magical express

[tbear581]

my husband and i are going to be in disney in may and i was wondering about the magical express... i have read on a few different websites that your luggage can take forever to get to you... is this true? also would it be beneficial for us to pick up our luggage first... are you even able to do that? thanks in advance.... tara

 

[wdwCC]

It can take up to 5 hours. If you are getting in at night, I would skip putting the tags on your luggage, pick them up, and take them out to the bus yourself.

 

[surfsupdon]

We take our luggagee with us. It's no hassle at all. Especially if you have an evening or night flight, getting your luggage will take hours.

 

[Monty]

I use DME and have never had any problem with my luggage being delivered.

If you're arriving during the day or up to 7PM or so, go check in, get your tickets and head to the parks. By the time you get to your room, the luggage will be waiting.

If you're arriving late evening, you can still have them deliver your luggage. Just ask Bell Services to hold it until morning if you don't want to be woken when they deliver [some people don't mind].

Regardless of which approach you take, always have essentials and a change of clothes in a carry-on. Airlines lose or delay luggage occasionally, so you should have what you absolutely need.

The advantage to using DME is if the airline loses your luggage, DME does all the work with the airline to trace it and get it to you while you're having fun! It also reduces the delays in getting to the parks.

 

[tbear581]

thanks so much for all your responses....

 

[jpm46]

We are 2 for 2 on flawless Magical Express experiences. Both times we arrived in Orlando late morning, checked in, went to the parks, and our bags were there by the time we got back that evening. Not sure how long they were actually in our room for, but they were 2 hassle free experiences.

 

[disneytopdog]

I am 3 for 3 on DME. I always take the first morning flight out of Dallas/Ft Worth. So I let DME handle the bags. If I was to take a later flight, I would definitely claim and carry my own bags.

 

[Tom]

I've used DME on 4 trips now. The first one was a group of 6 of us staying in 3 rooms all booked under my name. The only hick-up was that DME didn't know which room each of us were staying in. They just put all the bags in one of the rooms. Can't blame them - I never told check-in who would be where.

Regardless, on the last 3 trips, I've just been a tad wary of anything to do with luggage (since Delta lost mine). I trust DME (more or less) but I do NOT trust the airlines.

My fear is that I'll get off the plane, head to the resort, check-in, go to the parks till 10pm or so, and get back to my room only to find out that my bags never arrived. Instead of crawling into bed and passing out, I would then have to spend all night tracking them down. Regardless of whether the airline lost them or DME lost them, I'm just scared to death to not have my bags. But that's just how I am.

With that said, if you'll be arriving with plenty of time to remedy any "issues", feel confident that DME will get your bags to you in about 3 hours. But if you're like me and want your bags NOW, it is absolutely no problem at all to get them off the baggage claim yourself, stow them under the DME bus, and carry them with you to check-in/your room. Piece of cake.

 

[coltow]

When we stayed at Pop and POFQ we had our bags about 1 hour after check in. Both times we arrived late morning. After check in and finding our rooms we went to explore the resort and by the time we got back to the room the bags were ready.

When we stayed at Poly in December it took a bit longer. Our flight arrived at 5pm. We got to Poly around 6:15. Our bags didn't arrive until about 8:30, but that was still fine for us.

I think that unless you arrive late your bags should still get to you and hour or 2 after resort arrival.

 

[Tom]

When we stayed at Pop and POFQ we had our bags about 1 hour after check in. Both times we arrived late morning. After check in and finding our rooms we went to explore the resort and by the time we got back to the room the bags were ready.

When we stayed at Poly in December it took a bit longer. Our flight arrived at 5pm. We got to Poly around 6:15. Our bags didn't arrive until about 8:30, but that was still fine for us.

I think that unless you arrive late your bags should still get to you and hour or 2 after resort arrival.

Your bags can arrive anywhere from 1-3 hours after you check-in. That's their rule anyway.

It all depends on how quickly DME loads your bags onto a truck at the airport, and how quickly that truck leaves the airport, and then which order they deliver in.

For example, the truck might be almost full when your plane lands, so your luggage luckily gets on the next departing truck. Then it might come to your hotel first, and your bellhops could be bored and take it right up to your room. If this all happens, you could get your bags very shortly after you check-in.

However, on the other end of the spectrum, DME might have an empty truck sitting at the luggage unload area at the airport, so it will sit there until it's full. Then you could be the last of several hotels on that truck's route. And, when your luggage gets unloaded at your hotel, it might be at check-in time and the bellhops are swamped. This is when it takes 3 hours to get your bags.

And it's luck of the draw. You could be at either end of the spectrum, and you won't know until the bags just show up in your room. I'm a control freak, so this scenario is another reason why I like to carry my own bags. I know what time they'll be in my room - exactly :lol:

 

[MinnieLee]

We've used ME at least a dozen times with no problems at all. We arrive early in the morning so we just head to the parks and when we return our bags are in the room. I would suggest taking a carry on with anything you think you might need when you get to the resort (change of clothes tickets, bathing suits, camera, etc). Bell services can hold that bag for you if you are heading out if your room is not ready otherwise just leave it in your room. If you have a late arrival, then take your luggage with you. My BIL got hung up at BWI and did not get to the resort until 11:00 that night. He didn't know it would take up to 3 hours for his luggage and bell services did not want to wake him so they delivered his luggage at 7:30 the next morning. At least they had things in a carry on. All of our luggage has always arived safe and sound even two sets of golf clubs. ME, to us, is a great perk.

 

[MMFanCipher]

Well, my form OCD is asking a question that I'm 99% sure I know the answer
to, but ask the question anyhow just to get that extra 1%.

So here goes. Does DME take you to the Dolphin and Swan?

 

[surfsupdon]

Well, my form OCD is asking a question that I'm 99% sure I know the answer
to, but ask the question anyhow just to get that extra 1%.

So here goes. Does DME take you to the Dolphin and Swan?

Nope. You're on your own to get to and from Swan/Dolphin and the airport. We used a taxi....Maybe 50 bucks if I remember correctly.

 

[azbob19]

I would definitely go grab your bags first. Just as a piece of mind.

 

[lbrad]

We used DME on our recent trip in Nov.
It was GREAT We had our luggage in our room shortly after arriving at our resort. Keep any essentials with you in a carry on...You are all set:wave:

 

[Phonedave]

If you're arriving late evening, you can still have them deliver your luggage. Just ask Bell Services to hold it until morning if you don't want to be woken when they deliver [some people don't mind].

I believe its the other way around now.

So many people were freaked out by getting bags delivered at 1:00 AM while they were sleeping (remember DME will knock, if there is no answer, then they open the door and put the bags in the room) that now DME will not deliver your bags after midnight unless you specificaly ask them to. They will instead leave a VM on your phone and when you call they will bring them to your room.

And I have used DME more times than I can recall - I am going to say at least a dozen, in all sorts of ways (baggage handling on both ends, baggage from airport to resort only and baggage from resort to airline only using RAC) I have NEVER had a problem with DME and my bags were in my room by the time I got back from the parks every time I have used them.


-dave

 

[islesgirl]

I have used DME multiple times. The first time I used it was during Christmas week and it took about 9 hours for us to get our luggage (we landed at 8am and didn't get out bags until around 5pm.) I know that was mainly due to the fact that they are swamped at x-mas, but since then I always just go, leave the tags off my luggage, pick up my bag and then just walk over to the buses. it gives me a piece of mind knowing i have everything i need with me the moment i get off the plane

 

[kstella]

I always pick up my checked bags before getting on the bus, ever since the time I was there President's week and my luggage took 6 hours to get to me. It's not that big a hassle to get it and I prefer the comfort of knowing that my luggage is with me rather than waiting for it to catch up to me!

 

[Rob562]

My fear is that I'll get off the plane, head to the resort, check-in, go to the parks till 10pm or so, and get back to my room only to find out that my bags never arrived. Instead of crawling into bed and passing out, I would then have to spend all night tracking them down. Regardless of whether the airline lost them or DME lost them, I'm just scared to death to not have my bags. But that's just how I am.

As MontyMon said earlier in the thread, if your bag is delayed by the airline, DME does all the legwork in working with the airline to get any delayed bags to you. Though if your bags is late and you want to know the status for your own peace-of-mind, you can call Bell Services and they should be able to check the status of your bag. (The yellow luggage tag gets scanned by DME no less than 5 times between the airplane and your room.)

Plus, leaving the DME tags off your bag and claiming them at baggage claim can add a good 20-30 minutes to your time at the airport, even more if there's a thunderstorm going on and the luggage crews aren't unloading luggage from the planes. In that extra 30 minutes, you could be on a DME bus, halfway to WDW.

Just pack a carryon with your essentials (as you should *any* time you're flying, not just when you're using DME) and let DME deal with your checked luggage. I'd much prefer spending the extra time at WDW rather than the airport.

-Rob

 

[KC82271]

We have used DME several times. Most times we arrived early in the day and just had the luggage delivered to the room with no problem. Last time, we arrived at 8pm. We didn't want to be bothered so we told them to hold it even if it arrived at 9. When I got up at 6am, I called luggage for it and it was delivered within a half hour or so.

If you need something right away, be sure to pack it in your carryons.

But it's well worth the "price"!!!!!!