Has the Magical Express been the UnMagical Express for anyone else

[ILoveMyDVC]

Still 4 hours from when his plane landed is well withing the normal range. On average it takes 90 minutes for a guest to get to their resort. Which would mean the normal range for getting your bags is with 4 1/2 hours of landing.

Until you realize that takes it beyond midnight.

As long as people continue to sing the magical praises there is no need to change. Everything is awesome........

 

[goofy4tink]

The vast majority of guests have nothing but good experiences with DME. Do some people have a less than magical experience? Sure. But, people have bad experiences with town car services that others have had good experiences with. There are always going to be people that have a bad time of it.
I'm not sure what the comment about 'it takes beyond midnight' means. Is that when the luggage appeared? If so, nothing unusual about that. If someone lands at 8pm then luggage being delivered at midnight is perfectly with the norm. You may not like it, but it's within the norm.
And the comment that people have been told that luggage delivery time begins as soon as you land? Nope. I quote from my current DME statement..."Luggage delivery may take up to three hours after you arrive at your resort to be delivered to your room.'' It doesn't say anything about resort checkin (as it used to) or if you're already checked in by someone who has been there for two days. I think we pretty much have to go with what the official statement, from Disney and DME, says.

So, in short. No, DME isn't always going to be 'magical'. It can be nightmarish. BUT.....as I said, the majority of the time it works just fine. I'm not sure what anyone thinks can be done to make it more 'magical'. If they start running more frequent buses, so guests don't have to wait more than 5 mins (either in line or on the bus), then the cost is going to have to come from someplace...and that will be room rates. And I doubt anyone wants that to happen.
DME is not for everyone. If you have to be at the resort in a short space of time, or you just don't want to partake of mass transit, then either rent a car, or book a private car service. But saying the system is broken is not fair. It isn't broken...it just doesn't work for every single guest. And each guest can make a choice as to how to get to and from their resort.

 

[maxiesmom]

Until you realize that takes it beyond midnight.

As long as people continue to sing the magical praises there is no need to change. Everything is awesome........

DME will deliver bags to the resorts after midnight. And if you are staying at a moderate or deluxe resort they will deliver them to your room after midnight.

 

[goofy4tink]

DME will deliver bags to the resorts after midnight. And if you are staying at a moderate or deluxe resort they will deliver them to your room after midnight.

Sort of. DME, itself, won't get bags after 10pm. But, if they do get your bags, and deliver them to the resort, it will be the resort that is delivering the bags to your room. Which is why those in value resorts don't get their bags in their rooms in the middle of the night.....Luggage Assistance doesn't deliver bags at that time.
Just wanted to be sure everyone realizes its the resort CMs that deliver bags to the room, not DME. DME gets the bags to the resort only.

 

[JediBonas]

Last September my DD and I went on a girls vacation. Right out of the gate we ran into a kink in our plans. We waited almost 2 hours to get on a bus. The line was all of the way back to the elevator bank. Was this just an isolated experience or have others had this long of a wait. Our wait in all the lines in all the parks didn't equal the amount of time it took us to get to the resort. If this is standard, I think we'll rent a car. I really don't need a car for any other reason except to get to WDW. What are your experiences using Magical Express. We are making plans for this fall and are looking for advice.

We had a very long wait in Oct, too. Not as long as yours but probably an hour.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Sort of. DME, itself, won't get bags after 10pm. But, if they do get your bags, and deliver them to the resort, it will be the resort that is delivering the bags to your room. Which is why those in value resorts don't get their bags in their rooms in the middle of the night.....Luggage Assistance doesn't deliver bags at that time.
Just wanted to be sure everyone realizes its the resort CMs that deliver bags to the room, not DME. DME gets the bags to the resort only.

We are DVC members staying at OKW. My son's jeans came in contact with the dirty floor of the airport bathroom - the stench was pretty bad. He needed to change - The store was closed by the time he landed at the resort and I had drank a glass of wine - personal motto - alcohol = no driving.


I probably over reacted - in the future, on the rare times someone uses DME from our group, I will tell them to pull the luggage. There's no benefit unless one is planning on immediately going to the parks from the bus stop. Most of the time, I drive to MCO - love, love, love greeting guests at the airport.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

[QUOTE="goofy4tink, post: 53205210, member: 37963"If they start running more frequent buses, so guests don't have to wait more than 5 mins (either in line or on the bus), then the cost is going to have to come from someplace...and that will be room rates. And I doubt anyone wants that to happen.
[/QUOTE]

FIVE minutes - who said five minutes - don't trivialize. it was TWO hours to get a bus to OKW. There is something written about luggage being held after a certain time. The 4 hours was going to push into the delay time - meaning morning after an 8 hour wait in the PVD airport for equipment problems.

AS for me, I would love to see the room rates go up, up and up - adds value to my DVC points to make up for the hordes of "free diners"

 

[maxiesmom]

We are DVC members staying at OKW. My son's jeans came in contact with the dirty floor of the airport bathroom - the stench was pretty bad. He needed to change - The store was closed by the time he landed at the resort and I had drank a glass of wine - personal motto - alcohol = no driving.


I probably over reacted - in the future, on the rare times someone uses DME from our group, I will tell them to pull the luggage. There's no benefit unless one is planning on immediately going to the parks from the bus stop. Most of the time, I drive to MCO - love, love, love greeting guests at the airport.

Two things--First, it is always wise to pack one change of clothes in your carry-on, just in case the airline misdirects your luggage, or something happens to the clothes you are wearing. Yeah, I can't blame your son for not wanting to walk around in smelly clothes. Ick.

Second, if you use DME you always have the choice to use the luggage deliver part of it, or to not use it. Either way, you have to decide ahead of time. Once you put the yellow tags on the bags and hand them over, it is too late to change your mind and grab them yourself.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Two things--First, it is always wise to pack one change of clothes in your carry-on, just in case the airline misdirects your luggage, or something happens to the clothes you are wearing. Yeah, I can't blame your son for not wanting to walk around in smelly clothes. Ick.

Second, if you use DME you always have the choice to use the luggage deliver part of it, or to not use it. Either way, you have to decide ahead of time. Once you put the yellow tags on the bags and hand them over, it is too late to change your mind and grab them yourself.

If only the 24 yr old would listen to his mom....I always have a complete change of clothes

 

[mggeary]

If you arrive at MCO between 11am and 2pm on a Sat, long waits are not that uncommon. Try to take an early flight if arriving on a Sat.

 

[Disneylover99]

AS for me, I would love to see the room rates go up, up and up - adds value to my DVC points to make up for the hordes of "free diners"

I would love to see the annual dues go up, up, and up for DVC'ers. Those DVC'ers totally slow down the ME line. Us "free diners" move quickly, cause we're hungry!

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I would love to see the annual dues go up, up, and up for DVC'ers. Those DVC'ers totally slow down the ME line. Us "free diners" move quickly, cause we're hungry!

And, we eat off property making the lines go faster at the restaurants, too!

 

[ncc1701]

Our worst was a Saturday morning in November a few years ago. All our other visits before and since using DME we got on the next bus for our resort with a 15 minute or so wait to board . That day due to the crowd we got on bus #3 and we spent about an hour in line. However that morning all the lines were long so it had nothing to do with our resort choice.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Never missed any flights or waited in long lines. The one instance that there was a hiccup was the ME bus was running late to pick us up for the airport. Well a mears bus pulled up to get us. I was BUMMED! I wanted to leave on a disney bus! Of course my DH didn't care either way but I was miffed. Well the stupid mears bus broke down on the highway! We were pulled over and I started to panic because the bus was already late and now we're waiting for another bus. Well within about 10-15 minutes a ME bus pulls up! I looked at my DH all giddy. He said "Well you got your disney bus!" Lol

 

[Thumper1066]

The vast majority of guests have nothing but good experiences with DME. Do some people have a less than magical experience? Sure. But, people have bad experiences with town car services that others have had good experiences with. There are always going to be people that have a bad time of it.
I'm not sure what the comment about 'it takes beyond midnight' means. Is that when the luggage appeared? If so, nothing unusual about that. If someone lands at 8pm then luggage being delivered at midnight is perfectly with the norm. You may not like it, but it's within the norm.
And the comment that people have been told that luggage delivery time begins as soon as you land? Nope. I quote from my current DME statement..."Luggage delivery may take up to three hours after you arrive at your resort to be delivered to your room.'' It doesn't say anything about resort checkin (as it used to) or if you're already checked in by someone who has been there for two days. I think we pretty much have to go with what the official statement, from Disney and DME, says.

So, in short. No, DME isn't always going to be 'magical'. It can be nightmarish. BUT.....as I said, the majority of the time it works just fine. I'm not sure what anyone thinks can be done to make it more 'magical'. If they start running more frequent buses, so guests don't have to wait more than 5 mins (either in line or on the bus), then the cost is going to have to come from someplace...and that will be room rates. And I doubt anyone wants that to happen.
DME is not for everyone. If you have to be at the resort in a short space of time, or you just don't want to partake of mass transit, then either rent a car, or book a private car service. But saying the system is broken is not fair. It isn't broken...it just doesn't work for every single guest. And each guest can make a choice as to how to get to and from their resort.

 

[Thumper1066]

I guess what I still can't understand is why there was such a bottleneck. The company knows weeks ahead how many guests are going to show up and exactly what time they are going to show up. Why not put more buses on the routes?

 

[maxiesmom]

I guess what I still can't understand is why there was such a bottleneck. The company knows weeks ahead how many guests are going to show up and exactly what time they are going to show up. Why not put more buses on the routes?

Not really. Flying into MCO you don't have an assigned bus. You get on whichever one is there when you decide to go get on. Some people shop or eat in the airport. Some flights arrive late.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I guess what I still can't understand is why there was such a bottleneck. The company knows weeks ahead how many guests are going to show up and exactly what time they are going to show up. Why not put more buses on the routes?

The Bottleneck may have been the matter of a traffic issue on the highways in and out of the airport.

 

[goofy4tink]

If only the 24 yr old would listen to his mom....I always have a complete change of clothes

I guess what I still can't understand is why there was such a bottleneck. The company knows weeks ahead how many guests are going to show up and exactly what time they are going to show up. Why not put more buses on the routes?

That '5 mins' was meat to be tongue in cheek....no way is that ever going to happen! But I've used DME more times than I can remember....only one time did it get to 90 mins, from gate to resort. But that time, every wait time....in line for the bus, on the bus, and then being the last resort...was the longest I have had.

Oh, don't I know that!!! Traveled with my then 35 y/o dd...her first time in WDW. I told her what to pack in her carryon bag...change of clothes. But did she listen? Of course not. She ran out of room in her checked bag, so put all her shoes in her carry on bag! When we got to POP, she had nothing to change into...she was miserable and refused to go to a park until she changed. Being Pop, we had to wait close to 5 hrs before our stuff was delivered. Our room was ready when we got there and we were supposed to meet up with my ds and his wife around 6...so, by the time the bags were delivered, we had been sitting in the room for hours and it was too late to head to a park since my ds was due in 45 mins.
They just never listen to us!!

While I realize it's really miserable if you're the one standing and waiting, or sitting on the bus waiting, it just doesn't happen all that often. There is no way for Disney to know, beforehand, exactly how many people are going to need a bus to which resorts at a particular time. Why? Many people book DME but then don't use it, and then never show up. Or, some like to stop and eat before heading to the bus. Others might have arrived the night before so will be looking to get the bus at the earliest time possible. It's really hard to have the number of buses ready to go at specific times. If they did have assigned buses, it would be like the return to the airport buses....people missing them, and complaining when they couldn't easily get on another bus.
The system works. Is it perfect? No, not even close. But for what is basically public transit, and free (so to speak), it's not bad. If someone does't want to take any chances, they should look into other options.

I'm heading to WDW in May. Just found out that MK is having a 24 hr thing on our last day. And, of course, dd and her friend want to be there for that overnight. So....bearing that in mind, I just booked a car service for the ride back to the airport. I have DME booked, but I think I'm going to need a later, more dependable form of transportation....just in case! We're going to need every minute we can find that last morning after being up most of the night!!

 

[Magic Band Defender]

I don't think we've ever waited more than a half hour. I love Magical Express. We've never rented a car in Orlando.

We did end up on a Mears bus on our way back to the airport last time. Our driver said our scheduled bus had problems and he was subbing in at the last minute. So no red seats, no video. Made going home even sadder!