Magical Express

[jersey joe]

Just received packet in the mail. Please comment on your experiences with this service. We'll be at OKW. I read that it takes between 1-3 hours to get luggage delivered. If your ckeck in is around 3:00 pm, then you may have to wait until 6:00pm. We have 3 Little Ones [1,2,and4] and I wonder how this will work ? Can you take your strollers with you on the bus and wait for the rest to be delivered,or must all baggage be delivered after my arrival at OKW? Thanks

 

[paults]

DME could be 1-4 hrs for bags.
YES you can take strollers with you and put under bus.

whatever bags you tag DME will collect. If you don't tag a bag you need to pick it up and take to the bus with you.


I would take a carry-on with some cloths for the little ones and take that on the bus too.

remember the new rules for flying now.

we use DME twice but only had carry-ons and had no problems.

 

[jersey joe]

thanks for the quick response. it sounds like i'm better off if i take baggage with me on the bus. oh, any comments on the disney golf courses? leaving in 12 days.

 

[purpliequeen]

Last time we decided to take our luggage onto the bus. It was a good idea. I remember getting back and reading the boards about things being stolen from luggage because of the no-lock policy. I'm not saying that a lot of bags have been stolen from, it's just that I don't want to risk anything spoiling my vacation.

It was also nice having everything there when we checked into our resort and not have to worry about it getting delivered to the wrong room, etc. We travel a lot out of the country and are used to bringing our bags everywhere with us- especially through Europe. Because of that, it's hard for us to just leave our bags on the baggage claim belt and then wait for it 1-4 hours later.

My family doesn't pack a lot- we try to pack light. We each have a decent size rolly bag that we check onto the plane and a small carry-on. Definitely don't forget about the new security policies that are now in effect!

 

[TinkGirl]

Our family has the other point of view. We really liked not having to go to baggage claim and lug around bags for our family of five. We already had a plan (parks) for what we planned to do on arrival and had the necessary items (shorts instead of pants, etc. ) with us in a carry on, which we stored with bell services after changing. When we got back from MK that night, there was our luggage. We found it very annoying when we had to wait a while on the ME bus because a large family was dragging around all their luggage and having it loaded under the bus. I remember they had a ton of bags and kept going back for more. I'm not trying to be mean, but the system seems to work great. Unless you have a very late arrival time, I'd try it the way it's supposed to work.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

DH and I used DME in March and loved it. Very convenient.
We did pack extra clothes and swimsuits in a carry on though.

The rest of our luggage arrived about 2 1/2 hours after we checked in.

 

[bpmorley]

Jersey, if you wany, you don't have to put the ME tags on your bags. You can get them from the carousel and take them to ME yourself. Just an option.

 

[Ksp]

We had a good time using Magical Express (2x's now). We got a bit nervous the second time, because our luggage was delivered a few bags short of the total. Called the front desk, and found out that they deliver in "waves," if you will.
Our missing luggage was in the room within the next hour-and a half.

 

[bpmorley]

I'm not a golfer, but I've been told it's worth getting the golf membership down there. There is a DVC discount on everything. Again, this is what I've been told, don't know for sure.

 

[kgkmom]

For us, using DME was a real time saver. We let DMW pick up our luggage, and it was delivered to the room about 5 1/2 hours after we arrived. No big deal, because we traveled prior to the new restrictions (last week) and so had a change of clothes, our toiletries, water, etc. with us. When we arrived at BWV, our room wasn't ready, so we stashed our bags and went to Downtown Disney for lunch. By the time we got back from DTD and a quick hop to Epcot, our room was ready and our bags were there.

So for us, it worked great. With the new restrictions though, I'm not sure if we'd leave our luggage for DME pickup, just in case I needed my saline solution or something. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Our next trip is in February, so who knows what the deal will be then.

 

[Tootsietoo]

Just back from OKW and we used ME for the first time. We usually use Tiffany and make a grocery stop, but used gardengrocer.com this time. Our planes landed around 2:30 PM. Getting on ME was easy enough, but we didn't get our luggage until 8:45. I traveled with my 3 year old granddaughter and had packed most essentials in my carryon bag; but my daughter-in-law, who traveled with an 11 month old and a 5 year old, didn't carry on all that she would have liked because just traveling alone with the two children was complicated enough. Waiting over 6 hours for the luggage was not good. Bell services said it was because Sunday is a popular day for DVC members to check in, so there was a lot of luggage to deliver. Hmmm, maybe putting more CMs on that Sunday shift would help...... Now with the new airport security measures in place, not having luggage, even for 2 or 3 hours, would be difficult for families with small children. I would suggest not putting the ME tags on your luggage and taking your luggage from the carousel yourself.

 

[Ksp]

I was thinking about that myself; why not have one bag with items you will need that first day in it (normally you'd take these things in your carry on, tag that one with your regular luggage tag, not an ME tag.

Then you could send the rest of your luggage through ME.
Just pick up your bag from the carousel before you get in line for ME bus.

OR-- perhaps send your items a day or two before via FedEx/UPS, sending it to the resort itself. That way you won't have to worry so much about losing your luggage!

 

[bpmorley]

I've used ME 5 times and never had a problem with anything being lost. Once we did have to wait an awful long time for them.

 

[Ksp]

I've used ME 5 times and never had a problem with anything being lost. Once we did have to wait an awful long time for them.

I'm not too worried about ME losing the luggage--more just the regular ol' airline --heaven forbid they lose your one bag containing all the shampoo/deodorant/toothpaste/contact solution, etc.

 

[byoung]

We usually use our carry ons only, might have to check in next time. Having them on with us on exiting plane saved a lot of time.

 

[bpmorley]

I'm not too worried about ME losing the luggage--more just the regular ol' airline --heaven forbid they lose your one bag containing all the shampoo/deodorant/toothpaste/contact solution, etc.

Then I wouldn't fly Airtran if I were you. We flew with them twice and had nothing but problem with out luggage. They lost a bad once and the next day Southwest called and said they had the bag. They delivered it to airtran who brought it to us in pieces

 

[Ksp]

OMG--that sounds like it was a nightmare! We've only had US Air lose our bags (for about 2 days). Luckily, that was on our trip home; if it had been on the way to WDW, we would have had a very hard time.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

used it twice, works smooth as buttah!
Last trip got to the hotel around 1:00pm, early check in, room ready, TYVM, quick pit stop and off to the parK. returned to room around 6:00pm and bags were waiting for us.

I never pack anything valuable for the checked bags, So I never have to worry about something not showing up. If a bag gets lost a quick trip to Wal-ly world and i can get a change of inexpensive clothes, which you can always wear after your return so its really not a loss (if you know what I mean), the bags eventually turn up, and we have a couple of extra changes of cloths (no biggie)

 

[bpmorley]

OMG--that sounds like it was a nightmare! We've only had US Air lose our bags (for about 2 days). Luckily, that was on our trip home; if it had been on the way to WDW, we would have had a very hard time.

Oh it was a nightmare. First it started out with an 11 hour flight(thanks to weather and an onboard fire)from florida to philly.

 

[corpcomp]

Used it two weeks ago out on NYC. Arrived at MCO about 1PM and the luggage did not show up till about 5pm, and only because I kept calling baggage in BCV. It was close to 100 degrees when we arrived and we had jeans on which really made it a problem. Next time we will bring a change of clothes or bathing suit in carry - on to at least sit by the pool.

FYI Magical Express is actually run by MEARS. That should say it all. I found this out when we reallized our son's disney pins were missing from the luggage when we returned to NYC. I had called them and the CSR told me that ME was a privately run company, separate from Disney. They indicated they may to start charging next year for the service.

But it really depends on what TSA does regarding future carryons. Hope they don't do what was done in the UK, banning all carry-ons.