60 minute wait times reported for Magical Express

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by dx4100

How on earth does having a prepaid hotel, prepaid transport, prepaid food, adequate insurance would worry an immigration officer ? That gives the officer more insurances than it does if you are saying you will DIY everything. They don't even ask you about this anyway, about all they do as is where you are staying. You are talking rubbish. Disney as a service provider have a responsibility to look after its guests. If they fail to do so, then you have your travel insurance to fall back on. There is no issue.

The default position of some people on here is only the wealthy should go to the USA, and its such a nonsense.

Everyone should consider carrying a credit card with a good limit to cover off gaps as travel insurance sometimes won't pay up front and you need to cover costs which you can reclaim. But if you get sick on holiday then you can pretty much reclaim all the costs - including taxis.

Such rubbish being said and I hope it doesn't put people off considering going.

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I get asked about money by the immigration officer each time.

[dx4100]

Originally Posted by Andybear

I get asked about money by the immigration officer each time.

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Close to 50 trips to america and I have never been asked. Where am I staying, when am I going back is pretty standard for me.

Maybe you look a bit shifty

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by dx4100

Close to 50 trips to america and I have never been asked. Where am I staying, when am I going back is pretty standard for me.

Maybe you look a bit shifty

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It could be because I go solo. They want to know I can support myself for the time I'm there.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by Andybear

It could be because I go solo. They want to know I can support myself for the time I'm there.

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I’m not so sure it’s that Andy, you and I are both a similar age and I have never been asked how much money I have with me on any trips solo or otherwise anywhere entering the US. It certainly isn’t the Rolex or dripping with diamonds that stops them as I definitely dress for comfort when flying ( think scruff) rather than style

[duchy]

Originally Posted by xuntitledx

We had a very long wait for the Magical Express on our first trip a couple of weeks back, assumed that was usual but it didn’t make us any less peeved by it. Particularly after a very long travel day already.

Of course we could have paid for an Uber direct but why should we? I expect better service as we have already paid for it.

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It’s no different to a European package, wait endlessly for the last few off the flight to get to the coach (or worse a second flight to arrive) and then stop at every other hotel before your own or jump in a cab.
The service you have paid for is a shared transfer , possibly indirect from MCO to your resort. Disney make no promises about the time it will take as it’s subject to lots of variables. I quite like the fact there are other options so if it’s not it’s customary short line I can choose to wait it out or choose an alternative. For an excessively long wait I’d be speaking to Guest Services for recompense though once in resort.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Of course we must bear in mind Disney is the first film studio in history to gross $10 billion dollars in a year.

Certainly not enough to lease another Mears bus for the DME.

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I hear those Mears buses are really expensive. And they wouldn't just need one.

BTW, what do people mean by "unacceptable"? Do they mean that they'd cancel their stay at the Disney hotel and book a hotel somewhere else? Make alternative arrangements to get to their Disney hotel (uber, taxi, hire car, whatever)? Or do they just mean that they'd find it annoying but still wait in line whilst maybe complaining sternly to a CM?

I'd be in the latter category. But I wouldn't call it "unacceptable". Clearly, I would accept it, albeit begrudgingly. To me, it's very annoying but not unacceptable.

Also, last time I visited, there were different queues for different resorts (or groups of resorts). If I remember correctly there were about a dozen different queues for the buses and we were directed to stand in the CBR one. So I assume this is just one queue? Or was there a 60+ minute wait for every queue and every resort?

Considering this isn't normal - there aren't normally 60 minute waits for the DME (hence why it was mentioned on Facebook and why it's being discussed here now) - then I assume there was some major issue leading to the long wait. Was the weather incredibly bad that the buses couldn't leave the station for a while, resulting in the long queues maybe?

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by duchy

I’m not so sure it’s that Andy, you and I are both a similar age and I have never been asked how much money I have with me on any trips solo or otherwise anywhere entering the US. It certainly isn’t the Rolex or dripping with diamonds that stops them as I definitely dress for comfort when flying ( think scruff) rather than style

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I've done 2 solo trips - this year and last year. On both occasions I was asked why I was on my own and how much money I had with me.

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I hear those Mears buses are really expensive. And they wouldn't just need one.

BTW, what do people mean by "unacceptable"? Do they mean that they'd cancel their stay at the Disney hotel and book a hotel somewhere else? Make alternative arrangements to get to their Disney hotel (uber, taxi, hire car, whatever)? Or do they just mean that they'd find it annoying but still wait in line whilst maybe complaining sternly to a CM?

I'd be in the latter category. But I wouldn't call it "unacceptable". Clearly, I would accept it, albeit begrudgingly. To me, it's very annoying but not unacceptable.

Also, last time I visited, there were different queues for different resorts (or groups of resorts). If I remember correctly there were about a dozen different queues for the buses and we were directed to stand in the CBR one. So I assume this is just one queue? Or was there a 60+ minute wait for every queue and every resort?

Considering this isn't normal - there aren't normally 60 minute waits for the DME (hence why it was mentioned on Facebook and why it's being discussed here now) - then I assume there was some major issue leading to the long wait. Was the weather incredibly bad that the buses couldn't leave the station for a while, resulting in the long queues maybe?

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When I was there this September and last September there was one queue to check in and then we were directed to the queue of whatever hotel we were staying at.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Andybear

When I was there this September and last September there was one queue to check in and then we were directed to the queue of whatever hotel we were staying at.

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But then that sounds like it could be a problem with the CMs checking people in (perhaps the computer system had gone down?), not with the Magical Express buses themselves. I had originally assumed this was a 60 minute wait after the CMs had checked you in.


BTW, I also have to pay for my flights to America (which includes airport taxes) and have sometimes stood in line for an hour at immigration. I still plan to visit the USA next year, so clearly I don't consider the annoying 60+ minutes wait in the immigration hall to be "unacceptable".

[chmurf]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

BTW, I also have to pay for my flights to America (which includes airport taxes) and have sometimes stood in line for an hour at immigration. I still plan to visit the USA next year, so clearly I don't consider the annoying 60+ minutes wait in the immigration hall to be "unacceptable".

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true, but you know the reality behind this ?

it's much more acceptable to rant about a vacation provider, than to give the same rant about CBP/DHS getting you through the same "ordeal" and charging you for that

because disney will never stop you from entering the US or flag you for Secondary, if you're too vocal about it