Magical Express - Wait times?

[Dignity]

Every time I've been to Disney we have gotten on the Magical Express at the airport and it was ready to go to our destination within 5 minutes of us boarding (never a wait to board). I know this is not typical - what has been the longest you've ever had to wait for the Magical Express to take you to your resort (including waiting for it to arrive, getting everybody seated, and actually leaving)?

 

[Sandi]

20 minutes for us and that was once out of many trips. I set the timer on my phone when we board just to see. This time, we had a late arrival and were the first ones on the bus, waited for a number of others, and then left. It seemed longer than 20 minutes. Others who got on after us complained they were waiting "forever."

Fortunately, we typically have a short wait like you. One of the last on the bus and it pulls out.

 

[goofy4tink]

My family laughs at me every time I pull out my phone to check the time and then note my wait times!!! The longest wait I've had was 22 mins. BUT...we arrived just as the bus was being loaded, so had to wait for the next bus! We were then first on the bus...which then meant we had a longer wait on the bus!!!
But, if luck is with you, you will be the last family on the bus, which means you leave almost immediately!! I've had that happen a few times! Most of my wait times have been around 10 mins.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

20 minutes for us and that was once out of many trips. I set the timer on my phone when we board just to see. This time, we had a late arrival and were the first ones on the bus, waited for a number of others, and then left. It seemed longer than 20 minutes. Others who got on after us complained they were waiting "forever." Fortunately, we typically have a short wait like you. One of the last on the bus and it pulls out.

Reminds me of the family at OKW who arrived after I did at the bus stop and then proceeded to yell at driver because they waited half an hour. I shut them up by pointing out I waited 15 minutes and they arrived after me LOL

 

[nkereina]

The longest wait we've ever had was the one time we arrived on a Saturday in November. It was considerably busier than normal for us, and we had to wait in a long queue just to board a bus. I think we stood through two buses before we got on one. It was about 50 minutes by the time we got to the DME area until the time the bus was pulling away.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The longest wait we've had to board a bus was an hour, last October. MCO was a hot mess that day. I've seen other people on here who arrived the same day we did (October 19, 2013) complain about the wait as well. The line to check in to DME stretched down the entire length of the terminal. It was crazy.

That trip was also the time that our luggage didn't arrive until 7 hours after we checked in to the resort, so we were super turned off to DME after all that. We just took a trip in August, and it was the exact opposite...walked right onto a bus, which pulled away almost immediately (with only 6 families total on board!), and our luggage was to our room within an hour of us checking in.

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

We walked onto a waiting bus to go to AoA in Oct. of 2012. We waited on the bus for at least 45 mins. Before boarding the bus, we were asked by at least 3 different people where we were staying and we responded to each of them including the person loading our luggage under the bus (it was after 10pm). As we reached WDW, we noticed that we were entering the Downtown Disney area. I though we might get lucky and be one of the 1st stops since we were nearing the AoA sign. The driver kept going. We ended up stopping at AKL, Kidani Village, CBR, CSR and Pop. CSR was the last stop. We were the last ones on the bus. I ended up going to the front as the bus driver was helping the guests at CSR with their bags. He was surprised to still see people on the bus. I told him that we were staying at AoA. He showed me his sheet which did not have AoA listed as one of his stops. He apologized and told us that he would of course bring us there. By the time we arrived in our room it was 1am! It had been an awful day. My son got sick on the plane and we had to make a connection in Atlanta. Luckily, he didn't get sick again but he still wasn't feeling well and then we had to spend such a long time on the plane. Again, it wasn't the driver's fault. But, the last couple trips, we rented a car and got to the resort quickly.

 

[wdwfan757]

I've been hit or miss on DME

January 2013: Wilderness lodge, arrived around 11am on a Saturday. We waited on the bus for all of 10 minutes, and we were the first stop. This was our first DME experience, so you can imagine that I thought it was the greatest idea ever.

December 2013: AKL, arrived around midnight on a Thursday night. Waited at least 25-30 minutes on the bus. We were the last of 4 stops. I think from getting on the bus to getting off the bus, it was at least an hour and a half. I remember getting to that check in counter at 1:30am and being absolutely exhausted.

February 2014: Bay lake tower (Contemporary), arrived around 11:30am. Waited on the bus all of 5 minutes. Second stop (after WL).

May 2014: Port Orleans French Quarter, arrived around 2pm. I don't remember waiting more than 10, 15 minutes. I feel like we were the 2nd stop after Saratoga Springs? Maybe it was Key West? Either way I can tell you for a fact that we were at the bus stop for MK about 1 hour and 15 minutes after we stepped on the DME. So we must've gotten there pretty quickly, considering we checked in and changed.

So I think i'm 3 out of 4 in terms of getting there "quickly". But that 1 out of 4 really was the pits

 

[shannon006]

The longest from the time we got in line for the Magical Express, until we arrived at AKL, was 1 1/2 hours Not fun. The shortest was 15 minutes POP

 

[firegurl]

We have only used ME on our last trip. From speaking with others, I think we have had an oddly long time. We checked in at the DME desk and waited in line somewhere between and hour and fifteen and an hour and a half before we finally got on the bus. The most frustrating part was that our bus was sitting outside the whole time. I once we got on the bus we waited again and we were the third stop. We were staying at Movies and our bus only had the All Stars. Basically it took us about 4 1/2 hours from landing to getting to DTD that night.
We are going to give it a shot again this time but if it doesnt work out, I'm done.

 

[SPAM]

When on a Saturday do the magical express lines start building up? We are coming down oct 18th and will land at 9am.

 

[scard192]

Last year, Saturday, October 19th we waited an hour just to board the bus. Other lines moved a lot faster, not ours. We started saying that airplanes in the air bound for MCO would probably land and their passengers would get on their bus before we did. Not a magical way to starr a vacation. This was around 1PM

 

[maxiesmom]

Our longest trip from getting in line to being at the resort was 2 hours. The plane landed a little before 11 pm and it was 1:30 am when we were standing at resort check in. Never again will I use DME that late at night.

 

[abbydancer]

Here's an odd question. We're heading to WDW in December. DH and I arrive on Saturday and my sister and nieces arrive at about 8:45 on the following Tuesday night. We have a car, and they're taking DME.

If the flight is on time, they will be yellow tagging the luggage, and will have one small suitcase with overnight stuff.

I'm reading about long waits for some busses.

Do you think if the wait for AKL was long, they could just board the next leaving bus and get off at the first stop? We'll have a car, so can drive to whatever resort they go to and collect them. (Sister will call from bus to tell us where to go - she always likes telling me where to go).

Obviously, if the flight is late and they have to deal with their luggage, then they go to AKL. But if the next bus out has space, can they hop on?

Thanks.

 

[maxiesmom]

Here's an odd question. We're heading to WDW in December. DH and I arrive on Saturday and my sister and nieces arrive at about 8:45 on the following Tuesday night. We have a car, and they're taking DME.

If the flight is on time, they will be yellow tagging the luggage, and will have one small suitcase with overnight stuff.

I'm reading about long waits for some busses.

Do you think if the wait for AKL was long, they could just board the next leaving bus and get off at the first stop? We'll have a car, so can drive to whatever resort they go to and collect them. (Sister will call from bus to tell us where to go - she always likes telling me where to go).

Obviously, if the flight is late and they have to deal with their luggage, then they go to AKL. But if the next bus out has space, can they hop on?


Thanks.

Unfortunately your plan won't work. First off, you have to decide when you check in at he airport f you are going to use the yellow tags or not. Second, you have to take the DME bus to the resort you are booked at. Thirdly, there is no way to tell which bus will be the next one to leave.

 

[goofy4tink]

Here's an odd question. We're heading to WDW in December. DH and I arrive on Saturday and my sister and nieces arrive at about 8:45 on the following Tuesday night. We have a car, and they're taking DME.

If the flight is on time, they will be yellow tagging the luggage, and will have one small suitcase with overnight stuff.

I'm reading about long waits for some busses.

Do you think if the wait for AKL was long, they could just board the next leaving bus and get off at the first stop? We'll have a car, so can drive to whatever resort they go to and collect them. (Sister will call from bus to tell us where to go - she always likes telling me where to go).

Obviously, if the flight is late and they have to deal with their luggage, then they go to AKL. But if the next bus out has space, can they hop on?

Thanks.

The yellow tags go on checked bags before you get on the plane. They are on when you check your bags your home airport. When you get to MCO, your MB or DME voucher will be scanned. You will then be directed to your resort bus line. There are probably 6 lines....multiple resorts in each line. There lines have a roped queue....so you wouldn't be able to just hop over to a different bus line. Then when you board the bus, your MB, or voucher, is scanned again. If you were to be in a line that didn't serve your resort, you would be directed to the proper line.
Meanwhile, yours tagged bags will have been taken off the plane, and taken away for sorting by resort. You never see them until you get to your resort, they never get to the public baggage carousel.

If their stop is the last one, I suppose they could get off at the first stop, but that would save about 15 mins, not much more.