TO Magical Express or NOT....OPINIONS please!

[Janet11779]

Hi Everyone...

I'm going for the second time (haven't gone since 1982, first time for my husband and kids( so, I am a newbie, I guess.

I"m so leary of the "Free Magical express transfer" I was told by WDW that it takes approx. 1 hour for the transfer, that it used to take 2 hours in the beginning.

Tell me that I"m leaning toward getting my own transfers and make me feel better, okay?

I need validation or talk me into why I should use the Magical Express, or not.
I"m 46, with 6 and 9 year old...and I think I'm cranky when I have to wait...lol

THANKS TO ALL!

oOPS.. STAYING AT AKL!

 

[sue1013]

I haven't used ME yet will in December. But if you are cranky when you have to wait you should rent a car. You will have to wait for transportation while at WDW. I'm sure you don't want to be cranky for your entire vacation.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We used Prestige Town car for the first time a few weeks ago and they were really great. They have one of the lowest rates for towncars in the Disney area and they have a $5.00 coupon if you book on their website (I think it's prestigetowncar.com). We wanted to stop at a grocery store for water, soda, etc. so we skipped the Magical Express. I also thought it would be much faster checking in if we didn't get there with a bus load of people. Worked out great! The driver was so nice and when we arrived at the Boardwalk there was no one waiting to check in. I certainly recommend Presitge Town car to everyone.

 

[BelleM77]

I was leary about using DME but it turned out to be a really pleasant experience. The longest wait we had was about 10-15 minutes and that was waiting to board the bus when we arrived. Pur resort was the first stop that day so I don't know how long it took for everyone else to get dropped off at their resorts. I can't imagine it took too long though. DH and I both agreed that we would use DME again in a heartbeat, even if we had to pay for it.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

I was leary about using DME but it turned out to be a really pleasant experience. The longest wait we had was about 10-15 minutes and that was waiting to board the bus when we arrived. Pur resort was the first stop that day so I don't know how long it took for everyone else to get dropped off at their resorts. I can't imagine it took too long though. DH and I both agreed that we would use DME again in a heartbeat, even if we had to pay for it.

ITA. I think its great, and we will be using it as long as Disney has it around.

 

[TDS373X]

I was leary about ME also (we were there 6/9 thru 6/18 this year) I kept calling and was assured we were on the list but our tags didn't show up so like you I get cranky if I have to wait I went ahead and booked a towncar service (Magic City) and had no regrets and will probably use them again later this year. We were checked into our room with luggage an hour and 15 mins after we set down in Orlando Our first morning at CBR we ran into someone who'd had their luggage lost for 15 hrs by ME they were NOT happy campers and were not letting Disney touch their bags to go home. I think there are still too many bugs in the system. My thinking was I work too hard all year to earn this trip I am not, if at all possible, going to start it off stressing over transportation I am here to relax and have fun....And we did!
Wish we could go back soon!

 

[aubriee]

I went to WDW solo May 13th-22nd, so was one of the ones who used DME in it's early days. I was very pleasantly surprised. I didn't receive my luggage tags until a few days before I left, which made me kind of nervous, but everything went very smoothly. I arrived around 10:20am, check-in at the DME counter went really quick (maybe 5-7 minutes), then I was pointed to the line for POP Century where I waited maybe another 5-7 minutes before boarding the bus, which wasn't even half full. From the time I got off the plane, found the DME counter, checked in, got on the bus, and left the airport it might have been 30 minutes. POP was the first stop and because they knew we were coming they had lots of CMs there to check us in. My room happened to be ready, so I went to check it out and drop off my carryon and was in the MK eating lunch about an hour later. When I came back from the park that night my bag was just inside the door waiting for me. Checkout went just as smoothly. I carried my bags to the DME counter that morning, got my boarding pass, then caught a bus to the MK to eat breakfast at the CP. I came back around 3:00pm just in time to step on the bus. Because I had checked my carry on bag for the return trip, as soon as the bus got to the airport I just went straight to my gate. I hadn't seen either of my bags since I gave them to the DME guy early that morning, but both bags were waiting for me that night when I arrived in Dallas.

I used Prestige towncars when we went in January and they were great, but after my experience with DME in May I plan to use DME again when I go in December. We are driving down in Sept or we would be using DME again. I can think of other things down there I would rather spend $100.00 on. When you consider the time involved in waiting for your luggage, I got out of the airport in about the same length of time in May using DME as I did in January using a towncar and because the resort knew how many people were coming in, they had enough people on duty at check-in to make check-in a breeze.