ME very very late at night?

[Disneyolic]

I was informed that around midnight or very very late at night, Magical Express may be limited to vans and if I have young children, that I may not be able to participate. Can anyone please confirm this? We may be arriving at the airport at approximately 11 pm and have 1 child who for sure would need either a booster seat or carseat if in a van, neither of which we are bringing along with us. Thank you.

 

[ducklite]

I've seen DME buses still running at that time. It's really not that late.

I was thinking you were talking like 2:00am.

Anne

 

[Disneyolic]

I've seen DME buses still running at that time. It's really not that late. I was thinking you were talking like 2:00am.

Anne

LOL. I guess it seems very very late at night when you have 3 young children, at least to me.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Do you remember your source for that information?

I haven't heard anything through the official channels, and I really doubt they would do this...

 

[Disneyolic]

Do you remember your source for that information?

I haven't heard anything through the official channels, and I really doubt they would do this...

It's not from an official source. This is what someone posted on another thread of mine regarding checking in after midnight:

We checked in about 2:00 am once in to POFQ. Quick check in and the room was o.k. We wanted non-smoking but it was not on our request. She told us we could move the next day but it was not worth it to us. The computers were down so we could not move then. Also, if we wanted a credit card linked to our room key card we had to come back the next morning.

If you are traveling on the Magical Express you may not have a bus you might end up with a van or lincoln town car. That is great unless you have kids and no car seats. Car seats are not allowed on Magical Express but Florida law requires them in the van or lincoln town car. I have also heard that sometimes they will hold busses until more people get off the planes.

Also, what worries me is having very tired children and having to wait an extra long time for ME because it is so late. Is this the case or do they still try to run about every 15 minutes or so? I can deal with tired kids, but I'm not sure how long.....

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

In regards to not getting a bus... as part of a Year of a Million Dreams, they do sometimes randomly select guests for a limousine ride, or a town car ride. That's the only thing I've heard.

I know there are Mears drivers that come in for DME at 6pm, and work till about 4am. Early morning DME drivers come in at 3am, to cover the gap. Shouldn't be a need for a van, unless it's a rare situation where one of the overnight coaches experiences a problem, and they need to find a different solution.

In that event, they'd probably find a towncar or a taxi to take the guest. Most taxis, and bunches of towncars carry carseats.


In regards to waiting... the standard is still the same. No guest should wait more than 15-20 mins in line, and no bus will sit for more than 15-20 minutes after the first guest boards. As a DME driver, I can't tell you how many late night runs I'd do with just a handful of folks on board.

 

[Disneyolic]

Thank you very much Tyler. It's good to know what I can expect as far at DME at that time. You really eased my mind.

 

[Michelina]

On our last trip, the flight didn't get in until midnight. We were picked up by a Mears bus instead of an official DME bus. The only difference was that they didn't show the video that is played on the DME bus.

 

[CleveRocks]

On our last trip, the flight didn't get in until midnight. We were picked up by a Mears bus instead of an official DME bus. The only difference was that they didn't show the video that is played on the DME bus.

Just FYI, buses that say Mears, Disney's Magical Express, and Disney Cruise Line are essentially interchangable. My guess is that they'd prefer DME be served by dedicated DME buses, but that that's not always possible due to demand and/or out-of-service buses.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We landed at 11:05 p.m. and there were two ME buses outside when we got in our towncar. They were loading people on them, so they were still going at least that late.

 

[Disneyolic]

Thank you all. I went ahead and booked our flights, coming into Orlando at 11:01 pm. I feel very good about my decision now.

 

[goofy4tink]

One more thing....when I have been returning to my resort, very late at night, (or very early in the morning depending on how your mind works!), I have seen DME buses waiting to pick up. This would be in the area of about 1:30 am, so I know that at that time the buses were still running!