Magical Express Travel Time Poll

What is your experience with Magical Express travel time?

  • Less than one hour to the resort

    Votes: 31 23.3%
  • Approximately 1 hour

    Votes: 56 42.1%
  • 1-2 hours

    Votes: 38 28.6%
  • 2 + hours

    Votes: 3 2.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 5 3.8%

  • Total voters
    133
I've had it take a little over an hour, and I've had it take a little over 2 hours.

I want to add, that if I was in a hurry and it was taking a while, I would hop in an Uber/Taxi. No way would I expect Disney to compensate me. What for? There is no guarantee of how quick the service will be.
 
I've had it take a little over an hour, and I've had it take a little over 2 hours.

I want to add, that if I was in a hurry and it was taking a while, I would hop in an Uber/Taxi. No way would I expect Disney to compensate me. What for? There is no guarantee of how quick the service will be.

Wait, were you our trip with my Italian mom? 8-) 80 year-old Italian moms have no patience.
 
In speaking with ME they have a target
Their goal is for every bus to depart when it's full or when the first guest has been on board for 30 min
So what time of day you arrive shouldn't have a great impact. One of the major factors is how many stops before your resort and how many bags the guests have

The thing about the bags is a big factor that I didn't even think to mention, and it's a good point. Sometimes there are almost no bags under the bus for the driver to unload, other times there might be dozens, which can add a lot of time to the resort stops.
 


Wait, were you our trip with my Italian mom? 8-) 80 year-old Italian moms have no patience.

Lol. I find the older I get, the less patience I have for things that are a hassle. Totally depends on my mood. I typically don't rent a car, but I do keep some cash on hand in case I'd rather grab a taxi then wait for a bus.
 
I never catch a break with ME.
I always get on a empty bus that waits a long time to fill. And then I am the last resort of 4.

Ugh.
It would be nice that if they cap a wait time for a bus before it needs to pull out with the counter starting when the first guest steps aboard.

That would make each ride more predictable with a worse case scenario. And with the timer clearly displayed in the bus. Makes too much sense to be implemented.
 


My first trip (solo) was Sept 2007. Got on the bus about 8AM and was rolling out by 8:20 - 9 people. I was at All Star Movies and was first to be dropped off.
My recent solo trip was Sept 2017. Plane landed at 6:20AM and I was first on the bus at 6:50.
7:10 a family got on. 7:30 an older couple got on. We waited 20 minutes. At 7:50 three girls got on. I've now been sitting on the bus for one hour. 8:05 (I was keeping notes in my travel journal) a solo woman got on and we rolled out about 8:10. That's a LONG tome to sit on the bus. Had I known it wasn't going to leave until 8:10 I would have either has breakfast in the terminal or sprung for a Lyft. Don't really mind that I get at 6:30 and the bus leaves at 8 - just would be nice to know.

And (of course) I was the last passenger dropped off - All Stars, Coronado Springs, Boardwalk, Caribbean Beach and then French Quarter. Not an issue IF I hadn't been the first on and waited over an hour.

It does seem there could be a way to load and dispatch busses with more thought of the guest...
 
The experiences are all over the place, aren't they?

I, too, have arrived early, gotten on a bus and on the road in less than 15 minutes. I have never had an issue on the way back to the airport.

Does time of day matter? I always take a later flight out so I get picked up around 2/3PM
 
Why on earth would you expect Disney to compensate you? You waited a bit longer than average for the Free Bus. I truly don't understand this mindset/

Well, if the return bus took two hours to get to the airport, you’re getting close to not being able to make it onto your flight.
 
We've had a mixed bag of experience with Magical Express. I generally feel that it's pretty close to 2 hours to get to the airport by the time we stand in line to get on a bus, take the bus, and then for whatever reason it always seems that ours is the last drop off, too. Last time we were there they dropped off at Beach Club, Yacht Club, and then dropped us off at CBR last.

Getting back to the airport has been a whole different story. One time they were so incredibly slow, and then by the time we stood through security at the airport, we literally had to RUN through the airport with luggage, crying kids, a stroller. We almost missed our flight because of ME. It was crazy. So the next time we had to use ME, my husband lied about our flight time and had them pick us up 5 hours before our flight. Because we were not about to run through the airport again.
 
Does anyone know the ballpark cost of an uber or lyft from WDW to the airport? I feel like getting picked up 4 hours before your flight is a bit excessive. I'm debating whether the cost of an uber to the airport is work the potential extra hour or so of park time. Any thoughts?
 
I've given up on Magical Express. It's nice that it's a free service but it seems the wait for the bus to fill and being at the end of the line for resort drop-off takes more time than I'm willing to wait. It just isn't very magical to me. The first time I used the bag delivery service going by the times I read about it. That was a mistake. We arrived mid afternoon and didn't get our bags until we returned from the Aloha dinner show at about 10pm. I choose now to hire a stretch limo to make the trip very short and extra magical. It's expensive but much more fun.
 
Why on earth would you expect Disney to compensate you? You waited a bit longer than average for the Free Bus. I truly don't understand this mindset/
The bus really isn't free. That's something to keep in mind when people are discussing their expectations for service.
 
We've had a mixed bag of experience with Magical Express. I generally feel that it's pretty close to 2 hours to get to the airport by the time we stand in line to get on a bus, take the bus, and then for whatever reason it always seems that ours is the last drop off, too. Last time we were there they dropped off at Beach Club, Yacht Club, and then dropped us off at CBR last.

Getting back to the airport has been a whole different story. One time they were so incredibly slow, and then by the time we stood through security at the airport, we literally had to RUN through the airport with luggage, crying kids, a stroller. We almost missed our flight because of ME. It was crazy. So the next time we had to use ME, my husband lied about our flight time and had them pick us up 5 hours before our flight. Because we were not about to run through the airport again.
you don't have to lie,just call and tell them the time you would like to leave.
 
We are typically on the bus less than 10 minutes before it leaves MCO. The only time I've been on the bus more than that was when our flight landed after midnight. We got on ME a little after 1am and we sat on that bus almost an hour. I honestly don't remember what time we actually got to AKL, but we were at WDW, so I honestly didn't care.
 
If I was waiting 2 hours to board a bus I would be asking questions too.
BUT. Disney “ hear from me” is VERY DIFFERENT than Disney “compensating you”. That is what I reacted to. So many folks these days feel entitled to compensation for all sorts of perceived wrongs.
If I misunderstood you then I am sorry.

I wouldn't demand the compensation. My experience has been - when Disney screws up - they offer some form of compensation. I have written them a couple of times in the past alerting them to issues with fast passes & tour groups. I never asked for compensation. Their response? A phone call apologizing, followed by free park passes - that I never asked for. Which of course, made my day!

That was what was in my head when I asked that question. :)
 

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