Magical Express Pick Up Question

[wjaye918]

I know that Magical Express picks up 2-3 hours before the scheduled flight time for your return to the airport. My question is, does it matter what time the flight is? My flight is 6:30 am. Does that mean my bus will leave at 3:30 am? That is WAY too early! If so, I may have to take a cab instead of the bus. I can't imagine waking my kids up at 3:00 am for the bus. 5:00 will be bad enough! FYI: 6:30 am was the only flight back I could get!!!
Thanks!

 

[kennygman]

You can call Mears directly and get the info you need to be accurate. I had to rearrange our departure from ASSP to GF and they were kind to do so. In case you didn't know, Mears runs ME.

 

[Cindyrella]

We had a 7am flight home one time and we were on ME at 3:55 am. I thought, for sure, we'd be the only ones on the bus. Wrong! They actually ran out of seats at OKW (there was another ME coming shortly.) It was so early, but 7am was the only flight I could get home for that day. We're going down in a few weeks, and I scheduled our flight ome for 1pm figuring we'll get picked up around 10am or so It is the worse part of the trip.

 

[wannabeBelle]

5:00 will be way too late!!! Most airlines request that you be at the airport at LEAST 2 hours prior to your flight time and the OIA is about 30-40 minutes from Disney to begin with!!! FActor in getting through security, checking your luggage if you are not flying a partner airline etc. I know 3 am is early ( or late depending) but DME isnt far off on this one! Belle

 

[Nemo14]

I agree with Belle here - it might seem pretty early, but allowing 2-3 hours is quite reasonable. Security lines at MCO can be quite long - even early in the morning, and arriving there 2 hours before your flight is quite appropriate. let your kids sleep in their clothes that night if it will make it easier for you.
Have a magical vacation!

 

[NeedABreak]

Early Morning can be very busy for airports. Get there at 5 and you will most likely miss the flight.

Take the early ME.

 

[kennygman]

That's why we always fly home in the evening. Get to play around for a few hours then go to the airport. Of course, we take the first flight TO WDW and the last flight FROM WDW.

 

[Aurora_25]

The Orlando airport in my experience is generally pretty crowded and you need all the time you can get to check in and do the security gate stuff....
I know 3:30 sounds early, but you would rather do that than miss your flight. Believe me....It's no fun to miss a flight.

 

[newfanatic]

We also had to take a 6:30am flight home and yes, the bus picked us up in the lobby at 3:30. We had to leave our room at 3:10am! As someone else posted, the bus was surprisingly full, and our flight was actually sold out. There were lots of kids, that all fell asleep as soon as the plane took off. It actually worked out pretty well, except next time I would just not bother going to bed at all. It IS hard to get up at 3:00am!

 

[bgraham34]

Its one thing getting to the airport a few hours early. But its another when you are there 2 hours before your flight and then you find out its delayed 2-4 hours. Always happens to me. I hate it.

 

[wjaye918]

Okay, thanks for all of the advice. I guess you are probably right. Maybe we'll just stay up late and not try to sleep at all. Thanks!

 

[ypcat]

Its one thing getting to the airport a few hours early. But its another when you are there 2 hours before your flight and then you find out its delayed 2-4 hours. Always happens to me. I hate it.

This has happened to us the past two trips. Although last time, I was able to switch to a later direct flight which arrived about the same time as our original flight would have and we didn't have the hassle of changing planes

 

[swimmom]

The Orlando airport in my experience is generally pretty crowded and you need all the time you can get to check in and do the security gate stuff....
I know 3:30 sounds early, but you would rather do that than miss your flight. Believe me....It's no fun to miss a flight.

I totally agree with you. We go through the Chicago Ohare security faster (there are more security posts in Ohare) than the Orlando security. Every time we get to Orlando Airport the lines at security are extremely long no matter what time of day it is.

Unfortunately with an early morning flight, you can't use the resort check-in service since they open at 6:00 a.m.

 

[imagineer99]

I know that this is thread is old, but I kinda have a related question: just how early does Magical Express pick you up to take you back to Orlando International Airport? Do you have any say in the pick up time?

I mean, I do want to get back to the aiport about two hours in advance. But, three hours early seems a tad excessive, especially when I could spend that extra hour at Disney World...I just want to gage how much time I have to just sit at an airport gate.

 

[wannabeBelle]

They do pick you up three hours prior to your flight time to get you to the airport the recommended two hours prior to flight time to allow time for Security checks. I usually stop in Macaroni Grill on the way through!!! Belle

 

[HoneyMnShawnee]

I know that this is thread is old, but I kinda have a related question: just how early does Magical Express pick you up to take you back to Orlando International Airport? Do you have any say in the pick up time?

I mean, I do want to get back to the aiport about two hours in advance. But, three hours early seems a tad excessive, especially when I could spend that extra hour at Disney World...I just want to gage how much time I have to just sit at an airport gate.

Unfortuantely you have no choice in when they pick you up.. 3 hours is reasonable considering when we were picked up last time, they went to 2 other resorts to pick up passengers before we actually left for the airport.. As all of the previous posters have mentioned, security can be a major hassle at Orlando International.. There can be very very long lines. I believe once we got to the airport and got through security we only had a little over an hour till our flight left...

 

[Monty]

In February when DS and I came back, security at MCO was better organized or better laid out than it had been on previous trips and we actually sailed through fairly quickly! :sohappy:

Or maybe our timing was right and we hit a sweet spot in their usual crush... :shrug:

 

[imagineer99]

Thanks for the info...