Magical express questions

[Joseph Catalano]

Ive been to disney many times but never took the express. What are the pros and cons of tagging my luggage and having Disney get them and bring them to the hotel? Should I just get them myself? If I tag them to they come on the same bus as me or do they travel separate. The three hour window is scaring me. What's everyone opinion about luggage and magical express in general?

 

[dolce20]

Nice choices!! You'll love Raglan. The sausage appetizer is a hit w my husband and the live entertainment starts up around 6:30 or so. Lots of fun and a very good chef. And beers!! Followed up by a cigar at Sosa's..it's a good night ;-)

 

[boilerpicc]

Definitely do the magical express. We did have a lost luggage issue once, but it was a pretty unusal circumstance. My family decided to come in a day earlier than our original reservation. We ended up staying at POR before transferring to the WL the next day. My brother and sister-in-law's flight was delayed by 6 hours, and they didn't end up arriving until midnight. My sister-in-law's bags made it to POR around 2am, but my brother's didn't make it. It took them a day to find his bags. It turns out they were sent to POR the afternoon after we moved to the WL. They did eventually find it and get it to us. They also gave him compensation (I think $50) to get new clothes, though it didn't buy much at Disney prices. Even having experienced that drama, we still use the magical express every time. It makes for such a smooth and relaxing time at the airport.

 

[Ariel484]

We've used it 5-6 times and it's always been fine. Just make sure to pack a change of clothes/swimsuit in your carry-on in case they are delayed and you should be fine.

Also keep in mind that if your flights gets in late (after 10PM I think...11 maybe? I forget) you'll need to grab your own bags.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

DME is awesome. But some words of advice, from experience:

- If at all possible, stick with just carry-on luggage (no suitcases that must be checked). It's faster all around for many reasons.

- Handle your own luggage rather than letting DME check them for you (they didn't get our luggage on the plane one time and waiting for it stinks).

- They will pick you up EARLY on your departure day. Even with a "late flight" out, that day you thought you had for Downtown? Probably not gonna happen.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I'm such a rebel - we love riding the ME bus, but as far as luggage, we don't tag it OR claim it! Embittered by past experiences (not involving Disney vacations) where our luggage was damaged and/or lost, we pack light and do "carryon only." The upside of this arrangement is that our luggage is not unwieldy to handle ourselves, we don't need to wait to claim it but can proceed immediately to the ME bus line, and if our room is ready at check-in (which it always has been), we can unpack and freshen up immediately, without having to worry about doing so after we get back from a park late at night.

 

[bethymouse]

simply pack a suit in your carry
yep!

 

[Skibum1970]

We usually let Disney handle the luggage and that is easy. However, you can pick up your own luggage and still use the Magical Express. I've thought that, if I have a later arrival (evening hours), I would go that route so that we could go to bed without having to wait. It all depends on how comfortable you are with them handling everything. Sometimes, it's nice to know that the luggage is safely sitting in the room as opposed to wondering if it made it safely while roaming around.

 

[JillC LI]

I'm sure it's fine to use, but my hubby and I just figure that the fewer people who handle our luggage, the less likely it is to be misplaced, so we claim it ourselves if using the DME (which isn't often because we prefer to have a rental car anyway).

 

[Poofiesdream]

Use it one less thing to worry about and drag along with you!