[fjs08]

Hi,

Just got back from a quick two day visit. Drove over from St. Petes. Yikes is I-4 crowded. Florida definitely needs another east-west artery that goes through Orlando. If one exists, I don't know about it.

Spent our time at the Boardwalk. I was told that it was 100% booked on Friday evening.
Anyway, I had to ask the CM behind the checkin desk a few things. First was about Magical Express and who is responsible if luggage is lost, etc. Wow. Got a veery wide eyed CM with NO answer on that one. She was really pumped about it until that question came up. Guess they haven't worked that one out yet.

And for the extra evenings. No rhyme or reason anymore to the dates. Used to be a pneumonic to figure it out, but not anymore. And the park that is open early was never, at least on the sheet that I have open late at nite. And nothing was open late this Friday or Saturday evening. My list was for the first 2 weeks of February.

We had a great couple of days. Weather was cool on the coast so we decided to see if we could book a room and hop over. We got lucky.

Got tossed from the Blue Zoo (Dolphin) though. On Friday evening, they closed the bar down. Guess they had a 75 person private function. Restaurant was open. Closed it at 8pm. We thought it a bit strange on a Friday nite, but the lobby bar was open. We still got there in time for a Zooberry martini. <g>

Had dinner at Flying Fish. Marvelous place!!

Frank

[Dana]

Funny I was asking myself today the luggage question with the Magical Express. I am tempted to book it for my October trip to save some money, but will I be able to have someone else so in control of my things? I have a fear of all of my luggage not making it to my room....what if the WDW tag they give you falls off? I have so many uncertain little things in my brain that is making me not want to do this afterall. I think I feel better paying. However, Magical Express does sound very convienant....I'll wait to see someone else use it first I think. Glad you had a great trip. Thanks for posting the highlights.

[fjs08]

Dana,
The CM at the Boardwalk seemed very positive on the program, but that is a big potential problem.

Other thing I "heard" was that it's not like you get a car, or a cab and come directly to your resort. No one has had an answer if you get on a bus with tons of guests and the bus then has to make the "rounds" and unload everyone off at their resort, etc. That could take a long time.
Frank

[15 mins to wdw]

The information I got from a source at Mears was they have almost 40 brand new buses coming in this april and after they are painted with the magical express design they will be put into regular service to work out the bugs in the brand new buses. They will be very similar to the disney cruise line buses. The luggage is what would scare me as well. The bus will be like mears service of going to several resorts from what I gather, however you need reservations for this so they should know who is coming and be able to group you together.

Personally I prefer the town car, for me its generally cheaper. I know the magical express is free, but I don't think it will be a permanent thing. Right now it will only be for the 18 month celebration. With a towncar I know exactly where my bags are at all times, or who has them (airline, trunk of car, bell services) and I like being able to say my bags were checked in at the departing airport and they did not make it to the arrival airport. I still will recomend people to go the towncar route. it will still be quicker in a town car plus you get a 30 min grocery stop with most of them. you also get the benefit of private transportation with a professional driver.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by 15 mins to wdw

Personally I prefer the town car, for me its generally cheaper. I know the magical express is free, but I don't think it will be a permanent thing. Right now it will only be for the 18 month celebration. With a towncar I know exactly where my bags are at all times, or who has them (airline, trunk of car, bell services) and I like being able to say my bags were checked in at the departing airport and they did not make it to the arrival airport. I still will recomend people to go the towncar route. it will still be quicker in a town car plus you get a 30 min grocery stop with most of them. you also get the benefit of private transportation with a professional driver.

Your points are what is making me hesitate to book this. On one hand, I want to save the money, but the uncertainties with my luggage and wait times to and from the airports have me nervous. I have went with a towncar for the last three trips just to avoid exactly this. I am still going to think about it some more before booking. I told mouseketrips I was interested, but can't actually book it until I have my flight numbers. I would like to her someone actually do this before I make my final decision I think.

[brumcg]

Here is some more info on the Magical Express. We're going to try it in June unless we hear horror stories before we leave.

Bruce

[Dana]

Originally Posted by brumcg

Here is some more info on the Magical Express. We're going to try it in June unless we hear horror stories before we leave.

Bruce

Bruce-
I am very interested in your opinion and hearing about your experience with this. Please let me know how it goes to help me make my final decision. Thanks.

[brumcg]

I am very interested in your opinion and hearing about your experience with this.

Will do. We booked Quicksilver to take us from the resort to the cruise and back, so I thought that doing the Express from the airport to the resort and back would save a little money and would give us a chance to evaluate the service (but I'm skeptical).

Bruce