What to expect - Magical Express

[joeathome167]

I am going to fly Southwest Airlines from Providence to Orlando during the first week of December. We are planning on using Disney Magical Express to get to and from the airport. I was wondering how long it takes after you land until you get to the resort. Does the bus wait till it has a full load or does it go every some often? Just wondering how it works and how long after my 10-10:30am arrival in Orlando till I'd get to Ft. Wilderness.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Jestocost]

You should expect that DME will deliver you to your resort 60-90 minutes after you step off of your plane if you are using the luggage transfer service or will have only carry-on bags. If you are not using the DME luggage transfer service and plan to collect your own checked bags before going to the DME bus, you can add another 20 minutes or so to that time. The bus you are on generally will stop at up to four resorts, including yours, so a good part of the range I cited is dependent on if you are the first stop, the last stop or somewhere in between.

At peak times, the buses generally wait until they are full or close to full before heading to the resorts, but at those times they fill pretty quickly. At slower times, they may not wait until the bus is filled. On one trip when we arrived late at night, we were the only family on the bus when it left for the Poly.

The biggest thing that SWA passengers need to understand is that when coming home from WDW, you will not be able to use the Resort Airline Check-in Service and will need to take your bags on the DME bus with you to the airport. SWA does not currently participate in the AC program, although they are in the pilot stage at POP.

 

[AndyMcV]

Great info Jestocost!

I'm new to DME and we are flying on SWA out of Buffalo in the last week of August and returning first week of September

So when we land in Orlando, DME already knows we're coming and that they need to grab our luggage? Anything special we should note?

We are staying at AKL. On our departure day we pack up go to the front of the resort with all our luggage and get on the bus? Assuming that the luggage goes on the bus in the underneath storage?

Thanks
Andy

 

[goofy4tink]

Andy....you need to reserve DME before you go. Call whomever you booked your trip with and have them add DME to the reservation. Then, about 4-5 weeks before you travel you will get an info packet from DME. It will include your travel vouchers for the bus ride and a yellow luggage tag for each person on the reservation. If you think you will need more tags than one pp, just let DME know and they will send you more. This yellow tag alerts the baggage people, behind the scenes, to the fact that those bags need to get pulled now, and not go out to the public baggage claim area.
You will go directly to the DME checkin area, they will ask you how many bags you checked and about your return flight details. Then you will be directed to the appropriate resort bus line. Onto the bus, and off to the resort. This will take anywhere from 60-90 mins. The only time it has taken me close to 90 mins was one time I was at POP..usually the first stop for DME....but the bus went to AKL first, then to CBR, and then to POP. Otherwise it usually takes me 65 mins to get to POP. Since you'll be going to AKL, it may take on the longer side..closer to the 90 mins.

The day before you are to depart from the resort, you will get a notification, in your room, telling you what time the bus will be there the next day. It is usually about 3 hrs before your flight departure. I see you are flying SW...they are currently running a test program at POP to allow guests to get their boarding passes there, and to be able to check their luggage right at the resort, instead of having to take the luggage with them, on the bus (well, under the bus, not actually on the bus with you!!).
SW has not been an airline that has participated in the RAC (remote airline checkin) program...so if it works, they may expand to the other resorts. Don't know what the situation will be when you get there.

 

[AndyMcV]

Andy....you need to reserve DME before you go. Call whomever you booked your trip with and have them add DME to the reservation.....

Hi Diane, great information!! That's exactly what I needed. We booked with Southwest Vacations and I did book the DME initially. So I'll wait for the "package" to arrive.

Andy

 

[jillyjill]

Are the Magical Express bus routes limited to a few Resorts each Run? I assume there are multiple buses going back and forth all the time. Does anyone know in what order the resorts are visited when dropping off?

We'll be staying at Coronado Springs in late Sept. and wanted to know what we can expect in delivery time, of course!

We're getting in at 11:45am, I hope to spend the afternoon and evening in HS's.

I'm seriously considering a town car on the way in just to get as much time as we can for HS's. Any opinion on that idea?

Thanks!! JJ

 

[Jestocost]

Are the Magical Express bus routes limited to a few Resorts each Run? I assume there are multiple buses going back and forth all the time. Does anyone know in what order the resorts are visited when dropping off?

We'll be staying at Coronado Springs in late Sept. and wanted to know what we can expect in delivery time, of course!

We're getting in at 11:45am, I hope to spend the afternoon and evening in HS's.

I'm seriously considering a town car on the way in just to get as much time as we can for HS's. Any opinion on that idea?

Thanks!! JJ

Except in very rare circumstances, there are no more than four resort stops on any DME bus coming from MCO. And while there are common groupings of resorts, none of those are set in stone and the order of drop offs is up to the driver (with one exception, AFAIK, and CSR isn't involved in that). We stayed at AKL last week and stopped at POP, CSR and CBR on our way.

If you have checked baggage, taking a town car or a cab generally will save you very little time. That's because with DME you can skip baggage claim and your luggage will find its way to your room, but with a town car or cab you will have to stop and collect your bags on your own. That means that it will take you about an hour to get from exiting the plane to your resort with a town car or cab, and DME generally gets you there in 60-90 minutes.

 

[kaytieeldr]

There is no set order and there are no set routes.

As posted above, the average time from stepping into the terminal to stepping off the bus at the resort is 60 to 90 minutes (assumes passengers head more or less directly for the Welcome Center; e.g. passengers arriving at MCO at 10 AM but waiting an hour for persons on another flight can't count that as DME transport time).

 

[Missytara]

I have always stayed at POR; they have always have POR, POFQ and Coronado Springs; with the first stop at Coronado Springs.....

 

[goofy4tink]

Quite obviously the routes change. I know that when I've gone to BW, the resort on our route have been YC/BC, BW, CBR. In April that was changed to POR, BW, YC/BC.
When at POP, it was usually POP, CSR, AKL. One time it was reversed.
So, looking at what you are all reporting, it would seem that the tried and true routes are being changed to include different resorts. We can no longer assume what the stops will be in the future.

 

[Jestocost]

I have always stayed at POR; they have always have POR, POFQ and Coronado Springs; with the first stop at Coronado Springs.....

And yet in a few stays at POFQ I have never stopped at CSR. Our route then was OKW, SSR, POFQ and ? (maybe POR). Are you sure you stopped at CSR and not SSR?

Then last week we did stop at CSR en route to AKL, with the order POP, CSR, CBR and AKL.

All of which goes to support the main point that while there are common groupings, there are not groupings that are 100% set in stone and the order within any grouping can vary based on the preference of the driver.

 

[Missytara]

I go the same week every year; the week after Thanksgiving, since 2000. Every time, we have gone CSR; POFQ, and then POR.

It is pretty easy to catch a bus on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, since they are running so many people back to the airport. They say 2/3 of the people there Thanksgiving week leave on Saturday; the other 1/3 leave on Sunday. However, it does take quite a long time to get luggage and a room assignment. Usually it has been mid-afternoon.

One year, I went on Sunday, because I had to work that weekend, and I got my room assignment immediately at 11:00 am and my bags got to my room at 11:30 am.

 

[mckay15]

Magical Express was great for us getting to the resort, but was a complete nightmare getting back. They scheduled us for a 1:45 pickup and our flights left at 3:30. We boarded and then traveled thru 3 additional resorts and arrived at the Airport terminal A with only 20 minutes before our flight. We still had to go thru security and that was another nightmare. We were leaving in terminal B and run from terminal a to b. we almost missed our flights - we boarded as they were saying one minute to door close.

I would recommend that anyone returning on magical express - find a departure time they are comfortable with and ask to be placed on another bus if the time is not nearly enough. The bus ride was at least 60+ minutes with the drive and loading the other resorts.

 

[Alesia]

Magical Express was great for us getting to the resort, but was a complete nightmare getting back. They scheduled us for a 1:45 pickup and our flights left at 3:30. We boarded and then traveled thru 3 additional resorts and arrived at the Airport terminal A with only 20 minutes before our flight. We still had to go thru security and that was another nightmare. We were leaving in terminal B and run from terminal a to b. we almost missed our flights - we boarded as they were saying one minute to door close.

I would recommend that anyone returning on magical express - find a departure time they are comfortable with and ask to be placed on another bus if the time is not nearly enough. The bus ride was at least 60+ minutes with the drive and loading the other resorts.

That is odd. Your departure time should have been 3 hours before you flight. I have never heard of that happening before. Are you sure they had the right flight information?

 

[Jestocost]

Magical Express was great for us getting to the resort, but was a complete nightmare getting back. They scheduled us for a 1:45 pickup and our flights left at 3:30. We boarded and then traveled thru 3 additional resorts and arrived at the Airport terminal A with only 20 minutes before our flight. We still had to go thru security and that was another nightmare. We were leaving in terminal B and run from terminal a to b. we almost missed our flights - we boarded as they were saying one minute to door close.

I would recommend that anyone returning on magical express - find a departure time they are comfortable with and ask to be placed on another bus if the time is not nearly enough. The bus ride was at least 60+ minutes with the drive and loading the other resorts.

That's very odd. DME is supposed to schedule pick ups approximately three hours in advance of the scheduled flight departure (four hours for international flights), so having a time less than two hours ahead seems outside of acceptable parameters. Your experience shows exactly why the three hour time is appropriate, but most of the complaints come from people who think that three hours is much too early.

Is it possible that they had incorrect flight information for you and actually thought your flight was leaving closer to 4:45 p.m.? If not, then it probably was just a good, old-fashioned mistake.

Anyone who runs into this type of scheduling thing should be aware that DME typically is fine with you scheduling an earlier pick up if you don't like the time they have scheduled for you. They won't, however, let you schedule a later pick up time.

 

[Alesia]

Great minds think alike.

 

[goofy4tink]

Magical Express was great for us getting to the resort, but was a complete nightmare getting back. They scheduled us for a 1:45 pickup and our flights left at 3:30. We boarded and then traveled thru 3 additional resorts and arrived at the Airport terminal A with only 20 minutes before our flight. We still had to go thru security and that was another nightmare. We were leaving in terminal B and run from terminal a to b. we almost missed our flights - we boarded as they were saying one minute to door close.

I would recommend that anyone returning on magical express - find a departure time they are comfortable with and ask to be placed on another bus if the time is not nearly enough. The bus ride was at least 60+ minutes with the drive and loading the other resorts.

Because you get the notice the day before, telling you what time your pickup is, you have plenty of time to call them and request an earlier pickup time. Of course, this doesn't help if you think they have the right timing...only helps if you know the 'drill' so to speak.
Usually, when you check in at the DME counter at MCO, upon arrival, they ask you about your departure plans. They ask you about your flight info so they can make the correct pickup times available to you.

 

[Jestocost]

Usually, when you check in at the DME counter at MCO, upon arrival, they ask you about your departure plans. They ask you about your flight info so they can make the correct pickup times available to you.

I don't know if our experience was unusual or if they are trying a new variation on the procedure, but something different was going on when we arrived at the DME Welcome Center on 5/31. As I went to get in the queue (which was pretty empty), I was stopped by a CM at a podium at the entrance to the roped queue area. He did a quick review of my documents, asked about checked bags, then sent me directly to the bus lines without having me stop at the desk itself. This CM didn't scan anything or enter anything into a computer. He did circle the DME phone number in my information booklet and said that I should call them directly to confirm our pick up arrangements.

When I got to the resort bus line queues, the CM there basically repeated that drill but also did scan the bar codes on my voucher with a handheld scanner. That part may have been the same as my previous DME experiences, but my memory on the subject is hazy at best.

From there, all was as I remember it working in the past. I did call the DME number to confirm my pick up and the did have all of my information in the system, so it probably wouldn't even have been necessary.

 

[mckay15]

We did get the notice and thought that we would have time, we didn't realize that there would be so many stops after ours and that we would run so close. Our flight times were listed correctly on the report that we got back on the day before and actually we were concerned, but thought that since Disney does this, they had a better idea of timing than we did.

We did think it was odd, because our daughters flight left at 3:45 and they put her on the 12:45 bus. We thought that maybe hers was earlier because she was flying southwest and couldn't do the airline check in at the resort.

I would still take the magical express, but I would pay closer attention to the time schedule.....it's our fault too, i just trusted that they knew more than I did.

 

[seashoreCM]

They scheduled us for a 1:45 pickup and our flights left at 3:30.

The CM goofed. If the CM is on the ball, you cannot ask for and get a bus time less than about 3 hours from flight time (4 hours for international).

Unfortunately for all of us we will have to proofread the Magical Express confirmation slipped under the door the morning of the day before.

A bus time more than 3 hours can always be gotten if desired.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/magicx.htm