Disney magical express - advice

Pluto15

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hi all

Booked to arrive at Orlando airport may 2015.

Any advice re Disney magical express?

What a great way to start the vacation.
 

daisyduckie

Well-Known Member
The way to your resort Magical Express is great. As long as you arrive before 10 pm, that is. If you arrive after 10 you must go get any checked bags and haul them to the bus. Otherwise you simply walk to the DME area, scan your band and get in the proper queue.

Oh, and there is no eating on the bus, so if you are hungry grab something in the airport. You don't have to get on a certain bus at a certain time, there will be one coming for you whenever.

On the way back to the airport you will be assigned a pick up time and a specific bus. Don't miss it, as then you will have to make your own way to the airport.
 

MorganKelly

Active Member
I highly recommend! It is a fun way to begin your trip. If you want to grab a quick bite, MCO has a food court in both terminals as well as some restaurants. You are not scheduled for any specific time on your travel to the resort. For your trip back to the airport, you will be given a time approximately 3 hours before your flight time for your ME pick-up. Security lines can be long; you may well need the extra time and it goes by quickly!
 

JasonDeyoung

Well-Known Member
It's a smooth and easy enjoyable way to begin your Disney trip. The moment walking through MCO and seeing the sign to DME it's an instant smile :) as said above they are actually pretty flexible on the way back. I used it a couple times last fall and they let me get on an earlier shuttle and a later shuttle assuming they have room that is. Unfortunately living an hour away I don't get to use DME lol it is fun I think
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
As long as you don't immediately need your luggage, and as a PP said, you will be there before 10PM, no reason not to take it. They deal with your luggage, and you already paid for it in your room booking. Why pay again for a taxi or rental when you already paid for something.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
We've never used the luggage component (we travel "carryon only" so we just take it with us -- the bus driver will stow it beneath the DME bus for you and a tip of $1 per bag is a nice gesture), but we love the ease of using DME to get to our resort. At home, I spend at least 90 minutes of every workday commuting to and from work, so on vacation, I love not having to drive anywhere, and getting to relax in air-conditioned comfort after getting off the plane. The "waiting in line for your bus" part isn't particularly fun, but it doesn't last long (no longer than waiting to pick up a car rental, I'd imagine) and then we're on our way.

As others said, food and drinks aren't allowed on the bus (although I've sipped from a bottle of water and no one said anything), so if you arrive hungry, I'd suggest grabbing something portable from the airport's food court and munching on it while you wait for the DME bus to show up -- better yet, have some granola bars or fruit while on the plane to tide you over, and have a meal at your resort's counter service restaurant once you arrive! :)
 

Stellajack

Premium Member
We usually try to book a flight that gets to Orlando between 11 am-2 pm. DME is one of the highlights of our trip (at least on arrival, not so much on departure :cry:). We definitely do not carry our luggage except for a small flight bag. On arrival and check-in to our favorite resort (POR) we head for downtown Disney for lunch at Earl of Sandwich or icecream at Ghiradelli's. Others have their own experiences with DME, both good and bad, but for us this is a great time to sit back, relax, and prepare to "enter the World". :joyfull:
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Hi all

Booked to arrive at Orlando airport may 2015.

Any advice re Disney magical express?

What a great way to start the vacation.

Depends on what you plan on doing and how much time you are willing to waste. We've used it on one trip and will not use it again. When we arrived in the morning the line of people waiting to get onto the bus was insane and we waited over an hour after checking in until we could get onto a bus... likewise we spent lots of time waiting for buses to and from parks on that trip... my vacations are too valuable to waste time waiting for buses when I could be waiting for an attraction instead. We now refuse to use the service and just rent a car, I'm sure it saves us at least 1 or 2 each day of waiting for buses... but be warned getting around at WDW with your own car can be confusing because they almost seem to be trying to make the signage as confusing as possible so that you will prefer to use their transportation instead of your own.
 

Pluto15

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the replies so far. I think there is something special getting off your flight knowing the transport is organised and you don't need to think about car hire or teansportation. Even nicer that it had the magical touch from Disney door to door and your luggage is taken care of. I like the top about maybe having a quick snack and taking time to just soak it all in. I drive long distance most days so not driving gor two weeks is a big plus :)
 

Stellajack

Premium Member
Our experiences with DME since Magic Bands came into existence is that you go immediately to the DME bus queue for your resort, just as if you were going through the park turnstyles...no more checking in at the DME desk in the airport. Do others have different experiences with their Magic Bands and DME?
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Our experiences with DME since Magic Bands came into existence is that you go immediately to the DME bus queue for your resort, just as if you were going through the park turnstyles...no more checking in at the DME desk in the airport. Do others have different experiences with their Magic Bands and DME?

You haven't had to check in at the counter for quite a while as long as you had your voucher thingy from the mail, or your MB. You can walk past the counter and just stop as the desks with the pedestals just before the queue.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Any other views

I'm not sure there's much more to be said about it. The toughest part of the whole thing is finding the Magical Express "Welcome Center" -- B side of the airport on Level 1. (If you land on the A side, and after you've taken the monorail-style shuttle to the main terminal, you have to cross over to the B side, stopping to collect luggage if you've checked it but aren't using the ME tags or are arriving after 10pm, before going downstairs to Level 1.) Once you're there, it's just a quick swipe of your MagicBand at a Mickey reader (or a quick consult with a CM at the podium), and you'll be directed to the line for your resort bus. (Another piece of advice: visit the restroom after you land and before heading down to the Welcome Center -- otherwise, Murphy's Law dictates that your smallest child will immediately "have to go, right now," just as your bus is pulling up -- some DME buses have restrooms but it's not a guarantee.) Also, this has been said before, but if you are using the yellow ME tags which designate your checked bags for ME transfer to your room, be sure to have all your important documents, ID, prescription meds, essential toiletries, and even a change of clothes or swimsuit, in your carryon bag, as it can take several hours for your bags to be delivered.

The day before you check out of your resort, you'll get a packet slipped beneath your door with boarding passes (if your airline is one of the ones for which WDW does complimentary flight check-in), invoice for charges to your room credit card, and designated time for ME pick-up.

Instructions and a link to an Orlando International Airport diagram (if it's your first visit to this airport, printing out a copy of the diagram to keep with your travel documents wouldn't be a bad idea) here:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...heck-in/magic-express-orlando-welcome-center/
 
Last edited:

Pluto15

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm not sure there's much more to be said about it. The toughest part of the whole thing is finding the Magical Express "Welcome Center" -- B side of the airport on Level 1. (If you land on the A side, and after you've taken the monorail-style shuttle to the main terminal, you have to cross over to the B side, stopping to collect luggage if you've checked it but aren't using the ME tags or are arriving after 10pm, before going downstairs to Level 1.) Once you're there, it's just a quick swipe of your MagicBand at a Mickey reader (or a quick consult with a CM at the podium), and you'll be directed to the line for your resort bus. (Another piece of advice: visit the restroom after you land and before heading down to the Welcome Center -- otherwise, Murphy's Law dictates that your smallest child will immediately "have to go, right now," just as your bus is pulling up -- some DME buses have restrooms but it's not a guarantee.) Also, this has been said before, but if you are using the yellow ME tags which designate your checked bags for ME transfer to your room, be sure to have all your important documents, ID, prescription meds, essential toiletries, and even a change of clothes or swimsuit, in your carryon bag, as it can take several hours for your bags to be delivered.

The day before you check out of your resort, you'll get a packet slipped beneath your door with boarding passes (if your airline is one of the ones for which WDW does complimentary flight check-in), invoice for charges to your room credit card, and designated time for ME pick-up.

Instructions and a link to an Orlando International Airport diagram (if it's your first visit to this airport, printing out a copy of the diagram to keep with your travel documents wouldn't be a bad idea) here:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...heck-in/magic-express-orlando-welcome-center/
Great reply and thanks for the map :)
 

Mukta

Well-Known Member
I usually land around 6 am and I travel carry on only.

I get to the DME stand, tap my magic band and they confirm where I am staying.

I get in line and board a bus within a few minutes.

I like to sit in the front row so I can get a view of the WDW sign.

I don't much care for the new film they have on the bus, but I watch it.

I get a chance to see another hotel or two and then I am dropped off at my hotel about 40 minutes after I boarded the bus.
 

harryk

Well-Known Member
Make sure that the driver knows that you are going to a particular resort! We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge, were placed on the Wilderness Lodge coach and when we got to the last stop the driver asked which resort we were staying at!! Turns out that we were the only passengers going to the Wilderness Lodge and he had not checked our tickets (which he had checked upon our boarding) and the dispatchers had not told him that we were heading to the Lodge - so he bypassed the Lodge and went to the other resorts on his route. (We were on the correct coach.) This added 45 minutes to our transport in that we were the first stop on the route..
 

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