Pros and Cons of Disney magical Express

[BillyFeat]

My family has used ME four times, with our last trip this last past June. We have always had good experiences with ME. The time it takes us from gate to hotel is around 60 minutes.

 

[ReneeA]

We had a GREAT experience with it last year. I left all of the bus passes/info in our van in the Detroit airport in the mayhem trying to get two toddlers and all the bags loaded at 6 in the morning. My DH was NOT HAPPY with me. He thought it was going to be a huge hassle when we got to the ME counter.

It wasn't. They pulled up the info, printed him new bus passes and we were on our way in less than 30 minutes from the time our plane landed at MCO. We made 2 stops on our way to the ASMo, but in all, we were in the MK within 90 minutes of our plane landing.

We are using it again this year. I am hoping for even speedier service since we are arriving in Orlando at 9 am and I am hoping that is way too early for tons of others to be in line ahead of us.

 

[seashoreCM]

I never did sign up for DME because I heard that SouthWest was not participating. I usually get my Mears vouchers when I get the flight from my travel agent. This time, though, I decided that I would get my Mears vouchers when I land at the airport.

When I got to the Mears counter, the person insisted that as long as I was going to a Disney resort ... it was FREE

Mears and the ME CM's were in a good mood that day. Technically somebody committed a rules violation regarding Disney's contracts with the airport or with various other companies to make ME happen. Effective in 2007 the rules are supposed to be tightened up a little more regarding disallowing walk up customers on ME, the last tightening was supposedly in Nov. '05.

Now that you know anyone getting themselves to MCO can use ME with advance reservation, please reserve in advance next time. If your entire vacation is booked on short notice (less than 10 days) ME will usually still take your reservation and you.

(2) You have to leave your resort for the airport sooner than I would like and sooner than we did when we rented a car.!

Only by a half hour if you are doing proper planning. I do confess that with a rental car you can leave from anywhere (such as from a park) whereas with ME (and generally with limos because of baggage managing) you must be back at your resort.

 

[CleveRocks]

It was my solo trip to WDW in early December. I never did sign up for DME because I heard that SouthWest was not participating. I usually get my Mears vouchers when I get the flight from my travel agent. This time, though, I decided that I would get my Mears vouchers when I land at the airport. No problem there.

Glad you had no trouble!

But you really need a new travel agent! Mine was a real doozy. I had to teach HER about DME, she insisted everything I was telling her about DME, such as the automatic luggage delivery, was impossible.

Her only knowledge about WDW was that FASTPASS is a good thing. She put a reminder on every travel document I received from her, and told me "Don't foget to use FASTPASS, it really helps" every time I spoke with her.

 

[marty0518]

Sounds like ME works quite well for most people. This biggest advantage is that it's FREE!!!

I usually rent a car when I visit (including this week) mainly to give us more transportation options. Also, I like the convenience of being able to travel off property if needed (other area attractions or grocery runs.) Plus, the rental car deals are numerous and quite reasonable (if you shop around and make use of the widely available discount codes.)

If I was definitely planning on staying on property the whole time, using ME seems to make the most sense.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I think the most valuable asset of any WDW vacation is time. We like DME because it allowed our arrival day to be an actual day in the parks, rather than the travel day it's always been in the past. No waiting at the luggage carrousel. No trying to spot your bags. No trying to find a sky cap. No waiting in the line at the rental car counter. No trying to find the right rental car. No trying to get the luggage to fit in the rental car. No trying to figure out the maps and avoid getting lost on the highway. No getting lost in the resort area. No need to tip a bellman or lug bags to the room yourself. No having to get everything settled into the room before heading out.

It was nice to step off the plane and walk right to a bus. As to waiting for the bus, I think we left the airport at about the same time the bags probably started arriving on the carrousel.

The bus was more comfortable than the plane we’d just gotten off, wasn’t at all crowded, and features a "Welcome to Disney World" video.

Including the bus' one stop at the Contemporary before heading to the Wilderness Lodge (where we were staying), the time it took us to check in and get our MYW passes, and the time to take the boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon, we were in the Magic Kingdom two hours after our flight touched down.

When we got done at the park that night, our bags were waiting for us in the room.

To be honest, I travel on business very frequently. I wish there was a DME everywhere. I've never had an easier arrival day.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We have never used ME and never will because:

We do not like busses <snip>

We do not like sitting on a crowded bus <snip>

We do not trust anyone to deliver our luggage to us

I'm only addressing these three points because, well, because your others are all specific to getting from the airport to your hotel and back.
If you don't like buses, how do you get to and from all four parks at Walt Disney World?
If you don't like sitting on crowded buses, ditto?
And I'm curious why you trust airlines to transport your luggage over a thousand miles but not DME to transport is twenty or so miles - given that, in 2005 alone, airlines misdirected over three MILLION pieces of luggage and outright lost 250,000 of those?

The "cons"...
(2) You have to leave your resort for the airport sooner than I would like and sooner than we did when we rented a car.

But, in all honesty, not that much earlier. The DME bus pickup is 2¾ to 3 hours before your flight; given that MCO advises arriving/checking in two hours in advance, you save maybe a half hour with a rental car or car service, but spend a lot more money

Thank you all so much for your quick responses. It sounds like Magical Express is the way to go especially since I won't have to deal with the luggage.
We've used a town car before and have liked the personal service but I think I will give DME a try.
Again thank you everyone

Another good thing is, if you find you're NOT happy with DME for any reason, you can make alternate arrangements to get back to the airport, with no penalty.

no one told me to "pack essentials in your carry-on" when we talked to them

In all honesty, this is a standard piece of advice when flying anywhere given the airlines' skill at misdirecting luggage.

 

[DisneyWorldWisher]

If you don't like buses, how do you get to and from all four parks at Walt Disney World?
If you don't like sitting on crowded buses, ditto?

Maybe they rent a car.

 

[Poohbear123]

I have used ME about 4 times, and each time I: NEVER had to wait for a Bus. THE Bus was NEVER crowded. I GOT dropped off FIRST and stayed at Different Resorts! I ALSO Carry ON my luggage, and find it very easy to deal with! I have nothing but POSITIVE things to say about ME and will EVEN Pay for it if Necessary!

 

[cshaffer21]

We used it on our trip in January. We stayed at the POP. We found Me at the airport, checked in with no line, went out and got on the bus. There were a few empty seats when we left. POP was the first stop. We were at our hotel in about 45 minutes from getting off of the plane. We checked in, checked our backpacks and went off to Epcot. When we returned to our room about 4 hours later, our luggage and backpacks were waiting for us. I am always the one saying "What if our bags are lost.......!?!?!?!!?" but it worked great for us. Much easier than waiting for bags and getting on bus to rent a car. Of course we didn't need a car for this trip. We've never used a private town car or limo service so don't have that to compare it to and it was during a slow time (2nd week in JAn).

 

[Kimber1963]

Unless you are travelling off property a number of times, DME is a no brainer to me! I think you actually save time using DME. By the time you wait for your luggage and wait for the shuttle bus to take you to the rental car agency, you've lost at least 45 minutes to an hour. We were in our rooms at POP 45 minutes after touchdown last September. If you're worried about leaving the park after fireworks etc... when the buses are going to be crowded, there is always cab service available for about $10 to anywhere in WDW. This is a lot cheaper than renting a car for $100 to $200 a week. If you do need to go off property, check into a daily rental or other shuttle service. I think you'd all be money ahead in the long run.

 

[Hollyster2]

We were there at the beginning of July, picked up almost immediately after our arrival (giant Mickey Hands guided us quite well!) and rode in an air conditioned bus to our resort. Our luggage arrived a few hours after us, and all went exceptionally smooth as did our trip back on ME. ALL of the Disney transportation worked great for us! We didn't wait longer than 8 minutes for any bus, peak season! We would use both services again!

 

[LoveWDW]

I chose to use FLTours because it was our anniversary and I wanted to surprise my husband. It worked out well for us. We had a half hour stop at a grocery store- more than enough time to pick up the items we wanted, and were at checkin around an hour, maybe a few minutes more than that after landing. Our luggage was with us.

Coming back, we arranged for the driver to pick us up at the recommended time. We got to the stop early because we happened to be ready, and he was already there. We walked over, our luggage was place in the trunk, and we sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Great convenience. Grocery stop. Luggage right there immediately available. But, expensive.

Would I use it again- not sure. The expense might be the deciding factor. It depends on how much I want to feel pampered.

 

[goofie4goofy]

I'm only addressing these three points because, well, because your others are all specific to getting from the airport to your hotel and back.
If you don't like buses, how do you get to and from all four parks at Walt Disney World?
If you don't like sitting on crowded buses, ditto?
And I'm curious why you trust airlines to transport your luggage over a thousand miles but not DME to transport is twenty or so miles - given that, in 2005 alone, airlines misdirected over three MILLION pieces of luggage and outright lost 250,000 of those?




The question was pros and cons of ME. I gave my cons as to why we would never use it. I don't understand why i have to explain myself because I would not use it.

We don't really care that the service is free. We also don't mind paying Tiffany town car the money for round trip airport transfer.
What I do like about Tiffany TC is the convenience of having a driver to gather your bags and take you to a car, sit and relax and have a cold drink. We like going right to our hotel with our bags, without making 2, 3 or 4 stops. We check in relax and unpack and are in the park in no time. We are at the hotel within 40 minutes of reaching baggage claim.

Knock on wood, I have never had any of of luggage lost in all our travels....and we travel a lot. What does that have to do with ME anyway? Everyone knows luggage gets lost on airlines...it also gets lost on ME. ME just handles a lot less luggage than the airlines do. I do like the convenience of not having to wait an unknown amount of time for my stuff.

Since we stay on Monorail resorts, our bus time is limited. When we don't feel like taking the bus or waiting for the bus, we take a cab or a water taxi to get to the monorail. We don't go to the water parks, so the only park that is bus only is the AK.

Are my reasons good enough? Why can't I not agree with the majority? Everytime someone has a different opinion on this board they are expected to explain themselves....why is that?

 

[Honeybehr1]

We rented a car. And for us it works great. There was a huge line at DME and none at the rental. We got right to the hotel, dropped our luggage off at the baggage stand at the hotel and headed to the park. Since we booked with AAA and used their Diamond Parking, we got very close to the entrance, we walked to the gate and was inside the park in no time. Cant imagine it was any quicker for someone else who took DME. We could have gone straight to the park but opted on dropping off the luggage incase someone broke into the car.

At the end of the day, while everyone was waiting in lines for a bus to come get them, we walked to our car and went to our hotel. It was that easy for the entire week. Only one day did we need to take the tram in MK to get the gate. All other days we parked close enough to walk.

 

[goodeats]

We had a great experience with DME, but we also had a red-eye flight where we landed at MCO around 7:00 am. I'm undecided if I'd be willing to risk it if we landed at MCO at 6:00 pm or later.

At 7:00 am there was no one at the DME desk save for the dozens of cast member with nothing to do. They ushered the two of us to an empty bus where we sat for maybe 10 minutes then another guest got on. I was quite worried that we would have to wait for the bus to get full, but then we left with only 3 guests on the bus! It seemed like a bit waste, but I was glad to get going. We then stopped at the Poly before getting to WL. We got into our room and then went to a park. When we came back around 2:00 pm our bags were (magically!) in our room. Not sure when they arrived though. We did have 'essentials' (you know, make up, toothbrush, change of clothes, bathing suit) in a carryon just in case.

On the way back I was glad to check my bags in and not worry about them until we got home. It was nice not to have to get our bags from the bellhop before we got on the DME bus. It only stopped once on the way back, but it was much more crowded. The drive was playing Bambi though, and of course his mom got shot right as we arrived at the airport (mother, mother?). I thought that was an odd choice.

Even if DME has a nominal fee ($20 or less per person) I'd still use it. It seemed very well thought out. We don't use a rental car at Disney, and I don't think it's worth the $100 to take a towncar.

 

[CleveRocks]

Maybe they rent a car.

The person she was quoting stated in their original post that they use a specific towncar service.

 

[TWyn]

We plan on using Magical Express for our trip in October. I've heard so many wonderful things about it. I'm really looking forward to trying the service. Our flight doesn't get in until 11:15 PM, and we're staying at Pop. Will they deliver our luggage in the middle of the night, or will they wait until morning? I wasn't sure whether to expect a knock on my door around 3 AM or so.

Tammy

 

[skippyman111]

I'm in the exact same boat - I arrive at 10:00 pm at MCO. Other posters say that you can keep your luggage with you even on ME. Since I'm a solo traveler, I'll ony have a backpack and 1 suitcase. If they do let you take it with you on the bus, then it's a no brainer for me.

And BTW - the last 2 times we went, we took a limo. It was nice, but I'm shaming myself for paying 250 bucks for 4 of us

 

[kaybird]

Hijack follow up.

I have a 7:00 am return flight. I am assuming that they are used to that sort of thing but my mother is comming back a few days before the rest of us and is already nervous (October trip). I told her that they transport millions of people and she can't be the dumbest one. Will she have any problem getting to the plane for 7:00am. Thanks.

As long as I'm going, she will certainly not be the dumbest one. Check w/guest services the day before, they will tell her what time they will pick her up. Have a great trip!