Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Getting from Orlando International Airport to Walt Disney World has never been the magical part of a Disney trip.
The bags come off the carousel. Someone watches the kids while someone else wrestles suitcases. You sort out the transportation situation, load everything up, and eventually everyone and everything lands at the resort. It works. It is not exactly seamless, and anyone who has done it with small children and a stroller knows the specific flavor of misery involved.
Disney has been quietly building a service designed to remove the luggage portion of that equation entirely, and it has been expanding steadily since it launched.
The catch, until now, was that it only existed at the Value resorts. If you were staying at a Moderate or a Deluxe, you were still doing baggage claim like everyone else.
That just changed.
Caribbean Beach Is the First Disney Moderate to Participate
As of Tuesday, Airport Luggage Transfer is available at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
That makes Caribbean Beach the first Moderate resort to receive the service, a meaningful step for a program that has been Value-exclusive since its start.
The service remains limited to guests flying with American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or United Airlines. Delta is not a participating airline.
How the Disney Program Got Here
The expansion pattern is worth tracking, because it suggests where this goes next.
The pilot program began last year with just Southwest at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
It then expanded to three airlines and all five Value resorts:
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
Now Caribbean Beach joins as the sixth participating hotel and the first outside the Value tier.
The service is provided by BagCheck and allows resort guests to transfer luggage to and from Orlando International Airport.
Why Caribbean Beach Makes Sense as the Test Case
Disney did not pick this resort at random.
Caribbean Beach is one of the largest Moderate resorts on property, it serves as a Skyliner hub, and it handles significant guest volume. If the logistics work there, they will work at most other Moderates.
It is also worth noting that Caribbean Beach shares its footprint with Disney’s Riviera Resort, which sits in the Deluxe Villa category. Whether that proximity factors into future expansion is speculation, but the infrastructure question gets easier when properties are close together.
How the Arrival Service Works at Disney
For anyone who has not used this before, here is the actual process.
Register between 30 days and 24 hours before your flight. You will need your Disney Resort confirmation number and your flight confirmation number. After registering, you receive a confirmation email with a luggage tracking link.
Luggage tags are mailed if you register more than seven days out. Register within seven days and no tags are mailed, but your bags still get delivered. That distinction confuses people, so worth repeating: no tags does not mean no service.
Check in for your flight normally and drop your bags with your airline at your departure airport. When you land at Orlando International, skip baggage claim entirely and head straight to Disney transportation.
Once you reach your resort, contact Luggage Assistance by calling from your room or visiting the desk in the lobby. Bags may take up to four hours from your flight’s arrival time to reach the hotel.
One timing note. If your flight arrives after 11 p.m., you have two options: pick up your luggage at baggage claim, or wait for BagCheck to deliver within four hours. Delayed flights landing after 11 p.m. follow the same structure.
How the Departure Service Works at Disney
The return trip may actually be the better half of this.
Check in for your flight online starting 24 hours before departure and pay any baggage fees through your airline’s app or website.
Drop your bags at Luggage Assistance in the resort lobby between 24 hours and 4 hours before your flight. You will need a valid government-issued photo ID. Luggage Assistance is available 24 hours a day, and you can call from your in-room phone if you need help getting bags down.
Then head to the airport, skip the airline check-in line entirely, and go straight through security. Your bags will be at baggage claim at your final destination.
Two things from Disney’s FAQ are worth knowing. Boarding passes are not printed at bag drop, so have yours ready beforehand. If your flight is canceled, your bag is automatically redirected to your new flight.
What to Keep With You
Disney recommends keeping these in your carry-on regardless of how convenient the transfer sounds:
- Medications
- Electronics, including laptops, tablets, power banks, and cameras
- Perishable or heat-sensitive items
- Important documents like passports and travel itineraries
Strollers and car seats can usually be part of the transfer. If you want to keep yours, check it at the departure gate and tell the gate agent you want to claim it at the gate of your final destination.
What This Means for Everyone Else
The obvious question is whether other Moderates follow.
Disney has not announced a timeline for further expansion, nor has it said whether Coronado Springs, Port Orleans, or the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are next.
But the trajectory here is clear. One airline at one resort became three airlines at five resorts, and now it has crossed a tier boundary for the first time. Each expansion has followed the last within roughly a year.
For guests booking a Moderate stay in the next year, that is a reasonable thing to be optimistic about.
If You Are Staying at Caribbean Beach
Register at least 24 hours before your flight. The service is free to sign up for, and you will need your Disney Resort confirmation number and your airline confirmation number.
BagCheck can be reached at bcsupport@bagcheck.com or 407-505-7443 between 7 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. Eastern if you have questions or need to modify your registration.
Domestic flights only, on American, Southwest, or United. International flights are not eligible.
