Magical Express

[mpls_mm]

Help. We have always used ME but this year our flight gets in at 11pm on Friday night. Hubby also has to fly back out at 6am the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I have thought about doing a round trip shuttle, it is $105 and hubby says not to bother, he is so cheap, he squeaks when he walks. I am worried we will be waiting so long at the airport at 11pm that I will be angry and take a cab anyway, the hotel says that late at night there is barely a wait. is that true? And with him leaving so early, is ME a pain? I know the shuttle does a Goodings stop, and that might be nice, but at 11, I might just want to get to bed. Any thoughts from people who have done either please let me know.

 

[Diznotyzed]

Can't comment on arriving late as we arrived early - our red-eye landed at 5 a.m. After a quick rest room stop we went right to the ME desk. We were the only ones there, and there were 3 CMs behind the counter. Checked in, and one of them walked us over to the lines for busses. Without waiting we boarded our bus and even though we were the only ones on it, we departed immediately. It was great! Arrived at the Poly around 6 a.m.

Now as for leaving early, our return flight left around 7 a.m. Other than waking up super early, our trip back to the airport was a breeze. Our scheduled pick up time was 4:15 a.m. We were there a little early and only waited a few minutes as the bus was a little early, too. There were a few passengers on it already, not sure how many stops it made before us, but we were the last pick up and then went directly to the airport. We had to bring our luggage along with us, but for us that was no big deal. Lines for check in and security were short at that hour. Can't predict what might happen for others, but our non-peak hour arrangements were great.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

We arrived at about midnight and walked right on ME and in no time we were at All Star Sports. I think it probably works faster that late at night but I couldn't say for sure. In any case, we didn't experience a single problem. The only thing is that your luggage won't arrive at your room until the next day usually. So be prepared for that. I would save the money from the shuttle and take ME for free. I think you would have just as much of a chance of waiting with another company as you would with Disney.

As far as the return trip for your DH, either way he's going to have to get up early, so again, just use ME.

Hope this helped.

 

[byoung]

Just use Me and save you money.

 

[NJMouseMan]

Mr & Mrs Smith - now when you say the next day, about what time? We are going in January and arrive around 9pm. It's not really a big deal since we plan on relaxing the first full day at our resort.

 

[bkyrdmoviemom]

I know the shuttle does a Goodings stop..../QUOTE]

What is a Goodings stop?? Do all the ME's make a stop there? Should I bring my dancin' shoes?!?!

 

[mpls_mm]

The grocery/Goodings stop is only if you pay for the round trip airport shuttle. Some people save enough by doing that to pay for the trip.

 

[CurlyJo224]

I can't input on the early morning departure, but the late night arrival should be no problem. DH and I arrived at 11:30 pm, there were no lines, and there were only about a half dozen people on the bus. We had no wait to get on the bus, and the drive was beautiful at night.

As long as ME has your flight info, there should be no problems.

 

[CleveRocks]

The grocery/Goodings stop is only if you pay for the round trip airport shuttle. Some people save enough by doing that to pay for the trip.

I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying that if you pay $110 for a car service that you will save at least $110 by shopping for your own groceries versus paying for additional restaurant meals. Perhaps ...

But for $20, Gooding's offers a delivery service!!! Why spend $110 for a ride when you can spend $20 for delivery and get a ride for FREE???!!!

And to answer other questions, Disney's Magical Express absolutely makes NO STOPS except at other WDW resorts. Each DME bus can hold guests from up to 4 WDW resorts.

 

[CleveRocks]

I am worried we will be waiting so long at the airport at 11pm that I will be angry and take a cab anyway, the hotel says that late at night there is barely a wait. is that true? And with him leaving so early, is ME a pain? I know the shuttle does a Goodings stop, and that might be nice, but at 11, I might just want to get to bed. Any thoughts from people who have done either please let me know.

Standard DME procedure is that the bus must leave the airport no later than 15 minutes after the first guest boards the bus. They specifically do not wait for a bus to fill up.

I rode DME around 10 p.m. last year. There were maybe a dozen of us on the bus.

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

I have ridden the ME a couple of times and I don't recall any stops except for the ones at the resorts.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

OP, we received our luggage at some point during the next day. I'm not exactly sure when. We went to the parks at about 8:30 a.m. and came back around 5:00 p.m. to get ready for dinner and our luggage was in our room. We were a little disappointed because we asked for it to be delivered throughout the night as we didn't mind being woken up but it all worked out fine in the end.

 

[mpls_mm]

Thanks Mr and Ms Smith, that was kind of what I was looking for. It's funny how these things get we ended up on Goodings and delivery!! But thank you, I think we will take ME. I don't have good memories of last time, tons of people waiting all crammed together at the Airport and tons of resort stops, but I think the night arrival will help that. Thanks again!