Disney's Magical Express

[piratefan04]

I know this may not be the place to ask this, but I figured that some poeple leaving from Port Cavaneral may stay at Disney before their cruise. I was just wondering what your experiences were with this service.

 

Thanks

[CruznPrnces]

We actually just did that. We stayed at Disney World for the week before our cruise out of Cape Canaveral. We used Magical Express to get from the airport to our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) and then hired a van to take us to the dock. It worked out well, but I'm not sure that I would use it again. We got off the plane, and once we were through the other side of security, there were disney people every few feet pointing which direction to go. We went down to the desk, checked in with them, and then boarded a bus. I would say we were on the bus within 20 minutes (or less) of getting off the plane. We were the second hotel stop on the bus, and we were at our hotel within about 45 minutes (I forget exactly how long it took us to get there). Now comes our biggest complaint. Our plane landed at 6:20pm. We were at the hotel by 8......our luggage didn't arrive in our rooms until after 10pm. We couldn't unpack or go swimming or anything. I bevieve there is an option where you can pick up your own luggage and take it with you on the bus. If we did it again, I think that is what we would do. That's what I would recommend to you. Other than that, it was great.

[maltesemom]

I used this service in May and it was wonderful. We got off the plane, checked in at the desk, got on the bus and our luggage was waiting at our hotel for us.

[2br~2b]

I used this service in May and it was wonderful. We got off the plane, checked in at the desk, got on the bus and our luggage was waiting at our hotel for us.

 

Is there a fee for this service?

[piratefan04]

As long as you are staying at a Disney hotel, there is no fee as of now. I'm not sure if you can even use the service if your not staying at one of their hotels.

[hardingk]

As long as you are staying at a Disney hotel, there is no fee as of now. I'm not sure if you can even use the service if your not staying at one of their hotels.

You can only use this service if you are booked at a Walt Disney World resort and have arranged it prior to arriving. We were in WDW back in May when the service had just launched. We heard mixed reviews. One woman we ran into was going to be in Disney for a week, and after traveling there from CA, when she arrived, they had lost her luggage and could not trace it. She was not happy to say the least! Imagine spending a week in Disney with no clothes!!! They gave her $500 and a shuttle ride to the outlets to buy new stuff, but she was still upset as to how they had no log of her luggage, but the rest of her family traveling with her had no problems!

[mc'smom]

You must be staying at a Disney World Hotel inorder to use this service and you must book your accomodations at least 10 days in advance as well.

[FunCruiser56]

We went to disneyworld in June and used this service. Wonderful! We arived in Orlando rather late 10pm and never waited at all. Checked in and right on the bus we were at the resort by 10:30. Driver was very pleasant and the bus was a luxury bus. Because of the lateness of our flight we opted to pick up our own luggage, not a problem.

Others we talked to said Disney picking up their luggage and transporting to the resort worked very well also.

We used it for our return to the airport also, they asign you a time based on your flight times. Worked very well. We will use this service again, even if we had to pay a small fee for it we would probably still use it. We never missed our rental car and found other ways to spend the money!\

 

We are frequent visitors to Disney World and feel this is a very nice perk for resort guests. You can find lots more information on Magical Express and Disney world at this site. http://disboards.com/

 

Bev

 

Bev

[Iamthesea]

 

As long as you are staying at a Disney hotel, there is no fee as of now. I'm not sure if you can even use the service if your not staying at one of their hotels.

I may be wrong, but I believe there is a "built-in" cost when your Disney room is booked. For instance, I can get a room at the Caribbean Beach resort for $99 a night, through an independent TA. If I booked the same room through Disney and opted for their "free" transportation, the cost for the room might be $125 a night for that same room. Don't forget to tip the driver as well.

 

When we stayed at Disney and Universal last summer, we hired a limo driver to transport us from airport, to Universal, then to the cruise pier, from the pier to Disney and then back to the airport. We booked our rooms at the cheapest we could find (there are better prices out there.) We figured we came out slightly ahead and had a limo service that was on our schedule, met us at the airport, helped with luggage, gave us refreshments, dropped us off at the store, etc. For a family of five, this was the way to go for us.

[2br~2b]

Sea,

 

Can you please tell me how you get the Caribbean Beach Resort for $99/night? At what time of the year can you get that rate?