I'm back..and used Magical Express..please read!

[lookingforwardtojune]

Hi all~
Well, I was one of these worriers about Magical Express. Our trip was last week May 7-13, and I had NO tags.

I'm a little ****, so I bought bright blue luggage and put bright orange luggage tags on it. I thought that may make it easier for them. THEN, I took a picture of my packed bags with my digital camera and printed it.

Upon exiting the airplane, there were Magical Express people ALL OVER the terminal. They direct you to the magical Express counter downstairs.

So...you go to the counter and the line was HORRID. However, I only waited about five minutes!!!! They have TONS of people working.

All you do is go to the person behind the desk and give them you claim ticket information. Plus, they have pictures of bags and you have to give a description. MY biggest problem was that the person that I had behind the desk was very computer illerate! He was trying his hardest, but it just wasn't working well for him.

My glitch was with my return flight. They did not have my return flight information in the system for whatever reason....and he looked FOREVER. I was starting to get frustruated as I was now beginning to worry about this being the beginning of a frustrating adventure.

Eventually, he told me to call Magical Express with my return info....and away I went.

I did ask if I could have one of the booklets (they seemed to have a ton of them behind the desk) because I had heard that there was a coupon for a free lanyard and pin. They guy said that he couldn't give them out because they were "demo books". By this time, I was so frustrated with him that I left.

Wouldn't you know...a different CM from ME heard the whole thing...he tracked me down IN LINE for the bus to give me the coupon!!! I thought that was great.

From the ME desk, you go to get in line for the bus. This takes about 2 minutes....you are ON the bus and ready to roll. VERY EFFICIENT!!! The line looks enormous, but it's really not.

30 minutes later, we arrived at AKL. There were cast members there to MEET the bus (and trade pins with my sons!!). We checked into the resort and went to the park.

Then, we arrived back at the resort around 4pm and what do you know? Our bags were THERE in the room and waiting!!!!! We were amazed!!! It worked!

Now, the return trip home was different. We used US Air unaware that they did not participate with ME. So, instead of taking my luggage onto ME and doing that whole mess...we took a limo/van back to the airport. That was worth it to me.

So....hakuna matata to all. It will work out. Disney WILL make it right. I was the biggest skeptic...but it went well.

julie

[Kerry]

Thank you for posting your experience. I will be using the ME in just 5 more days!! [img]graemlins/clappy.gif[/img]
Could you please tell me how many other resorts you stopped at before getting to the AK? I am staying there also and was just curious.
Thank you

[lookingforwardtojune]

Funny you should ask....my DH and I were just discussing this last night and we cannot remember!!! Can you believe that???
BUT....to the absolute best of our memory....ours was FIRST! I honestly do not remember stopping anywhere else....and I'm sure that would stick in my mind. I think the others on the route were all star's and we did NOT go there...I would definately remember.
Tell your kids...get their lanyards ready! The cast members meet them coming off the bus ready to trade!!! It's fabulous!!!!
Julie

[Donalds Duckie]

Thanks for this post, Julie! I have been waiting for this weekend knowing DME reports would start rolling in.

I am staying at AKL in July and as of now scheduled to take DME on participating airline. Would be nice if AKL was the first stop then too! Great that it only took 30 minutes for the bus to get you to ALK.

Did you wait long on the bus before the bus left?

You mentioned you returned to your room at 4 p.m. and your bags were in your room. What did did you check into AKL? (How long did it take your bags to arrive?).

Also, great idea taking a picture of your luggage.

Hopefully, the kinks will be well worked out by July!

Thanks again for sharing!!! I hope you had a wonderful time at AKL!!!

[lookingforwardtojune]

Originally posted by Donalds Duckie:
Thanks for this post, Julie! I have been waiting for this weekend knowing DME reports would start rolling in.

I am staying at AKL in July and as of now scheduled to take DME on participating airline. Would be nice if AKL was the first stop then too! Great that it only took 30 minutes for the bus to get you to ALK.

Did you wait long on the bus before the bus left?

You mentioned you returned to your room at 4 p.m. and your bags were in your room. What did did you check into AKL? (How long did it take your bags to arrive?).

Also, great idea taking a picture of your luggage.

Hopefully, the kinks will be well worked out by July!

Thanks again for sharing!!! I hope you had a wonderful time at AKL!!!

No..did NOT wait long on the bus once we boarded....maybe five minutes at the most. It was full. They show an informational video about Disney to get everyone all pumped up!

We were at AKL around noon...and the room was ready for us. We checked in and went to the park. Not sure exactly how long it took for the luggage to get there...all I know is that it was there when we returned around 4pm.

My husband and I put our heads together...YES...we were the first stop at AKL. It only took about 1/2 hour.

I'm sure by your trip, it will be more flawless. But, in reality, it was NOT a big deal. The only glitch was NO luggage tags and the guy behind the desk. Don't bother taking a picture of your luggage...they don't use it.

Julie

[Kerry]

Julie thank you for the prompt reply! I did get luggage tags on the 11th and I leave the 19th. I was very pleased. It had all of my correct flight information . I did get 2 packages for some odd reason and so I have 2 coupons for lanyards. This is my girls only trip I take every year. No husbands and no children, although my are grown and gone!! I am excited about the pin.

[disneydoug]

We were very concerned ourselves. We leave WV in less than 12 hours for Beach Club. Last evening, a FedEx truck pulled in the driveway, WITH our luggage tags. The package said--OVERNITE delivery. I will post next Saturday or Sunday about our experience. Doug

[BklynChick]

Glad to hear such positive news. I'm not leaving till October, so I'm sure a lot of the kinks will be worked out by then. Even so, if this is how things are going without tags, I'm sure it will be great with them.

I heard someone complain on another site about taking 90 minutes from airport to hotel room. Maybe it's because I'm from New York, where it takes forever to get anywhere (esp when you use public transportation like me), but I didn't think even that figure was so bad.

[Piglet822]

The ride from the airport to the resorts is about 25 - 30 minutes, with 3 or 4 stops it still shouldn't take more than an hour from start to finish.
They might've included the wait time at the airport. Disney will hold a bus for up to 30 minutes (not all the time, during slow periods).

[faline]

Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience!

[Iago]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It is great to hear that the airport lines may look long but don't take a lot of time. With a few more weeks and a little more practice, it sounds like this program will be great!

[GrumpyFan]

It's nice to hear that you had a pleasant experience with it. I read a report on another Disney site this morning that claimed they are having a LOT of problems with it. They talked of guests not getting there luggage for over a day or getting the wrong luggage.

Hopefully, we'll hear some more experiences pretty soon here.

[Catzle]

We just used this service, 19 of us. Most of us had no problems if you don't mind about 1 1/2 hour wait from the time you hit the airport till you hit your resort. That was the average, my niece did have the longest wait she got in at 1 and did not get to the resort until 4 p.m., she wasn't too happy. Only one of the 19 did not get all her luggage, so that's pretty good.
We did hear other people talking at the poly that it took 24-48 hours to get their luggage and they were still missing a stroller 4 days later.
When we got off the plane we expected to see the Disney Reps. with the white mickey hands but we didn't see one until we hit the main part of the airport and there was only 1. This was Friday the 6th around 1 p.m. One more did walk up while we were leaving.
We tried getting the booklet with the free pin and laynard coupon and even had a call directly from a Disney Rep. no one knew anything about the coupon and so we never received our free and laynard because we never got our luggage tags in advance. We asked at the check in desk at the airport we asked at the hotel and than we even had the Disney Rep. call us before we left and no one knew anything about the coupon, everyone told me you only got if you booked a package deal.

[ShanPooh]

It's good to hear that things seem to be going well despite some little kinks here and there!
How long are they planning on having Magical Express? Is it just for the 50 year celebration?

Thanks!

Shan

[Beast_fanatic]

Originally posted by ShanPooh:
It's good to hear that things seem to be going well despite some little kinks here and there!
How long are they planning on having Magical Express? Is it just for the 50 year celebration?

Thanks!

Shan

I'm not sure if there's been any official word yet. We suspect that the service will continue, but they may start charging for it after the Happiest Celebration on Earth ends.

[Katzateer]

Just used the Magical Express and had nothing but positive experiences with it. When I arrived in Orlando I had my carry-on bags and no checked luggage.

ME employees told me where I needed to go to get transportation. I was on the bus and on the way to the resort in less than 30 minutes (it was about 8pm). Only one stop was made before I got to Pop Century.

Coming home on Sunday I went to check my luggage in for the return trip about 8am. Employees from the airport are at the resort and you get your bags checked and your boarding pass. I went to the parks, got back to Pop Century at 1pm and was on the bus shortly afterwards. No stops until we got to MCO. I went straight to my gate. My bags arrived in Cincinnati with no problems.

[winky]

Does anybody know the hours of the ME desk at the airport?

We're arriving at 5:30 AM, so I'm still trying to figure out if we'll use ME. I don't want to end up sleeping on an airport chair waiting for the buses to start running.

[Granny Jill A]

Originally posted by Katzateer:
Just used the Magical Express and had nothing but positive experiences with it. When I arrived in Orlando I had my carry-on bags and no checked luggage.

ME employees told me where I needed to go to get transportation. I was on the bus and on the way to the resort in less than 30 minutes (it was about 8pm). Only one stop was made before I got to Pop Century.

Coming home on Sunday I went to check my luggage in for the return trip about 8am. Employees from the airport are at the resort and you get your bags checked and your boarding pass. I went to the parks, got back to Pop Century at 1pm and was on the bus shortly afterwards. No stops until we got to MCO. I went straight to my gate. My bags arrived in Cincinnati with no problems.

I was at Pop from May 12 to May 16, and had a similar experience with Magical Express. Since I was flying Southwest Airlines (a non-participating airline), I made sure that I had only carry-on luggage that did not need to be checked. The bus was extremely comfortable, and I was pleasantly surprised that everything worked well.

The only thing I missed was stopping at a grocery for water, snacks, etc.

[Piglet822]

Originally posted by winky:
Does anybody know the hours of the ME desk at the airport?

We're arriving at 5:30 AM, so I'm still trying to figure out if we'll use ME. I don't want to end up sleeping on an airport chair waiting for the buses to start running.

We have drivers checking on to start there shifts as early as 2 AM. I'm not sure what time Disney staff arrives at the airport but I'll try to find out and post the info tomorrow.

[winky]

Originally posted by Piglet822:
We have drivers checking on to start there shifts as early as 2 AM. I'm not sure what time Disney staff arrives at the airport but I'll try to find out and post the info tomorrow.

Thanks! This is just what I need to know!

I'm debating about just using ME for the return trip if it's going to take along time early in the morning...