Not using Magical Express once you get to airport

[Ellie42699]

We will be arriving on 4/17 at aprox 10:00 at MCO. If we get to the airport and see the lines/waits are too long for Magical Express and decide to take a cab/van will there be a penalty through Disney if we dont show up for the reservation? Also, what is everyone's experience with magical express? I've read some negative comments about ME through the Unoffical Guide and am concerned it will be crazy at MCO arriving on a Saturday morning. Also, we will be staying at BWV..does anyone know the typical stops ME makes before heading to BW?? Thanks for your input.

 

[Missytara]

You may choose not to ride and there is no penalty; since you have not paid for the service. However, if you have already tagged your luggage with ME tags at your home airport; your luggage will go along to your resort via ME.

Many people are deceived by the lines; it may look long, but there are several agents and it is surprising how little time it would take. Also, I believe some people have been able to go directly to the bus boarding area, if all your docs are in order. Since they put three resorts on a bus, the buses fill up fairly quickly. Really, with the fact that you don't have to deal with renting a vehicle, it is worth the wait.

I think some of the negative comments you see from people are of their own making.

The first year, I saw a young couple with two young children go into an absolute meltdown. Turns out they didn't even read the packet that came in the mail, so they didn't tag their bags at their home airport. When they were asked for their baggage claim tickets (so Disney could go find their bags) they said they threw them out because the travel agent said their bags would be taken care of by Disney. Luckily, they had their airline info, and Disney called and was able to locate the bags after about fifteen minutes or so. The husband got snippy with the clerk, saying well, it is about time, we were told all along by our travel agent you would take care of the bags. He also commented how much of HIS time they had wasted.

When they got to the line for the bus, they got flustered when asked for their transportation coupons for each person, etc. in order to board the bus. The wife huffed at the woman and said she didn't have time to look for them - the other clerk had already wasted too much of their time. The clerk insisted they needed them, and the wife finally dumped out half her day bag on the floor in order to find the packet. She shoved it at the clerk and said, "here, are you happy now?"

The clerk was very nice, and suggested if they decided to travel Disney again, their next trip might be more pleasant if they take the time to review the documents before they leave home.

The guy snapped at the poor girl (who I thought was very appropriate in making the comment) that he would never, ever travel to a place that was so disorganized and the staff so rude.

See, sometimes people make their own problems....

 

[kaytieeldr]

The clerk was very nice, and suggested if they decided to travel Disney again, their next trip might be more pleasant if they take the time to review the documents before they leave home.

Interesting comment... especially from someone whose life is so organized he had the time and the incentive to read the materials sent to him, and whose wife is so organized she only had to dump out half her carry-on to locate travel documents she'd been handed only moments earlier...

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Wouldn't be interesting if WDW could refuse to allow such an unpleasent person into the park!
I would have hated to see how he/she acted the rest of their vacation.

 

[DeadHead]

DW & I have used ME since its inception. We go to WDW 2 to 3 times aa year and have never had a problem. Now I can't tell you how a Saturday arrival would look like since we always arrive on Sunday's. This past May the service was truly exceptional. Our flight landed at MCO at 9:00 a.m., we were on the bus to BWV at 9:16, really! We stopped at CBR first and then right over to the BWV arrived at 10:00.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

even thought we have been going to WDW yearly since 1987 we used ME for the first time last October...and loved it.....will be using it again this August..we got in after 10pm on a Thursday evening..so we had to get our bags first...so that slowed us down a bit..in August we arrive on a Saturday morning so we'll tag our bags and let disney take care of them

 

[goofy4tink]

I routinely take DME to BW....it has taken me an average of about 65 mins....total of about 5 trips there. Most run about an hour. I normally arrive late morning/early afternoon...busy time? Yes, but that's when the buses are most efficient. The bus may stop at POR....did that the last time we were there. It also stops at YC/BC and CBR. But, the routes are not etched in stone.
As someone mentioned, the lines can be deceiving....the longest we have ever waited in the line to checkin was 20 mins...and that was last Dec when huge groups were arriving. The checkin line was way back past the car rental counters!! I figured we were doomed. My friend got in line, while I sat down against a pole. It took only about 20 mins to my surprise!! They had all windows open with CMs working away.

If you decide to take a cab, it will cost you at least $50, if not more, depending on how many are in your group.

 

[CleveRocks]

We I've read some negative comments about ME through the Unoffical Guide and am concerned it will be crazy at MCO arriving on a Saturday morning. Also, we will be staying at BWV..does anyone know the typical stops ME makes before heading to BW?? Thanks for your input.

I truly love the Unofficial Guide. Len Testa and his crew are personally responsible for greatly increasing our fun and efficiency during our WDW trips, as well as saving us money, and I owe them a lot of thanks (and I've told Len that via e-mail).

But they have a stinkin' bad attitude about Disney's Magical Express, and I can't figure out why. In the latest edition of the book, they quote several families and tell what a bad experience they've had. However, the complaints show a lack of understanding of the system, a system Disney plainly explains in the DME literature it mails to everyone with a DME reservation.

I don't have my 2009 edition handy, but there's one example of a family who had a "horrendously long wait" for their checked luggage, something like 3 hours after landing. Well, Disney itself says to expect your bags about 3 hours after resort check-in (not 3 hours after landing). Disney also very clearly recommends you have a "day bag" (carry-on) with your immediate needs due to this time difference between when you arrive and when your luggage arrives. So Disney tells you to expect it, yet when things go exactly as Disney says they will, the Unofficial Guide lists the experience as a mistake, a nightmare, something that should never have happened.

To me, that's sort of like going to a table-service restaurant and complaining that you had to wait for your food rather than having your food brought to you the moment you ordered it (like at a counter-service restaurant). Is the person eating at the table-service restaurant receivng bad service because it took 15 minutes between when they ordered and when they received their food? Of course not! Because everyone knows you have to wait.

Well. it's the same with DME and luggage. Everyone should know about how long it should take (because Disney tells everyone). If that's unacceptable to them, they shouldn't use DME. If it is acceptable to them, then they have no right to complain about it later. They should've known it was coming.

To my recollection, most of the negative comments in the Unofficial Guide are along those lines.

And by the way, there's no need to sit around and wait for the luggage ... it gets delivered to the inside of your resort room whether you're in there or not.

 

[anonymousegirl]

If you decide at the last moment to take a taxi, your bags will have already gone to DME (because you yellow-tagged them before you checked them in at your home airport). Disney policy states that you must ride the bus with your luggage. If you would like the option to take a taxi upon arrival, then you could NOT tag your bags and pick them up yourself at the baggage carousel and bring them over to the DME counter.

I prefer doing that so I can immediately identify whether one of my bags has gone astray. If the airline loses one of your bags, you won't know it for many hours.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you decide at the last moment to take a taxi, your bags will have already gone to DME (because you yellow-tagged them before you checked them in at your home airport). Disney policy states that you must ride the bus with your luggage. If you would like the option to take a taxi upon arrival, then you could NOT tag your bags and pick them up yourself at the baggage carousel and bring them over to the DME counter.

I prefer doing that so I can immediately identify whether one of my bags has gone astray. If the airline loses one of your bags, you won't know it for many hours.

And that is the official Disney stand. BUT...many, many guests have tagged their bags and then taken alternative modes of transportation to their resort and had no issues at all. The only issue we can really come up with would be if the airline misdirected a piece of your luggage. Because you didn't check in at the DME desk and tell them how many pieces of luggage you tagged and checked, they will have no idea there is a piece missing. So...you won't realize a piece has gone missing until later in the day.
I truly believe that a lot of those 'late arriving' pieces of luggage are just airline misdirected pieces that DME got many hours later...after the airline figured it out and got it to MCO.

 

[Alesia]

I prefer doing that so I can immediately identify whether one of my bags has gone astray. If the airline loses one of your bags, you won't know it for many hours.

True, but Disney will know. They will also begin the process of finding your missing bag(s) while you're enjoying yourself in the parks.