Our Disney Magical Express return cancelled

[Jimsig]

Was waiting at OKW for our 450p departure on Sat (4-13), had a 745p flight. Got their 15 min early like it said. It never showed. The bell service knew we were waiting as we were talking with them. They were surprised it had not showed. Finally at 510p or so they took my voucher with the res number and made a call. They were told it had been cancelled, but were not given a reason why. As they were on the phone to see if they could get us on the next bus one of the bell service people told us they would talk to the driver and try and get us on the 520p if it was not full. It they could not she told us they would get us a cab voucher. It was nice to see how pro-active they were, as I am sure she was expecting me to blow up and be pissed. Luckily the 520p had plenty of room and the driver was more then happy to take us. Think there were only 15 of us on the bus if that. I know they make other stops, but it was only the 3 of us from OKW waiting for the 450, and with that few people on the 520 bus I wondered if they cancelled the 450p due to low ridership? I was surprised that the resorts were never notified of the cancellation.

 

[trewin]

I can't believe you weren't informed of the cancellation/given other plans! Wow.
But that's wonderful that bell service was so helpful!! It gives me confidence that we picked a nice resort- I have read some good things abt OKW thanks for sharing.

 

[N365PA]

Glad to hear the Disney cast members helped ya out in a bind. Overall, Mears does a great job but I think it should be Disney cast members behind the wheel.

 

[goofy4tink]

Good to hear that the CMs at OKW were proactive in getting you to MCO!! DME/Mears shouldn't just be cancelling runs when they know that people are assigned to those buses. I 'get' that stuff happens, but phone calls to the resorts should be made as soon as they know they aren't showing up, and alternatives should be offered then.

 

[Jimsig]

I knew as long as we made the 520 we would be all set, we had paid for Even More speed for our JetBlue flight so I wasn't worried about that. Only issue with a cab would have been getting one w/ a car seat for our 3yo.

Other then this issue, it was a great trip as far as Disney went. At boarding time JetBlue announced there would be an almost 2 hour delay with our flight. The had the cockpit crew, just short 2 members of the cabin crew who were flying infrom NYC. They convinced a crew on personal time heading to Boston to fill in and we ended up pushing back from the gate only 40 min late. The flight across from us heading to LGA had the same issue and they left over 2hrs 30 min late.

 

[mjplantz]

I sat behind the bus driver last year on a return trip to the airport and he had his radio loud enough for me to hear. It was nothing but constant chatter from the drivers and the dispatchers about what bus was where and how many people they had on board and could fit etc.

My initial reaction was that it was not as much of a reservation system as we probably envision it to be. They picked up several parties that were there ahead of schedule on our bus which then made it not as feasible for the 'scheduled' bus to pick them up so they were searching for a different bus to come by and pick them up. It was quite interesting to take it all in...

I could be totally off in my assessment but I'm glad it worked out for you...