warning for cdns and magical express

[ado121]

it ain't so magical when you are canadian and don't have the yellow tags!

i called about 2 weeks before our trip to say we had not rec'd our yellow tags for our luggage yet. they said no problem, they would fast track them out to me. should get them in a week. even went over my address with me to make sure they were sending them to the right place. canada! well, a week goes by and nothing. so i call again. this time the person says its too late to send them out and goes over my address with me again....yes, canada. bc canada. she says oh, it says on her computer that they coudnt mail them to me in the first place becuase they didn't know where the state of bc was???????????????state of bc....um, its a province and its in CANADA. no problem she says.....they fax me a useless letter that says when i get to orlando airport go to the magical express checkin place, describe my luggage and they will pick it for me and 'magically deposit it in my room'. in 2 hours or less.

yeah right.

well i put purple (bright purple....aka. hard to miss) ribbons on my luggage so they are easy to identify. i also described them to the person in very detailed words. yes, 2 were black but with the purple ribbons on them....hard to miss.


so heres the timeline:
we arrive at the airport at 5pm. left on magical express maybe 30 minutes later. to pop century. that was nice. we were so excited. but yes, being from the colder part of canada, very shocked by the heat. nonetheless...off we go....we are the first to be dropped off. check into our room....and take off all our clothes (i have 2 children, 3 and 1 who were hotter than a firecracker!) and wait a bit. relizing that the bags will probably take a bit longer (read: a bit) becuase they don't have the yellow tags on them....we put our clothes back on and go for dinner at everything pop...yum yum. and then, seeing the pool and thinking our bags should be in our room by now...we return to put our bathing suits on....no bags. noswimming suits. i call the luggage people and ask where they are, or at least how much longer...its now 8pm. they till me it should be at least another 45 mintues. give it an hour. so, ok, no pool tonight but make due....bath night. so i put the girls in the tub at 9 thinking my luggage should be here soon. their baths are usually about 20 mins. at 930 still no luggage. i call again. talk to someone else who says she has no idea where our luggage is......i ask to speak to the manager now since my kids are in the tub and my luggage was suppose to 'magically appear' in my room over 2 hours ago.......she says she can call the airport but its a private company that picks up the luggage and delivers to the hotels so she can't track where mine is. i say....FIND A WAY, even if you have to go and pick it up yourself....

at 10pm (now my kids look like prunes becuase they have been in the bath for 1 hour) my luggage FINALLY shows up and the the luggage delivery person has the nerve to wait around for a tip...................you have got to be kidding me!

i realize it was not her fault personally but come on.......you want a tip for delivering my luggage 2.5 hours late....

so heres my advice...if you don't have the yellow tags becuase they don't know where canada is......pick up your luggage yourself....and bring it to the busses. might be a pain the butt ( we had 2 carseats, 4 pcs of luggage) but well worth it to avoid the pain of waiting a LONG time to get your luggage.


who doesn't know where canada is?????????

amy

 

[Scratch42]

Same ones who think we all live in igloos?

Why did you not take your own luggage to the bus?

There are only certain airlines, all US Carriers, that have the Magical Express Service.

Hope the rest of your trip was better.

j

 

[ado121]

they told us that it was easier for them to pick it up and transfer (and quicker) it to the room than it was for us to pick it up and wait for another bus. rethinking that one.

we flew from seattle on alaska air.

me

 

[MaryannF]

When we booked our trip for last December I was told by the booking CM that because we were flying on a Canadian airline (WestJet) we didn't qualify for Magical Express. When we were at MCO looking for our luggage I overheard a passenger from our flight arguing with her husband about leaving the luggage. He was insisting that they needed to pick it up. She was reading from a sheet of paper and saying "no, it says right here that it will be picked up and delivered to our room in 2 hours". He refused to leave his fishing rod and retrieved it. At the time I wondered if they would be getting their luggage given the advice I had received from the CM who booked our room. We had booked a limo service and when we saw the crowds of people waiting for the Magical Express busses we were glad we did.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Last summer we travelled with a group of approx. 300 and more than half took ME with not a single problem. Some flew from Canada and some from a US city. Unfortunately when you hear about a problem it's a big one. Think of it this way---there is always something that could be worse.

 

[ado121]

it could have been worse, i know. it was just a crappy way to start the holiday. things got way better. we only stayed at pop for 2 nights and then went to hilton on international drive. had a blast. although we never spent much time in the rooms so i could have stayed anywhere for all that mattered.

already planning a trip back....ok, not back. maybe disneyland this time. a little closer!

amy

 

[Boncho]

We're going to Disney from May 13-21 and staying at Pop Century. We're also using Magical Express but we're not going to put the tags on our suitcases so we can pick them up ourselves and take them on the bus with us. Our travel agent said it would be no problem, that way we won't have to wait for our luggage.

 

[tone.def]

We're going to Disney from May 13-21 and staying at Pop Century. We're also using Magical Express but we're not going to put the tags on our suitcases so we can pick them up ourselves and take them on the bus with us. Our travel agent said it would be no problem, that way we won't have to wait for our luggage.

That is the exact same advise my TA gave us if we were to fly on an airline from Toronto. We opted to fly from Buffalo, so no yellow tag issues.

ado121 - I'm surprised Disney didn't tell you that you should have taken the luggage yourself.

 

[MECH8T7]

We went in March and, a week beforehand, our travel agent had not received our yellow tags yet. He told us we wouldn't need them, just go get our bags ourselves or give ME counter our luggage claims checks, etc., etc. A couple of days before we left, our travel agent received the yellow tags arrived and he was able to get them to us.

We put the tags on our bags at Pearson Airport in Toronto and the next time we saw our checked luggage was in our room at the Contemporary later that night. In case there was a delay getting our bags to our room, we made sure that we had in our carry-ons at least one change of clothes for each of us, our swim wear, our sleepwear and basic toiletries. It was VERY nice not to have to wait for our checked bags after our plane landed.

We basicially went to the ME counter at the airport upon landing, waited about 5 minutes for our turn at the counter and then were on a bus to our resort w/i 15 minutes of leaving the counter. I don't think I would have felt very confident about their ability to retrieve our bags if we didn't have the yellow tags, as I think they would be waiting until long after everyone else on the plane had claimed their luggage before looking for ours. Having now enjoyed the "luxury" of not having to get my own checked luggage, I would be really, really disappointed if we didn't have the yellow tags next time (assuming we use ME).

By the way, the booklet with the yellow tags have vouchers for complimentary pins that are redeemable at the resort.

 

[natcat]

We had yellow tags but one was missing. Luckily, we checked the luggage carousel and there was one of our bags missing its tag. We decided to take that bag with us on the bus and another of ours that was tagged but one bag showed up in our room several hours later. I would not use the yellow tags and would collect my own luggage in the future.

 

[mbb]

...... In case there was a delay getting our bags to our room, we made sure that we had in our carry-ons at least one change of clothes for each of us, our swim wear, our sleepwear and basic toiletries..........

That's just good advice for *anyone* traveling, anywhere.

"Carry-ons, only" is our families unofficial motto!

 

[hockey mom]

We went in March and, a week beforehand, our travel agent had not received our yellow tags yet. He told us we wouldn't need them, just go get our bags ourselves or give ME counter our luggage claims checks, etc., etc. A couple of days before we left, our travel agent received the yellow tags arrived and he was able to get them to us.

We put the tags on our bags at Pearson Airport in Toronto and the next time we saw our checked luggage was in our room at the Contemporary later that night. In case there was a delay getting our bags to our room, we made sure that we had in our carry-ons at least one change of clothes for each of us, our swim wear, our sleepwear and basic toiletries. It was VERY nice not to have to wait for our checked bags after our plane landed.

We basicially went to the ME counter at the airport upon landing, waited about 5 minutes for our turn at the counter and then were on a bus to our resort w/i 15 minutes of leaving the counter. I don't think I would have felt very confident about their ability to retrieve our bags if we didn't have the yellow tags, as I think they would be waiting until long after everyone else on the plane had claimed their luggage before looking for ours. Having now enjoyed the "luxury" of not having to get my own checked luggage, I would be really, really disappointed if we didn't have the yellow tags next time (assuming we use ME).

By the way, the booklet with the yellow tags have vouchers for complimentary pins that are redeemable at the resort.

Do you recieve a free pin for everyone using ME or just one per group. I have 7 people going but only one pin voucher came?

 

[maryliz]

Hi there. Absolutely ANYONE can use DME and put the yellow tags on their luggage,regardless of where they're flying from or what airline. The only advantage the guest gets by flying with one of the partner airlines is that ou can checkin for your return flight at the hotel ... that's it. The yellow tags merely allow someone "in the back" to pull off this luggage and transport it to Disney.

I've used it twice with absolutely no problem. The first time, our luggage was in our room when we returned from the food court 45 minutes after checking in. If I didn't have my yellow tags, I wouldn't leave it to describe to someone ... I would pick it up myself and take it on the bus ... yes, it's a pain, but there's too much luggage in that airport for them to be looking for mine specifically.

And if I were coming in on a flight later than 6PM, I wouldn't put the tags on, and just get it myself, due to the stories of luggage arriving at 1AM.

Does anyone know IF Disney is going to continue the service, and WHEN they are going to start charging? Any thoughts on what would be a reasonable amount to charge? I have friends planning trips and they are asking.


ado121 ... sorry you had such a bad experience. I think you were given lousy advice to "describe it to them and they'll find it for you". Hope the rest of your trip was magical.

MaryLiz

 

[tone.def]

Does anyone know IF Disney is going to continue the service, and WHEN they are going to start charging? Any thoughts on what would be a reasonable amount to charge? I have friends planning trips and they are asking.

I was reading it's been extended until 2011.

A reasonable amount to charge - less than what Mears used to charge which was $33 roundtrip I think... I'd pay $25, but if 4 people split a towncar that goes direct to your resort that's $25 each anyway.

 

[Boncho]

I've heard the same thing about ME being extended but I haven't heard anything about them starting to charge for it. It would be nice if they continued it as a free service because if they charged more than $25 per person, I would just get a Town Car service.

 

[seashoreCM]

Foreigners cannot use the resort check out baggage check in facility since they need to clear customs. Therefore for them there is no difference in using ME coming or going as far as using a U.S. or their own country's or some other airline.

It is recommended not to put the yellow tags on the luggage going to Disney until after clearing customs but somehow I think this is only to reduce confusion. The baggage will be intercepted for customs anyway.

To make sure there is enough time to clear customs it may be desirable to request a ME bus back to the airport 3-1/2 hours in advance instead of the usual 3.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[DISNEY180]

When do you usually recieve the Yellow tags? I leave July 1st and want to make sure I get mine.

 

[ferris198]

I have used ME twice now without tags, and have not had a problem I go to the desk describe my luggage and it is picked up, and delivered to my room.
Yes, I have to wait, but unlike misinformed ado121 I made sure that our carry one luggage had all that we would need.

 

[hipmaman]

Hi,

I was a bit nervous about using the DME when we arrived late and departed early (10:30pm arrival and 7:00am departure). But luckily we had no issue.

I registered for my tags on-line about 14 days ahead of time and they were couriered and arrived w/in the week. Of course with the departing trip, we flew on international flight and cannot use the hotel check-in desk (even if it was opened at 4:15am when the bus picked us up).

I'm happy that there were no clitch with the DME. Disney ticket counter and hotel reservation is a different issue!