Question about Magical Express

[bayknox]

Hi Everyone!!
We will be leaving in 3 weeks for our first trip home at SSR Our flight does not get in to Orlando until 11:15 PM. We will be using ME. Does anyone know if we can bring our own luggage with us on the bus? Or do we have to have Disney bring it to us. Because we will be getting in so late we would like to have our luggage all with us and not have to wait for it. Any experience or help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[vwlvette]

You can bring it with you, Just do NOT place the yellow tags on the luggage. If you do then ME will get the luggage before baggage claim. Have a great trip home!

 

[NedsTJ]

Since it will be late, maybe pack what you think you'll need in carryons. Otherwise you'll be waiting for your luggage and then waiting for the ME. Waiting for the luggage could take 45 minutes (been there!) but it is late, so maybe it won't be that bad. Undoubtedly your luggage will be delivered by the time you wake up so you would just need to pack PJ's (oh, and 3oz's of everything else!)

 

[spiceycat]

after waiting in Orlando for luggage once for 3 hours - the airport delivered it to the wrong place first....

definitely let DME take it. they can wait for it - while you go check in and then go to bed.

 

[MinnieGi]

We took our luggage with us on the ME bus. Now we reserved ME too late to receive our special tags in the mail so we had to get it. However it turned out great. We flew in on Nov. 18th a busy airport day and the luggage was already coming out by the time we got to baggage claim. We then had a luggage cart helper push it down to ME and he and the bus driver loaded it onto the ME bus. I liked when we got off the bus BWV bell services took it and we had it right away when we got to our room.

 

[glindamood]

My adult children arrived at MCO at 11:58PM the Friday before Thanksgiving and they put the yellow tags on and let OKW deliver the luggage on Saturday. They packed what they needed for the park on Saturday and called bell services when they got back to the room on Saturday. From what they said, the luggage did not arrive at OKW until Saturday.

 

[Anal Annie]

Do they have a cut-off time that they stop delivering it to the rooms in the evenings? We are going down on Fri. evening after work on 1/18 - we don't land LATE, but around 9:00ish. Will ME still deliver the luggage to the room that nite? And if it's late do they knock or leave it outside the door? What if we go to bed? Is there a phone number to call ME directly to ask?

I have not added ME to our ressie yet - but it was on my "to do" list for today! Do you think MS will be able to tell me how it will work?

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi Everyone!!
We will be leaving in 3 weeks for our first trip home at SSR Our flight does not get in to Orlando until 11:15 PM. We will be using ME. Does anyone know if we can bring our own luggage with us on the bus? Or do we have to have Disney bring it to us. Because we will be getting in so late we would like to have our luggage all with us and not have to wait for it. Any experience or help would be appreciated. Thank you.

OK, here's the scoop. I just called MS to add ME to our Jan. trip. If our flight is on time we're supposed to land at 8:50. The normal delivery time for luggage is 3-4 hours. The girl I talked to said ME runs all night but that the bus that we ride is actually carrying luggage for the ppl who arrived 3-4 hours before us. So she said it's entirely up to the discretion of the bus driver if they let us bring luggage other than carry-ons on the bus we ride. She said there may or may not be room. There is no guarantee that they will let us bring it. When we check in there at the airport we can tell them it's OK to deliver the luggage up to X-time but to hold it for del. the next day if it's going to be after X-time. i.e. we can say it's OK to del. it up until midnight & hope that it comes by then OR we can say don't del. after 11 pm or whatever. So we'll probably try to get whatever we need for Sat. into a couple of carry-ons & then just let them deliver the other bag on Sat. sometime. For us, since we're going in January & I don't know what to expect with regards to the weather I won't know how heavy I'll be packing until THAT week that we go & I can see the forecast... Summer clothes are so much lighter / easier! But if it's going to be 50's - 60's during the day I'll pack a lot heavier. I'm already thinking we'll each wear coats with zip-out linings....

 

[DMKEDM]

Here's our (somewhat similar) ME experience from our recently-concluded T-giving trip:

I arrived Sunday, 11/18, around 1:30 in the afternoon...I used ME's luggage service...my room was ready when I arrived...it took ME 7.5 hours (til 9 p.m.) to deliver my luggage (didn't matter as I had w/me what I needed until the next day--I called to check on it around 6 and they told me it had just arrived from the airport, and that it would be delivered ASAP...I told them "no rush"--guess they believed me!)...when they delivered it, they brought 3 suitcases--2 were mine; one was not...the CM tried to talk me into taking the third, pointing out that the tag had my room number on it...I pointed out that it wasn't mine and that I was quite certain its rightful owner would want it...and that the person's name was probably on the tag (it was) and that the front desk could correct the mis-labeled room number...all very friendly and not at all "contentious"--but had I not (by accident) been in the room, some poor someone's suitcase would have had to wait til I returned to discover the mistake, call to have someone come get the bag, and re-deliver...

Then, my DS arrived Monday night, just before 10 ... his checked bag arrived before midnight...(also via ME)...we were awake, but had been told by the Bell Services folks that the luggage would be set inside our door had it been delivered after we'd gone to sleep...we weren't given the option (and didn't ask for it) to have the bag held til the next day...

So...that's a "true life story" of what happened to us last week...

 

[aprince&princess]

On our last trip to Disney in Oct we flew in to MCO at 11:30pm, picked up our luggage and stayed at the airport Hyatt. We made plans to catch the ME bus the next morning and were told that we could just bring our luggage with us to the bus. The only items on the bus were luggage people brought themselves plus other carried items like strollers.

I believe that the other luggage comes and goes from the airport in a truck. We have seen the truck being loaded with luggage when we were leaving SSR on our last trip.

 

[Anal Annie]

I believe that the other luggage comes and goes from the airport in a truck. We have seen the truck being loaded with luggage when we were leaving SSR on our last trip.

That's so funny you said that - 'cuz I had told the MS girl I talked to today that we had assumed the luggage went on it's own special truck or something & she was like "Oh No! It rides the ME buses!" Now I'm thinking I should call everyday just to see what the next CM says - like a poll or survey!

 

[aprince&princess]

Except for the luggage that they place on the ME bus that are strollers or things people carry on, I have never seen them add other luggage to the bus. It usually stops long enough for people to store things underneath and get on the bus.

And I know that I have seen a truck being filled with luggage at ssr; we were walking back from the grandstand section and walked right by the truck near the reception area.

 

[MinnieGi]

That's so funny you said that - 'cuz I had told the MS girl I talked to today that we had assumed the luggage went on it's own special truck or something & she was like "Oh No! It rides the ME buses!" Now I'm thinking I should call everyday just to see what the next CM says - like a poll or survey!

We were the family that did not have the luggage tags so we had it all loaded on the bus for us. I can assure you besides peoples strollers and a few carry-ons there was plenty of room for all of our luggage b/c nothing else was under the bus. We were the last people on the bus so we would have seen it!!

I think another cm would give you another answer!!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

OK, here's the scoop. I just called MS to add ME to our Jan. trip. If our flight is on time we're supposed to land at 8:50. The normal delivery time for luggage is 3-4 hours. The girl I talked to said ME runs all night but that the bus that we ride is actually carrying luggage for the ppl who arrived 3-4 hours before us. So she said it's entirely up to the discretion of the bus driver if they let us bring luggage other than carry-ons on the bus we ride. She said there may or may not be room. There is no guarantee that they will let us bring it. When we check in there at the airport we can tell them it's OK to deliver the luggage up to X-time but to hold it for del. the next day if it's going to be after X-time. i.e. we can say it's OK to del. it up until midnight & hope that it comes by then OR we can say don't del. after 11 pm or whatever. So we'll probably try to get whatever we need for Sat. into a couple of carry-ons & then just let them deliver the other bag on Sat. sometime. For us, since we're going in January & I don't know what to expect with regards to the weather I won't know how heavy I'll be packing until THAT week that we go & I can see the forecast... Summer clothes are so much lighter / easier! But if it's going to be 50's - 60's during the day I'll pack a lot heavier. I'm already thinking we'll each wear coats with zip-out linings....

You were given incorrect info. The ONLY luggage that is on the bus (well, underneath it) is the luggage brought to that bus by the people riding it. There are special trucks that carry DME tagged luggage. I have never heard of any bus driver telling a guest that they can not bring luggage with them. Yes, it does slow down the whole process since luggage has to be taken out at each resort stop, but it is done all the time.
Any luggage that is tagged with the yellow tags is taken from the plane, before it ever gets to the claim area, and scanned and put in the appropriate area. Then, it goes on a truck, with huge bins, and delivered to the resorts. This is the reason it takes up to 3 hrs after resort checkin to get the bags...they are scanned several times, at the airport, then they have to be put into resort groupings, then sorted by resort, then taken to the resort and sorted yet again, and then taken to the appropriate guest room.

Can you take your luggage with you? Yes. Does any other luggage travel on that bus with you? No. Only the luggage that belongs to the people riding the bus.