Magical Express Wait Time Question

[codingkw]

Just checking the average wait time from arriving at the ME counter to actually boarding the bus and leaving. I remember the last time I took the Mears Shuttle they gave us a pager and we had to wait for over an hour and a half. Just want to know if this still occurs. I vowed I would never take the bus again.

 

[CleveRocks]

Just checking the average wait time from arriving at the ME counter to actually boarding the bus and leaving. I remember the last time I took the Mears Shuttle they gave us a pager and we had to wait for over an hour and a half. Just want to know if this still occurs. I vowed I would never take the bus again.

My particular experience last May was a total of 25 minutes from getting into the DME Welcome Center line to having my bus pull away from its parking spot. That time was spent in the Welcome Center line, in the bus queue, and on the bus waiting for it to leave. It took another 28 minutes to get to CBR, a total of 53 minutes.

It's ben widely reported that the average time from plane landing to arrival at resort via DME is 70 minutes or so. That's probably how long mine took -- I only started timing when I got into the Welcome Center line.


Remember that part of the DME time savings is being able to totally avoid baggage claim. With the old Mears, you not only had a longer wait for a bus itself, but you also had to waste time waiting for your bags.

 

[all4disney98]

We probably stood in line to check-in at the ME counter about 5-10 minutes. They then told us which bus line to go to and we got on the bus and where off in about 5 minutes. (The bus was already loading when we got in line so it worked out really well.)

To give you an idea of our entire journey to DW, our plan landed around 6:30 pm and we were already in our room and walking to the food court when I realized I forgot to check my watch when we arrived at the resort. That was at 7:45 pm.

 

[tazleiten12]

Last week i waited in the check in line for 5 minutes, and in the line for the bus for 15-20 minutes. We were at our resort in a little over an hour.

 

[bdklein]

I remember waiting in line for the bus and complaining to my wife how long it was taking. Once we started to get on the bus I said to her that wasn't so bad. I think what makes it worse is that you just want to get to your resort, but you don't feel like having to wait for the bus. However, you would still have to wait for your luggage anyway.
We waited about 10-15 minutes in line, and we were the 3rd stop (first WL, then Contemporary, then Poly).

 

[JMD]

We used DME 2 weeks ago and our total wait time was about 10-15 minutes. The Check-in line was quick, and our bus pulled up shortly after we go in the bus line.

 

[Suzanne74]

Personally I thought the check in line was SLOW and annoying since the CM's ask you the same questions over and over that are already on the itinerary you filled out prior to the flight. If they had all this info in the computer already, it would save more time. However, after about a 30min wait at the check-in line, it only took us about 10-15min to get on a bus and another 5-10min to leave. We were the last stop and overall it took us 1hr and 50min to arrive at the hotel from landing to resort check-in.

When I take a towncar, it takes about 50min from landing to resort, even getting luggage (which the towncar driver takes for you.)

I will do ME again this trip since it is free and we aren't planning on going to a park the first day. Hopefully it is a bit smoother this time.

 

[Scotch]

Personally I thought the check in line was SLOW and annoying since the CM's ask you the same questions over and over that are already on the itinerary you filled out prior to the flight. If they had all this info in the computer already, it would save more time. However, after about a 30min wait at the check-in line, it only took us about 10-15min to get on a bus and another 5-10min to leave. We were the last stop and overall it took us 1hr and 50min to arrive at the hotel from landing to resort check-in.

We had a similar experience last time, though for us maybe the total was about 1 1/2 hours from landing to resort check-in line. I hated the wait and the feeling that I was wasting valuable vacation time; that is why I did NOT want to use ME on our next trip in a few weeks. But DH doesn't mind the wait and both he and DS (2) enjoys the bus ride. That plus the cost savings lead me to give ME another chance. I think this time upon landing I'm going to ask DH to speed ahead to the ME check-in desk while DS and I take our potty break; hopefully that'll shave 15 minutes or so off our wait time.

BTW, I read that ME is moving from Terminal A to Terminal B -- does anyone know when that will happen (or if it already has)? I wonder if that would add much to the commute time after arrival because we fly into Terminal A on AirTran.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I've used ME 3 times now. The first time was last Aug on a Sunday which is a cruise arrival day. There were huge crowds waiting to check in but someone actually checked us in while we were in line. We waited about 20 minutes for a bus to ASMo.

I took ME again May 1st and we didn't wait at all to check in-waited for the bus about 15 minutes.

Took ME again on May 19th and waited about 2 minutes to check in but didn't wait at all for the bus.

I really like to convenience of not waiting for checked luggage. The Aug trip we did all carry on but the 2 May trips we did check bags and the bags magically appeared in our rooms while we were at the parks.

 

[ShannonN]

My experience with DME was great. We arrived last Sunday and stood in line for maybe 5-10 minutes at the most, then went straight to the bus and was on our way to the resort! They delivered our bags about 2hrs after we got there, and when it was time for us to go home, we only had to wait for about 10 minutes for DME to arrive. They really did a great job!

 

[aubriee]

I've used DME five times in the last year. Last May I had no wait to check in and then as soon as I got in the line for POP a bus pulled up. We loaded and were off. The bus was not even half full and POP is the first stop. This was right after DME started and I thought it was great.

In Sept I waited maybe 5 minutes to check in and for bus maybe 10 minutes.

In Dec I waited probably 5 minutes to check in and about 20 minutes for the bus.

In Jan I didn't wait at all to check in, just walked straight up to a CM and waited maybe 5 minutes for the bus.

However this May was a different story. I waited about 10 minutes to check in and a good 20-25 minutes for the bus. I guess it really wasn't that bad, but since I had been so lucky having very short waits with the other trips, it seemed like forever.

I've been lucky everytime in that my resort has always been the first stop (POP and POFQ). We usually arrive at MCO around 9:20am, check out our room if it's ready, and are still able to eat lunch in the parks.

 

[fostrmom2mny]

How does ME work on your departure day?

My flight is scheduled to leave at 6:45PM. I'll be using ME. How much in advance do they have you chck back in at the resort for departure? I thought i could sleep in, have a nice later breakfast at one of the monorail resorts and still have time to maybe go to DTD or Disney Studios?

Thanks for any help.
Gerri

 

[Mickey&Donald]

How does ME work on your departure day?

My flight is scheduled to leave at 6:45PM. I'll be using ME. How much in advance do they have you chck back in at the resort for departure? I thought i could sleep in, have a nice later breakfast at one of the monorail resorts and still have time to maybe go to DTD or Disney Studios?

Thanks for any help.
Gerri

I had the same question (our departing flight is also somewhere in the 6 o'clock hour).

Also, where do the All Stars fall in line for drop offs (arriving from MCO)? Will we be stuck on the ME for an hour?

 

[aubriee]

How does ME work on your departure day?

My flight is scheduled to leave at 6:45PM. I'll be using ME. How much in advance do they have you chck back in at the resort for departure? I thought i could sleep in, have a nice later breakfast at one of the monorail resorts and still have time to maybe go to DTD or Disney Studios?

Thanks for any help.
Gerri

The DME bus will pick you up three hours before your plane departs.

 

[CleveRocks]

DME pick-up is usually scheduled 2.75-3 hours before flight departure time. But you're also supposed to be at the bus area 15 minutes earlier, so they say.

The day before your departure, you will get your DME departure information hanging on your doorknob (a very sad sight indeed!).

There is no place for you to check in at the bus area. There is no "DME desk" at resorts. There is a Resort Airline Check-In desk at each resort, but this is NOT a DME desk -- RAC is a place to check-in luggage for those who are flying a "participating airline;" technically, this is completely separate from DME and has NOTHING to do with the buses. When you take DME back to MCO, you simply wait for the bus, and then "check-in" with the driver.

 

[sameyeyam]

We took DME in April. We arrived at MCO at midnight. Surprise, surprise, no lines. The CM helped us with our luggage, bus driver stowed it in the bottom of bus. We waited about 2 minutes for 1 other passenger and then the total of 5 of us on the entire bus were on our way! Don't know exactly how long it took (wasn't quite wide awake at that time!), but it was quick!!!

We chose to pick our luggage up of the carousel and put it on the bus with us, per DME recommendations if you are arriving after 10pm.

I highly recommend arriving in the middle of night or wee hours of the morning, no lines at all!