Moving a DLR Trip to Walt Disney World- Let’s Talk!

[bassgirl]

Hey everyone. I have another question. I'm just checking to see if I did my reservations right. I've already paid for the whole trip. There are 4 of us going. In "my plans" for example on one day it says Monday June 21 Disney Park Pass Magic Kingdom Park and then it says 4 guests and it shows all of us who are going. That means I made a successful reservation for that day right? I'm super sorry for asking a dumb question, but I talked to a CM a while back and she said she couldn't verify for me and that I had to check with a different department in so many words. I know someone here can let me know. Thanks for the help.

 

[Cal-Pie]

Hey everyone. I have another question. I'm just checking to see if I did my reservations right. I've already paid for the whole trip. There are 4 of us going. In "my plans" for example on one day it says Monday June 21 Disney Park Pass Magic Kingdom Park and then it says 4 guests and it shows all of us who are going. That means I made a successful reservation for that day right? I'm super sorry for asking a dumb question, but I talked to a CM a while back and she said she couldn't verify for me and that I had to check with a different department in so many words. I know someone here can let me know. Thanks for the help.

I'm far from an expert, but I do believe that you've made a successful reservation. Mine are all listed under "my plans" for each day.

 

[bassgirl]

I'm far from an expert, but I do believe that you've made a successful reservation. Mine are all listed under "my plans" for each day.

Cool! All of my days are like that as well. I feel better now. Thanks so much!!

 

[SeaDis]

Cool! All of my days are like that as well. I feel better now. Thanks so much!!

Yes, that is a reservation (Park Pass). As long as your entire party is checked, you are good to go. To change parks, you have to cancel that one and book a new one. Just make sure there is availability first.

Have fun planning

 

[theluckyrabbit]

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/01/a-look-ahead-at-walt-disney-world-resort/
Early entry (30 mins...) returning later this year.

No more Magical Express starting 2022.

And the DIS article:
https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/disneys-magical-express-extra-magic-hours-to-be-discontinued/

 

[bassgirl]

Yes, that is a reservation (Park Pass). As long as your entire party is checked, you are good to go. To change parks, you have to cancel that one and book a new one. Just make sure there is availability first.

Have fun planning

Thank you so much! Yes. Me and my kids show up on each reservation. Yay!!! It's been a long wait. I'm finally getting the Disney "butterflies". So excited about our trip. It will be brand new for us since we have only been to Disneyland, but I'm looking forward to the adventure.

 

[crystal1313]

Thank you so much! Yes. Me and my kids show up on each reservation. Yay!!! It's been a long wait. I'm finally getting the Disney "butterflies". So excited about our trip. It will be brand new for us since we have only been to Disneyland, but I'm looking forward to the adventure.

When do you go? So exciting !!

We are possibly planning another trip in the summer because we had so much fun last month! You’ll have a blast!!

 

[bassgirl]

When do you go? So exciting !!

We are possibly planning another trip in the summer because we had so much fun last month! You’ll have a blast!!

We are going June 20-26. We will be at the parks 21-25. I just started looking at the Orlando airport yesterday. Boy, it sure is alot different from John Wayne. We are also taking the Magical Express from Southwest. I'm so glad you had fun. We are going to MK on the first and last day to get our somewhat "Disneyland" experience too. We are very excited to see how rides like Pirates and HM are different. It will kind of be like going on them for the first time if that makes sense. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[VandVsmama]

We are going June 20-26. We will be at the parks 21-25. I just started looking at the Orlando airport yesterday. Boy, it sure is alot different from John Wayne. We are also taking the Magical Express from Southwest. I'm so glad you had fun. We are going to MK on the first and last day to get our somewhat "Disneyland" experience too. We are very excited to see how rides like Pirates and HM are different. It will kind of be like going on them for the first time if that makes sense. Thanks again for the reply.

Southwest flights arrive on Terminal A of the airport, so your baggage claim will be on Level 2 of Terminal A. However, Magical Express is Level 1 of Terminal B. From WDW's website, it says, "Guests claiming their luggage in Terminal A of the airport must return to Level 3 to cross to Terminal B before continuing to Level 1."

In other words, Level 1 and Level 2 are not connected together between Terminal A and B of the airport.

 

[bassgirl]

Southwest flights arrive on Terminal A of the airport, so your baggage claim will be on Level 2 of Terminal A. However, Magical Express is Level 1 of Terminal B. From WDW's website, it says, "Guests claiming their luggage in Terminal A of the airport must return to Level 3 to cross to Terminal B before continuing to Level 1."

In other words, Level 1 and Level 2 are not connected together between Terminal A and B of the airport.

OH! Thank you so much! We are thinking about being a little crazy and just doing carry-on. We have a while to think about it. We are a pretty low maintenance kind of family, no needed extra meds, gadgets etc. so, we may be able to pull it off. One less step to get to Magical Express. BUT, I thank you so much for the info. That way if we end up checking baggage we will know just what to do thanks to you!!

 

[crystal1313]

OH! Thank you so much! We are thinking about being a little crazy and just doing carry-on. We have a while to think about it. We are a pretty low maintenance kind of family, no needed extra meds, gadgets etc. so, we may be able to pull it off. One less step to get to Magical Express. BUT, I thank you so much for the info. That way if we end up checking baggage we will know just what to do thanks to you!!

Yes! VandVsmama is correct. We had to do the same thing at MCO. It was easy and fast!

The ride comparisons are super fun! We began and ended with MK too. Super magical.

Just an FYI, we spent way more money on food than we expected. Next time we will for sure do a grocery delivery. Lol. We even packed an entire suitcase full of dry goods (snacks and breakfast) But still spent a lot. I should have budgeted better! That’s my only regret about the trip. Love and learn!

 

[bassgirl]

Yes! VandVsmama is correct. We had to do the same thing at MCO. It was easy and fast!

The ride comparisons are super fun! We began and ended with MK too. Super magical.

Just an FYI, we spent way more money on food than we expected. Next time we will for sure do a grocery delivery. Lol. We even packed an entire suitcase full of dry goods (snacks and breakfast) But still spent a lot. I should have budgeted better! That’s my only regret about the trip. Love and learn!

Thanks for letting me know about the food thing. I am one of those frugal travelers. We will be doing the quick service places for the most part. The "big" restaurants are just too spendy for us this time. I heard you can buy kids meals if you don't want alot of food. Do you know if that's true? (We aren't huge eaters). We would probably share quite a bit and of course get a snack or two during the day. Thanks again. It's fun to be back here at disboards. I was having the Disneyland downers and was deciding if we were going to WDW or not.

 

[crystal1313]

Thanks for letting me know about the food thing. I am one of those frugal travelers. We will be doing the quick service places for the most part. The "big" restaurants are just too spendy for us this time. I heard you can buy kids meals if you don't want alot of food. Do you know if that's true? (We aren't huge eaters). We would probably share quite a bit and of course get a snack or two during the day. Thanks again. It's fun to be back here at disboards. I was having the Disneyland downers and was deciding if we were going to WDW or not.

Yes. You can order kids meals. My husband and I split some kids meal and some regular meals. I think what caught us off guard was our kids both started ordering adult meals. Lol. They ate all the food though! Lol. We walked a lot!! 60 miles in a week. We had 5 sit down meals and the rest were all quick service. (7 nights and 8 days)

 

[bassgirl]

Yes. You can order kids meals. My husband and I split some kids meal and some regular meals. I think what caught us off guard was our kids both started ordering adult meals. Lol. They ate all the food though! Lol. We walked a lot!! 60 miles in a week. We had 5 sit down meals and the rest were all quick service. (7 nights and 8 days)

Cool. We may do a mixture of both too. I guess it will just depend what we want that day. We will be 6 nights 5 days. 60 miles? Wow!! That means we'll probably be walking about 45 or so miles. I'd better get some walking exercise in.

 

[crystal1313]

Cool. We may do a mixture of both too. I guess it will just depend what we want that day. We will be 6 nights 5 days. 60 miles? Wow!! That means we'll probably be walking about 45 or so miles. I'd better get some walking exercise in.

Yes! We had 5 park days but still walked quite a bit on our arrival, departure and rest days. Lol. We walked the most at AK. We made our kids start walking as soon as we booked the trip because we knew we would walk tons. And they’re not even used to wearing shoes since they have 100% distance learning. Lol. They complained at home but saw what we meant once we got there and were walking so much. All the walking and the time difference made us super tired by Wednesday (3rd park day) Haha.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Cool. We may do a mixture of both too. I guess it will just depend what we want that day. We will be 6 nights 5 days. 60 miles? Wow!! That means we'll probably be walking about 45 or so miles. I'd better get some walking exercise in.

We did six park days/one Disney Springs resort day and averaged about 65 miles. And we did NOT prepare like we should have. My son and I were both crawling by the third day haha. I have a lot of back issues (made worse by sitting in my desk chair at home now!) which made me struggle more than usual. I almost rented a scooter by the last day... something I’ve never even considered at Disneyland!

So yeah.. I’d definitely get your body ready! Sooooo much more walking!!

I will also NEVER stay anywhere at WDW without a preferred room (unless it’s a small resort) now after experiencing the pain of the long walk to/from the pool, bus, food, skyliner, etc. at Caribbean Beach Resort. Trust me, it’s worth it lol!

 

[SeaDis]

OH! Thank you so much! We are thinking about being a little crazy and just doing carry-on. We have a while to think about it. We are a pretty low maintenance kind of family, no needed extra meds, gadgets etc. so, we may be able to pull it off. One less step to get to Magical Express. BUT, I thank you so much for the info. That way if we end up checking baggage we will know just what to do thanks to you!!

We noted last month that Magical Express is not currently handing luggage delivery to your room. So you take your luggage to the bus and it's unloaded on your arrival. This may change by June, but now I kind of doubt it since the service is being canceled. I assumed it was due to Covid, but now I'm wondering if it was cost savings.

This is good and bad, since their information says your luggage can arrive after your arrival in your room. We had reservations but ended up canceling and taking ride share. We got in really late and wanted to get to sleep and start adjusting. On our departure, our pickup time was too early for us.

 

[bassgirl]

We did six park days/one Disney Springs resort day and averaged about 65 miles. And we did NOT prepare like we should have. My son and I were both crawling by the third day haha. I have a lot of back issues (made worse by sitting in my desk chair at home now!) which made me struggle more than usual. I almost rented a scooter by the last day... something I’ve never even considered at Disneyland!

So yeah.. I’d definitely get your body ready! Sooooo much more walking!!

I will also NEVER stay anywhere at WDW without a preferred room (unless it’s a small resort) now after experiencing the pain of the long walk to/from the pool, bus, food, skyliner, etc. at Caribbean Beach Resort. Trust me, it’s worth it lol!

Thanks for the info on the preferred room. We have that at all star movies. Thanks about all the walking info too. I'm going to check with Disney about help for one of my sons. He has a "challenged" leg that might not want to walk a ton. I'll see about the special entry for the rides. We will take breaks as much as he needs to. At the same time, it will be good for him as docs have said. He just needs to get that leg strong. What better way to do that than at Disney!!

 

[bassgirl]

We noted last month that Magical Express is not currently handing luggage delivery to your room. So you take your luggage to the bus and it's unloaded on your arrival. This may change by June, but now I kind of doubt it since the service is being canceled. I assumed it was due to Covid, but now I'm wondering if it was cost savings.

This is good and bad, since their information says your luggage can arrive after your arrival in your room. We had reservations but ended up canceling and taking ride share. We got in really late and wanted to get to sleep and start adjusting. On our departure, our pickup time was too early for us.

So, we just take our luggage from the bus and take it to the room ourselves? That would be fine with me. We did that when we went to Disneyland, stayed offsite BUT took their bus from the airport. I'd rather do that and know we have our luggage with us. We land a little after 7pm. We leave around 3 on Saturday. We won't mind if we have to leave pretty early for the airport. We are a relaxed family and would just have fun hanging around the airport enjoying each other's company.

 

[SeaDis]

So, we just take our luggage from the bus and take it to the room ourselves? That would be fine with me. We did that when we went to Disneyland, stayed offsite BUT took their bus from the airport. I'd rather do that and know we have our luggage with us. We land a little after 7pm. We leave around 3 on Saturday. We won't mind if we have to leave pretty early for the airport. We are a relaxed family and would just have fun hanging around the airport enjoying each other's company.

I want to make sure I'm giving the right info. I'm going by the reservation information that we had (before cancelling). Hopefully someone can confirm.

Yes, your luggage goes under the bus (currently), and you take it with you to your room/check-in. I would prefer this also because I have heard (and they have a disclaimer) that your luggage can arrive after you do. But I think for a lot of people, not handling the luggage was part of the "Magic" of Magical Express. Anyways, just mentioned since you were deciding between carry-on and checked.

We took a taxi minivan from the airport. It was at the curb waiting and I asked for a flat rate. It was $50 which was the same as Uber/Lyft XL at the time (almost midnight, so fewer rideshares around).
On the return we used Lyft XL which was $45. This gave us an extra 95 minutes at MK and the pool compared to our pickup time with Magical Express. Their paperwork says they get you to the airport at least 2 hours before domestic and 3 hours before international. But they can make multiple pickups at resorts, so depending on where you are in the list, it could be 3+ hours before your flight, which was our case. We got an envelope under our door on our last night with the pickup time. After seeing it I just called the number to cancel our pickup. No biggie at all.