bellebookworm9
Registered: May 2009
Location: 1,194 Miles from Disney World
Posts: 131
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Review Date: Sun May 12, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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I arrived at the welcome center around 9am on 5/7. The queue was empty, as it usually is. I had a brief, maybe three minute, wait to be put on a bus; unfortunately, it was an ugly yellow Mears bus, not a real ME one. There were only 5 people on board: three of us were going to Pop Century and the other two were going to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We left the airport after a short time and were at Pop by 9:30am. I had tagged my luggage and it arrived right around 11:30am, an exceptional 2 hour turn around!
On 5/10, my boarding pass was left on my door overnight. I checked my bag in the AM with the Resort Airline Check In desk. My pick up time was 2:55pm for a 5:40 flight, the bus arrived a few minutes late but Pop was the last stop before the airport. The bus was completely full. Thanks to RAC I was able to skip the Southwest counter completely and head straight for security, with plenty of time to get to my gate.
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dbfromcincy
Registered: August 2008
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Wed May 1, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Return Luggage
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Fourth time using this service. Overall it is superb. I did run into a new glitch this time around. Purchased my round trip ticket via Southwest. The flight down on their new acquisition was Airtran. No problems there, bags came to room pronto, etc.
However, on return leg which was a Southwest flight I could not check bags or even get boarding passes printed out. Instead had to haul everything to MCO airport and wait in lines. I was told that if your ticket is with multiple airlines (even those that are now one like Southwest/Airtran) they can not accomodate check-in and baggage at the hotel for your return trip.
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maze4
Registered: March 2013
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 21
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Review Date: Sun March 31, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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convenient
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Cons:
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none
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Used ME on 3/16 brochure from AAA gives you map with location at airport. Easy to find. Had very early flight and arrived at 8am, moved quickly through airport as last trip we waited forever to get on bus. This time we checked in and they directed us right onto a bus and left we only stopped at one other resort for 2 people then us. We then left on 3/23 the day before we received our packet with our departure time for ME. It was approx 3 hrs prior to our flight . We did stop at 3 other resorts first but the driver was very efficient and kept assuring me that we wouldn't be late. He was correct. Our flight actually was delayed 1 hr. I did ask what happens if you miss ME and the driver told me that they leave usually every half hr so you could catch the next bus but make sure you have your printout confirmation with you to get on the bus. I appreciated not having to take luggage with you all we had to do was go through security. Will use this service again.
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daphnee08
Registered: June 2008
Posts: 18
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Review Date: Sun March 31, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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convenience, experience
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Cons:
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It's free and easy as can be. Once arriving at MCO, you can't not find the area. Plenty of cast members to assist you along the way to your bus. No need to wait for luggage is well worth it. Depending on which resort, there could be a couple of stops coming and going. This will add a little time to your commute, but they make sure you have plenty of time getting back to the airport for your flight. Of the 6 times riding, only once did we have a bad driver. I think she just wasn't strong enough for the big bus.
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thetony45
Registered: March 2011
Posts: 45
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Review Date: Fri March 22, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Don't have to pay for a cab or rent a car, they handle your luggage
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Cons:
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May take a bit longer to get to your resort, your without you luggage for about 4 hours
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The Magical Express is a God send!
When you book your vacation be sure to book a ride on the Magical to and from the resort. They send you a little booklet with your ride voucher. Be sure to carry the whole booklet with you! They also send you a default of 1 luggage tag per person but you can always request more. If you attach the tag to your luggage Disney will pick it up and deliver it to the resort for you. The downside is that it may take up to 4 hours for your luggage to arrive in your room.
The recent trip I took I amazed to walk into my room for the first time and see that my luggage actually beat me to the resort!
It is so nice to get off the plane and bypass baggage claim and get right on the bus.
Disney's buses are all air conditioned with comfortable seats. As soon as you leave the airport a welcome video plays telling you about what all there is to do at WDW. Some drivers will even have everyone give a cheer as you pass through the magical gates onto Disney Property.
One downside is that one bus stops at up to 4 resorts so if your last in line it could take a while to get to your resort.
The day before you are set to leave WDW, Disney leaves a package on your door with your time to get picked up by the bus. It is usually around 3 hours before your scheduled take off time.
When it is time to leave just hand the driver the letter Disney left on your door the day before and get on the bus. A goodbye video will play along with information about Orlando International Airport.
You don't need to handle your luggage on the trip back either. between the hours of 5 AM and 1 PM simply take your bags to the resort luggage check in desk and they will tag your bags and print your boarding pass. Every time I do this my luggage is the first to come off at baggage claim. The Disney Magic follows you home!
The best part of the Magical Express is that it is completely free provided your staying on property. This is the only way to travel to/from the airport.
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MarLL55
Registered: March 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Wed March 20, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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You let Disney do EVERYTHING
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Cons:
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none
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Please take the Magical Express. You do not have to do 1 thing. They take care of your luggage from the airport, take it to your room, then upon leaving the Resort-they take it to the airport. What a wonderful aspect of the trip!!!!
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orreed
Registered: January 2010
Posts: 23
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Review Date: Sun February 17, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super easy, Disney Magic, Great Perk
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Cons:
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We love the Magical Express. It's a really nice perk. We just had carry on luggage. We did not wait long and were lucky that the Caribbean Beach (which was a great resort) was the first stop and on the ride back to MCO, the last stop. When we got a earlier flight, it was super easy to change to another bus. And when we got to the bus stop early, they let us get on another bus.
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sgefowler
Registered: February 2013
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Fri February 15, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Courteous, informative, efficient
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Cons:
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Stops at multiple resorts
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I have used the Magic Express at least 4 times now. We have only used the express from the airport to the resort and not the return trip so I cannot comment on that. First of all, I have to say that my kids love the yellow resort tags and attaching them to the luggage is our first taste of Disney. It gets the excitement started. The kids love the greeters with the Mickey hands and I find that all the cast members are very good at engaging the kids. The kids love watching the Disney "movie" on the ride and always try to get the front seat. This has never been a problem as the magic express has never been full when we have used it. We normally stay at a moderate resort (one of the Port Orleans resorts) and found that the bus to the value resort to be slightly more crowded but just marginally. Although the bus stops at multiple resorts and slows down the trip, it does give you an opportunity to see the other resorts - or at least the front of the resort. We have found that the Magic Express takes 30-45 minutes but the time passes quickly and the kids don't mind. With regards to luggage, we normally arrive in Orlando at lunch time, get the Magic Express to our resort (Port Orleans) and then the boat to Downtown DIsney for a little shopping and an early dinner. The luggage has always been at the room when we return. Great to change into our swim clothes for a refreshing dip in the pool after a long day travelling. To sum it up, I should say that the Magic Express is definitely a deciding factor in our staying at Disney. It's just one of those little extras included in the Disney package that brings the Magic from the onset of the vacation. We are leaving in 60 days for our next trip and I can't wait to board the Magic Express!
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ChallengerHK1
Registered: January 2013
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Tue January 29, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Very conveient
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Cons:
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Time consuming
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Overall, I do recommend this service, but with caveats. Like some many things in and out of the World, if you understand what this service is and isn't, and plan accordingly, you'll get the most out of it.
It's very convenient to not have to tote luggage around. If you're on the right airline, and with some restrictions, you can even have them take your luggage back to the airport and hand it over to the airline. And, obviously, the price is right.
On the other hand, this service is sloooow. I was very surprised that I waited at the airport for more than an hour for a bus. I had dinner reservations at the California Grill, and I had given myself 3 hours leeway, thinking that would be more than enough time to get to the airport and check in at my resort, but I was wrong.
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mgilmore
Registered: January 2013
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 8
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Review Date: Sat January 5, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Nice Coach ride to WDW, hassle free without bags.
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Cons:
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Going to the Airport 3 hrs before flight home
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I have used Disney's Magical express 5 times in the last 4 years.
I highly recommend this free service. Not having to worry about your bags is fantastic, and are whisked away to your resort hotel. Depending on your time of arrival, you may have a wait in line, so I suggest going to the bathroom before you enter the line.
I love not having to cart bags around. They are deposited directly into your hotel room about 3 hrs after your arrival.
If I find I might want something sooner then my luggage will arrive, I take a small carry on, and generally pack a pair of shorts, bathing suit ec. When coming in the winter, and it's warm in Florida, I like to put shorts on right away!
The only downside to Magical Express is the fact that they require you to go be picked up at your hotel 3 hrs before your flight. I realize that Disney wants to ensure that no one misses their flight but 3 hrs is a bit much.
This last trip we had a 9pm flight, and had to leave for the airport at 6p. When we arrived at the airport we found our flight was delayed 3 hrs so we spent 6 hrs at the airport uncomfortably, when we could have stayed at WDW longer.
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uvegesmike
Registered: January 2013
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Wed January 2, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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Free
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Cons:
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Slow, unaccomodating
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The transportation itself is very nice and comfortable. Unless you catch it at just the right time on arrival, it can be very time-consuming. On your return, the service demands you leave your resort far too early.
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nikalseyn
Registered: July 2011
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Wed January 2, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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very convenient
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Cons:
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somewhat hard to find at airport
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This is a wonderful service and we recommend it highly. We checked our bags at our home airport and never saw them again until we got back from the part that night. They had been delivered to our room at our Disney hotel. When we left for home, we checked in for our flight at our hotel, checked the bags, and bypassed check in at the airport. We did not see our bags until we arrived at our home airport.
The only problem we had was in actually finding where this service is at the Orlando airport. There are few, if any signs on the main level after arrival. Apparently, this is due to the airport's strange insistence about not having the Disney magical express signs where they would be helpful. After asking around, we found out we had to go a couple of levels downstairs where the car rentals are, etc. All in all somewhat confusing for first time users of it. We have used the magical express four times now so we are well-aware of how to use it and where it is located. However, the airport could do a much better job of showing people where it is.
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ksingle
Registered: January 2013
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Tue January 1, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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convienent, free
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Cons:
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bad for later flights
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Although the Magical Express documentation states that luggage delivery service is available for all flights that arrive before 10:00 pm, I would not recommend it if you are arriving anytime after 6:00 pm if you want your luggage the same day you arrive. It is quite possible that you will not get your luggage until the next day. Our flight arrived around 9:00 pm and were not able to get our luggage until the next morning. Lucky for us, most of the things we needed were in our carry on bags, but not all. Had I realized we would not be able to get our luggage within 2-3 hours of landing I would not have used the luggage delivery service and gone to baggage claim. I even called baggage service at the resort and requested that they deliver the luggage as soon as it arrived and stayed up to wait for it, it never came. I called in the morning and they had it delivered right away then.
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bellebookworm9
Registered: May 2009
Location: 1,194 Miles from Disney World
Posts: 131
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Review Date: Sat December 22, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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We arrived at the Welcome Center at MCO around 12pm on 12/17, directed to line 4 and put on a bus almost immediately. There were only two other people on the bus at the time, so we did sit for about 10-15 minutes until some more people boarded. Our driver was Benjamin, and he was the best driver I've had in a long time, interacting with the guests and sharing trivia and information. Stops were made at the Poly and Grand Floridian before Wilderness Lodge, but we still made it to the resort by 1pm, and our tagged luggage was brought to our room right around 3pm-quite possibly the shortest turn around time we've ever experienced!
For the return trip, our pickup time on 12/21 was designated as 4pm. Our boarding passes were left on our door overnight and we checked our bags at the Resort Airline Check In desk around 11am. The bus arrived at 3:55pm, and the driver seemed confused because we had a 4:00 pick up time, but he let us on anyway-there were only two other people on the bus, so it definitely wasn't a space issue. We also stopped at the Poly and GF again before heading back to the airport. We were A-side and so dropped off first, arriving back at the airport right around 5pm or so. And our bags did make it home with us!
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the4Ds
Registered: December 2012
Location: Aurora, CO
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Thu December 20, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Easy, Efficient, Bag Delivery
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Cons:
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Nothing
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Our family of 9 just returned from our December 9-16, 2012 vacation and the Magical Express service was a great way to begin and end our vacation.
We flew on Southwest so were able to check our bags both ways to the hotel and then to the baggage carousel at home. We didn't have to wait for a bus on the way to the hotel and our luggage was waiting in our rooms about 3 hours after we arrived.
The only negative (if I had to search for one) is that the Magical Express desk at Orlando Airport was a very long walk. It seemed like we landed at one end of the airport and had to walk to the other, past every other form of transportation, rental car counter, etc. But we showed the cast member our vouchers, were directed to a line and were promptly put on a bus to our hotel. No complaints at all.
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