Magical Express Wait Time

Mista C

Mista C

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Quick question on the Magical Express, as I've never had to use it. Being from Fort Lauderdale, we drive every trip, but this year my wife is meeting up with my daughter and myself for one day and she's flying into Orlando Intl. Her flight lands at 8:05 am.

Once she walks down to Magical Express, how does it work?
Will she have a set time for one of the buses, or do they just put you on one once you check in with them?
If she's landing at 8:05 am, about how long of a wait would there typically be? I'm just hoping that it's fairly quick and that she won't have to sit and wait at the airport for one or two hours. If that's the case, I'll reserve a towncar for her for $60.

Thanks!
 
Mista C

Mista C

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
She is on our reservation. My daughter and I are staying 4 days and my wife 1. I already registered her with DME and I received a confirmation email from WDW stating that her confirmation letter is being mailed. We just have not received it yet.
 
RememberWhen

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
The wait time can really vary. I've never personally seen it crazy busy, but I have heard of it taking 2 hours from plane landing to arriving at the resort. It's usually closer to an hour for us, but we try to go at quieter times of the year. In my personal experience it's usually a pretty short wait to get on a bus, but the bus sometimes waits a while to be full and then stops at several places.
 
Mista C

Mista C

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great, thanks. If she arrives at our resort by 10am that's fine. One last question, when we get our confirmation letter in the mail, will it have an actual time on it, or do they just place you on a bus when you check in?
 
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Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
Mista C said:
She is on our reservation. My daughter and I are staying 4 days and my wife 1. I already registered her with DME and I received a confirmation email from WDW stating that her confirmation letter is being mailed. We just have not received it yet.
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Ah. Agree with what RememberWhen indicated above.
 
RememberWhen

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
Just make sure she knows where to go. It's pretty well signed. Is she picking up her bag at he airport or heading straight to the bus? Picking up the bag will add a bit of time.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
RememberWhen said:
The wait time can really vary. I've never personally seen it crazy busy, but I have heard of it taking 2 hours from plane landing to arriving at the resort. It's usually closer to an hour for us, but we try to go at quieter times of the year. In my personal experience it's usually a pretty short wait to get on a bus, but the bus sometimes waits a while to be full and then stops at several places.
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It took us 2 hours from landing to arriving at our resort earlier this month.
IMG_3874.JPG
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
And I hope I never see it this way again! Will see it for myself again in December.
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I'm very worried now bc almost every resort is sold out during my trip. I don't mind doing Uber if we have to, but I don't want to deal with our luggage. Maybe I should call and ask.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
21stamps said:
If this happens can we take an Uber, even though we are already registered with ME? I can't wait for 2 hours, or even 1 hour.
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21stamps said:
I'm very worried now bc almost every resort is sold out during my trip. I don't mind doing Uber if we have to, but I don't want to deal with our luggage. Maybe I should call and ask.
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If you haven't called yet...
You can change your mind at the last minute and use Uber instead of DME. It will not affect your return trip or your luggage delivery. If you put the yellow tags on your bags they will make it to your resort whether or not you board a DME bus.
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
21stamps said:
I'm very worried now bc almost every resort is sold out during my trip. I don't mind doing Uber if we have to, but I don't want to deal with our luggage. Maybe I should call and ask.
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The day of the week (and time of day) can make a big difference. We're arriving mid-afternoon on Monday 11/14 (not on a weekend), so I'm hoping our wait won't be crazy long. If it looks like the picture above, you can be certain we'll be Ubering our way out of there! :) That being said, we have been in situations where the line looked really long (reaching almost to the end of the switchbacks, although not past the MB touch point, as in the photo! - that was when we arrived around 11am on a Saturday, which I assume is probably the busiest time of the week), but waited only 25 minutes to board a bus because so many buses were running...

If it looks gnarly and you need to decide whether to wait or get alternative transportation, I'd ask the attendant at the check-in touchpoint for their opinion on the wait time.

(UPDATE, after trip: We hit the jackpot - zero wait to board a DME bus! We landed on schedule around 1:30pm and it took our party less than 15 minutes after the last person deplaned to meet up, take the monorail to the terminal, cross the foyer, take an escalator down to the ground transportation level and arrive at the DME check-in desk. (We travel carryon only, so no stop at baggage claim.) We had to wait about 5 minutes to check in, and we were immediately ushered through the line to a bus to our resort (which was already boarding), which then departed within another 5 minutes. Our resort (CBR) was the first drop-off on the route, and I was standing at the resort check-in desk less than an hour after deplaning.)
 
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21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
If you haven't called yet...
You can change your mind at the last minute and use Uber instead of DME. It will not affect your return trip or your luggage delivery. If you put the yellow tags on your bags they will make it to your resort whether or not you board a DME bus.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I don't know if my kid would complain or not if we had that kind of wait.. But If the lines are like that, I don't want to find out the answer.lol.
 

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