Magical Express and pickups

[Pluto777]

I have two questions on Magic express:

1) if i book a disneyworld hotel through a travel website (orbitz etc), can i still get magical express?

2) Do I need to be on any particular airline to get magical express or will ANY airline flying into MCO get ME? (we're coming in on Lufthansa international)

Thanks fellow mouseketeers!

 

[siskaren]

1. All that matters is that you're staying on property, not where you booked.

2. All airlines are eligible for DME - heck, you don't even need to fly to MCO to be eligible.

 

[Pluto777]

THANKS Sis Karen!

interesting about that MCO thing, are you sure? Wouldnt that mean someone who just wanted to save $$ on a cab could make his way to MCO & get a free ride?

 

[Alesia]

THANKS Sis Karen!

interesting about that MCO thing, are you sure? Wouldnt that mean someone who just wanted to save $$ on a cab could make his way to MCO & get a free ride?

Sure. That wouldn't be a problem. The whole point of DME is to help entice people to stay onsite. Trust me, they're more than making up the money of the "free" ride.

 

[siskaren]

THANKS Sis Karen!

interesting about that MCO thing, are you sure? Wouldnt that mean someone who just wanted to save $$ on a cab could make his way to MCO & get a free ride?

Yep, I'm sure - goofy4tink (the moderator for this board) has said that you can arrive by yak for all that DME cares. I think the most common scenario for doing this is renting a car for a vacation that starts off property, returning it at the airport, then getting on DME to go to their on property resort. Other than that, I can't really see how someone would get to the airport without taking a cab/Uber/Lyft, which would cost money, so I don't see why it would be a problem.

 

[Pluto777]

Good point Alesia, like a good car salesman, I believe the goal is to FIRST "get em on the lot"

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep, I'm sure - goofy4tink (the moderator for this board) has said that you can arrive by yak for all that DME cares. I think the most common scenario for doing this is renting a car for a vacation that starts off property, returning it at the airport, then getting on DME to go to their on property resort. Other than that, I can't really see how someone would get to the airport without taking a cab/Uber/Lyft, which would cost money, so I don't see why it would be a problem.

Awwww, thanks for remembering!!!
Really, the only stipulation for using DME is that you have an existing, active WDW resort reservation. I've been told, several times now, that if you have a resort reservation, but didn't book DME, you can still walk up to the DME checkin area, and give them the reservation details and an ID (to prove you are who you say you are), and they will get you on a bus to your resort.

 

[suemom2kay]

Note, if you are traveling from another country, you will need to collect your own luggage and bring it to the motor coach. The drive will Stowe your bag. Gratuity of $1-2/bag is customary.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Yep, I'm sure - goofy4tink (the moderator for this board) has said that you can arrive by yak for all that DME cares. I think the most common scenario for doing this is renting a car for a vacation that starts off property, returning it at the airport, then getting on DME to go to their on property resort. Other than that, I can't really see how someone would get to the airport without taking a cab/Uber/Lyft, which would cost money, so I don't see why it would be a problem.

Yup, you don't need to arrive by air to MCO in order to get a ride to your Disney Resort on Magical Express. I arrived at MCO via Airport Express shuttle van from Melbourne Florida Airport after starting my vacation at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. And you don't have to make up fake flight info. Just tell them when you want to get picked up.

 

[Pluto777]

Note, if you are traveling from another country, you will need to collect your own luggage and bring it to the motor coach. The drive will Stowe your bag. Gratuity of $1-2/bag is customary.

REALLY??? Is that true? I never read that at Disney..

 

[tobikaye]

REALLY??? Is that true? I never read that at Disney..

Which part?

International guests do not receive luggage tags before arriving at MCO. Now, I would think that if they wanted, they could just not pick their luggage up at the carrousel and then give their baggage claim tickets to the CMs at DME so they know to pull their bags, but the bags would go around the carrousel until an airport worker pulled them. If the guest has to clear customs at MCO, they would probably have to take their luggage to baggage claim, so they probably would want to just take it on to the bus with them. Any larger items are stowed under the bus and put there by the driver and removed by the driver.

Typically, tipping comments are not allowed and are to be directed to a specific thread on tipping, but I cannot remember what/where that is. In the US, for any non-airline person that handles your luggage, you usually tip. Examples: Skycaps, Shuttle drivers, Bell hops

There is no mandatory that you tip the DME drivers, it is just customary in the US if they place bags under the bus for you.

 

[Pluto777]

Which part?

International guests do not receive luggage tags before arriving at MCO. Now, I would think that if they wanted, they could just not pick their luggage up at the carrousel and then give their baggage claim tickets to the CMs at DME so they know to pull their bags, but the bags would go around the carrousel until an airport worker pulled them. If the guest has to clear customs at MCO, they would probably have to take their luggage to baggage claim, so they probably would want to just take it on to the bus with them. Any larger items are stowed under the bus and put there by the driver and removed by the driver.

Typically, tipping comments are not allowed and are to be directed to a specific thread on tipping, but I cannot remember what/where that is. In the US, for any non-airline person that handles your luggage, you usually tip. Examples: Skycaps, Shuttle drivers, Bell hops

There is no mandatory that you tip the DME drivers, it is just customary in the US if they place bags under the bus for you.

What if the guest is an American who happens to be flying in from abroad, and can have the luggage tags forwarded to them by friends/family in the USA? A bag is a bag, whether it arrives from overseas or interstate, no?

 

[tobikaye]

What if the guest is an American who happens to be flying in from abroad, and can have the luggage tags forwarded to them by friends/family in the USA? A bag is a bag, whether it arrives from overseas or interstate, no?

This would only work if the address on the WDW reservation is a US address as that is the only place I have been able to get them to send the tags. You would still have to take the luggage to baggage claim at MCO if you have to clear customs there.

It has to do with WDW not sending the luggage tags outside the US. Just as they do not mail the MagicBands outside the US, but have those guests pick up their MagicBands at their resort.

 

[Pluto777]

This would only work if the address on the WDW reservation is a US address as that is the only place I have been able to get them to send the tags. You would still have to take the luggage to baggage claim at MCO if you have to clear customs there.

It has to do with WDW not sending the luggage tags outside the US. Just as they do not mail the MagicBands outside the US, but have those guests pick up their MagicBands at their resort.

What about this scenario:
An American citizen flies in from Europe. Some of his family (and thus he trusts them completely with his luggage) lives in the USA and forwards him the luggage tags (for him and his foriegn wife). He get the tags, uses his US families address and puts them on, flies in. Wouldn't that work?

 

[tobikaye]

What about this scenario:
An American citizen flies in from Europe. Some of his family (and thus he trusts them completely with his luggage) lives in the USA and forwards him the luggage tags (for him and his foriegn wife). He get the tags, uses his US families address and puts them on, flies in. Wouldn't that work?

The DME tags go to the address on your WDW reservation, so if you want DME tags to a specific US address, you need to use that to make your WDW reservation. I have done trips with people that live in two different locations and they will only send the DME tags to the address of the main contact of the reservation. Someone might have had luck with getting this changed, but I have not, even when I wanted the DME tags to all go to another address.

As long as you are clearing customs outside of MCO, you should be able to use the tags and just head to the DME area. If you clear customs at MCO, then you would need to take the luggage with you through customs and then take to the baggage claim area before heading to the DME buses.

Quick thought though is that if your flight is direct to MCO from overseas, I do not know if that would put a stop on the DME tags automatically or not.

 

[Pluto777]

The DME tags go to the address on your WDW reservation, so if you want DME tags to a specific US address, you need to use that to make your WDW reservation. I have done trips with people that live in two different locations and they will only send the DME tags to the address of the main contact of the reservation. Someone might have had luck with getting this changed, but I have not, even when I wanted the DME tags to all go to another address.

As long as you are clearing customs outside of MCO, you should be able to use the tags and just head to the DME area. If you clear customs at MCO, then you would need to take the luggage with you through customs and then take to the baggage claim area before heading to the DME buses.

Quick thought though is that if your flight is direct to MCO from overseas, I do not know if that would put a stop on the DME tags automatically or not.

Thx tobikaye, I may have to ask Disney on that one. I guess I would put the tags on, claim them at customs and then walk them over to baggage claim and stick them on the carousel for DME?

 

[siskaren]

Thx tobikaye, I may have to ask Disney on that one. I guess I would put the tags on, claim them at customs and then walk them over to baggage claim and stick them on the carousel for DME?

There is no carousel for DME. Bags that have the yellow tags on them go directly from the plane to a storage area where they're picked up by DME employees and put on trucks that deliver them to the resorts - they bypass baggage claim completely.

 

[Pluto777]

There is no carousel for DME. Bags that have the yellow tags on them go directly from the plane to a storage area where they're picked up by DME employees and put on trucks that deliver them to the resorts - they bypass baggage claim completely.

Wow, THAT sucks..... You think they will let me simply carry them onto the bus then if I drag them there myself?

 

[siskaren]

Wow, THAT sucks..... You think they will let me simply carry them onto the bus then if I drag them there myself?

You can definitely do that - in fact, plenty of people do that because they either don't trust the delivery system to work, they don't want to wait for their luggage, or because they arrive after 10 pm, when luggage delivery is no longer available.

 

[Pluto777]

Thanks SisKaren, thats the second time you helped me out!