Does your child ever ask you if they can write a letter to their favorite Disney character? It happens a lot, especially after you have just been on a Disney vacation.
Letters From the Characters
Tag Archives: Disney Services
Weekly Tip #26: The Magical Express
I have traveled to Disney World by both car and plane. Each mode of transportation has its advantages, but there is a definite advantage to flying. It’s called the Magical Express and it’s a great perk to have when flying.
The baggage claim area can be a bit of a nightmare, depending on what time your flight is scheduled to arrive. The Magical Express will take away of the annoyance of having to deal with baggage claim, because Disney will pick up your bags and bring them right to your room.
You read that correctly, when you fly to Disney and you are staying at a Disney hotel not only do you get complimentary transportation to your room, your checked bags will be picked up for you as well.
Disney will send you luggage tags to put on any checked luggage you will be traveling with. That makes it easy for them to identify where the luggage needs to go, so make sure the tags make it on your luggage or you probably will have to go pick it up yourself.
I do have some tips for the Magical Express:
- After you book your flight, call and make reservations for the Magical Express. It’s easier to take care of everything at once, so you don’t forget to set up the Magical Express reservations.
- Since the luggage can take up to 3 hours to arrive in your room, carry things you will need for that day in your carry-on. We usually carry a change of clothes, bathing suit, jewelry, and things like that on the carry-on. It’s good to plan ahead, just in case you don’t have your luggage quickly.
- Disney only picks up the luggage during certain hours. So if you would like to take advantage of the luggage pickup service, make sure your flight arrives between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.
- Wear your MagicBands on the plane. The cast members will need to scan your bands in order for you to get on the Magical Express. So make sure you wear your MagicBand on the plane or keep it in your carry-on. You will also need your MagicBand to get into your hotel room.
Here is a map of the Orlando International Airport from Disney’s website. It shows you how to get to the Magical Express check-in.
If you are flying to Disney World and staying on Disney property, you should definitely take advantage of this service. It’s so nice not having to worry about baggage claim and getting your bags to your room!
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
Weekly Tip #22: Laundry Room Alerts
This is a pretty awesome feature for those that do laundry at their resort. What it does is it lets you monitor the washers and dryers in the laundry room. It’s pretty genius.
Here is a description from laundryview.com:
LaundryView is an Internet application that allows you to monitor the status of washers and dryers in connected laundry rooms through a Web browser. LaundryView was developed in response to requests for greater control over laundry activities. Since many people tend to do their laundry during similar time periods, it results in busy laundry rooms. LaundryView’s mission is to help you save time by providing information about the current state of laundry room equipment wherever you have access to a browser or e-mail messages.
You can have alerts either emailed to you or sent via text message to let you know when your laundry is done. This makes it easier to do other stuff while your laundry is finishing. The last thing you want to do on your trip is sit in a laundry room waiting for laundry.
Another cool feature of the website is that it will give you a layout of the laundry room, with little washers and dryers. If the machine is available it will be white, if it’s in use it will be red (and it shakes lol), if it is out of order it will be grey, and if it is idle (cycle has stopped, but door is still closed) it will be yellow. I think this is a great feature, because you can check in and see what status the machines are just by the colors.
They do have a different view if you are looking at it on your cell phone, but it is still clear as to which are in use and which are free. The green are free, the red are in use, and the yellow are idle. There is a list of the washers and dryers and it will show you how much time each one that is in use has left.
They also have a “Tip of the Day” on the website, which can be helpful.
Here is a list of laundry rooms where this service is available:
- All Star Resort
- Calypso Pool
- Fantasia Pool
- Grand Slam Pool
- Mighty Ducks Pool
- Piano Pool
- Surfboard Bay Pool
- Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
- Kudu Trail 2nd FL
- Zebra 1st FL
- Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village
- Jambo House Villas
- Kidani Village Villas
- Art of Animation
- Cozy Cone Pool
- Flippin Fin Pool
- The Big Blue Pool
- Boardwalk Inn
- Boardwalk Villas
- Caribbean Beach Resort
- Aruba Pool
- Barbados Pool
- Jamaica Pool
- Martinique Pool
- Trinidad North Pool
- Trinidad South Pool
- Contemporary Resort – Bay Lake Tower
- Contemporary Resort – South Garden Wing
- Coronado Springs Resort
- Cabanas Pool
- Casitas Pool
- Ranchos Pool
- Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
- Comfort Station 100 – 200 Loop
- Comfort Station 300 Loop
- Comfort Station 400 – 500 Loop
- Comfort Station 800 Loop
- Comfort Station 900 Loop
- Comfort Station 1100 Loop
- Comfort Station 1300 Loop
- Comfort Station 1400 Loop
- Comfort Station 1500 Loop
- Comfort Station 1700 Loop
- Comfort Station 1800 Loop
- Comfort Station 2000 Loop Back
- Comfort Station 2000 Loop Front
- Wilderness Swimming Pool Comfort Station
- Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Big Pine Key
- Boca Chica
- Conch Key
- Main Building
- Sago Cay
- Old Key West Resort
- Millers Road
- Old Turtule Pond Road
- Sandcastle Pool
- South Point Road
- Polynesian Village Resort
- Tangaroa Terrace
- Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Pop Century
- Bowling Pool
- Computer Pool
- Hippy Dippy Pool
- Port Orleans – French Quarter
- Doubloon Lagoon
- Port Orleans – Riverside
- Alligator Bayou 14-18
- Alligator Bayou 24-28
- Alligator Bayou 34-39
- Magnolia Bend 80-85
- Magnolia Bend 90-95
- Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Congress Park
- The Grandstand
- The Paddock
- The Springs
- Villas at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Villas at Wilderness Lodge
- Wilderness Lodge Laundry
- Yacht and Beach Club Resort
- Beach Club Inside
- Beach Club Tidal
- Yacht Club Admiral
- Beach Club Villas
- Yacht and Beach Club Resort – Yacht Club Inside
Thanks to Neula, who is in our Main Street Wishes Facbook group, for letting me know about this service! If you get to give this a try, let us know how it works out for you! I’m curious how well the alerts work.
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*