Magic Express Luggage Delivery - 7 hours?

[neitzelt]

Friends - my family and I flew into MCO around 6:20 PM a few weeks ago and we assumed our luggage would arrive around 9:00-10:00PM...when we got back from MK around 10:30, our luggage was not there year (we stayed DVC at a Poly studio). I called Bell Services and they were able to track our bags. They stated our bags were currently on a truck from the airport and they should arrive and be sorted within the next hour. Well, seeing we traveled all day, we all fell asleep. I awoke at 1AM to realize we still hadn't received our bags. When I called Bell Services again, they said it was at the resort and would be delivered in 10 minutes. 30 minutes went by and no bags, I called again and was greeted very shortly by Bell Services stating our bags were on their way and they knew we were waiting for them. We did receive them finally at 1:30AM. Has anyone ever experienced this? Don't you think this is a crazy long time to wait for your luggage? Should I contact Disney or is this a common thing? We have always received our luggage in around 2-3 hours of arrival at MCO...

 

[cedricandsophie]

Don't know if it is common or not but we have only used luggage delivery once. Had a similar experience. Never again. We just pick up our bags before going to the bus. And when we get to resort we know exactly where they are and can get them immediately when in room or we take them to room ourselves.

 

[Goofy G]

We have had similar experiences with evening check-in. We were told that the evening trucks were usually full and it may take several trips to get everything that comes between 6 and 10. It just depends on how much is checked and there is no way to tell.

Learned our lesson and now carry on anything we need before bedtime - or for bedtime. Last visit our luggage arrived at midnight....

 

[siskaren]

With a flight arrival time of 6:20, your luggage should've arrived between 11:00 and 12:00, not 9:00 and 10:00. (It's supposed to arrive 3-4 hours after you arrive at your hotel.)

 

[melanielll]

We waited 8 hours for our luggage. And have not used The "Magical" Express since then.

 

[sam_gordon]

With a flight arrival time of 6:20, your luggage should've arrived between 11:00 and 12:00, not 9:00 and 10:00. (It's supposed to arrive 3-4 hours after you arrive at your hotel.)

This. Plus, do you know your bags actually arrived on the same flight you did? If the airline messed up (very possible), your bags could arrive at MCO late, which then gives them to DME late which then gets to your resort late.

The only thing I would be upset about would be being told I'd have them in 10 minutes and 30 minutes later still no bags.

 

[bumbershoot]

With a flight arrival time of 6:20, your luggage should've arrived between 11:00 and 12:00, not 9:00 and 10:00. (It's supposed to arrive 3-4 hours after you arrive at your hotel.)

Of course, nowadays that's a bit confusing since so many people are thoroughly "checked in" before getting to the hotel.

This. Plus, do you know your bags actually arrived on the same flight you did?

Exactly. I was wondering if the OP had used Delta or another airline where you can track your bags through the app. I have "watched" our bags get load to our plane, and I've wondered what it would look like if the airline chose to load them on a different flight (which they totally can...WE can't make that choice, but they can). So I wonder if that's what happened; that the bags were loaded onto a different flight, or missed the OP's flight. Or perhaps there was a big storm at some point during offloading of bags and the bags were held until the workers could go back outside and that's what caused the delay? All sorts of issues that could have caused a delay, and not all are DME's fault.

 

[GrammyJudy]

We have never had a problem but we always take an early flight. One year we were sitting by the pool getting a bite to eat and saw our luggage go by. Always have had it in a couple of hours.

 

[siskaren]

Of course, nowadays that's a bit confusing since so many people are thoroughly "checked in" before getting to the hotel.

That's why I said "arrived" rather than "checked in".

 

[Alberta bound]

We also had issues with luggage deliveries 7-8 hours later to our room. It was a bit of a pain but we are two adults. The next visit we took the ME but just found it easier to grab our own bags.

 

[AngiTN]

Never had to wait that long. It's always possible I guess but not "normal"

Exactly. I was wondering if the OP had used Delta or another airline where you can track your bags through the app. I have "watched" our bags get load to our plane, and I've wondered what it would look like if the airline chose to load them on a different flight (which they totally can...WE can't make that choice, but they can). So I wonder if that's what happened; that the bags were loaded onto a different flight, or missed the OP's flight. Or perhaps there was a big storm at some point during offloading of bags and the bags were held until the workers could go back outside and that's what caused the delay? All sorts of issues that could have caused a delay, and not all are DME's fault.

By the way, I noticed an improvement on this on our flight Monday. Not only did the app track it but I got alerts each time the bag moved. I was notified as it was loaded on our departure plane and again as it was loaded on our connecting plane and again when it was put on the belt at our home airport. Got it for all 3 bags checked in for that trip. We flew AA down and while they have the feature on the app to find your bags they didn't send me alerts as the bags moved

 

[neitzelt]

We fly Southwest and I wasn't aware that you can track your bags - what a cool feature on other airlines! Thanks all for your input - I just need to be patient I guess, right?!

 

[brockash]

Friends - my family and I flew into MCO around 6:20 PM a few weeks ago and we assumed our luggage would arrive around 9:00-10:00PM...when we got back from MK around 10:30, our luggage was not there year (we stayed DVC at a Poly studio). I called Bell Services and they were able to track our bags. They stated our bags were currently on a truck from the airport and they should arrive and be sorted within the next hour. Well, seeing we traveled all day, we all fell asleep. I awoke at 1AM to realize we still hadn't received our bags. When I called Bell Services again, they said it was at the resort and would be delivered in 10 minutes. 30 minutes went by and no bags, I called again and was greeted very shortly by Bell Services stating our bags were on their way and they knew we were waiting for them. We did receive them finally at 1:30AM. Has anyone ever experienced this? Don't you think this is a crazy long time to wait for your luggage? Should I contact Disney or is this a common thing? We have always received our luggage in around 2-3 hours of arrival at MCO...

It's technically 3 hours once you check-in at your hotel, but still yes, that's a long time. We had a similar experience this past trip and I feel like more and more it's getting worse. Good luck!

 

[AngiTN]

We fly Southwest and I wasn't aware that you can track your bags - what a cool feature on other airlines! Thanks all for your input - I just need to be patient I guess, right?!

If you always fly them it might be worth investing in one of the electronic app based trackers you can throw in the suitcase or there are even ones that are also a name tag. They are not pricey and work well

 

[marisabuzz]

The only time we got our bags at a reasonable time was our first trip as a family in 2014. We got our bags within 3 hours of arrival.

Every trip since then (only two, but still), it's taken 6+ hours to get our bags.

 

[goofy4tink]

DME literature says to expect baggage delivery up to 4 hrs after resort arrival. Now, that can vary depending on the resort. Deluxe resorts should have the best luggage delivery. Values have the slowest! But, I arrived at Pop around 9am, my room was ready, and my bags were delivered around noon! I just happened to be in the room.

 

[pooch]

I pack 24 hrs worth of stuff for everyone. Don't care what time the bags arrive. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever noticed.

 

[Blackadder337]

We went back in October. Our flight landed in Orlando at about 10:15, and our bags didn't arrive until almost 6pm. It didn't really bother us though because we use our carryon to pack 2 days worth of clothes plus a bathing suit. (On the way home the carryon has our souvenirs of course!!)

 

[dis_guy]

I read the OP's post and my wife said, "That's yours, isn't it?" Needless to say this closely mirrors our experience with DME luggage delivery on Dec 31, 2016 very closely. We arrived at the airport at 6:30 PM and got to the resort about 7:45 pm. After spending the evening having dinner and checking out the NYE celebrations at CBR, we headed off to our room. After the same kinds of phone calls as the OP described, our bags were finally delivered at 2:45 AM. Not a huge problem for us as we were on Mountain time, but really, 7 hours after we checked in? I really wish this was an isolated experience for us, but it was the same story on our mid-November 2015 trip with our party arriving on two different days (Sun and Wed). In the future I will be getting my own bags and bringing them to the bus with us. It will be way less hassle. The yellow tags will go into the "archive file" and we'll reminisce; "Remember how DME used to deliver your bags within 3 or 4 ours of your arrival?"

 

[julieFitz]

We waited 8 hours for our luggage. And have not used The "Magical" Express since then.

Same here, will be getting bags ourselves from now on.