Magical Express resort pick up now FOUR hours before flights? Alternatives?

[TheFloatingBear]

We use a towncar service to get to and from MCO. So much easier and faster than MDE!

We've always done Magical Express but four hours seems rough! About how much time do you usually allow on the trip back to MCO?

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Considering the anxiety and INSANITY of MCO security, I would SOOOOO rather be on the OTHER side of the terminal with hours to wait and lots of gift shops to spend money at, rather than looking forlornly at the hordes at the security line going nowhere as flight announcements count down.... they ramp up the staff capacity as the flights get busier but when it's a lull in aircraft traffic, a large portion of the TSA goes on their break LOL

Really. A battery exploded the other day and it took them almost 4 hours to put everything back to rights and re-screen everyone, by which time flights were cancelled and it was a big mess for nearly all travellers.

 

[hllb]

Do they predefine the pick-ups at resorts? For example, do they pick up at Deluxes first (or last?), and then moderates, and then value? Just wondering if we can tell how many stops they'll need to make after they pick us up. But man, listening to this, I'm thinking we might have to uber to the airport despite the cost.

Now, how bad is the security at MCO? I know it went absolutely haywire with the new 'screen all food' rule, and the ipad removal is still new. But I found a couple of sites that supposedly show wait times at MCO by block of hours and it didn't look that bad. Are the sites just wrong? I would think the Halloween parties were the worst offenders in the security lines recently.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Do they predefine the pick-ups at resorts? For example, do they pick up at Deluxes first (or last?), and then moderates, and then value? Just wondering if we can tell how many stops they'll need to make after they pick us up. But man, listening to this, I'm thinking we might have to uber to the airport despite the cost.

Now, how bad is the security at MCO? I know it went absolutely haywire with the new 'screen all food' rule, and the ipad removal is still new. But I found a couple of sites that supposedly show wait times at MCO by block of hours and it didn't look that bad. Are the sites just wrong? I would think the Halloween parties were the worst offenders in the security lines recently.

Yeah but we're just about to go through American Thanksgiving, whereupon TSA must annually remind everyone NOT to fly with Turkey Leftovers, Gravy, or Granny's Famous Mashed Potatoes in Foil, amongst other food items that would seem really bizarre if it weren't the holiday season! I mean really who requires consumption of cranberry sauce on a plane? If you can't bring enough to share, WHYYYYYYY would you do that to other people?

 

[Farro]

Yeah but we're just about to go through American Thanksgiving, whereupon TSA must annually remind everyone NOT to fly with Turkey Leftovers, Gravy, or Granny's Famous Mashed Potatoes in Foil, amongst other food items that would seem really bizarre if it weren't the holiday season! I mean really who requires consumption of cranberry sauce on a plane? If you can't bring enough to share, WHYYYYYYY would you do that to other people?

I know you are tongue in cheek with this, but really...

This won't win me any friends here, but why do so many people have food in their carry on luggage? Why?
Most people are traveling domestically, you are looking in most cases at less than a 4 hour flight (6 hours if you are coming from Washington ).
If you think you will be hungry on the plane, eat after you go through security. Buy a snack after you go through security. Yes it's more expensive, but it's not that much.

I couldn't believe reading about all the people bringing all their Halloween candy back!!! It's snickers, skittles, etc...buy it at home for goodness sake. Or pack it in your luggage and check your bag. Same with snacks from Disney, pack in checked bags.

Sorry, we've stumbled across my pet peeves, carry on luggage in general, then adding food to the mix...aargh!

 

[SorryI'mNotSorry]

I know you are tongue in cheek with this, but really...

This won't win me any friends here, but why do so many people have food in their carry on luggage? Why?
Most people are traveling domestically, you are looking in most cases at less than a 4 hour flight (6 hours if you are coming from Washington ).
If you think you will be hungry on the plane, eat after you go through security. Buy a snack after you go through security. Yes it's more expensive, but it's not that much.

I couldn't believe reading about all the people bringing all their Halloween candy back!!! It's snickers, skittles, etc...buy it at home for goodness sake. Or pack it in your luggage and check your bag. Same with snacks from Disney, pack in checked bags.

Sorry, we've stumbled across my pet peeves, carry on luggage in general, then adding food to the mix...aargh!

I saw someone asking on a fb group where at the resort you could get supplies to mail a package via USPS. Why, you ask? To mail home their trick or treat candy from MNSSHP that wouldn't fit in their suitcase. I was so confused. But also cracking up.

 

[Kenzientysmom]

I know you are tongue in cheek with this, but really...

This won't win me any friends here, but why do so many people have food in their carry on luggage? Why?
Most people are traveling domestically, you are looking in most cases at less than a 4 hour flight (6 hours if you are coming from Washington ).
If you think you will be hungry on the plane, eat after you go through security. Buy a snack after you go through security. Yes it's more expensive, but it's not that much.

I couldn't believe reading about all the people bringing all their Halloween candy back!!! It's snickers, skittles, etc...buy it at home for goodness sake. Or pack it in your luggage and check your bag. Same with snacks from Disney, pack in checked bags.

Sorry, we've stumbled across my pet peeves, carry on luggage in general, then adding food to the mix...aargh!

Not thinking I put the candy from the Halloween party in our carry-ons as our checked luggage was full. Lesson learned as they swabbed every piece of candy Made it to our gate just as they were starting boarding.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

MCO were the only ones swabbing candy. Anywhere. Seriously.

 

[DebbieB]

Someone posted this afternoon that they were not allowing people into the security lines until 2 hours prior, probably because the lines were so long.

 

[hllb]

How much is uberXL going to cost me to go from Poly to MCO?

 

[Bree]

How much is uberXL going to cost me to go from Poly to MCO?

You can go to uber’s Website and get an estimate.

 

[Bree]

My family of four went through TSA precheck today at MCO. The regular security lines were insane!!! The precheck lines were backed up too. They made me remove my boots because of the metal zipper. They had my son remove a zippered hoodie. I had a north face jacket on with metal, but they had me keep it on???? Then it took 4 TSA agents to swab every last item in both kids backpacks in the area where it comes out of the X-ray machine which made screening come to a complete halt. It was ridiculous. We paid $$$$ for Global Entry to not have to deal with that mess. We are flying back home out of Boston so I’m curious to see how precheck goes there.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My family of four went through TSA precheck today at MCO. The regular security lines were insane!!! The precheck lines were backed up too. They made me remove my boots because of the metal zipper. They had my son remove a zippered hoodie. I had a north face jacket on with metal, but they had me keep it on???? Then it took 4 TSA agents to swab every last item in both kids backpacks in the area where it comes out of the X-ray machine which made screening come to a complete halt. It was ridiculous. We paid $$$$ for Global Entry to not have to deal with that mess. We are flying back home out of Boston so I’m curious to see how precheck goes there.

This is why I am saying Pre may not save people at MCO. TSA there is cray.

 

[AngiTN]

Do they predefine the pick-ups at resorts? For example, do they pick up at Deluxes first (or last?), and then moderates, and then value? Just wondering if we can tell how many stops they'll need to make after they pick us up. But man, listening to this, I'm thinking we might have to uber to the airport despite the cost.

Now, how bad is the security at MCO? I know it went absolutely haywire with the new 'screen all food' rule, and the ipad removal is still new. But I found a couple of sites that supposedly show wait times at MCO by block of hours and it didn't look that bad. Are the sites just wrong? I would think the Halloween parties were the worst offenders in the security lines recently.

No, they don't pick up at Deluxe first, Mod second and Value last. Disney doesn't rank bus service by resort level you stay at. They do them by region, what's near each other. You won't know, or have any way to know, if you are first, last or somewhere in between, their route.

MCO is bad. Really bad. It's why we got PreCheck a couple years ago. Even if it takes more than 3, 5 min (which is what it's done for our past 10 trips) it's going to be less than regular security and it's still not going to need an hour.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I am probably going to be in a minority, however I think this is smart move. Especially as I have seen many horror stories of hours long waits at MCO (which I myself have not experienced).

We have however had experiences taking FOREVER to get off of property. One time in particular, we were staying at AKL and stopped at AOA. It took almost 45 minutes to leave AOA, as so many people had huge bags, then had to go in and use the bathroom, and the driver was moving so slow, several people, myself included, offered to help. We got to the gate with about 45 minutes to spare, but one traffic delay and we would have really been in trouble. I have had this experience several times.

I get a little nervous getting to MCO when we do on Magical Express. While it is sufficient time without complication, one significant car accident, or any other issue that might come up, and you could be in a real crunch.

However, I will say that I fly one or two round trips per year, so getting to the airport hours early is really not a big deal. Also, we build in travel as 'travel days', so we are not losing anything by getting to the airport early.


P.S. to provide a helpful response perhaps utilize Lyft. Very easy and not too expensive.

 

[dtkids]

What happens if you miss the ME assigned bus? Can you catch the next one? Or are you out of luck and have to arrange for your own?
Can we send the bags via ME/pre-check bags and then take a later shuttle or uber?

I'm throwback from old AA non-rev days of arriving 4-hours before flight, wear a dress (never know when bumped to first class), must wear hose, etc. But that was a LONG LONG time ago. Now just heading to the airport 4 hours before seems overkill.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What happens if you miss the ME assigned bus? Can you catch the next one?

Generally, no.

Or are you out of luck and have to arrange for your own?

Arrange your own.

Can we send the bags via ME/pre-check bags and then take a later shuttle or uber?

If you use RAC, you can just send the bags. On ME, you have to be there for the bags on return.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I had not heard about this change. We're arriving next week and departing the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I had our last day planned with the understanding ME would pick us up 3 hours before our flight. Losing an hour in the park that morning will really hurt. I'm going to think about Uber to the airport. Does anyone know what this option costs? How much is a towncar? We're TSA precheck and we're Clear members, so we cut pretty much all security lines. Our wait time at the airport is already long. An extra hour there will be depressing. LOL

Edit: on second thought, I might look into renting a car. It would only be to go to/from the airport and to switch resorts (we're doing a split stay). Hmmmm. Could be worth it.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Last summer we got picked up by DME and it took forever to grab everyone from other resorts. I agree this may just be to have less buses to pay for but I am still good with it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/ is helpful. I would expect on a holiday weekend to maybe see fare multipliers, though.