"Magical" Express

The lastest Al Qaeda activity has been all over the news so I hardly need to be an armchair journalist and recap it all. And I feel a bit silly about the aspect of it that I'm going to actually blog about, but it interests me.

There's a service that Disney World offers called the "Magical Express." It's a convenient airport shuttle service that augments a Disney vacation package (at no charge) so your journey operates a bit like going on a cruise. Essentially, you check your bag at your departure airport and you won't see it again until you are checked-in and inside your room at your official Disney Resort hotel. When you arrive at the airport, you bypass baggage claim (which at Orlando airport is so long you wonder if your luggage traveled via Greyhound) and go right to the shuttle bus. The idea is you can get started on your Disney dream vacation approximately 90 minutes earlier than the poor saps who checked a bag and are staying at the Maingate Travelodge. It's been a hugely successful program because it's free and since most people carry-on things they need to start their trip after landing such as extra clothes, a bathing suit, sunscreen, contact lens solution, hairspray...er.. get where I'm going with this or has your tv been stuck on ESPN?

I was reading CNN today and the rumor is that these bands on liquids and in some cases and outright ban on carry on luggage irrespective of what's in it (including handbags/purses) may continue on for quite some time. You can read the details here but I generally gave you the gist of it. The key question is in the article, The challenge is going to be with the airlines on all the luggage [that] is checked and can it actually get to the destination in a reasonable amount of time once you get there -- how long do you have to wait for it and all of that?

The Magical Express, while a very well received service has had the same consistent complaint - the luggage arrives HOURS after you do so the general advice is "pack it in your carry on." Makes me wonder if Magical Express luggage delays will be exacerbated by the possible doubling or quadrupling of checked luggage (assuming that there's an all out ban on hand luggage) and extend out exponential to the airline's slow down.

Outside of the Disney vacation context, the airline industry is going to have to vastly improve its performance on luggage handling and pony up a lot of money when it doesn't deliver. If I can't take my contact lens solution on board with me and I have to ditch a $100 pair of contacts - who pays? No longer will the airline have the right to say "Keep your valuables with you." How can they not be responsible?

Again, if half this money was spent on aircraft maintenance and training, then air travel would actually be safer for the average joe blow.

It's sad that an almost-plot has shaken up the world, proving that a bomb doesn't have to go off for there to be terrorism. Even the Mickey Mouse Bus Line will be affected by it. John Lennon's imagine seems so far away, once again.

Today's quote is from the Shawshank Redemption -

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.