Magical express

9s40

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 30, 2016
Hello all ,
I have been coming to WDW for years. We always have a vacation plan with Disney. We stay at the poly most of the time. My ? Is , has the magical express changed?
We always rent a car , and we check our bags in ny , the we go to get the car in mco . We were told that if we do not use the bus , we have to get our luggage. Which is new to us , because we have done it that way for years. Any input would be great.
 
Hello all ,
I have been coming to WDW for years. We always have a vacation plan with Disney. We stay at the poly most of the time. My ? Is , has the magical express changed?
We always rent a car , and we check our bags in ny , the we go to get the car in mco . We were told that if we do not use the bus , we have to get our luggage. Which is new to us , because we have done it that way for years. Any input would be great.
Kind of confused here, I'm not understanding your question. Magical Express is the bus service from MCO to your WDW Resort (and back). You either use the yellow luggage tags sent to you ahead of time (denoting ME baggage to handlers) to tag your luggage before handing it over at your departing airport, NOT claim your luggage when you get to MCO, and proceed to the ME area to board your bus. The luggage will be claimed/brought to you separately from the bus you are on that takes you to your resort room, usually 3-4 hours later. Or you can NOT use the luggage tags, claim your own luggage when you get to MCO, and bring it on the bus with you.

If you rent a car, you bring/claim/tote your own luggage to your rental vehicle. You do not use Magical Express just for your luggage (and not yourself), if that's what you're asking.

Hope I explained it, and please clarify if I did not answer your question.
 
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I'm guessing they probably said over the phone that they weren't going to use the bus (just the luggage service) and someone misinformed them.
 
I'm guessing they probably said over the phone that they weren't going to use the bus (just the luggage service) and someone misinformed them.
I think it's possible to just use the luggage service though wouldn't it be? Do they hold your luggage if you never board a bus? I know they scan your magicband when you board the bus but your luggage should already be off the plane and being placed with other Disney luggage at that point.
 


I think it's possible to just use the luggage service though wouldn't it be? Do they hold your luggage if you never board a bus? I know they scan your magicband when you board the bus but your luggage should already be off the plane and being placed with other Disney luggage at that point.

Unless something has changed since we used it last August, they don't verify use of ME before picking up luggage. We had booked ME but found a great rate on a last minute rental. We wanted to go direct to the rental counter, so we still put the ME tags on our bags. We did not ride an ME bus, but our luggage was delivered to our resort.
 
Will your luggage arrive in your room if you tag it but don't ride on the bus? Most likely.
Is it against the rules and a blatant abuse of the system? Absolutely.
It has always arrived in our room , I don't understand how it is abuse . We are paying 6-7k for our visit . I think it's the least they can do .
 


It has always arrived in our room , I don't understand how it is abuse . We are paying 6-7k for our visit . I think it's the least they can do .

It's not about how much you pay. It's about whether you choose to use the service or not.
There's a sticky thread in the transportation forum that answers this question: http://www.disboards.com/threads/dme-luggage-only-dont-want-to-ride-the-bus.2015788/. As they say there, people have done it, but if you have a problem, you're SOL because you're not actually allowed to do it.
 
According to the post they two different services ,so I don't see abuse.

I see it as abuse ... obviously you don't. I'm not going to try to convince you. If you're comfortable with it, that's your decision to make.
 
I don't see it as abuse, if anything I am saving Disney money. The busses that drive you (I think it's still Mears) are paid by Disney based on the number of people they transport. When you see the size of the lines waiting to board the busses I doubt many busses leave without 90% capacity.

The busses that drive you to your resort do not bring your luggage, unless you don't use the tag and pick it up at the airport yourself. That luggage with the ME tags is loaded onto a separate box truck.
 
You need to reserve Magical Express in order to use the luggage service. You're making a reservation that you have no intention of using.
That's why I see it as abuse - you're trying to use a service that's not intended for you. If using luggage service without riding the bus was allowed, why wouldn't you be able to call up and just request tags directly from the luggage delivery service without having to deal with Magical Express at all?
But again, I understand that different people have different definitions of abuse of the system, and just explaining my reasoning isn't going to make anyone else agree with my point.
 
You need to reserve Magical Express in order to use the luggage service. You're making a reservation that you have no intention of using.
That's why I see it as abuse - you're trying to use a service that's not intended for you. If using luggage service without riding the bus was allowed, why wouldn't you be able to call up and just request tags directly from the luggage delivery service without having to deal with Magical Express at all?
But again, I understand that different people have different definitions of abuse of the system, and just explaining my reasoning isn't going to make anyone else agree with my point.

But those reservations are not like making a reservation at a restaurant. Whether your flight comes in on time, early, or late they still put you in a cattle pen and load as many people on the bus in the order they show up at the queue.

Perhaps it would be better if I scan my magic band at the entrance of the queue, excused myself to go to the restroom, then rented a car. Then they would think I used ME. It isn't like they hold the bus waiting for someone isn't in the line.

If I were using ME but my flight was delayed due to weather until 2:00 AM (it happened to us and ME was shut down for the night) and we had our bags tagged, what would happen? Our bags wouldn't come out to us on the belt, but there would be no busses to take so we would need a taxi. Disney had actually offered a voucher for a cab, so in that case I didn't use ME and still had my luggage in the morning.
 
If I were using ME but my flight was delayed due to weather until 2:00 AM (it happened to us and ME was shut down for the night) and we had our bags tagged, what would happen? Our bags wouldn't come out to us on the belt, but there would be no busses to take so we would need a taxi. Disney had actually offered a voucher for a cab, so in that case I didn't use ME and still had my luggage in the morning.

Nowadays it's the other way around. Your bags come out on the belt but you would take a bus. Buses run 24/7 (although not as frequently at night), but luggage service is only between certain hours.
I see what you're saying. I still think it's an abuse of the system, but I do understand why you disagree. Respectful disagreements are never a bad thing.
 
Nowadays it's the other way around. Your bags come out on the belt but you would take a bus. Buses run 24/7 (although not as frequently at night), but luggage service is only between certain hours.
I see what you're saying. I still think it's an abuse of the system, but I do understand why you disagree. Respectful disagreements are never a bad thing.

After all I said about this, I never rent a car when I have ME, I am just too lazy. I simply feel entitled to use only a portion of my perks from staying on property. Last year we saw our bags (well my wife's bag since it is bright pink) get put on a truck before we got onto our bus, so I can see why people would want to rent a car and just get there.

This is especially true if flying in early when you know your room won't be ready until 4:00 like a DVC room, and you want to go straight to DS or a park to pick up your tickets. I especially see it as a positive if you are a family of five renting a mid sized car that can fit the people, but not 5 suitcases and carry-ons in a trunk the size of a hamster cage.
 
After all I said about this, I never rent a car when I have ME, I am just too lazy. I simply feel entitled to use only a portion of my perks from staying on property. Last year we saw our bags (well my wife's bag since it is bright pink) get put on a truck before we got onto our bus, so I can see why people would want to rent a car and just get there.

This is especially true if flying in early when you know your room won't be ready until 4:00 like a DVC room, and you want to go straight to DS or a park to pick up your tickets. I especially see it as a positive if you are a family of five renting a mid sized car that can fit the people, but not 5 suitcases and carry-ons in a trunk the size of a hamster cage.
My grand parents live in celebration , and we always rent a car to go see them . It is also nice to have a car , to go shopping . I understand what you mean about a reservation , but they are not waiting , or holding the bus for you . Like pjweaver said , they put you in the cattle pen , and then pray to god your the first stop .
 
Trust me , their are a lot of tricks to Disney that my wife and I have learned in the last 15 years . I hear other people talk about how rough their time was . I always hear "why would you want to rent a car " . There are wonderful things to do other than be stuck without a car at Disney . It's nice to leave for a little bit. But this is coming from someone who goes twice a year , so we might not need to do everything on every trip . We actually own a village home in celebration , but we rent it out most of the year .
 
For the price of renting a wheelchair for the week, we could rent a car. That may sound silly, but I could go to waffle house and cracker barrel and save money on meals that I really enjoy.
 
I'm not that worried about it being an abuse of the system. I often have to book flights that arrive at MCO after 5pm (I have a 4 hr drive to the nearest international airport & must arrive at least 3 hrs prior to departure to clear US homeland security in Canada). So I don't tag my luggage - I go and pick it up on the carousel and then line up for ME b/c I don't want my bag delivered at o' dark-thirty. I figure that my pkg includes ME transpo but since I practically can't/don't use the easy luggage assist, then someone else might as well use it. I judge it as a wash for WDW in terms of cost.
 

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