News Magical Express to pickup 4 hours before flight departure time due to new security measures

[larryz]

Perhaps Disney should build Disney's Dumbo Flying Elephant resort at MCO, so people flying home can move out there the night before their flights.

 

[LAKid53]

Perhaps Disney should build Disney's Dumbo Flying Elephant resort at MCO, so people flying home can move out there the night before their flights.

It would be cheaper to stay at an airport hotel.

 

[BigHero4]

This is disappointing. Less time at Disney World and more time in an airport... woo hoo! Maybe it's time to look into taking an Uber to MCO. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[DisneyJoe]

I don't book/pay for it - it's less than $100 for 3 people but I really don't know.

In August ours was $75

 

[DznyGrlSD]

In August ours was $75

that sounds about right

 

[DznyGrlSD]

I just estimated it's approximately $25 for Lyft from Pop Century to MCO

 

[lazyboy97o]

Didn't have a problem at MCO at the end of October.got through screening in about 10 minutes .

Were they using the dogs? When they do, it is incredibly quick.

The line issues at MCO are caused by the same problems that effect lines at Disney, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, etc. There are just certain people who just choose not to be prepared or follow instructions. Following them will help expedite the process. At MCO, at least at the check point I always use, there is a TSA agent barking out instructions on what is allowed and not allowed along what has to go in bins to be inspected. This in addition to all the signage. But yet every time I fly regardless of airport, people just do not pay attention or just don’t care. It’s no different than the people who stand in line talking for 10 minutes waiting to get to the cashier, only to have no clue what they ordering when it’s their turn. Why do you think Disney now has people handing out menus at entrances? Maybe I am wired different, but I do everything in my power to make sure I do not impede the process of the people behind me.

Changes were made about two years ago to the process and MCO got a lot worse.

 

[HauntedPirate]

MCO is one of the worst airports for TSA. Of all airports, MCO is the one airport which is the most likely to have families traveling thru it. Makes sense, right? But they are the least-family-friendly TSA location of the dozen or more TSA checkpoints I've had the displeasure of traveling thru. They'll try to split your family up without a second thought. They've tried on multiple occasions to do that with my family of 6, but we have always managed to stay together despite their stupidity. My kids are from 9-16 now, but this has happened for at least the past 4-5 years. Imagine a 4 year old by herself in the TSA line. Not happening.

TSA rant - I abhor the TSA. The 'bad guys' have moved on from airplanes to do bad things with, but the TSA is stuck in 2000. I do not understand how checking each and every food item I bring with somehow makes me safer. For example: The rest of my family went down the day before Halloween and came back the Monday after Halloween. They had to use approximately **7** bins just for the Halloween candy they brought back from WDW (and never did a MNSSHP, it was all from the resorts). It was inefficiency at its worst.

This change means we will likely continue to use DME only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise, it's renting a car and enjoying the freedom and flexibility that comes with one.

 

[lazyboy97o]

TSA rant - I abhor the TSA. The 'bad guys' have moved on from airplanes to do bad things with, but the TSA is stuck in 2000. I do not understand how checking each and every food item I bring with somehow makes me safer.

Maybe that’s how they’ve doubled their success rate out of the single digits!

 

[trainplane3]

Huh, I feel like I'm the only one that hasn't had a bad time at MCO. The worse time was when we had to wait in the hallway that lead to the lobby where the hotel is at (flying out on Southwest). It was massive but it only took 45 minutes tops. All of my other experiences have been a max of 15 minutes. It could be due to me flying out in the morning, like 9am-11:30am though.

On the topic of TSA: Working at the Pittsburgh airport several years ago, the TSA are a "fun" (can be read as weird/mean/entertaining) bunch of people. I set off an alarm after a finger swab (hand sanitizer triggered it) so I "won" a full pat down. It only involves a quick pat down on the entire front and back of you but they take you into a private room so you don't get embarrassed. After it was over I walked out of there and said "So...which one of you are going to take me out to dinner now? I mean, you got what you wanted so it's only fair to me". I wasn't exactly quiet about it. Never got a pat down ever again but I made some TSA and local police friends because of that joke.

 

[Yankee Mouse]

TSA rant - I abhor the TSA. The 'bad guys' have moved on from airplanes to do bad things with, but the TSA is stuck in 2000.

Not exactly true:
Australia:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...-police-say-plane-bomb-plot-disrupted/8773752
Somalia:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35513348
Egypt:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/18/middleeast/metrojet-crash-dabiq-claim/index.html


And numerous other examples of attempted attacks on airliners since 2000. No doubt the agency has some issues but they also have a tough job.

As far as the four hour thing, it definitely does stink for those early departures and half park departure days, and I feel for anyone whose plans are messed up by this. It always bugs me when we are expected to plan months in advance but Disney can make changes at the drop of a hat.

 

[UCF]

I’m talking about a Disney owned/operated shuttle between property and MCO’s north and planned south terminals. High speed rail is a loser as long as we don’t have a nationwide network with consistent 200+mph service.

Imagine being at MCO in less than ten minutes. Or, arriving at the world that much sooner. DME is such an inefficient system. On my last trip in January 2016 after coming in on the earliest SWA flight out of PHL (American’s TSA gates at Terminal B/C are THE WORST), we waited an hour for DME to take us to our hotel to check in. Then we had to stop at two other hotels, Pop Century and Art of Animation IIRC. It may be a “free” service, but this isn’t acceptable from a guest perspective. How many millions of guest spending dollars does Disney lose every year because DME isn’t efficient? How much more cost effective would it be in the long run to have a maglev train that dropped off all guests at a new TTC, say in front of Epcot, who would then be able to take a bus to their rooms if they wish or dive right into the parks? Would a billion dollar investment that would pay dividends for decades not be worth it?

Obviously the MCO TSA is the problem, but maybe Disney should focus on improving the things they can control.

Yes, the Florida HSR was proposed to have stops and special trains that would potentially replace DME. The travel time was supposed to be 21 minutes from the disney station to the airport station, travelling at up to 168 mph.

Also, Orlando Maglev was proposed more recently, where a Disney stop was part of a potential phase 2 or 3. This proposal was shot down by the airport last year:

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Yes, the Florida HSR was proposed to have stops and special trains that would potentially replace DME. The travel time was supposed to be 21 minutes from the disney station to the airport station, travelling at up to 168 mph.

Also, Orlando Maglev was proposed more recently, where a Disney stop was part of a potential phase 2 or 3. This proposal was shot down by the airport last year:

That never really seemed like a realistic proposal. If Disney built a Maglev DME Line, they could cut out Gaylord Palms. Having stops on each end only would make it possible to hit and coast at the highest speeds for longer, thus shortening travel time.

 

[UCF]

That never really seemed like a realist proposal. If Disney built a Maglev DME Line, they could cut out Gaylord Palms. Having stops on each end only would make it possible to hit and coast at the highest speeds for longer, thus shortening travel time.

It wasn't proposed to be built by Disney. On both proposals, to gain Disney's support, express trains that only went between Disney and the airport bypassing all other stops were being considered.

Disney also insisted that the route to from the airport to Disney did not pass by I-Drive, which is why the more obvious route continuing along I-Drive and hitting SeaWorld, etc, was not proposed.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

It wasn't proposed to be built by Disney. On both proposals, to gain Disney's support, express trains that only went between Disney and the airport bypassing all other stops were being considered.

I understand. Just stating it’s in Disney’s interest to build a line for and operated by itself alone.

 

[UCF]

I understand. Just stating it’s in Disney’s interest to build a line for and operated by itself alone.

While that would be awesome, its hard to imagine considering Disney took this long to expand non-bus transport within the resort, and still no monorail expansion. The best and probably only chance for this route to be upgraded to a train of some sort is for a third party to build it and agree to operate an express train, and probably not for more then the existing Mears contract. There has now been 2 completely seperate proposals to do this, and Disney has indicated both times they could be on board if they agree to the route/terms of an express service.

 

[larryz]

For example: The rest of my family went down the day before Halloween and came back the Monday after Halloween. They had to use approximately **7** bins just for the Halloween candy they brought back from WDW (and never did a MNSSHP, it was all from the resorts). It was inefficiency at its worst.

Look at it this way -- your kids got their halloween candy x-rayed for free...

 

[DisneyMann]

The change is probably due to something they noticed when the "battery explosion" happened. Security measures tightened from that so perhaps this is an addition because of tighter TSA regs now.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

A lot of people are also attributing this to the ISIS threats that surfaced last month concerning their specific desire to take down a US aircraft. i.e. more intel = more things being screened = more time waiting = more time built in for DME. People at the very end of October were having every single piece of MNSSHP candy screened as a result. As we approach the holidays and more people are traveling, wait times are sure to rise with the updated screening process.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

The change is probably due to something they noticed when the "battery explosion" happened. Security measures tightened from that so perhaps this is an addition because of tighter TSA regs now.

Solid state batteries can’t get here soon enough.