar to go from a WDW resort to the theme parks on a daily basis.

No question some customers might prefer the personal service and grocery stop of a towncar. The question is how many will go out of business while ME is free.

 

[theBanker]

Yes, and we are all invited to respond to you as we see fit.

I have no problem with you posting, but there are TWO issues here. One if you have so much info where have you been before?

TWO! The last link is an advertisement. Which makes you even more curious Advertising is against the board rules and I assume that soon a mod will remove yours.

If you have been reading along, it was "localdriver" that placed those websites on the forum. I only mentioned one of THEM. Your desire to quell a different view than your own has blinded this fact. If I am removed, it speaks to me that this site is totally bias. I believe that differing opinions create an amicable discussion. But some people take it too personal.