Has the Magical Express been the UnMagical Express for anyone else

[PollyannaMom]

We had great luck with ME last time - got there just in time to walk through and catch one!

I do remember times we had to wait, but never two hours. I love it going from the airport to the resort because by that time, I'm tired and ready to put everything in the cheerful hands of Disney CMs and not even think about time, or lugging large bags.

We tend to rent a car when leaving the resort, however, because we usually continue on to visit family before flying back home, so I can't really speak to using it in the other direction.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

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.

My son was on a noon flight - SW had equipment problems that delayed the flight for hours. The answer isn't to blame the guest or force the guest to change plans - it should be on Disney to do better.

 

[George4]

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.

There are also a big crew of people that purchase their ME tickets when they get to MCO. They get to the airport and learn about the service and decide to use it. That throws of Disney's planning, as does late arrivals (weather delays or otherwise). They schedule the buses based on the anticipated number of passengers at a certain time. If that gets thrown off by more than 15-30 minutes due to other circumstances or extra travelers, it really throws off their schedule.

I traveled this past December (2013) with a group of 110 people. We walked right up and started boarding without any issue. The manager there thanked me for letting them know about the size of the group and our late arrival (I called when the flight was delayed) so they could adjust their schedule and board us separately from smaller groups. She mentioned that a travel group of over 130 showed up the day before over 3 hours late (didn't call), and it fouled up their bus schedule for 2-3 hours and they had some unhappy customers. I was surprised that they didn't find out directly from airlines but she said they might deal with close to 200 flights per day (inbound and outbound combined) and can't possibly keep track of every persons early and late arrivals if the airlines don't inform them, which most don't. It puts the ME at the mercy of airline arrival times.

 

[George4]

SW had equipment problems that delayed the flight for hours. The answer isn't to blame the guest or force the guest to change plans - it should be on Disney to do better.

So you expect Disney to fix Southwests problem? You can't reasonably expect Disney to magically adjust to all the flight variations that they don't know about, do you? If they are expect 200 people at 2pm, they schedule 4-5 buses to handle the people. If only 40 show up, they send the buses partially loaded after 15-30 minutes so those 40 don't have to wait too long. If the remaining people show up 90 minutes later, they now have 160 people with no bus, since their buses have left and haven't completed their circuit yet. They now have to put those 160 people onto buses reserved for other people. That fouls up the works for hours. This will always be an issue when inbound flights are delayed due to weather or maintenance issues. Disney's saving grace is that they usually don't have that many flights that are delayed at the same time. But when they do, there is nothing Disney can do to solve the weather and airlines problems. It's part of the traveling nightmare.

If you get down there and see a long line next time, go back upstairs and enjoy a snack/cocktail and try again in 30 minutes. You will enjoy your vacation more. I know you want to get to WDW, but a 30 minute delay to avoid the chaotic rush at ME may be well worth keeping the vacation off to a nice start.

 

[charmed59]

So you expect Disney to fix Southwests problem? You can't reasonably expect Disney to magically adjust to all the flight variations that they don't know about, do you? If they are expect 200 people at 2pm, they schedule 4-5 buses to handle the people. If only 40 show up, they send the buses partially loaded after 15-30 minutes so those 40 don't have to wait too long. If the remaining people show up 90 minutes later, they now have 160 people with no bus, since their buses have left and haven't completed their circuit yet. They now have to put those 160 people onto buses reserved for other people. That fouls up the works for hours. This will always be an issue when inbound flights are delayed due to weather or maintenance issues. Disney's saving grace is that they usually don't have that many flights that are delayed at the same time. But when they do, there is nothing Disney can do to solve the weather and airlines problems. It's part of the traveling nightmare.
.

I think it is reasonable to expect that since Disney asks for flight numbers, not just arrival times, that they will keep track of what flights are coming in late and adjust.

 

[George4]

I think it is reasonable to expect that since Disney asks for flight numbers, not just arrival times, that they will keep track of what flights are coming in late and adjust.

You can't really adjust a bus schedule by bringing in additional drivers and buses when you get 5-10 minutes notification from an airline about delays. You can't just suddenly put more buses and drivers into service if those people weren't scheduled to work already. It compounds the problem when the airilnes don't tell them when the flight actually will land until it almost arrives (fairly typical if you've ever tried to pick someone up). Again, it would be nice if they could make it better, but this is one of those services that Disney can't completely control, so service issues will continue to exist since not everyone company in that airport has the same level of customer satisfaction expectations from themselves.

That being said, I have never personally experienced an ME issue at all, but I also have never flown in our out on a weekend.

 

[seashoreCM]

There is only so much space at MCO (I think five spaces) where the Magical Express buses load. I don't think there are other nearby areas where additional buses can roost, ready to quickly swoop in and pick up unexpected or delayed or additional crowds.

So DME buses have to be dispatched from Disney with some strategic timing to arrive at the airport with minimum delay (and clogging up of road space) before they can pull into the loading spaces.

Airlines sometimes do something similar, "ground holds" at the origin airport to match up with available landing time slots and open gate positions at the destination airport. I have not yet heard of trucks or buses traveling at an unusually slow speed en route because of an unexpected delay in availability of a loading space at the destination. (Airplane flights do this too.)

 

[seashoreCM]

There are also a big crew of people that purchase their ME tickets when they get to MCO. They get to the airport and learn about the service and decide to use it. That throws of Disney's planning, (snip)

Magical Express is not permitted to give complimentary transportation to guests without advance reservations.

Hmmmm. If a large number of people suddenly arrive at a Mears counter to buy (Mears') shuttle tickets to Disney's resorts, would they all be sent over to the DME area, tickets in hand, to board DME buses first come first served? (Mears operates DME buses.)

 

[maxiesmom]

I think it is reasonable to expect that since Disney asks for flight numbers, not just arrival times, that they will keep track of what flights are coming in late and adjust.

They ask to get a rough idea. As you are not held to boarding your bus at MCO at a specific time, it would be pointless for them to dispatch buses based on when flights land. It is more of a rough estimate I believe. Also, the bus routes do fluctuate based on who shows up when.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

So you expect Disney to fix Southwests problem? You can't reasonably expect Disney to magically adjust to all the flight variations that they don't know about, do you? If they are expect 200 people at 2pm, they schedule 4-5 buses to handle the people. If only 40 show up, they send the buses partially loaded after 15-30 minutes so those 40 don't have to wait too long. If the remaining people show up 90 minutes later, they now have 160 people with no bus, since their buses have left and haven't completed their circuit yet. They now have to put those 160 people onto buses reserved for other people. That fouls up the works for hours. This will always be an issue when inbound flights are delayed due to weather or maintenance issues. Disney's saving grace is that they usually don't have that many flights that are delayed at the same time. But when they do, there is nothing Disney can do to solve the weather and airlines problems. It's part of the traveling nightmare.

If you get down there and see a long line next time, go back upstairs and enjoy a snack/cocktail and try again in 30 minutes. You will enjoy your vacation more. I know you want to get to WDW, but a 30 minute delay to avoid the chaotic rush at ME may be well worth keeping the vacation off to a nice start.

No lines - January; late on a Saturday - they just told him that the bus wasn't going to OKW; then they told him that there wasn't any more buses coming; finally a Mears shuttle showed up and brought him to OKW.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

You can't really adjust a bus schedule by bringing in additional drivers and buses when you get 5-10 minutes notification from an airline about delays. You can't just suddenly put more buses and drivers into service if those people weren't scheduled to work already. It compounds the problem when the airilnes don't tell them when the flight actually will land until it almost arrives (fairly typical if you've ever tried to pick someone up). Again, it would be nice if they could make it better, but this is one of those services that Disney can't completely control, so service issues will continue to exist since not everyone company in that airport has the same level of customer satisfaction expectations from themselves.

That being said, I have never personally experienced an ME issue at all, but I also have never flown in our out on a weekend.

There was room on the bus; the folks at DME at MCO said the bus wasn't going to stop at OKW. Eventually, they called a Mears' shuttle van.

 

[goofy4tink]

A few thoughts here...
1. DME isn't supposed to allow walk-ups, without prior reservations, to get on a DME bus. Their contract, with the airport, states that. You can call the day before and make a reservation..heck, you could probably call them 12 hrs before. But you are supposed to exist in the system. If DME is allowing guests to make a reservation as they stand at the counter, then they are in violation of that contract.
2. Do they track flights? No, not really. That would take a lot of work that I'm sure they don't want to take. If someone is going to be very late, or a large group is going to land later, then sure, they should alert DME to that fact. But to assume that DME is tracking each and every flight is wrong. If you want that kind of service, book a car service. They track your flights. Heck, you don't even have to give them flight info to book!
3. Each bus has an assigned route. If a bus is going to the CR, Polynesian and GF, and there is one person standing there, waiting for a bus to OKW, that bus is not going to take them. You are going to have to wait for the bus to your particular resort.....you aren't getting on a different bus. When arriving late in the day (any time after 9pm) you have to realize that you could face longer than usual wait times for a bus. Wait times are usually shorter when it's very busy...lots of buses are running. Less busy times mean fewer buses in service.