Magical Express at Night From Airport

[Catvondita]

Hi there,


My husband and I are doing a last minute trip to WDW for labor day weekend (not great timing I know). The only flight we ca do arriving at MCO is an evening flight landing from NYC to MCO at 10:34PM. I've only ever landed at MCO late when I wasn't staying on property and used a Mears shuttle so I am not sure how long it takes for Magical Express at night. I would assume it's slower at night because maybe it waits for people longer to fill the bus up? Or it just runs less often in general?

Can you those of you who have taken the ME later in the evening give me an idea of how long it took you to get to your hotel? I'm staying at POP if it helps. Also my main reason for asking is we are probably going to want to eat if we can make it to POP in time before the food court closes. We're willing to take an Uber if needed but would prefer ME because magic lol

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I haven't noticed a difference in how long I wait based on time of day I arrive.
People fly in 24 hours a day.
I've had no wait morning/noon/night and I've had to wait up to about 15 minutes on the bus morning/noon/night.

You're going to have to pick up your luggage though.

Landing at 10:34pm I doubt you'd get to eat at POP.
Instead I'd grab something at the airport to take with you to eat in your room.

 

[SharonZ]

I've arrived late at MCO, grabbed my bags, and really didn't wait any longer than I have during the day.

 

[Catvondita]

I haven't noticed a difference in how long I wait based on time of day I arrive.
People fly in 24 hours a day.
I've had no wait morning/noon/night and I've had to wait up to about 15 minutes on the bus morning/noon/night.

You're going to have to pick up your luggage though.

Landing at 10:34pm I doubt you'd get to eat at POP.
Instead I'd grab something at the airport to take with you to eat in your room.

Darn. I saw that they close around 12AM and was trying to avoid airport food. How about if we took an uber do you think?

 

[Ensusieasm]

Hi there,


My husband and I are doing a last minute trip to WDW for labor day weekend (not great timing I know). The only flight we ca do arriving at MCO is an evening flight landing from NYC to MCO at 10:34PM. I've only ever landed at MCO late when I wasn't staying on property and used a Mears shuttle so I am not sure how long it takes for Magical Express at night. I would assume it's slower at night because maybe it waits for people longer to fill the bus up? Or it just runs less often in general?

Can you those of you who have taken the ME later in the evening give me an idea of how long it took you to get to your hotel? I'm staying at POP if it helps. Also my main reason for asking is we are probably going to want to eat if we can make it to POP in time before the food court closes. We're willing to take an Uber if needed but would prefer ME because magic lol

Eat at the airport to be safe. Your bus ride will be much less stressful if you aren’t hangry.

 

[maxiesmom]

There is no way to know how long your ride will be. I've had it take less than 90 minutes that time of night, and I've had it take over 2 hours.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Darn. I saw that they close around 12AM and was trying to avoid airport food. How about if we took an uber do you think?

Still doubtful.
Even if you land at 10;34 you may not actually get off the plane for several more minutes. By the time you get your luggage and uber to POP you're pushing it real close if everything goes smoothly.

 

[IrishNYC]

The bus won't be any different than landing during the day. It runs 24/7. The only difference is that you'll have to grab your own luggage at that hour. Luggage service stops at 10pm, and I personally don't let them pick up if I land after 6pm.

 

[Catvondita]

Still doubtful.
Even if you land at 10;34 you may not actually get off the plane for several more minutes. By the time you get your luggage and uber to POP you're pushing it real close if everything goes smoothly.

Well crap lol. There's really nothing at the airport I would want to eat. I'll just try to make sure I eat a big early dinner before the flight then. thanks!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Well crap lol. There's really nothing at the airport I would want to eat. I'll just try to make sure I eat a big early dinner before the flight then. thanks!

There's actually a lot of options that they didnt used to have. You could also see if uber will stop somewhere. Or you could get something from your airport before boarding and maybe just bring a midnight snack for the hotel.

 

[gatormom2tots]

Only done MDE once upon arrival. Waited almost an hour for the luggage to come out (argh....) and then waitied about 20 minutes on the bus. We landed about 11:30 and got to the hotel (CSR) about 1 in the morning.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

We arrived at MCO just after midnight a few years ago. We didn't wait very long for our luggage, but we were probably on the bus 45 minutes before it headed to AKL. My guess is they leave every hour or half hour during the overnight hours. Our bus was still half empty after waiting the 45 minutes. I highly recommend grabbing something at the airport, or bringing something and packing it in your luggage. MCO has some decent restaurants, now! Much better than Midway in Chicago!

 

[ScubaCat]

Much better than Midway in Chicago!

There's a bunch under construction now though! Fingers crossed for some good options. (I saw a woodgrain pizza logo on a construction wall so that's at least passable ) anyway, back to Orlando because I'm wondering....

What's decent and available at MCO around midnight? I'll have this same experience in a few months so I'd be interested to know if anything would be open there.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

Don’t start your trip stressing on making it to POP before the food court closes...you probably won’t. We’ve arrived at 12:30 am, grabbed bags and were in our room for 2:00 using DME. Not bad in my opinion. I would grab something in the airport to snack on until breakfast the next day.

 

[pat fan]

So ME runs 24/7 just the baggage pick up stops earlier? Our flight gets in at 9:17 pm, are we going to have to get our own luggage?

 

[maxiesmom]

There are pizza delivery places, if pizza works.

 

[goofy4tink]

Hi there,


My husband and I are doing a last minute trip to WDW for labor day weekend (not great timing I know). The only flight we ca do arriving at MCO is an evening flight landing from NYC to MCO at 10:34PM. I've only ever landed at MCO late when I wasn't staying on property and used a Mears shuttle so I am not sure how long it takes for Magical Express at night. I would assume it's slower at night because maybe it waits for people longer to fill the bus up? Or it just runs less often in general?

Can you those of you who have taken the ME later in the evening give me an idea of how long it took you to get to your hotel? I'm staying at POP if it helps. Also my main reason for asking is we are probably going to want to eat if we can make it to POP in time before the food court closes. We're willing to take an Uber if needed but would prefer ME because magic lol

If your flight lands ontime at 10:34, you won't be off the plane until around 10:50ish. Then, 10 mins from the gate to main terminal (via the tram). Now, depending on your airline, you have to get your checked bags on either Side A or Side B. If you land on Side A, you'll need to go down to level 2 on Side A, get your bags, go back up to level 3, where you arrived via the tram, then over to Side B, and down to level 1 to get to DME. That will take about 30 mins. If you land on Side B, then you get off the tram and go to level 2, get your bags, then take the elevator down to level 1 and get DME, about 20 mins. Then, wait for the bus. From your arrival at the DME area to getting on the bus can be anywhere from 1 min to 25 or so mins. Then, 30 mins to your resort, maybe a bit longer depending on which stop you are. I would always figure on it taking up to 90 mins from gate to resort. That means you don't arrive at Pop until around past midnight. Taking uber would cut down on about 25 mins, the time you spend in line at DME. So, that's not going to help much.
I would bring something to eat with you. Grab a bottle of water before you board the plane and save it for when you get to Pop. Bring a sandwich or other snack. Much better than worrying about getting to Pop before the food court closes.

So ME runs 24/7 just the baggage pick up stops earlier? Our flight gets in at 9:17 pm, are we going to have to get our own luggage?

You won't 'have' to, but I would. Baggage pick up stops at 10pm and resumes around 5am. Even if you have DME handle your bags, arriving at 9:17, you may not get those bags in your room until midnight or so, depending on your resort. I tend to leave the tags off my bags and get them myself if I'm arriving at MCO later than 7pm.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just bring food from home or eat at the airport or eat on the plane. I personally like some of the airlines’ tapasastyle boxes or cheese platters for purchase.

 

[Shanti]

When we arrived at the airport around 9pm, we had about a 15-minute wait for our DME bus to leave MCO- nothing unusual. Having to collect checked baggage is what will delay you.

 

[IrishNYC]

So ME runs 24/7 just the baggage pick up stops earlier? Our flight gets in at 9:17 pm, are we going to have to get our own luggage?

If you arrive on time they will still pick up your luggage, but they won't deliver it until 12-2am, most likely.