Magical Express Too Slow?

[White_Sox_Fan]

Maybe someone can give me a rundown as I am usine DME for the first time next Friday. We arrive at about 10:30PM upon which time I go to the DEM desk on the lower level of MCO. What do they need to do, just check and make sure you have a reservation? We are going to SSR, will the bus make other stops or will SSR have it's own bus since it's such a large resort?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Maybe it's just me, but I have trouble complaining about anything that's given to me for free.

I've taken DME 8 times, and it's a very thinnly veiled Mears. If you'd be willing to take Mears for free, it's worth it.

 

[Moparlar]

Thats why I always get a car, I am in National Car Emerald club so get off plane, take carry on with, go to garage, get in car and drive away. I believe alamo has the same sort of thing now. No standing in line at rental counter. I guess I like having the car to use whenever I need.

Larry

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Put me in the crazy category, I consider ME my first Disney ride,
Soarin' and Mission Space are my favorites, but ME is fun too.

Me, too, Uncle Remus!!! It's part of the whole Disney experience to me!

To the OP, one thing I will mention is the reservation piece. We made a last minute decision to not take DME (a couple of days before our arrival date), and I called MS to cancel. In the conversation, I laughed and said that I'm sorry to call so close to our travel date. She thanked me, and said that DME will wait on people for a certain period of time if they are scheduled on the bus. They must group people landing within a certain window of each other onto the same bus. So, if you had some people taking their time, using the restroom, stopping by a couple of stores on their way out, you may have been waiting on them. Our general experience has been about 1.5 hours from landing to the resort. Sorry you had a bad experience. I don't think it's typical.

 

[Anal Annie]

We have always found ME to take about 2 hours on average. Either we find that we're in the back of a really, really long line for our particular resort and miss the next bus and have to wait for the NEXT bus because the cue line is that long OR we've arrived at an off-peak time (like late evening) where they wait & wait & wait and WAIT for a full bus load for our resort before they take off.

Now, that said, last summer we hired a car service to pick us up at MCO so we could have a grocery stop...the driver was there at baggage claim waiting for us but we waited about 50 minutes for our luggage to come off the belt!! So...not convinced we saved any time with that plan either!

 

[GEB@okw]

We have used DME four times and have been in our room one hour after touchdown every time. Maybe we have been lucky. Anyway I have waited at baggage claim for more than one hour previously. So really, it's a no brainer for us! We are using it every time.

 

[Anal Annie]

Maybe someone can give me a rundown as I am usine DME for the first time next Friday. We arrive at about 10:30PM upon which time I go to the DEM desk on the lower level of MCO. What do they need to do, just check and make sure you have a reservation? We are going to SSR, will the bus make other stops or will SSR have it's own bus since it's such a large resort?

We're using DME to SSR for the first time in May....so I don't know about the stops...but I would imagine they have dedicated buses just for SSR since it's so big. And yes, you just take your coupon stuff that Disney sends you to the DME desk and they check you in for the bus. It's simple - there's plenty of seating adjacent to the desk so I take care of this while DH and DS plop down & wait. You don't all have to wait in line.

What I wanted to tell you tho is that the last time we used DME we got in on a flight that arrived around 9:30 pm. I think that's an off-peak time as the DME counter was practically empty. So no waiting THERE...but we DID have to wait a long time ON the bus for more passengers. They don't like to run the buses until they reach a certain capacity (like full). So be prepared if you're one of the first ones onto a new / empty bus you may have to wait awhile before they head out. Now if the bus has already been sitting there waiting for awhile you may be the last ones on and you'll have no wait at all. Just depends how you hit it.

ALSO, another thing about your luggage...this is important! It arrives to your resort separately (later). So when we checked in at at VWL at like 11:00 or whatever time it was I told them to hold it until morning. They left a silent message waiting on our phone during the night to say that it was there. I called bell services in the morning and they brought it to our room the next morning within about 10 minutes. But I'd planned ahead for this scenario and had packed everything we needed for the night in our carry-ons, including a change of clothes for the next day "just in case". It took a little extra planning when I packed, but you won't want to have them deliver the luggage to your room at 1:00 AM. Just plan accordingly when you pack if you're arriving late!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Regarding late arrivals, now they want you to pick up your luggage...I think the cutoff is around 9:30 -10PM. I just made ME reservations for May and we get in at 9:30 and I confirmed that we shouldn't use the luggage tags, but pick up our checked luggage ourselves.

Bobbi

 

[Allie in Wonderland]

Arrived at the airport about 11:30 p.m. We got on the bus After about a 10 minute wait which certainly was ok. Once we were on the bus we waited 40 minutes for 2-3 other parties to come. Finally we left and stopped at Pop Century. Caribbean Beach and finally arrived at the Boardwalk About 1:30. The driver drove about 10-15 mph the whole way. Fortunatley this service is free.

 

[seashoreCM]

On our return trip we were told that we didn't have a return reservation in which we did since we had our paperwork and tickets to get on. The date and time was clearly marked. We boarded the bus at 4:00. Left AKV at 4:35 after waiting for others to show up and for the driver to talk on the radio to home base. He warned us saying they had a full load at Pop Century to pick up and there were problems with which bus was going there and we had to go as well. Off we went to Pop. There had to have been a 150 people waiting to get on this Magical Express bus at Pop. We had to wait there for 45 minutes while they communicated back and forth who would get on our bus and who would get on the next bus and when that bus would arrive. It then took them 30 or so minutes to load those folks. Then took the driver several minutes to review his paperwork prior to pulling away. We were extremely frustrated with the wait times on the way to the airport at it was we would be running to our flight. Then as soon as the driver pulled out of the Pop lot, an older boy sitting next to my husband (both on the outside seat) got sick everywhere, and I mean everywhere. His parents didn't speak English and they were communicating back and forth to each other prior to this. His mom was searching her bags and she and the dad were laughing. Not sure if the boy warned them or not, but they did nothing to clean it up, nor did they tell the driver. So we had to ride the entire way to the airport like that. My husband was going to tell the driver but it didn't seem that he would even have anything to clean it up with and we would definately have missed our flight - which would have cost us atleast $400 to rebook. I understand it could have even been my child to be sick. Please no flames, but we were already frustrated with the service prior to that incident. It was just (sorry to be gross) but icing on the cake for us. It of course caused a chain reaction with the little girl behind my husband and who knows who else back there. A sad and nasty experience to say the least. The driver seemed not evn to notice as I was in the first seat on the right and my husband directly behind me. He could clearly see it.
on any bus anywhere.
ps.

The driver can't give even one minute of precious time to cleaning up the vomit.

By the way, can the driver hold people on the bus while he unloads the baggage? What keeps people from opening the door themselves and getting out?

 

[CleveRocks]

My 3 DME experiences were perfect.

Sunday May 8, 2005, 9:30 a.m. flight landing, time from airplane exit to resort drop-off (CBR) was 63 minutes. This was my LONGEST DME time. Bus was maybe half-full.

Saturday November 4, 2006, 10 p.m. flight landing, time from airplane exit to POFQ was 56 minutes. Only 12 of us on the bus.

Saturday February 7, 2009, 8:30 a.m. flight arrival, time from airplane exit to Polynesian was 57 minutes. Just like the last time, only 12 of us on the bus.

By procedure, a DME bus is NOT supposed to wait until it fills. By procedure, from the time the first guest boards, the bus is supposed to leave within no longer than about 20-30 minutes. As you can see, I've never been on a full DME bus from the airport, and as you can also see, two of those times I was one of only 12 people on the bus.

When employees break the rules and procedures, the guests suffer. It sounds like that happened with numerous of the above posters.

 

[Debbie Jean]

We're using DME to SSR for the first time in May....so I don't know about the stops...but I would imagine they have dedicated buses just for SSR since it's so big.

SSR shares with OKW, POFQ and POR, the so-called Downtown Disney resorts.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sure - sorry, I didn't want to make it a lengthy post.

Respectfully, some of the times seem unusual (while others, granted, seem simply unreasonable).

It's unlikely but NOT impossible that there would be such a long wait for a bus at the airport - although you'd think someone would have thought to reroute one that may have been duplicating a recent run to a different group of resorts? But for it to take forty minutes to drop off the Coronado Springs Guests, it would seem that just about every passenger on the bus would have been staying there AND each one of those passengers would have collected all their own checked luggage and brought it to the bus; the driver removes all luggage from under the bus before letting any passenger off - there would have had to have been a LOT of items.

On the return trip, since you boarded the bus at 4, that was apparently your assigned/scheduled time? Unless you were flying to an international destination, that would indicate your flight was departing about 7? Then the bus waited an additional 35 minutes before leaving the resort; figure what, about ten minutes to Pop Century? 4:45. Then a forty-five minute wait while it was determined which Pop Guests would go on which bus? 5:30. Thirty minutes to load the passengers? 6:00. Ride to the airport from Pop is about a half hour, if your airline is on Side A. 6:30; then however long passengers had to wait on the bus for the driver to unload any luggage stowed underneath. You had to have been extraordinarily lucky to encounter what must have been no lines whatsoever at Security; I know inbound, with no security stop, it takes the average person ten minutes to get from the plane to the tram, to the main terminal, then to the Welcome Center - so it would have to take about the same amount of time to get to the gate, plus Security?

 

[CleveRocks]

I've taken DME 8 times, and it's a very thinnly veiled Mears. If you'd be willing to take Mears for free, it's worth it.

How can you say that DME is a very thinly veiled Mears shuttle?

Mears made multiple stops within the airport before leaving (meaning delays at EACH stop were common).
DME has only one origination point.

Mears, as a matter of procedure, usually waited for the bus to fill.
DME, as a matter of procedure, has a maximum wait time and will leave the airport even if almost empty.

Mears had a potentially unlimited number of resort stops.
DME has a maximum of 4 stops.

Mears gave no consideration for geography ... resorts at far corners of the region may have been grouped together.
DME has geographic zones. If the us will make stops in more than one zone, the maximum number of stops reduces to 3, to make up for the extra driving time.

Where's the thin veil? How are DME and the Mears shuttle so alike???

 

[kaytieeldr]

Um, they both transport people, by bus, from MCO to Disney? Is this one of those riddle things? Is there a prize for the right answer?

 

[CleveRocks]

SSR shares with OKW, POFQ and POR, the so-called Downtown Disney resorts.

The Downtown Disney zone includes the above resorts AND also Fort Wilderness Campground. No, that's not a typo. Ft. Wilderness is in that zone.

The zones are not iron-clad. They do not go strictly by the zones. It all depends on the reservations ... if it is quicker to have buses go to 2 or more zones at any particular time, then that will happen.

 

[CleveRocks]

We're using DME to SSR for the first time in May....so I don't know about the stops...but I would imagine they have dedicated buses just for SSR since it's so big.

Just as an FYI for everyone ...

There's no such thing as a resort that always has its own bus. It can happen that way from time to time when it makes sense to do so based on the reservations, but there's no such thing as a resort that generally has its own bus.

SSR isn't even in the top 10 in resort size. SSR has about 825 units, give or take. CBR has over 2,100. POR is about that size, and POFQ has just about 1,000. CSR has over 1,900 rooms. Pop Century has 2,880 rooms. Each of the All-Stars has roughly 1,920 (that's about 5,760 total among the three of them). AKL has just shy of 1,300 rooms. Grand Floridian and Polynesian both have at least some more rooms than SSR. Just trying to say that it's not one of the biggest resorts.

 

[Tozzie]

I think when it is later at night the buses do wait a little longer but not much. I have used DME about 6 times and will use it next week. The longest time I had from deplaning (you can't count landing cause if there is no gate or there is a problem and the plane has to be towed to the gate that eats time) to arrival is about 1 hour and 20 minutes and that was late at night when the buses do tend, at least to what I have seen, wait a little longs.

I noticed one poster stated the driver decided to "wait for other guests" the drivers don't make that decision and have no control how long they wait at MCO for passengers.

 

[goofy4tink]

The driver can't give even one minute of precious time to cleaning up the vomit.

By the way, can the driver hold people on the bus while he unloads the baggage? What keeps people from opening the door themselves and getting out?

Yep, they can keep you on that bus!! Been there, done that, and it's not pretty. Just who do you think is going to be nutty enough to get up and take it upon themselves to open the bus door?? Not sure what that would accomplish.

In any case.....longer waits, at MCO, later at night are more often than not the norm nowadays. The normal daytime wait is 20 mins..or used to be anyway. So, waiting half an hour isn't excessive. Yes, I realize that it seems like forever while you're sitting on that bus....I've sat and waited, getting angrier and angrier by the minute, for 30 mins.
I'm hearing more and more less than complimentary things about DME lately. And, they all seem to be the same complaint...lenght of time it takes. My best time from deplaning to resort checkin? 50 mins....got to the counter, no one there, right onto the bus (last to board) and our stop, POP, was the first stop. On the other hand, I've had one trip that took close to 90 mins...had to wait longer than normal waits at every juncture!!! And POP was the last of three stops that time. My average time? about 70 mins.
I'll be taking DME in April, for the 7th or 8th time. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. Then, depending on that experience, I'll make my transportation plans for August and Dec!!

 

[keishashadow]

My sole experience wasn't satisfactory = too slow for meanything over 2 hours non peak is just not acceptable to me

Yet, how can u argue with 'free' (albiet factored in the room rates overall operating costs of WDW )