Very Un-Magical Express

[karen4546]

The AKL bus line has been long every time we have gone. I can only imagine with the restrictions ....and with these four resorts in the same line as you mentioned in your OP: Kidani, Jambo, POP, or Riviera. I mean I am sure most of the people arriving must have been from those resorts.

OP, let us know how you fared.

 

[karen4546]

At Orlando airport. We’ve been waiting for an hour and a half for a bus. One just came, finally. But the line is so long, the bus filled within one party of us. So we continue to stand here...3 or 4 busses have come for all other resorts but us. We are DVC and attempting to go to Kidani Village. Our line is wrapped around the area while other lines have almost no one. My advice: if you are at Kidani, Jambo, POP, or Riviera, plan an alternate way to get to your resort!

Let us know how it worked out.

 

[JimMIA]

I think the bus came, lol.

 

[gdrj]

I think that any and every experience will be different And have challenges, especially at the beginning. Look at the parking lot at MK 1st thing in AM.

I think all transportation will have challenges. Besides the limited capacity on busses, monorail etc. there are budget restraints which means busses will not run as frequently.

No matter what we pay for a trip park tickets etc., it needs to be measured against and ongoing worsening PANDEMIC!

 

[tnolan]

The AKL bus line has been long every time we have gone. I can only imagine with the restrictions ....and with these four resorts in the same line as you mentioned in your OP: Kidani, Jambo, POP, or Riviera. I mean I am sure most of the people arriving must have been from those resorts.

OP, let us know how you fared.

They must have changed it, everytime we have gone for the bus for POP the only other resort on that line is AoA.

 

[Sandiz08]

Wow, Ive heard of these reports with magical express even pre-covid. I'm sure they are few and far between as we have never waited more than 5 minutes to board a bus.

 

[VandVsmama]

At Orlando airport. We’ve been waiting for an hour and a half for a bus. One just came, finally. But the line is so long, the bus filled within one party of us. So we continue to stand here...3 or 4 busses have come for all other resorts but us. We are DVC and attempting to go to Kidani Village. Our line is wrapped around the area while other lines have almost no one. My advice: if you are at Kidani, Jambo, POP, or Riviera, plan an alternate way to get to your resort!

That sounds like a nightmare. Totally ridiculous. I would be hopping mad if I was in your shoes!

 

[Rockbro]

I've never used DME and am planning on using it in September. Hopefully some of the kinks are worked out by then. But now they are saying no luggage service--I guess that makes sense, but a pretty nice feature. If my wait is more than an hour--I'm def getting an Uber/Lyft!

One of the things I miss most about Magical Express is the video played on the way from the airport. Also, I may be an oddity, but I always hoped to be later in the order of drop off because it heightened the anticipation of finally getting to MY place.

The only drawback is when you consume many adult beverages on the airplane and are pining to get to your resort's *ahem* facilities.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Just for clarification, MinnieVans to and from the airport are $150 flat rate, unless they've gone up. And they're also not cheap just around WDW any more either.

Yeah its 150 plus tip. But man its a great experience and amazing way to arrive at your resort. Our driver overhead us mentioning we were going straight to DHS and offered to wait for us to drop off our bags(with bell-services) and then took us there. Probably not something that happens every time, but outside of the cost, Minnie Vans from the airport are very magical.

 

[Sandiz08]

Any other families experiencing long wait times for MDE ?

 

[tnolan]

The only drawback is when you consume many adult beverages on the airplane and are pining to get to your resort's *ahem* facilities.

Well they do have bathrooms on the bus if you are really needy.

 

[Rockbro]

Well they do have bathrooms on the bus if you are really needy.

Yes, on many occasions very needy. I wish I would have known that, instead of doing a bad impression of the happy dance.

 

[easyas123]

Can we keep the personal opinions about the parks opening too fast, "I'm staying away" and 13000 people touching everything somewhere else? This thread is SUPPOSED to be about one family waiting for their DME bus and how long its taking. If you want to complain about the healthy aspects of things NOT RELATED to this thread then start your own opinion fest with another thread.

X a million! And can we apply this to other threads?

OP - how long did your wait end up being, or did you end up taking a car? Looking forward to hearing how it ended for you.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I don't think extended waits are all that unusual to be honest.

 

[KristinU]

I don't think extended waits are all that unusual to be honest.

I agree, we had an extended wait several year ago, similar to the OP where we were one or two parties away from getting on the already-delayed bus and had to wait for the next one. Far from magical, IMHO. We pretty much always rent a car now.

 

[Pooh2]

This thread makes me glad we were already planning on a rental car in November..

 

[kaytieeldr]

Four days? Didn't the two parks

I agree, we had an extended wait several year ago, similar to the OP where we were one or two parties away from getting on the already-delayed bus and had to wait for the next one. Far from magical, IMHO. We pretty much always rent a car now.

It still surprises me that they don't redirect a Magical Express bus when one group is experiencing an unusually long wait or has an extraordinary line, while buses for another group of resorts are departing every X minutes.

 

[JM23457]

I don't think extended waits are all that unusual to be honest.

In my experience, they are unusual. We have been several times and never had that kind of wait for DME.

 

[McMonsters]

In my experience, they are unusual. We have been several times and never had that kind of wait for DME.

All but one of our ME experiences as been a minimum of 45 minute wait, plus the ride ot the resort. Last time we wated 1.5 hours then by the luck of the draw we were the last drop of with 3 other resorts ahead of us. Total time was 3 hours and 20 minutes. We don't visit during the holidays and usually go during the "cheaper" months so it wasn't because of mass crowds.

 

[MomOTwins]

All but one of our ME experiences as been a minimum of 45 minute wait, plus the ride ot the resort. Last time we wated 1.5 hours then by the luck of the draw we were the last drop of with 3 other resorts ahead of us. Total time was 3 hours and 20 minutes. We don't visit during the holidays and usually go during the "cheaper" months so it wasn't because of mass crowds.

Time of day makes a huge difference too. Whenever we arrive around midday, the waits for MDE are insane. When we arrive in late afternoon/evening, we're often the only ones there.