Disney's Magical Express-any good? About This Page:

[saldoc]

I have not heard many good things about this and we have always booked a town car for picking us up. Can anyone help? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

We will have mostly carry-on luggage how is that handled?

[tinkerbellsfan]

My DH and I used this on our trip last year in May when it first came out....the only downside was we had to stop at several other resorts before we got dropped off at ours....but it was wonderful not having to worry about our luggage...which arrived at the resort about 30 min after we did. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

Welcome to the boards!!! I think that almost all the bugs have been worked out now and DME seems to be running fairly smoothly. You still may have to wait for your luggage to get to your room, so if that bothers you, you may want to book a town car. I think it's safe to try DME now though!!

[luv2sail]

We had no problems at all with DME. We were on the bus and at the WL in about 30 to 45 minutes. Our luggage arrived a few hours later. If you just have carry-on luggage you can bring it on the bus with you or have the driver put it underneath....depending on the size of your bags. I highly recommend it!!!

[SARH7]

We used it in Dec. It was decent. Our plane landed at 1:05 and we were at the hotel at 2:45. We did have to make a lot fo stops first, sicne we stayed ta ASMo, which is of course the furthest awaya nd alst to be dropped off!! We did have DME take our bags, and it took a while to get them in our room. I wish we would not have done that. I didn't have any deoderant or even a brush. Maybe just pack a carry-on with that kind of stuff.

[DreamFinderLives]

I used DME for the first time on my honeymoon, and found that it worked just fine. While it's not as personal or efficient as a towncar, it saved us some valuable money and it meant that we didn't have to worry about our luggage. We did not receive our Disney luggage tags ahead of time, which concerned me, but everything was fine. We just told the attendants there what to look for, and our bags were delivered shortly. We did have to wait a while for the bus to fill up and then deliver us to the resort, but overall I thought the service was very nice. It wasn't any more of a wait than what you get once you arrive and travel to the parks and such.

[Tink and co.]

We had a great experience with DDE on our January trip. I'd highly recommend it!

[Caldercup]

It only took Disney about three weeks until DME was running very smoothly.

Unless a bus for your resort area has JUST left, you will get to your resort very quickly. Even though we had to wait about 15 minutes for our bus to arrive, we were at our resort, checked-in and headed for a park within 90 minutes. Plus, we didn't have to handle our bags or go to the room or anything -- we got to play right away and, when we got back to our room at 11:00 that night, our bags were there and we got right to sleep.

I found that it really maximized our short trip!
Eileen

[Luvsun]

Ok - from what I am reading your bags don't go with you on the DME bus - so are you saying that we don't go to the baggage turnstyle and get our bags once we have landed? We are going to use DME in April - tell me exactly how it works - please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Caldercup]

When you make your reservations, you need to tell them that you'll be taking advantage of DME. They'll ask for your flight info.

About 10 days before you leave, you will receive a booklet with pre-printed, yellow sticker tags to loop around the handles of your bags.

When your plane arrives, the baggage people will pull off all yellow-stickered bags and load them onto DME trucks that are headed to Disney. You will NOT have to handle your bags -- in fact, you won't see them again until they are in your room, so make sure that you have whatever you need for the next few hours.

You and your party head straight from the plane down to the DME area -- it's all explained how to find it in the DME booklet. You will give the CM your booklet and they will stamp it and direct you to a line for your bus. The buses are set-up for two or three resorts and are color-coded. You will be told which one goes to your resort.

Once your bus is there, you load up. (Anyone that didn't use the yellow tags will have gone to the baggage claim to get their bags. These will be stowed under the bus.) The driver will play a DVD explaining what's going on at Disney as he makes the stops at the appropriate resorts.

You hop off at yours and go to check-in.

Then, it's up to you. You can go to the parks. If your room is ready, you can go there. Your luggage will arrive at the resort and will be taken to your room within a few hours.

It's really smooth and well done. I give it a big thumbs up.
Eileen

[Cam22]

We used it this past June and my DD loved it. The buses are very comfortable. We had about a 10 minute process and wait at the airport and then a 30 minute ride to SSR. We have absolutely no complaints with the whole set up.

[LoveWL]

We used to use the town cars but decided to try DME on our trip to OKW this past January. We loved it. It was quick, efficient, comfortable and FREE -- can't beat that combination!

[Luvsun]

Thank you so much for the great information! I actually printed out that explanation to put into my passporter!!!! To be honest - this makes Disney seem even a bit more "magical" - I am so excited.....March 31 cannot get here soon enough!
Thanks again for the great exlanation! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[LuvMinnie]

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] WELCOME to the BOARDS! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]
We used DME during the Thanksgiving holidays & were very pleased.
Checkin was fast, the coach was clean & the driver was friendly.
We went to CBeach & arrived 45min after landing & our bags were
at our door within 30min! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
We departed from WLodge & also had no problems. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
I think you'll be pleased..give it
a try & save the car $$ for an Extra Special Dinner . [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]

[Geri604]

We used DME for our trip earlier this month. I didn't get the luggage tages before we left (not DME's fault...very poor mail service where I live), but everything went smoothly. We landed at 9:30-ish and checked in at BWV by 11:00.

My biggest suggestion is if you are flying on a partner airline and taking advantage of the airport checkin at the hote, don't wait until checkout time to check in for your home flight...as I said, we checked IN at BWV at 11:00, and the airline checkin desk was mobbed. So on our last day, we went to the airline desk at about 9:30, and were the only ones there.