Mar 23, 2015

Disney's Magical Express | Magical Mickey

Welcome back to another edition of the Magical Mickey linkup: the linkup centering around a love for Disney, sharing that love and connecting with others. I hope you find this linkup as a great place to turn to for Disney content each week and help all the bloggers participating out by helping readers find that great mouse-eared content. I'm co-hosting with Katie from Adventures by Katie, so of course check her blog out.

This week I wanted to talk about a transportation option for Walt Disney World. It's a free service by Disney that is fantastic if you'll be flying into the Orlando area. This week I'll be talking about...


Disney's Magical Express

If you're going to fly into Orlando for your trip, you should consider taking Disney's Magical Express. When you're doing to Disney, flying in and out, it's the easiest way to go. The idea is simple: you provide Disney with your flight information and they'll handle your luggage, get you to and from your resort and I'll you have to do is show up. Easy, right?


When you book your Magical Express tickets, you provide your flight information. You'll get some extra tags to throw onto your luggage. Those tags alert the baggage handlers that these are Disney bags, and they won't show up on the carousel. Instead, they get pulled out and taken right along to the resort hotel you're staying in. Now, I say "right away" but your luggage can take a little time until it's loaded up, taken to the resorts, unloaded and sorted to your room, so you'll want to plan accordingly. Anything you want right away should be in your carry-on. Officially, it can take up to 3 hours. Now, if you're really early (before 5:00 am) or really late (after 10:00 pm) you do still need to pick up your own luggage and bring it with you. We took a spur of the moment birthday trip for my wife once and were in that situation, but frankly when it's that late, it's not like it's overly busy and hard to get your luggage. Either way, you follow the signs to the Magical Express area of the terminal and find the sign for your resort. From their you hop on the appropriate bus, that will travel to several resorts and you'll be on your way shortly.


Coming home can be easy as well. For starters, you can check your luggage at your hotel. And I don't just mean at the desk to get when you come back for it later. I mean check it like you do at the airport, only doing it at your hotel so you can then go enjoy your few last hours at the park. If you do this, just be sure to consider that what goes with you into the parks will be your carry on, so be careful what you have in your bag. You'll receive all your information at your room the night before. That will include your pick up time and can even include your boarding passes. You'll be given a pick up time around 3 hours before your flight, but it can differ depending on your resort and time of day. This can feel a little less convenient depending on your flight, and because if you're like me, you want every last minute on property you can get. Not a deal breaker, but sometimes feels overzealous, especially if you don't even need to check luggage.

There are benefits to having a car rental. You can go anywhere you want at any time, go off site for food and supplies, even head to some other attractions. Also, you can drive and park at the parks if you so with to instead of taking Disney transportation. It can be more convenient at times for leaving or having extra things handy, especially with little ones. But if you plan to fly in, go to Disney and go home, this is a great option. I enjoy it, even if the bus ride back to the airport has to be the saddest bus ride.

How do you travel to Disney? Do you take the Magical Express, or prefer to have your own car?


Onto the Linkup

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The post just needs to be about anything Disney related. There have been posts on runDisney, on the parks and even on the Moms Panel, so just give it some Disney and count it.

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4 comments:

  1. Because I only live two hours away from WDW, I never have to fly there, but the Magical Express seems like an amazing and convenient option. Not having to deal with a cab or rental car is a great perk!

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    1. Yeah, from 2 hours away, doesn't really apply. I'm on the outer edge of long drive vs flight range (~12 hours). My family has always driven from PA, I've flown a couple times from VA or NJ, so experience with the mix. It is nice to just have a shorter flight, hop on a bus and get going.

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  2. Whenever we fly we take the Magical Express. No need for a car if we are staying on property and it's FREE :)

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