Magical Express

[DMass]

To any who have used Magical Express:

Good or bad experience?

Is there another way to get to WDW other than ME?

 

[MinnieLee]

Never had a bad experience with ME. Never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for the bus to leave, were in our resort and checked in within an hour. Driver was nice and friendly. If you are stopping at different resorts other than your own, the stop was quick. Luggage arrived later with no problems. Pick up was three hours before our departure flight, came on time.

Only thing I would suggest is that they are now sending one yellow luggage tag per person. You may want to request additional tags.

ME is free. There are car rentals available at the airport. You can also get a cab at MCO or request a limo to pick you up at the airport. Not sure of the prices but I am sure other posters have info on that.


Personally, I would recommend ME.

 

[CdnBuzzFan]

Both of our experiences with ME were great. We had a long wait (20 minutes or so) the first time and just walked on without any waiting the second time. The buses are clean, climate controlled and quite comfortable. It takes about 30 minutes if I remember correctly to reach Disney property. The drivers are professional and helpful. Overall, a good and relaxing experience for us.

 

[kimis]

It has never been bad with ME! My dh and I love it. We check in and they direct you to the right bus line. We get to the resort and drop off our carry ons in our room ( we usually get into Orlando late after noon). So we usually go to DTD and walk around/ get something to eat and by the time we get back to our room (2-3 hours) our laguagge is in our room. We unpack and get ready for more magic the next day. Love ME! You can rent a car, use Mears, or another limo service but I don't know why you would. Enjoy!

 

[DMass]

Thanks all!

 

[CleoPahd]

We too have never had a bad experience and have never waited very long for a ride. It's nice not having to worry about anything. I'd highly recommend it.

 

[MHSweb79]

Never had a bad experience with ME. Never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for the bus to leave, were in our resort and checked in within an hour. Driver was nice and friendly. If you are stopping at different resorts other than your own, the stop was quick. Luggage arrived later with no problems. Pick up was three hours before our departure flight, came on time.

Ditto for us!

 

[Rae&familyxmas05]

Just got back, and we loved ME. The trip to WDW and the return trip to airport was wonderful and stress free. I would definitely do it again.

 

[Duckyiam71]

We love ME. OIA is a hectic airport and not have to stop and wait for luggage is great. One thing I noticed this past trip was on the return trip our bus was to leave at 12p. It actually left at 1150a and this was because everyone had arrived. So you will want to be sure you are there on time to leave. OH! and my DSs loved the little "movie", it got them really excited about arriving and best of all it kept them distracted. To answer your second question, you can rent a car, take a cab( expensive) hire a town car service or if you are lucky have a friend or family pick you up.

 

[skiingfast]

Remember for every horror story about DME there were another statisfied 25,000 passengers.

I have seen a few cases were a guests circumstances required a Town Car, shuttle, Taxi or rental car. But otherwise people are foolish not to use ME. I find it the greatest benefit of staying at a Disney Resort.

 

[aubriee]

Remember for every horror story about DME there were another statisfied 25,000 passengers.

I have seen a few cases were a guests circumstances required a Town Car, shuttle, Taxi or rental car. But otherwise people are foolish not to use ME. I find it the greatest benefit of staying at a Disney Resort.

I agree! As an AP holder I go to WDW several times a year and have never had a bad experience. In fact, I was one of the lucky guinea pigs who used it the very first week it was in existence. We love the service.

 

[kaytieeldr]

One thing I noticed this past trip was on the return trip our bus was to leave at 12p. It actually left at 1150a and this was because everyone had arrived. So you will want to be sure you are there on time to leave.

Right. The time you're assigned is the time your bus is scheduled to leave. Common wisdom advises being at the pickup point with your entire party and all your belongings* fifteen minutes prior to your assigned time. Buses don't wait. The quoted poster's fellow DME riders all heeded this advice and were able to depart early!

*carry-on luggage and last-minute purchases if you're flying a participating airline and used RAC; all your luggage if you're not/didn't and need to check in at the airport.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I have found it to be hit or miss. The worst was way too long of a line just to check in. We were told it would be at least an hour to get on a bus. We decided to take a cab instead. The last was great! Checked in, walked right to bus & got on, bus left within 5 minutes. Even though we were the last stop, we were at our hotel in about an hour. As others have mentioned, you can take a cab, use Mears which is just like ME but you pay for it, hire a town car or limo. If you are looking to save money, use ME. If you are in a hurry, hire a town car/limo.

 

[USAswimmer626]

Great experience! Have used Magical Express four times, and am using it again this August! Never have had a thing to complain about. Great staff and the movie shown on the bus is a great start to the vacation!

 

[Big Kid]

We have also had great experiences with ME on three trips now. So far the buses have been clean, timely, and rarely full. Since we can order groceries to be delivered to the resort for ten bucks or so, we honestly don't have any burning desire to leave the World.

 

[Quin]

I would definitely recommend it. We used it for our trip last week. There was a fair wait at MCO to board the bus due to the monster crowd - but what else would you expect at noontime on a Sunday in June? And certainly it was no worse than waiting with another crowd at baggage claim, then hauling multiple bags (long stay & flew Southwest so brought more than 1 bag per person ) down to the rental cars/shuttles.

We each had 1 swimsuit and 1 change of clothes in the carry-on in case the luggage was delayed, but it appeared in our rooms with the appropriate pixie dust the afternoon we arrived.

And it is 'free', which means the cost is built in to the price of your room and you have already paid for it. So why pay twice? We did not want a rental car as we were not leaving WDW for the length of the stay. And yes, we used all the internal Disney transport extensively and had no problems with that either.

 

[Glite]

The experiences are very good.

 

[Glite]

ME is a great experience. It is a good service that they provide. Just like the rest.

 

[shreked]

ME well worth the money LOL! ME has always been fairly quick Much quicker than the car rental line Only issue has been getting the luggage tags and info mailed to another location than our home (had children flying from different cities)

 

[marissamayhem]

I loved Magical Express. There was a couple little goofs but they weren't major. The first was the actually sent someone else's luggage to our room instead of our own. We called the front desk and it was corrected in 10 minutes. They also didn't put our departing airplanes gate number on our boarding passes so we had to actually go to our carrier's line and wait so they could tell us.

Other than that it was total smooth sailing. We got right on the bus and waited for only a few minutes. Everyone was super friendly. We were able to pay our luggage fees at our resort since we had forgotten to do it ahead of time. Everything was great and I would definitely do it again. It really saved us a ton of hassle and we were able to get into the parks sooner than if we had gotten a taxi.