Express Walk Off - Worth It?

[Weedy]

The elevators are VERY crowded the last day. It may take awhile to catch one that has room for your party and all your bags

 

[QuiltTeddy]

We did it because we had a flight that was 4 minutes before the designated "allowed" time for Disney. What messed it all up was the fact that our limo driver was over 40 min. late. We did make our flight and had more than enough time. Don't think we'd ever do it again. Carting everything ourselves, waiting in line to get off....only good point was customs was quick and painless.

 

[scootch]

We were on the Magic last week. Had first seating for breakfast, found bags, through customs and to rental car in ramp. We did not rush and were at Downtown Disney/Disney Springs by 9:40. Express might have saved us 30 minutes tops. To me, not worth the hassle.

I agree.......Not even 30 minutes... the porters grab your bag so quickly and likely save us time. We made it to Universal by 9am.

 

[hardis5]

Unless you have a flight significantly earlier than Disney recommends and a vehicle in the parking garage or a planned ride waiting, you will not save yourself much time for the effort (porters are there waiting in the hall) and not having bags means you are not stuck waiting for the elevator down both on the ship and into the Customs hall.

 

[Kimberly9701]

The buses depart when full. So it varies. The first buses typically leave around 8:30ish. But could be earlier or later.

We are going to the Contemporary, will our bus make several stops first? I'm trying to figure out a realistic arrival time so I can make dining reservations.

 

[houseofduck]

I guess I'm in the minority! I like express walk off, but not for the ability to save time getting off the ship in the morning. I like it because I hate rushing to get everything packed on the last night. I don't like having to think about what we need for the next morning and making sure that those items don't get packed with the bags left out in the hallway. For me, not having to get those bags out by 10pm is less stressful. We pack lightly, so it is manageable for us to have our luggage with us on departure day morning.

 

[lovedisney123]

I guess I'm in the minority! I like express walk off, but not for the ability to save time getting off the ship in the morning. I like it because I hate rushing to get everything packed on the last night. I don't like having to think about what we need for the next morning and making sure that those items don't get packed with the bags left out in the hallway. For me, not having to get those bags out by 10pm is less stressful. We pack lightly, so it is manageable for us to have our luggage with us on departure day morning.

If it were not for my kids (and by kids, I mean 22 year old college women), my husband and I would pack light and would do this also. But my 'kids' have not embraced packing light yet.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I can't handle all this talk of getting OFF the ship. It is making me sad about the cruise ending and it hasn't even started.

 

[BlondieinFL]

I guess I'm in the minority! I like express walk off, but not for the ability to save time getting off the ship in the morning. I like it because I hate rushing to get everything packed on the last night. I don't like having to think about what we need for the next morning and making sure that those items don't get packed with the bags left out in the hallway. For me, not having to get those bags out by 10pm is less stressful. We pack lightly, so it is manageable for us to have our luggage with us on departure day morning.

I feel the same! And, we're a family of 5, and don't pack light. It's not a big deal to us to lug our things off of the ship - but, I'm glad everyone doesn't feel this way or it would be chaos.

 

[scjo68]

I feel the same! And, we're a family of 5, and don't pack light. It's not a big deal to us to lug our things off of the ship - but, I'm glad everyone doesn't feel this way or it would be chaos.

We have only been on one cruise and did the "express" walk off. But we didn't really rush at all. I just didn't have everyone's luggage packed in time. I was still up late into the night packing so don't know how I would have been able to have it done in time to put out the night before. We were not off really early- just carried out luggage off as we walked out. It wasn't that far- I didn't see it as that big of a deal to just take our own luggage down.

 

[Twilight Terror]

We have only done one cruise, and did express walk off, but I don't remember being rushed or getting off the ship incredibly early. We are three adults, and we tend to only take one suitcase aboard with us, which makes express walk off an easy option for us. We also don't like to rush with our packing. OCD tendencies mean we like to make sure everything is packed back in the suitcase in the same way it arrived, so packing the night before without putting toiletries, pjs, etc, would just be WRONG!

I can see how not doing express walk off would be very beneficial to those who (i) have lots of luggage, (ii) have large parties travelling together or (iii) have young children they need to get off the ship. Apart from those with early flights, which therefore make express walk-off a necessity, it becomes a very personal choice depending on your personal circumstances, rather than anything else.

The only downsides we experienced with doing express walk-off was that (as previously mentioned) the elevators were very busy, and I'm pretty sure we carried our suitcase up/down the stairs to breakfast in the end. Also, breakfast can be a bit of a nightmare too - you cannot take your suitcase into the dining room, so they are lined up outside. It can get congested outside, and if lots of people arrive after you, you sometimes have to do the suitcase maze puzzle to retrieve yours . That said, we will still be doing express walk-off on our next cruise.

 

[Hotdogdance]

Hi,

I was wondering if using Express Walk Off is worth the extra trouble of moving your own luggage off of the ship. I guess it depends on how much luggage, but assuming 1 bad and 1 carry-on per person, is it worth the trouble? How much time do you save with Express Walk Off?

Thanks!

Done it twice- worth it. WE like to get and go-- not a fan of hurry up and wait so we timed it to disembark about 25 min after clearing customs. Thought there may still be a line in the lobby- there was not. From the lobby to the parking lot we encountered nary a line or wait and was out in about 10 minutes. no joke. took me longer to sanke through the empty line at customs then the actual process.

 

[cijay]

It sounds like for me (one person, one bag) it'll be perfect.

 

[dsdeleon]

I am struggling with this one for our cruise next month so I am glad you asked the question. We had a bad last breakfast and disembarkation experience (sickness) last cruise so I just want to wake up and get right off the ship and eat elsewhere. We are going to be parked right there and are headed to a full day at Kennedy Space Center so getting away from the crowds immediately with one small rolling suitcase each sounds great. But knowing my family, they will have been up most of the night and getting them up and off the ship by the very last second of 9:15 will be a struggle. If I wake them too early, they will be zombies for KSC. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Jkpark]

Thinking about express walk off for our next cruise as its only a 3 night (less bags) and trying to catch an earlier flight to make it home for trick or treating. Are there cabs waiting when you exit to take you to a rental car location? Wondering if the rental shuttle vans take a while as they might wait to get full?

 

[Billinaz]

We have hardside luggage with 4 wheels on the bottom so it is easy for us just to push our bags instead of leaving them out then grabbing them in the terminal.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Personally, we would never do it. It takes no time to get your luggage and out through customs. I hate dragging bags and fighting others at the same time. Much less stressful to take the five extra minutes. Plus, getting a porter is the smartest thing we do!

 

[SleepyDeb]

JMO, I wouldn't do express walk off unless I needed to because of an early flight. I love the convenience of someone else handling my bags and will use that service whenever I can.