Magical express

[jennynyholm]

I'm planning my first WDW trip and I'm trying to figure out our last day. Our flight leaves at. 4:00, so we won't have a full day at MK, but still enough to make it worth it I think. My question is does the magical express only leave from your resort or can you take it straight from the park to the airport. I guess if that was possible it would mean that before we left the resort that morning our bags would be left with magical resort and be taken to our flight without us? Not sure how it all works yet . . .

 

[winthropf]

You must take ME from your resort.

 

[MADnNOLA]

On the morning of check-out, you will need to check your bags with Bell Services if you plan on heading to the parks or DTD. You will receive a notice the night before (on your door or left in the room) about your time for ME pickup.

ME pickup is 3 hours prior to your flight time for national flights and 4 hours for international. If your flight is at 4pm, you will need to be at the ME pick up at your resort by 12:45pm, with your bags and ready to go for the 1pm bus.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm planning my first WDW trip and I'm trying to figure out our last day. Our flight leaves at. 4:00, so we won't have a full day at MK, but still enough to make it worth it I think. My question is does the magical express only leave from your resort or can you take it straight from the park to the airport. I guess if that was possible it would mean that before we left the resort that morning our bags would be left with magical resort and be taken to our flight without us? Not sure how it all works yet . . .

Bags.
If you are flying a participating airline...
AirTran Airways
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Delta Air Lines
JetBlue Airways
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways

You will be able to check your bags at your resort. You will see them again at your home airport. The RAC desk is open from 5am-1pm. You must have your bags checked in AT LEAST 3 hours before your flight. So, you can easily check your bags, leave your carryons with baggage services, and go to the park.

People
You will be assigned a pick up time for DME 3 hours before your scheduled flight +/- 15 minutes. You need to be at YOUR (must be your resort) pickup location at least 15 minutes BEFORE that assigned pick up time, ready to board the bus. This means you have any bags you left with baggage services, shopping done, bathroom breaks done, etc.

Your pickup time will be at some point between 12:45p & 1:15p.
You'll need to be ready for pickup 15 minutes before that time (so that will be sometime between 12:30p & 1p).
Allow time to get carry ons, go to the bathroom, etc, you should get back to your resort from the park (IMO) at least 30 minutes before hand.
If you're using Disney bus transportation, allow an hour to get from park back to resort. If you can take boat/monorail/walk (CR), you can probably allow 30 minutes. Keep in mind, this is timed from when you exit the gates of the park.

So, if you are assigned a 1pm pickup, you need to be walking out of the gates of MK @ 11:15AM

11:15AM + 60 minute travel + 30 minute to get baggage + at DME stop 15 minutes early = 1pm.

Others will recommend being back at resort 60 minutes before hand. Personal preference.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

ME will pick you up at least three hrs before, that is 1:00 PM and you will need every minute of it for security lines.
I wouldn't even consider MK flight day. I never do a park flight day, we have stayed close to the resort pool generally.

 

[sargenca]

We always visit a park on arrival and departure day. We rent a car which does allow us to head to the airport straight from the park - and we check our bags at the resort first thing in the morning. Past couple of trips we have gone to DHS on the last day because it is a small park and easy to get in and out of. We leave at least 3 hours in advance depending on whether we need to eat before we get to the airport. We usually book our return flights between 2-5pm so we can get a partial day at the end. Good luck - I hope you figure out a way to squeeze in a little more park time before heading home! Great way to take advantage of FP+