Questions about Magical Express and the new MagicBands

How is Magical Express? Has anyone taken it recently and would you recommend it? We have always rented a car in the past but are thinking of using it this time. Comments appreciated.

I also have a question about MagicBands. Do they still require fingerprint scans every time you enter a park, or how exactly do they work?

Thank you!!

ME is fun. We love it! But, it's also luck of the draw on timing. You can get on ME and the bus leaves within 10 minutes, or you can wait for 20 minutes for your bus and then wait another 20 minutes for your bus to fill up. We like ME because we feel like our vacation has started. ME will get your luggage and deliver it to your room (but it might be 4+ hours later). Sometimes, we rent a car at the Disney Car Care Center later in the week if we need a car. You can also rent cars at some of the DTD hotels and also at Swan/Dolphin. I usually rent Avis @ Hilton in DTD.

I normally prefer to rent a car, because I like being in control of my own transportation. We'll skip the car and take ME if we are on a budget trip, or sometimes if we are staying in the Epcot Area (where we'd want the car only for AK or dinner).

Yes, the parks are still using biometrics for entry.

We like Magical Express. You can take your luggage with you and have it stowed under the bus if you're afraid it will be delivered to your room later than you'd like.

We've never had to wait long for the bus to arrive, and it typically fills quickly and off we go. It always stops at a couple other resorts before ours to let people off, but that doesn't take long. It's nice not to mess with rental cars and driving since going without a car isn't an option at most of our vacation destinations.

Being able to drive your own car around WDW can be a hugely personal decision. I know people who would NEVER take Disney transportation and those who ALWAYS do. In our case, we think that renting a car is a very unnecessary expense, plus we much prefer being dropped off and picked up at the park's main gate.

We've used DME every visit since it was first offered and never had a problem. We especially like it if we have annual passes, cause we usually get in early enough to head to a park for dinner and some entertainment in that first evening. Not having to deal with baggage claim means we get to the parks earlier. And if we don't have APs we go to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. The only thing is that it will take a while for your bags to arrive, so if there is something you'll need right away put it in your carry-on.

I love ME ... once, my nephew and I took a SWA bump and flew in 2.5 hours later. When we did get to the resort (AKV) our bags were already in the room.

stanleyu said:

Not having to deal with baggage claim means we get to the parks earlier.

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My experience has been that I wait for the bus to depart about as long as---if not longer than---I'd be waiting for my luggage. Sometimes it's faster, but on average it definitely is not. Not to mention the question of whether you are the first stop or the last...

We have taken ME many times and have never had a problem. We have never waited more than 10 minutes or so to board the bus.

You can pick up your own luggage or take what you need in your carry on. My brother and his family just got back two weeks ago and he also told me the luggage arrived at AK before they did.

We have enjoyed and are happy to have the service.

We have been driving the last few trips down and we still take Disney transportation most of the time (to get to the parks mostly).

If we fly into MCO, we take ME. If we drive from Chicago, well obviously we have a car. In cases when we drive, we stay at OKW (or SSR), where the buses have many stops inside the resort.

Waiting for luggage has never been a problem for us. We just keep the important stuff in our carry ons which we leave with Bell services before we go straight to the park if our room is not yet available. We normally keep a bathing suite and a change of clothes in our carry on. Same strategy we take with the cruise.

Magic Bands will need biometrics because they still need to protect against people sharing bands.