Getting to Disney from the airport.

Sorry but we never used it. We drive. I've also not heard any complaints about it either, most times everyone is saying how wonderful it is.

Pro: Most of the time it doesn't take all that long to get to your resort. Once we took ME while friends rented a car, and we reached the resort before they'd even left the airport!

Con: If your bus is making multiple stops and your stop is last, it could take a while (but still no longer than it took our friends to rent that car).

Con: It could take hours after you check in for your luggage to arrive.

Pro: If this is a problem, don't use the luggage delivery service. Get your own bags at baggage claim and carry them to the bus. Your driver will load them underneath and then retrieve them for you, so you'll have your luggage as soon as you check into your resort.

We always use ME and absolutely love it. Even when our bags take their time arriving. It's just one more thing you don't have to worry about and means you're in the bubble as soon as you reach the ME desk at the airport.

Well I have always taken the Magical Express and I just love the fact I don't have to worry about a think (including my luggage). Now if one of the fears is about your luggage you can always pick it up and take it with you (but I would ask why?) I believe they say there is a 3 hour window from the time you land to the time your luggage mysteriously appears in your room. All I know is by the time I check in (usually around 11:30) and I go to Downtown Disney have lunch and maybe some shopping by the time I go back to my room around 3 - 3:30 my luggage has always been there. With one exception and that was the first and only time I will stay at Coronado Springs..but that is another topic.
Now I have stayed at all the moderates (and timing is everything) but I don't believe I was ever on the bus longer that
1 1/2 hours but am sure someone else's memory is better than mine.

So for me if you arrive while that service is being offered I would say give it a shot. I just love it.

Another vote for using ME. We don't use the luggage service - we travel light, and have just carry on duffel bags with us. Even when we've had to wait a bit for the bus, it wasn't very long, and you get to watch the "movie" while you travel. It's actually kind of nice to stop at other resorts. We haven't stayed at some of them, or even visited, so we get to see a little of what they look like at least. The stops are usually all in the same area, so it really doesn't take all that long.

We used MDE last year for the first time,due to the fact we always landed at Sanford...So MCO was new to us..Awesome..Never got lost..Got our cases..onto this monorail...wheeled our cases to the express..5 star...

Definitely take the Magical Express. You won't have to pay a penny for it. If you're very concerned about luggage, you simply don't attach the yellow tags they send to you in the mail to your luggage and you claim it from the baggage claim like you would normally do at the airports. Or if you don't trust the airlines enough to take care of luggage, there are ways to pack everything you need in a carry on.....

Another vote here for the DME. To give you some idea of timing.....

When I went last February, my flight was scheduled to land at 9:00am. We landed early (15 / 20 minutes). I sent my cousin a text that I was on the DME waiting for departure at 9:16am. We passed under the Walt Disney World sign at 9:51. I was checked in at AoA by 10:30. I went to DHS to pick up the Tables in Wonderland card and headed back to AoA by 11:19 to meet my cousins. My suitcase was in my room when I got back.

In October, my flight landed 20 minutes early at 10:10am. I sent my friend a text that I was on the DME at 10:44. On property by 11:21. Checked in (room wasn't ready), checked my carry-on with luggage services and on the bus to Epcot by 11:35. Received text from Disney that my room was ready at 1:30. Left Epcot around 2:30 to head back to All-Star Sports to get my carry-on and see where my room was. When I got there my suitcase was in my room.

I only had one issue with my suitcase not being delivered. That was in 2010. I spent a few hours in DTD on my arrival day. When I got back my suitcase hadn't been delivered. I called. It was at the resort and was brought to my room within 10 minutes.

Another vote for loving the ME! We've never gotten to the hotel any other way but I can't imagine it would take much longer than renting a car. While I would love to be the first off the bus I also like getting to see some of the other resorts. They're all so beautiful, I think it's a treat!
Getting off the plane, not thinking about our luggage and sitting down for someone else to drive adds to the "I'm on vacation" feel. I'm with Kathys...we plan it so that we get lunch or take a stroll at DD and when we come back, there's our luggage! Other options are to put your swimsuit in a carry-on and go down to the pool right away! I always pack an extra outfit in my carry-on no matter where I'm going anyway (Had my luggage lost a couple of times...though never with Disney!) so I can always change if I want to.

I love Magical Express, and I've always been at my resort within an hour of our plane landing, however we travel during slow times. We've never had any trouble with our luggage arriving a few hours after us. Disney is very efficient with the luggage handling. As mentioned previously you could pick up your own bags and still take Magical Express if you would like. You don't have to trust them with the baggage handling.

I don't know who you have used in the past but I have had good service from Tiffany Town Car.

Another vote for Magical Express here. We LOVE it. We'd choose it over a town car even if we had to pay for it. As soon as we walk down the concourse to the check in - we are IN the Disney Bubble. We love that we don't have to worry about our luggage and we've never had an issue with getting it delivered to our rooms in a timely manner. First trip, it was delivered just after we got to our room and were settling in. Second trip, it was waiting for us in the room. Third trip, we went into the parks and it was waiting for us when we came back to get ready for dinner. Just make sure you pack some necessities in your carry-on, just like you would if you were retrieving your luggage yourself (I'm a firm believer that if you're prepared for the worst, like lost luggage, it won't happen). If there's any danger regarding lost luggage, it's far more likely to be an issue with the airline than with Disney. And this is anecdotal, but from other posts I've seen in the past, if there is any issue with your luggage, Disney is fantastic about working with the airline to get the luggage found and delivered and is far more effective.
The ride experience is great as well. You can ride in a town car anywhere. But where else do you get to watch Disney movies while feeding off of the energy of all of the other excited people? Every time we've gone under the Magic Kingdom arch, the entire bus started cheering.
The longest we've ever waited was when our trip coincided with the Pop Warner competition and we apparently arrived at the same time as all of the cheerleaders. lol Even then, it only took about an hour. Staying at Wilderness Lodge, the ME stopped at Polynesian and Grand Floridian first, but like some others have said, it really doesn't take long, and it's nice to see the other resorts.

We love, love, LOVE ME and have used it every time we've stayed on property.

The clue is in the name
Magical - you feel the Disney Magic as soon as you get to the ME check-in.
Express - it is the most efficient way to get from the airport to WDW.
You may have to drop off guests at other resorts before you get to your hotel but they are all resorts that are grouped together and it is quite nice to see the other hotels. POR, POFQ, SS & OKW are grouped together for example.

If you love the Disney bubble then you'll love the ME. You wander through MCO, seeing people either trudging off to get their rental vehicles or stand in line for a taxi... Or worst of all, people wearing mouse ears and a frown as they head back home from a magical time in their own Disney bubble...

You grab you luggage (or let someone else do it for you!) and head down to the ME check in - and you hit that Disney bubble immediately. It goes from huffy airport types to smiling, uniformed CM's who scan your MagicBands and usher you onto the Disney carpeted walk-ways to the ME shuttles.

The buses are always air conditioned, clean and smell fresh. The drivers are polite and patient - and if you're really lucky, you'll get one that will tell you Disney jokes (not sure if anyone else has met Rick Just - or just Rick XD - but he's amazing!).

I can't say enough about how awesome ME is, and how it's the only way we travel to and from property from the airport.

See , I told you pretty much everyone says it's wonderful!!!!!!

Glad to hear that your husband has come around!

Since we will probably never fly, can we just ride to the airport and back? Sounds wonderful. If we ever had the chance to fly in, I would take the ME for sure!

Another vote for ME - take me straight to the bubble please! Love having my luggage delivered. Just make sure to have anything you need on your carry-on bag!

I LOVE Magical Express!!! We use it every time. It's ver convenient and easy to use. They take care of everything for you so you can really start your vacation off on the right foot.

We have taken the ME a few times and there were zero issues with getting to the resort or getting our luggage. It is a fairly short trip and it is usually just one other resort besides yours. The luggage has always been in our rooms when we returned from the parks. We always get to the room and dash right out! My only complaint, a small one at that, is that it picks you up 3 hours before your flight home in order to accommodate both international and domestic flights.

The only reason that we don't use ME is because we like to have a car on property. I love ME, but I'm not at all a fan of the resort buses. It's less expensive and way less hassle to rent a car from the airport than anywhere else that we've found near property. Also, we stop for groceries on the way to WDW with our rental car. When we have used ME, we've both picked up our luggage and had it delivered. Both ways were smooth and easy and had the obvious pros and cons. The loading and unloading process has always been quick and easy and it really doesn't take all that long to get to your resort.

I hope nobody minds me tagging on to the end of this I have a related question!

we are travelling to Orlando airport in September and usually there is just me and my mam (we travel from the UK) and we take our bags with us onto the bus however this year my auntie and uncle are coming with us and my uncle has recently been diagnosed with parkinsons and we are not sure how he will manage with the cases etc as we will have 4 big cases and 4 small cases, we are sure we have to claim our bags after immigration and then but them back on the belt further along (before you get on the monorail) for Disney to pick them up can anyone confirm this? also do we need the magical express luggage tags or can we get some?

we are not 100% sure weather we will do this or not as we will have to speak to the others but want to have the answers before we ask the question!

Thanks!!!

I've come in from Canada quite a few times, but only once have we had to go through the show-and-dance of getting off the plane, collecting our luggage, walking halfway around MCO, dropping the luggage on another belt and then waiting in line to go through Customs for the third time that day (our first trip to Florida wasn't our best XD). Our luggage met us, just like it always has since then, in the normal luggage collection area.

Since it's that area where they collect it before it gets put on the belts, I'd think that so long as you had your Disney luggage tags on the bags, you're good to go to have them pick it up for you.

To be 100% sure I'd think a quick call to the Magic Express line on the Disney site would be best. That's a pretty special set of circumstances that they'd need to meet for you.

Thanks will check it out with them im sure because of coming through immigration we have to pick our cases up afterwards which we don't mind and we are hoping my uncle will be improved by the time we go but we are thinking to take away the stress it might be easier to let disney take the 4 large cases and then the 4 small hand luggage cases will be more than manageable!

We also love ME...the longest part always seems to be waiting in line at the airport for your bus (lines are for folks going to resorts that are located close together). The time it takes to get to YOUR resort depends on the order that they drop off...

Usually after we check in, we change clothes, (be sure to pack everything you will need in your carryon luggage) and head straight for the parks. When we arrive back at our room, our luggage has magically appeared!

However, just a clarification - we always to tip the driver. So while "you won't have to pay a penny for it" you may choose to tip the driver for handling any carry on luggage and doing the driving for you.