Flying in late - Magical Express the next morning?

[cslafferty]

We decided to fly in late (10:30pm arrival) on our next trip. Since it would be almost midnight before we would arrive at our resort (and I really don't want to pay Contemporary Resort rates for a few hours!), we decided to stay at the Hyatt at the airport and then check in at the Contemporary early the next morning. Does anyone know if we would be able to use Disney's Magical Express to get to our resort?

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

Sorry don't know the answer to your question... but have you considered staying at one of the value resorts instead of the Hyatt? That way you are gauranteed a Magical Express ride and they will move your bags from the value to the Contemporary Resort for you. Just a thought!

 

[cslafferty]

Hmmm . . . didn't consider staying at a value resort for one night. Duh!

I called WDW-Magic and they said that I would not be able to use ME the next morning. However, in the Unofficial Guide, they say that people who don't know about ME ahead of time can sign up on the spot as long as you have a confirmed reservation at a Disney owned and operated resort. I'm trying to remember if they asked for my flight information as well.

 

[cslafferty]

Just booked a room only at All Star Music for our late night arrival. Saved $100 between the difference in the cost of the room and cab fare to our resort, since now we can use ME! Thank you for the suggestion!! Love this forum!!

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

Glad it worked out for you!!!! Enjoy your trip!

 

[Rob562]

As a clarification for those who might stumble into this thread at a later date:

The CM on the phone was only partly correct about your original situation (staying at the airport hotel your first night and then going to the Contemporary the next day).

You *would* be able to use the DME buses to get from the airport to your Disney hotel the day after your flight. There is no requirement that you actually have to be arriving on a plane to use the bus service. You can either a) give Disney the flight info for an early-morning arriving flight, or b) call the Magical Express people directly at 866-599-0951 and they can put you in the system as not arriving on a flight. (While the CMs at Central Reservations deal with regular flight situations just fine, it's these out-of-the-ordinary situations where they often don't know what to do)

But, you would *not* be able to use the luggage delivery service in connection to your reservation. You would have to claim the luggage from the carousel for your flight, stay overnight at the airport hotel, and then bring it with you on the DME bus the next morning.

If you tried using the yellow DME tags on your bags, it actually wouldn't work at all because you'd be arriving after the 10pm cutoff anyway. But if you'.d been on a flight at say 9pm, Disney's luggage system would flag your bags as a problem because in their eyes your bags would be arriving a day before they were supposed to. So your bags would be set aside and there would've been a high probability of them being delayed in getting to you.

So to recap, yes, you could've taken the bus, but no, you could not have used the luggage delivery service.

-Rob

 

[cslafferty]

I kind of thought that was the case. I figured if we stayed at the Hyatt at the airport we'd try to get on the ME anyway, and if it didn't work we'd take a cab. But, staying at the All Star Music resort works out better.