Disney’s Magical Express Info, Tips & Review
Disney’s Magical Express is free airport transportation for on-site Walt Disney World hotel guests. This guide to the shuttle service offers tips & info about DME, a review of whether it’s worth your time, or renting a car or using Uber/Lyft is better. We’ve used Magical Express 30+ times, and have lots of experience with it. (Updated July 25, 2021.)
Disney’s Magical Express is available to guests staying on property in Walt Disney World-owned hotels only. In other words, if you’re staying at a hotel with the possessive Disney’s in front of its name, you’re good. If you’re staying at a Disney Springs hotel, the Swan/Dolphin, Shades of Green, or “Cleetus’ Luxury-r-us Motel, Now with COLOR TV!” down on I-Drive, you’re out of luck.
As for what Disney’s Magical Express offers, let’s start with a brief overview. The service operates to and from Orlando International Airport (MCO) only, where it is located on Level 1 of the B-side baggage claim area. Disney’s Magical Express runs whenever the airport is open. Whether you have the last flight of the day or the first, you’ll have shuttle service to or from your hotel. In fact, those late and early options are usually the most efficient and least crowded!
To take advantage of Disney’s Magical Express, all you need to do is indicate that you want to use it when booking your hotel reservation, and the agent will automatically walk you through the process. If you want to add it to your reservation after you make it, you can do that online or by calling 866-599-0951.
Alternatively, if you’re like us, you can fail to do all of those things and just show up to the Disney’s Magical Express kiosk where they will scan your MagicBands and let you board the bus. This is the easiest way to go about it for us, especially since many of our trips are last-minute. This is also an option if you lose your vouchers, your flight is delayed, etc.
As long as you’re a registered guest, they will make sure you get to your hotel. So don’t fret–after all, Disney wants you to get to Walt Disney World so you can start spending money…err…enjoying your vacation! 😉
2021 & 2022 Disney’s Magical Express Updates
Before we get into the Disney’s Magical Express basics and review, we should probably cover the significant changes and cutbacks that have already happened in the last year with Disney’s Magical Express, and what else is on the horizon. We’ll start with current issues and changes, as those are impacting anyone visiting Walt Disney World now and planning on using Disney’s Magical Express.
First, luggage delivery for those arriving to Orlando International Airport is no longer available. This means that guests who use Disney’s Magical Express will be responsible for picking up any of their checked luggage from the airport’s baggage claim area, so that it can be loaded onto the motorcoach to their Walt Disney World resort hotel.
Additionally, Resort Airline Check-In Service is no longer available upon departure from your Walt Disney World hotel. This means that you’ll need to have your luggage with you to load it onto the motorcoach, and you’ll need to check it in with your airline once you reach the airport. Basically, all luggage handling is now done by guests. Not having to hassle with bags to and from the airport was a huge convenience for many guests, so this is one big loss that has already occurred.
Second, lines can be very long for Disney’s Magical Express at Orlando International Airport. There’s a bus driver shortage and that compounded with high pent-up demand can mean long lines during peak travel times. Unfortunately, there’s also a rental car shortage and Uber/Lyft driver shortage, meaning higher prices and longer waits for both.
The best way to avoid all of these issues is arriving into MCO in the morning or later in the evening. During the middle of the day is when these problems are most pronounced. At off hours, you might not experience any of these issues at all. While it might seem “extreme” to plan your flights around airport transportation, it really isn’t.
Do not underestimate just how bad these issues with DME buses, rental cars, and Uber/Lyft really are. There have been reports of hour-plus waits at rental car counters and/or Disney’s Magical Express during the midday hours. (I wish I took better photos to fully illustrate just how bad things are at MCO, but after our first negative experience earlier this year, we’ve started taking the very first flight of the day to avoid further issues.)
Now let’s turn to the what’s happening next year: Disney’s Magical Express is ending in 2022. The shuttle service will no longer be offered starting with arrivals January 1, 2022. Guests who arrive at Walt Disney World before this date will still be able to utilize Disney’s Magical Express for transportation to Orlando International Airport following their hotel stay until January 10, 2022.
Walt Disney World attributed the decision to the rise of Uber of Lyft, saying there has been an the expansion of transportation options for guests: “vacationers have more options to choose from than ever for transportation, including ride-share services that save time and offer more flexibility to go where they want, when they want.”
Following that, guests will need to utilize private transportation or ride-share services. Disney’s Magical Express will also have a spiritual successor in Mears Connect, which begins service in 2022. Mears is the vendor that currently operates Disney’s Magical Express, so there should be good continuity of service. The only difference between how the transportation works in 2021 v. 2022 is that there won’t be Disney branding and you’ll have to pay for Mears Connect directly.
If you don’t want to rent a car or use Uber/Lyft, Mears Connect will be your main option for the next several years. While some Walt Disney World fans might point to the Brightline train station at Disney Springs being the eventual replacement for Disney’s Magical Express, that’s still several years away. Construction hasn’t even started yet on the MCO to Disney Springs line, and the tentative target opening year for that line is 2026. Given the delays to date, we’d bank on it being finished late, not early—and certainly not next year!
With all of that out of the way, here’s basic info about Disney’s Magical Express…
Disney’s Magical Express Info
The Disney’s Magical Express buses are coach-style buses operated by Mears. They have restrooms and on-bus displays that go through a video covering the basics of Disney’s Magical Express and Walt Disney World that’s pretty fun. There’s also an hour-long background music loop that plays on the bus (which is also conveniently available online–it’s nice background music to put on at home!).
If you’re “fortunate” enough to still be on the bus after this video finishes, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts play after it. In total, the commute from your plane (via walking and an airport monorail) to the Magical Express area will take about 10-12 minutes, the wait from the time you arrive in the Magical Express area until your bus departs will be about 10-30 minutes, and the commute from the airport to the Walt Disney World main entrance is about 30 minutes.
After that, add about 7 minutes for each hotel at which the bus stops. In other words, plus 7 minutes if you’re stop 1, plus 28 minutes if you’re stop 4. The whole process will take a minimum of about an hour and a maximum of just under two hours. Oh, and trying to bribe your bus driver with a generous tip will not get you there any faster (although it is customary to tip them, regardless).
If you would prefer a private ride but don’t want to rent a car, Uber or Lyft airport pickups are now an option at Orlando International Airport. How long that’ll take and cost depends largely upon demand and traffic. Arriving at off hours will always be your best bet.
The whole Disney’s Magical Express process is similar when leaving Walt Disney World resort. You will need to schedule your DME ride in advance, and you will receive a voucher slipped under your hotel door the day before you leave with a pick-up time about 3 hours before your domestic flight or 4 hours before an international flight.
Security at MCO can get really backed up during busy travel times on normal days, and the holidays are downright chaotic. If you have it, you’ll be very thankful for TSA PreCheck. In terms of procedure for using Disney’s Magical Express for your return trip to MCO, it’s pretty simple.
Simply go out to enjoy the parks on that precious last day of your vacation. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get back to your hotel to catch your assigned bus. Unlike the ride to Walt Disney World property, Disney is not nearly as flexible in accommodating you on the way back to the hotel.
If you’ve never used it before, it can sound complicated, but it’s actually incredibly easy to use. It’s actually fairly idiot-proof, too. As long as you can find Level 1 in the airport, you’re set. Someone there will help you with the rest of the details and herd you to your hotel.
Review
Some of you are probably wondering how something that’s “free” might not be worth it. Well, free is in quotes at various places in this article because it’s truly not free. You probably don’t need a reminder of this, but Disney is a for-profit company that doesn’t offer things out of corporate benevolence. Don’t let those cute characters fool you.
As such, there are a couple of costs associated with Disney’s Magical Express. The first is your freedom. This is the big reason Disney offers the service, as it makes guests much less likely to rent cars when visiting Walt Disney World, and thereby makes them less likely to visit competing theme parks, eat off-property, or even go to the grocery store.
In short, it makes tourists a captive audience, and Disney has determined that the average increase in per guest spending with Disney’s Magical Express plus the perceived convenience and goodwill obtained from offering the service outweighs the average per guest cost of offering the service. There’s probably a bit more to Disney’s calculations than that, but that’s the basic gist of it.
If you plan on spending your entire vacation on Walt Disney World and thus don’t really care about your freedom, this is not really a cost at all. Even if you do care about having some freedom, services like Uber and Lyft have made it so much easier to go off-property at a relatively low price. These days, we don’t really view “freedom” as that great of a cost.
The second cost is your time. As you can see from the information above, using Disney’s Magical Express can be a time-consuming proposition. It’s usually going to take more time using Disney’s Magical Express than it will take to pick up a rental car and drive directly to your hotel. Unless you are awesome at getting lost in Orlando.
Depending upon how you value your vacation time, the cost of these couple hours on the front and back of your trip may not be worth it. You may see better value in just paying for a rental car for the duration of your trip. These are the two main costs of Disney’s Magical Express. When planning your Disney trip (or living life in general), it’s sometimes important to remember that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
As for the service itself, we generally like Disney’s Magical Express. That much should sort of be a given, as we use it almost every time we travel. Efficiency with DME can be hit or miss; sometimes we wait 10 minutes from the time our MagicBands are scanned until the bus departs, sometimes we’ve waited 40 minutes. We’ve been taking red-eye flights lately that arrive into Orlando at around 5:30 a.m., and our average wait this early has only been around 15 minutes, and often we have a bus nearly to ourselves–not bad!
Even though it does take longer when using Disney’s Magical Express than when not using it, we believe the difference is negligible. You’re probably looking at a grand total of two hours of vacation time (round-trip, and that’s at the absolute most), which isn’t a big deal to us. Granted this time is at the front and back of the vacation, when you’d do just about anything for “one more hour” in the parks, but in the grand scheme of a trip, it’s not much.
The big benefit of Disney’s Magical Express, as we see it, is convenience. All we have to do is show up, and we’re put on a bus and dropped off right at our hotel. We can even sleep on the way there. Of course, sleeping means you miss out on the video on the way there. Watching that video has become a tradition of our vacations, and although the video itself is a bit corny, it always makes us smile. Disney’s Magical Express, in general, has become such a part of our trips that vacation doesn’t really start until we get on that Magical Express bus.
When discussing Disney’s Magical Express, it seems the topic of renting a car instead always comes up. Aside from the above (using the rental car instead of Disney’s Magical Express to get to and from the airport), it’s important to remember that using Disney’s Magical Express and renting a car for your trip aren’t mutually exclusive. You can take Disney’s Magical Express, and then rent a car once at Walt Disney World for just a few days of your trip (or the whole thing, if you really want).
If you’re on the fence about renting a car for your Walt Disney World vacation, getting to and from the airport shouldn’t really be a consideration either way. Since this is a Disney’s Magical Express review and not a post weighing the merits of renting a car, I won’t go any further down the rental car road in this post. Additionally, taking Uber instead of Disney’s Magical Express can be an option (with some caveats). We touch upon that and some other transportation issues in our Walt Disney World Transportation Tips article.
Overall, we believe that Disney’s Magical Express is still a useful service that offers a fun way to start out your vacation. Granted, it’s not a “signature” experience like riding the monorail, but it still has a “Disney feel” that we’d miss if we didn’t take it. As far as efficiency goes, it’s unquestionably less efficient than renting a car and driving directly to your hotel, but the trade-off is convenience and lack of additional out of pocket cost. It’s not going to be for everyone, and rent-a-car die hards are unluckily to change their ways due to Disney’s Magical Express, but for everyone else, Disney’s Magical Express is a good service that’s worth using. Because of this, all things considered, we recommend using Disney’s Magical Express.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts…
Are you a fan of Disney’s Magical Express, or do you prefer to get yourself to the hotel? What have been your experiences using Disney’s Magical Express? Disappointed that DME no longer handles luggage? Upset that the service will end entirely in 2022? Planning on using Mears Connect next year? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Discontinuing DME is a Huge issue for families with small kids. I have two under 4, and Lyft/Uber is Not an option ever because it would require us to ck in and lug around car seats- plus install it – just to get to our destination. Rental car you say? The price is high (especially now) – I got quoted $1500 for a recent attempted vacation to CA for a week from a rental car company. Turo is cheaper but we can’t ever find anyone who offers two car seats (rear and forward facing). The only option for us is a shuttle service, but the dread of getting two small kids, plus baggage, strollers, etc to and from is a nightmare. At least we have Mears. But it’s absolutely correct that the value of Disney trips is being eroded. Paying for fast pass is another – yes we will – we don’t like it, but can afford to, and once the kids are older, we’ll be traveling elsewhere.
Very, Very disappointed that Disney is discontinuing the DME. It was so much easier to check our luggage in at the airport, & having it delivered to our resort room without having to keep up with it throughout the day of arrival. Then in reverse, being able to check it in at the resort to be delivered to the airport. It was a huge relief to have this courtesy service. Our kids are grown, so we don’t have the issues of strollers, etc. I really feel bad for them. The stress will be high, & it won’t feel like a vacation or going to the “most magical place on earth”
Not having to rely on other transportation was wonderful for us, as we stay on property during our entire vacation.
Since Disney has decided to end the services we counted on, with increased prices in other things, this fall may be our last visit for a good long time.
Added to all this is, not restarting the dining plans yet, especially the free quick service. They’ve said they are returning, but WHEN?
Thanks Tom! Would love to know more about car service/limo service for a larger group of 8-10 of u arriving together. Do you have any recommendations for any local airport transport services?
Disney is now making it so much harder for seniors to travel to visit Mickey and friends. Magical Express was perfect for two seniors who go every year and not have to worry about luggage. My husband and I are in our 70s and we go every year to Disney and stay 2 weeks so there is heavy luggage with these trips. Not having the help for our luggage has now caused us to cancel our trip. By Disney
Disney stating there are so many options for travelers is comical. Being a very kid focused location will now require parents to lug car seats in addition to all their other luggage/strollers. All the ppl who currently use The Magical Express will be “competing” to get an Uber/rental car in a time when these services are already at a shortage. We traveled to Disney 4 times from November 2020-Sept 2021, we have no plans for 2022. Ppl will still go, so it doesn’t change a thing. As small as magical express may seem to Disney it has me looking into off site hotels where I can save TONS on my room to be able to add a rental into my budget.
Disney is really taking the magic out of the experience. All of the recent changes make this trip seem very undesirable with kids. Using magical express and transporting the luggage to the hotel from the airport was so convenient. Also the rider swap change is ridiculous. Now a parent has to choose which kid out of their children they will ride with. I have a trip scheduled in April. With all these changes, it just doesn’t seem worth the ridiculously overpriced price tag anymore.
Is Disney also doing away with the bus if we’re going on a Disney cruise from Orlando airport?
I don’t think that anyone took into account that some people have to get their luggage at Terminal A and then cross to Terminal B to DME. As a person with a disability this adds to the time it takes to do this as I walk slowly. In addition, it is the reverse when getting to the airport. The Bus goes into Terminal B but our flight is Terminal A. The first time we did this we had a porter take our luggage and it took more than 15 mins walking to get to the airline check in. We would not have found it on our own in time for our flight. The resort check in and luggage delivery made this so much easier and fun. and less painful
When we have stayed at the Swan and Dolphin I have used Quicksilver Limo services
for a family of 4 it was $100.00 round trip with a 30 minute “grocery/snack stop” included
They met you at the luggage pickup. Never had any issues
I am sure the price has increased but, considering parking fees, and car rental it was a good option
I agree with you and think we should form a group of some type as a group would have more of an impact than a few individuals. Just my humble opinion.
We too are disappointed with the cancellation of magical express. We build up the hype with the small kids that Mickey is so excited to see us all that he sends his own very specials buses to the airport to make sure we get there safe and sound. Actually, the excitement and relief is more for the parents who have small children who have just had a four hour plane ride (direct if you are lucky, even longer when you need connecting flights not to mention our car drive to the airport is almost 5 hours – usually in the biggest snow storm of the season – to get off the plane, find a washroom for your child and walk to an awaiting bus and not worry about waiting to grab your luggage while holding onto either extremely excited children or one having the meltdown of a lifetime. I think Disney under estimated how much the magical express means to its big and small guests.
I was so disappointed at hearing the Magic Express is being discontinued as a perk to visiting WDW. Every visit we have had starts and ends with this service and it’s a tradition for us. We never felt concern with any wait for the Magic Express and it started off our WDW visit, waiting for a fun, relaxing, and exciting “ride”. The trip onto property from the airport in the Magic Express symbolized all of us leaving behind the realities of work, school, stressors, etc. and transported us to a fantasy world where all of our “troubles” were left behind. Very sad to see it go, but very happy we will get to experience it one more magical time on our August 2021 visit.
Also very unfortunate news regarding the luggage system changing. This was one of my favorite things about staying on property, all of those little details were so nice and helpful.
Just sent this to guest services, wonder if I’ll get a reply?
I have been a Disney Fan and Fanatic since 1964 when I first visited the Happiest Place on Earth as a 10-year-old fourth grader. Since then I’ve visited DLR and WDW numerous times, with my parents, wife, children, and now grandchildren. And believe me when traveling with a large group to be able to drop off your luggage at your home airport and not worry about it until you see it in your WDW hotel room is nothing short of “magical.” And we travel from Hawaii, making this more of a miracle.
Disney’s Magical Express was the catalyst for us becoming annual passholders and DVC owners. But unfortunately Disney has gradually removed lots of the magic that made our vacations so special. They have reduced benefits for staying on-site, cut hours of operation, and placed a price for any ala carte show or event.
We are now planning our 2023 vacation and without DME, DIsney is no longer our only choice, but more someplace to use our DVC points. What is more disheartening is my children feel this way. It could easily be the beginning of the end for a 50+ year relationship. But when you’re making billions of dollars, what is the loss of one customer?
Do you know if they will bring back the availability to do your airport check-in at the resorts when Mears takes over next year? In other words, do you know if Mears will offer this?
Disney needs to bring the magical express back till the train is up and working sign a new contract I been going to Disney for the pass 20 years and using the magical express is one less thing I have to worry about getting to and from the resort and airport. I was at Disney this a couple of weeks ago and people where complaining about all the changes. Even the DVC and season ticket holders don’t care for the changes.
@julie, it usually costs us between $30-$35 each way in an Uber
I am very disappointed in the cancelling of Disney’s Magical Express. We consider
not having to drive on our vacation a real vacation. We never minded waiting in line for the magical Express, it’s just another Disney queue. We have been using Disney’s Magical Express since it started. We will definitely miss it, it was a great perk. And we will be making reservations with Mears connect for our DRIVE FREE
VACATIONS in the future.
We as a family love the magical express, even the ‘tragical’ express at the end is still great, so we are going to miss this. When hiring a car, is also worth remembering that Disney charge for hotel parking. Still we can’t wait until Brits can return!
My wife and I went to WDW in March and went the rental car route. That definitely costs more as you have the cost of the rental car plus the cost of nightly parking at the resort. We did have more “freedom” as you mentioned because of the 8 nights we were there, we only ate diner on property 1 time. There are tons of good restaurants within reasonable driving distances. We also used the rental car to drive to the parks each day as I had heard not many good stories on how the bus transportation to and from the parks was doing at that time. The real horror story though was the line for one of the rental companies at the airport. Fortunately it was not the one that we were using, but people in line were saying the estimated wait was 4-5 hours! I wish I could attach a picture of the line that I took, you would not believe your eyes! Going back the last weekend in November for another 8 nights at Wilderness Lodge and will be using the Magical Express…but it has been all down hill since they fired Gus 😉
Very saddened to hear that magical express is going away. My family frequently visits and we have 3 kids that are all in car seats. The buses allow us to carry them verse any other service. And renting a vehicle means bringing there seats and paying your resort for parking. Along with now having to pick up baggage this loss is making vacationing with Disney far more difficult. Also making the value of staying at a Disney resort in my opinion far less convenient and “worth it”. Wishing Disney changes their minds or does something for families with kids. What I just sent to Disney’s email you provided Tom.