Southwest Airlines and Disney Magic Express

[Wonderdis]

If we flying with Southwest to Orlando. I am not sure if Southwest is part of the Disney Magic Express trasportation arrangement or not.

Do we get our luggages ourselves from the carousel and bring to the Disney bus upon arrival in Orlando ? OR do we just leave it for Disney to pickup and deliver to our rooms ?

If I am not mistaken (almost certain) that upon checkout, Southwest is not one of those airlines where you can check in from the resort.

Please help .....

 

[XMan]

Magic Express is a Disney service that will work for any airline connecting in Orlando (MCO) - as long as those yellow stickers are on your bags, you are all set. Your luggage will arrive in your Disney room a few hours after you check in.

Upon checkout, you will not be able to have your luggage automatically sent to the airport if you fly Southwest, but it is not that big a deal. The Magic Express bus will pick you and your luggage up at your hotel and drop you at your departing terminal - you won't have to lug it too far.

 

[CleveRocks]

Magic Express is a Disney service that will work for any airline connecting in Orlando (MCO) - as long as those yellow stickers are on your bags, you are all set. Your luggage will arrive in your Disney room a few hours after you check in.

Upon checkout, you will not be able to have your luggage automatically sent to the airport if you fly Southwest, but it is not that big a deal. The Magic Express bus will pick you and your luggage up at your hotel and drop you at your departing terminal - you won't have to lug it too far.

Excellent info on Disney's Magical Express!

 

[daisygarden]

Southwest is now one of the airlines that is linked with Magical Express so you can check in your bags at a Disney resort prior to your departure. SW and Disney must have implemented it during the first week in June 2009 because we traveled on SW during the first week in June and stayed at POP. At the start of our trip SW wasn't a participating airline but by the time we checked out we were informed that we could check in our bags at POP for SW.

We were pleasantly surprised because we always travel from PHL to MCO on SW!

 

[daisygarden]

Sorry--it looks like you can only check in your bags for SW if you are staying at POP! This is part of a pilot program. See story in Orlando Sentinel: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/bu...ld-southwest-launch-magical-express-test.html

I guess we were lucky to be staying at Pop Century! Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Missytara]

You will come in on level 1 and you have to go up to level 3 when you arrive at MCO. There is an elevator that takes you up to that level, it is somewhat of a hike, but not too bad.

I was stuck flying Southwest one time, because my friends wanted to fly Southwest. The one drawback is that you don't see how long the line is until you get all the way up to level 3. I did not see any skycaps up there, but it may have just been so busy. We went ahead and got the skycap down on level 1, and thank goodness we did. The line was a mile long. I am glad we didn't have to go all the way back down to get the skycap.

 

[pamjb]

There would of been no need to schlepp back down to Level 1 for a skycap, they are available at curbside check in.

Just a hint......I always check in at the curbside check in. I have never had to deal with a line more than 2 people long. It is well worth the $2 tip per bag for me not to have to stand in that horrendous line inside the terminal.
Just walk outside and you will more than likely be on your way to the gate within 5 minutes.

 

[TheWog]

Don't forget the arrival time limitations. You need to arrive prior to 10:00 p.m. to utilize the luggage transfer option. If you arrive after 10:00 p.m. you need to collect your own luggage and bring it with you.

 

[Missytara]

Pam - I mean if people bypass the skycap, hoping that there is not a line. Many people will not opt for skycap, so they don't have to tip someone.....

At BWI, you can stand right at the door where the skycap is, and see how long the line is inside. Still, people will bypass the skycap, because they won't pay the tip.

 

[Lewisc]

Some airports only have one or two skycaps checking luggage. Inside you have multiple agents with multiple self-service kioshs to begin the checked luggage process. Frequently what appears to be a long line inside will move faster then what appears to be a short line outside. Passengers who have enough time might prefer a 15-20 minute wait inside an air conditioned terminal to a 10 minute wait outside in the FL heat.