Magical Express?

[jhunter]

What can you tell me about the magical express service? My original plan was to get the earliest flight in, and the latest flight out in order to have the most time while we are at Disney. But check-in to the hotel is 3:00 and check-out is 11:00. If our flight arrives before that, or our plane leaves after, will that cause a problem? Will we be able to go strait to the park and them come back to get our bags and check-in? What about checking-out? Would we leave our bags in the room and then meet back at the hotel after going to the park to get taken to the airport? How does this all work? We do have transportation bot to and from the hotel right?

[JPL]

I usually have the same plan :thumbsup: You can leave you bags with the hotel if your room isn't ready. No need to worry about your checked backs they will be delivered later in the day from DME. As for check out depending on your airline you can check bags in up to 12 hours before your flight. You can then leave your carry-ons with Bell services at your resort and pick them up before you catch the bus back to the airport. DME will set a pick up time for you to be at your resort for the bus back to the airport.

[BigRedDad]

We do this as well. If you are using DME, you can have them take your bags automatically when you land. This way you don't have to worry about them. You can also pick them up yourself as normal and have them loaded right on your DME bus. As for the return flight, if your airline participates, you need to leave 3 hours before your flight.

Either way, don't worry about check-in and check-out times. The can hold your bags for you.

[FortheloveofStitch]

On a different note, what time can I expect to get to the Old Key west if my plane gets in around 2:30pm?

[DisneyDudet]

Jeff is right.

When you put the DME tags on your checked bags before you leave your house, DME will pick up those bags at the airport and deliver them later in the day to your room at your resort. Once you check in, the rest of your bags can be held at the resort for you if you do not have a ready room. You can check in anytime, its just that your room may not be ready. If its not, just ask if you can leave your bags with them, and then come pick them upon your return to the resort.

When leaving to go home :( , you can check your checked bags at the resort airline check in, if you are flying a participating airline. Your carry ons can be left at the resort in the same fashion as you did when you checked it. DME will give you a time that you must be ready to go at your resort, and you're free to roam until then.

I know I pretty much repeated what Jeff said, but, oh well.

[Kairi_7378]

We followed a similar plan. (Got in really early, left at 9:00 PM.) Everyone else's suggestions are great.

What I would recommend is that you pack a "park bag" with hats, sunscreen (less than 3 oz.), and possibly a change of clothes in your carry on. We did this, and once we checked into our resort, we changed into FL-friendly attire and we were off to the parks in a half hour!

[CleveRocks]

As for the return flight, if your airline participates, you need to leave 3 hours before your flight.

Not exactly. Everyone on every airline gets the free round-trip bus ride, PLUS the free automatic luggage transfer from the airport to the inside of your resort room. The only way a "participating airline" matters is for homeward-bound luggage handling. People on participating airlines can use Resort Airline Check-in to check their bags and forget them, people not on participating airlines have to get their own luggage to the DME bus.

[CleveRocks]

On a different note, what time can I expect to get to the Old Key west if my plane gets in around 2:30pm?The overall average DME time from airplane exit to resort drop-off is 70 minutes. If you figure 90 to be safe, count on arriving at OKW by 4:00 p.m. Your luggage should arrive within about 3 hours after you arrive at the resort. You don't have to wait for it, it will "magically appear" inside your resort room whether you're in there or not, and Disney picks up the tip! Bring a carry-on for your immediate needs.

[bubbarox]

Are there different buses for each of the resorts or do the same buses stop at each of the resorts??? We will be staying at Wilderness Lodge on our next trip (we usually use Happy Limo.... so we can do a grocery stop) and are thinking about trying DME. My DDs are concerned it will take too long to get to the resort and that may cut into their pool time!

[Crow]

We followed a similar plan. (Got in really early, left at 9:00 PM.) Everyone else's suggestions are great.

What I would recommend is that you pack a "park bag" with hats, sunscreen (less than 3 oz.), and possibly a change of clothes in your carry on. We did this, and once we checked into our resort, we changed into FL-friendly attire and we were off to the parks in a half hour!

i always try this now, get an early flight and leave late. for my May trip my flight gets in around 930 am and departs for home 845pm.
that way more day in the parks.
i carryon a backpack. i would leave luggage at Bell services if room wasnt ready.
now this trip will b my first using ME so i will go to CSR, see if a room is ready, if not just go to Epcot:marg: :beer: and that night go back to resort.
my last day at WDW i would check out, check my luggage at bell service and spend what time i can at the park, then go back to resort to take my transport

[CleveRocks]

Are there different buses for each of the resorts or do the same buses stop at each of the resorts??? We will be staying at Wilderness Lodge on our next trip (we usually use Happy Limo.... so we can do a grocery stop) and are thinking about trying DME. My DDs are concerned it will take too long to get to the resort and that may cut into their pool time!Waiting for your luggage at baggage claim AND making a grocery stop will almost always be slower than taking the DME bus.

The very very fastest you can get from airplane to reosrt using a car service (if you check luggage is minutes in a best-case scenario: 5 minutes from plane to baggage claim, 10 minutes at baggage claim, 5 minutes for the driver to get the car, 2 minutes to load the car and getin and so on, 30 minutes to resort. That's 52 minutes, and that's if baggage claim isn't slower. Add in a 20 or 30 minute grocery stop and you're talking a best-case scenario of 72-to-82 minutes. The DME average is 70 minutes.

The two times I used DME, I timed it to the minute. First time, Mothers Day morning 2005, 63 minutes from plane exit to resort drop-off. Second time, the Saturday night of Jersey week 2007, 56 minutes from plane exit to resort drop-off.

The perception that DME is automatically slower than a car service is not based in reality. The big trade-off is not having to wait at baggage claim. In an extreme example, have you ever arrived at MCO on an afternoon during a thunderstorm? By contract, the rampers won't deplane luggage during electrical storms, and many of us have had the pleasure of waiting around baggage claim for an hour or so waiting for the weather to clear up so we can finally get our luggage. DME eliminates that delay. I realize this is an extreme exampe, but it's still an interesting one.

Now to answer your bus question. Each DME bus will stop at no more than 4 resorts. Four is pretty unusual, 3 is pretty normal, 2 isn't unheard of, and 1 is pretty unusual. There are no pre-set DME bus routes, and no pre-set groupings of which resorts always go together on the same bus. It's all dispatched based on need. In other words, there's no way to know in advance which other resorts will be on your bus or what the order of stops will be, simply because there is no standard way of doing it.

[bubbarox]

Thanks for the info!!! We were afraid (with our luck) that the bus would stop at every resort and the last stop would be our resort. DME sounds like something we should take advantage of, as we do not need the grocery stop (DH gave up the Diet Dew!!)

[Piglet822]

Usually the stops are within one area. For example, you're going to Wilderness Lodge so you may find yourself on the bus with guests going to other MK resorts. You should not find guests going to an AK resort or an Epcot resort on your bus.
This keeps the trip brief and stops are made quickly. I can usually leave the airport and be at my last stop in about 45 minutes. This is when I make 4 stops.
Garden Grocer (www.gardengrocer.com) is a sponsor of Intercot. They'll deliver your groceries to you at your resort if you'd like.

[bubbarox]

DME sounds better each time we get more information!!! I will be checking out the Garden Grocer.

[mimi78]

We are also contemplating using the Magical Express service for the first time on our upcoming trip. What is holding us back is that my husband is planning to play golf the afternoon that we arrive and we're not sure if his clubs would be delivered in time. Is there anyway to pick up some pieces of your luggage? Orc ould anyone with more experience suggest a solution? Otherwise we'll have to wait for the next next trip.

[Not2Loud]

Some great info in this thread. DD3 and I will be getting in at 8AM on June 1st and leaving at 9:45PM on the 2nd. For this short of a trip, I am thinking about just bringing a large backpack with our clothes. I guess I will skip shaving for a day :secret:

Don't really want to check bags as want to have the swimsuits available when we get there! A nice morning swim...then off to the parks.

[Piglet822]

We are also contemplating using the Magical Express service for the first time on our upcoming trip. What is holding us back is that my husband is planning to play golf the afternoon that we arrive and we're not sure if his clubs would be delivered in time. Is there anyway to pick up some pieces of your luggage? Orc ould anyone with more experience suggest a solution? Otherwise we'll have to wait for the next next trip.


Just have your husband leave the yellow DME luggage tag off the golf clubs. The clubs will go to the luggage carousel on level 2 and you can claim them there.
From there proceed to Level 1, Terminal B (keep in mind if you arrive in Terminal A you will need to go back to the 3rd level, cross over to the B terminal and come back down to the 1st floor. It sounds much more confusing than it is) and check in at the DME Welcome Center.
Here's a link to a map showing the location of DME at the airport.
If you tell me what airline you're flying I can tell you which terminal you'll be arriving at.

DME at MCO (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/transportation/magicalexpress/images/DMELocation.jpg)

[mimi78]

Wow, I know someone here would be able to help!

We're flying Delta, our flight arrives around 10am and he's teeing off at 130 so we didn't want to take the chance that the clubs wouldn't be there. I wasn't sure if we could check some bags and not others but that sounds like a great solution. Thank you!

[Piglet822]

Delta arrives at the B terminal so after your DH retrieves his golf clubs just head to the lower level.
When you exit the elevator head left. You'll find the DME welcome center against the back wall almost at the end of the terminal.

[mimi78]

Thanks for the advice!

[MincaMouse]

I have a question about this too. We are getting into Orlando after midnight on Thursday. Should we check our bags with the ME tags? Will it really be 3 hours before we get our bags, meaning they'll wake us up to deliver them? I've been wondering if maybe we should just claim them ourselves to be on the safe side.