Magical Express??

[mom4463]

On our last trip we used the Magical Express and found it to be very convenient. Now for our upcoming trip, our TA has advised that we do not put the the Magical Express luggage tags on our luggage but carry it on the bus when we arrive because they have had many guests complain about the treatment of their luggage.

Has anyone had any bad experiences with Magical Express recently?

 

[Debbie]

Nope. We've used ME several times, and the only "issue" we had was a late delivery. We arrived at the hotel at 8:30/9:00 pm, and the bags didn't arrive until after midnight. Probably 4 hours instead of 3. I could (should) have asked them to keep the bags until morning, but I didn't. A quiet knock, I answered the door, and in they came.

Other than that one time, the bags were in the room in record time! I love ME.

I would definitely use them again....and again....and again.... Too bad I don't have a trip booked.

 

[fan1080]

We've used ME 4 times.

We have not experienced any problems.

Some like having their luggage with them. We carry a small carry on with essentials.

There is an opportunity to get to your resort faster, and then on to the parks faster.

We love ME and would not go to Disney without using the service.

 

[Alderbrook]

We will never use the ME luggage service again. We arrived at 3:30 & did not receive our bags until 10 pm, it was a mess. Their luggage service all around didn't work for us even at the hotel. When we checked in they couldn't find a van for us to take us to our room. We had 2 large carry ons, stroller, diaper bag, etc that we didn't feel like lugging around. In the end, we walked from custom house at CBR to our room out of frustration.

Our bags were treated fine, but the late arrival of them was too frustrating for us. I wanted to unpack before we went to bed & we had a 3 year old that was tired. 10 pm was not good. So when we go down again in Sept we will get our bags at baggage claim @ MCO & head to the ME.

 

[Reese]

We've never had any problems with ME itself. Once are luggage arrived missing a piece but it turns out it was searched at the airport (it contained water bottles and juice all neatly packed in plastic sleeves so if anything exploded it would be contained). The airport was kind enough to remove all the sleeves and not replace them and one of the juices opened up and the luggage was soaked (my apologies to anyones luggage near mine). They delivered that one about an hour later.
If we've had a late flight I've just asked them to hold our luggage and I phone in the morning and they bring it right up. Other than that we've always had our luggage usually within two hours of check in.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

We used ME and travelled with my parents in September and because I'm paranoid, we collected our own luggage but my parents left it up to ME for their luggage. Our plane landed at 1:10 pm and we arrived to POFQ at 2:15pm with our luggage that we had to claim ourselves. My parents luggage arrived safely in the room at 3:30 pm. Excellent service. Would I collect my luggage myself again? You bet I would. Crazy paranoid I am!!! I just really like to unpack and settle in as soon as I get to the resort (if our room is ready) so we can get on with our trip!

 

[Tinkershelly]

One more supporter for ME. We have used it many times (more than 5 less than 10 times) without complaint and will be using it for the next trip also. We usually arrive early-mid afternoon, drop our carry-on stuff in the room and head out to Epcot, have a nice supper, catch Illuminations and by the time we head back to the hotel the bags are waiting. Granted we usually get back to the hotel until 10pm-ish so I can't say when the bags actually arrive but the convenience of not waiting for and carrying the checked baggage is well worth it to us.

 

[TraceyDisney2008]

Love ME will use it everytime.

 

[C&B Young]

Any problems we've ever personally had with baggage treatment was from the airline, not ME.

 

[weewuvvdisney]

I love the fact that once we arrived at the airport in our hometown....the next time we saw our bags, they were in our room at the resort.

It was great!!!!!!!

We arrived at the hotel around 2:30 pm and headed out to MK.

 

[maryliz]

The only time I would EVER collect my own bags is if my flight was arriving at MCO AFTER 8PM. A very reputable TA (DIS'er to boot) told my DSIL recently to NOT use the tags as well ... I told her that I thought that was an incredible DISSERVICE to tell them that. Their flight was arriving at 4:30PM. Of course they chose to NOT listen to me (apparently 31 trips to Disney doesn't make me an expert ). So I happily thought of them trying to lug all that stuff around to the bus, and then to their rooms.

Take a carry-on with your essentials, and unless you have a very late flight, let Disney do all the work with your luggage.

Our luggage has always arrived in our room very quickly. One time I got checked in, went to the food court for lunch, and our luggage was in the room when we got back ... hadn't been at the resort for more than an hour.

I think your TA is steering you in a wrong direction. JMHO

 

[Cottager]

I swear sometimes it seems like they delay delivering your luggage until you're in your room just to have a better chance at receiving a tip...but maybe that's just my luck.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Like CB & Young, any mishandling of luggage we have encoutered was due to the airlines, not ME.
This April we will not be landing in Orlando until almost 11pm and that means we have to collect our own bags... that is the only reason for I will not be using the ME luggage service. 6 times and counting, we have never had a problem with ME's service. I agree that your TA is misleading you.

 

[NancyK]

We have used ME many times and have never had an issue. It has always been in our room within a couple of hours. I love not having to wait for it at the airport. Once I get to MCO, I want to get on that comfortable bus to take me to WDW.

 

[You'vegotafriendinme]

as fans of the ME. We've used this service many, many times and are always thankful that we don't have to worry about our bags when we arrive at the airport. We've never had a problem with receiving our bags in a timely manner (usually within an hour or two they appear at our room) - perhaps it's because we always take an early a.m. flight? We can't say enough about the wonderful service we've always received at WDW - wouldn't stay anywhere else!

 

[OntFamily]

The best part of DME is the luggage service.

We used it a few weeks ago. Flight landed @ MCO at 7:30pm, and luggage was delivered about 10:30pm.

 

[mom4463]

Our flight arrives at 5:30, so even if our luggage arrives in our rooms 3 hrs later it will still only be 8:30pm. I did not have any problems with ME during our last trip, so I think that we will take our chances and use them again.
We always pack our essentials in our carry-on.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

 

[MECH8T7]

I'm another supporter of putting the luggage tags on the bags. We pack in our carry-on the bare minimum clothing/swimwear/toiletries that would permit us to get by if there was an extended delay (e.g. 24 hours) in DME getting our luggage to us. No doubt some problems/delays occur, as I am sure threads on the transportation or resorts discussion forums will detail. But there are certainly not widespread.

The only delay we've encountered getting our luggage when using DME was self-inflicated. The first year we used it, one of our kids put the "do not disturb" sign on the door as we headed out to MK shortly after arrival at 11 am and we stayed at the park until closing. We were disappointed to see that our luggage had not arrived when we got back to our room, until we realized it was because of the sign on the door. (We called the front desk and the luggage was delivered immediately.)

 

[PixieNorth]

We have used ME several times. The service was great. We don't wait around for our bags. We usually land later in the afternoon or evening, go out for supper and when we get back our bags are there. We just always carry one change of clothes with us, so we don't feel too rumpled to head out.