Disney's Magical Express Update -- Reservations Required effective 11/1/05

[CastleLight]

Question : I have been reading DME threads for an hour now!

My sister and I were supposed to arrive at 9pm at MCO, but due to a cancelled flight, arrived at 11pm. We dragged our tired bodies to the DME desk, and were shocked to be told "After 11pm, we can no longer TOUCH your luggage. I hate to do this to you, but you guys have to go back to your airline's baggage claim, and get your own luggage and bring them back here."

I hope this isn't true!! Our flight doesn't get in until 11:45 pm and I don't want to go get my luggage. Does anyone know??

 

[goofy4tink]

Question : I have been reading DME threads for an hour now!

My sister and I were supposed to arrive at 9pm at MCO, but due to a cancelled flight, arrived at 11pm. We dragged our tired bodies to the DME desk, and were shocked to be told "After 11pm, we can no longer TOUCH your luggage. I hate to do this to you, but you guys have to go back to your airline's baggage claim, and get your own luggage and bring them back here."

I have never, never heard this before (maybe because we were not SUPPOSED to arrive that late?!)

Anyway, I am not seeing this anywhere on the DME threads, either. When did this start?!

Beth

p.s. They went ahead and let us NOT get our luggage from baggage claim, because our luggage was probably not going to be there till 2am anyway, having been most likely routed a different way. But we had to fight to get them to allow us to go to our hotel!

Hi Beth,
This is somewhat troubling to me. DME is supposed to be a 24/7 operation, it shouldn't be closing down at 11:00. There are baggage handlers at the airport working all day long....or at least I thought there were.
I would be very interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced this.

 

[taximomfor4]

Hi Beth,
This is somewhat troubling to me. DME is supposed to be a 24/7 operation, it shouldn't be closing down at 11:00. There are baggage handlers at the airport working all day long....or at least I thought there were.
I would be very interested in hearing if anyone else has experienced this.

I was quite bothered, too. The girl at the DME counter went and got a manager (I think), showed her my flight info, and they typed on the computer for a few seconds. Then they said they would be able to go ahead and pull my bags for me, since my flight had been completely cancelled. I would have been beyond furious if I had to go all the way back and wait for my bags.

When our direct cleveland-orlando flight was cancelled, we were rerouted through St Louis. We had 14 minutes to get through security and run all the way to our gate, where the plane was waiting for us. They told us right up front that our luggage probably didn't make it, and would arrive about 2 1/2 hours later than us off a CHICAGO flight. If DME had made me sit there, waiting for my bags till 2am, I would have lost my mind.

I am still reading over the info, and not finding this 11pm "rule" anywhere. The DME Counter person did tell me that it is a new rule the AIRPORT made. I will start a new thread asking about it, so more people see the question.

Beth

 

[Albertan mom]

This may sound dumb, but I am sooooo confused. I have been doing this for 5 hours and am not any farther ahead!
Please help me!!

1. What time does ME pick you up from your hotel? If we have 7:45am flights, what time will we have to be at the bus stop?

2. On the WDW website, it says that "International" guests will be picked up 4 hours in advance. As a Canadian, am I International? (I know, dumb aren't I?)

3. If we fly into Salt Lake City and only have one hour there, do we have to go through customs etc.. there? Or when we get to Orlando? (I can't remember from our last trip)

4. If we fly out of MCO at 5:35pm, will we be picked up 4 hours in advance? 1:35? So if we have to check out of the hotel at 11:00, can we check our bags in at the hotel so we don't have to drag them around with us? I was thinking we would check them in at 10:30 or so, and take our carryon and go do a few things to kill a few hours.

5. We are staying at ASSports. If we do do that, (#4) and decide to look around other resorts, have a meal at another resort, would we be able to get on the ME bus there? Say, we eat at WCC, can we get on a ME bus from WL, or do we have to get on it from our own resort, ASSp??

Thanks in advance. Please help me!

 

[Albertan mom]

ooops, double post

 

[Albertan mom]

I think I have figured out numbers 1 and 2. ME picks me up 4 hours in advance, and yes, Canadians are international guests!
I know we can't do #4 now, as International guests can't check in early at the resort.

But, I still need help:

On #3, do we do Customs at Salt Lake City, or Orlando, or Edmonton, where we are flying out of?

On #5, does anyone know if we could do this?

Thanks

 

[goofy4tink]

Can't help with the customs questions, but no, you won't be able to hop on DME bus at any other resort other than your own. Your reservation for the bus is tied to the room reservation. So, you'll have to get yourself back to your resort in order to get the bus.

 

[Disflyer]

I think I have figured out numbers 1 and 2.
On #3, do we do Customs at Salt Lake City, or Orlando, or Edmonton, where we are flying out of?

On #5, does anyone know if we could do this?

Thanks

On #3 your original port of entry is where you will be entering the US, so the answer is you will be required to go through customs in Salt Lake City. I am assuming you are flying Delta; you will have to collect your bags and then bring them to the counter and have them rechecked for your flight to MCO. Don't worry Delta has a conter exclusivly for this right by the US Customs area.

Sorry on number 5 I have no clue!

 

[heidica]

I haven't read through the entire post (just the first and last few pages) so I don't know if this has alreaady been asked.

There are 8 of us in our group. Is it possible for everyone but one person to use DME, but all of the luggage go with DME? I am going to rent a van for all of us to use during the trip so we can go off property. I would like to go get the rental car and meet everyone at POP, and then the remaining 7 people use DME to get to POP, along with the luggage. Can I put the DME tags on my luggage even though I won't be on the bus, but everyone else will. Does this make sense?

Also, on the return flight home can we check all the luggage in and everyone but me ride the bus, so I can return the rental car. I'll just meet them at the airport.

 

[goofy4tink]

I haven't read through the entire post (just the first and last few pages) so I don't know if this has alreaady been asked.

There are 8 of us in our group. Is it possible for everyone but one person to use DME, but all of the luggage go with DME? I am going to rent a van for all of us to use during the trip so we can go off property. I would like to go get the rental car and meet everyone at POP, and then the remaining 7 people use DME to get to POP, along with the luggage. Can I put the DME tags on my luggage even though I won't be on the bus, but everyone else will. Does this make sense?

Also, on the return flight home can we check all the luggage in and everyone but me ride the bus, so I can return the rental car. I'll just meet them at the airport.

All of that is just fine to do. You can head off to rent the car, the rest of the group rides DME, your tagged bags go to the resort on the luggage truck. When it's time to return, check your bags in at the resort (if your airline participates), you return the car, the rest ride the bus. Sounds like a plan to me!!!

 

[Donnaksmj]

I need to go to the airport to drop of 2 of my kids and meet my husband who will be arriving soon after the kids leave. We will rent a car at that point, so my question is.....if my reservation is until Dec 7th, can we use our DME vouchers to get to the airport on Dec 4th?

 

[goofy4tink]

I need to go to the airport to drop of 2 of my kids and meet my husband who will be arriving soon after the kids leave. We will rent a car at that point, so my question is.....if my reservation is until Dec 7th, can we use our DME vouchers to get to the airport on Dec 4th?

I'm assuming you mean in the middle of your trip? Since every person on a WDW room reservation is entitled to a ride from MCO to their resort and then a ride back to the airport, each person in your party can ride each way, once. My dh left about 3 days before my dd and I did, and he had no trouble using DME to get back to the airport.
So, what you want to do, I'm assuming is this...you and your kids take DME from MCO to your resort. Then, mid-way through your stay, you and the kids ride back to MCO on DME, where you will meet your dh and rent a car for the remainder of your trip...not using DME to return to MCO at the end. I think that scenario will work.

 

[tracyvansmith]

When we flew out of Edmonton in 2003 we went through US customs in Edmonton. We flew Northwest air into Minneapolis then from there to Orlando.

 

[jmpellet]

We are thinking about arriving 4 days before free dining starts and staying at the Hotel Royal Plaza. Can we use DME 4 days before we check in at POFQ?

 

[CleveRocks]

We are thinking about arriving 4 days before free dining starts and staying at the Hotel Royal Plaza. Can we use DME 4 days before we check in at POFQ?

No, on two counts. Number one, DME doesn't serve the Hotel Royal Plaza -- it only serves Disney owned-and-operated resorts. Number two, you can only use DME on your days of check-in and check-out (from WDW owned-and-operated resorts). Sorry.

 

[jmpellet]

Sorry for the confusion -- we are actually staying at POFQ but want to arrive a few days early. Our options are to book a room only at POFQ or stay close by. I guess if we choose RPH we will take a car from MCO to the hotel.

 

[C.Marie]

I have a potential problem - I hope somebody can answer my question!

We're taking a trip in August and planning to use the ME to get to and from the airport. Our checkout date is 8/25/07 but our flight home is actually early AM 8/26/07 because our plan was to spend the night at Pleasure Island and get back to our hotel in time for the ME to pick us up around 2AMish. I got an email from the travel agent today telling me that's not allowed, we must leave on the ME the same date as our checkout and so we'll have to find another way to get us back to the airport for our 5AM departure on 8/26.

Is she correct in providing me with this information?
I need to know what I should do about this situation and I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer me. Thanks in advance!

 

[CleveRocks]

I have a potential problem - I hope somebody can answer my question!

We're taking a trip in August and planning to use the ME to get to and from the airport. Our checkout date is 8/25/07 but our flight home is actually early AM 8/26/07 because our plan was to spend the night at Pleasure Island and get back to our hotel in time for the ME to pick us up around 2AMish. I got an email from the travel agent today telling me that's not allowed, we must leave on the ME the same date as our checkout and so we'll have to find another way to get us back to the airport for our 5AM departure on 8/26.

Is she correct in providing me with this information?
I need to know what I should do about this situation and I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer me. Thanks in advance!

If I understand you correctly, then your TA is incorrect.

Your flight leaves at 5:00 a.m.???!!! Before I answer, let me just first say !!!!!!

Someone with a brain within DME will realize that your approximately 2:00 a.m. DME pick-up time, while technically on the day after you check-out, is actually the same travel day for you. I can't see that they will make you board a DME bus in the 11:00 p.m. hour just so that you will be on a bus leaving on the same day you checked out. I can't see that 2 hours will make a difference, mainly because you're not trying to "get away with anything."

Call DME directly and ask them this question. What I typed above makes logical sense, but I can't honestly say that I've ever read about a scenario like yours, and it's possible that common sense is NOT correct in this instance.

DME's # is 866-599-0951. You can ask them this question without getting involved in reservation numbers, etc., because they don't even have access to your reservation info in the database until 60 days prior to your trip, anyway. It also won't be a bad idea to call 2 or 3 times ust to make sure you get the same answer each time!

And PLEASE, when you get an answer, whatever it is, please post here again so we can all learn from this.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes, please...let us know what they say. That's an interesting situation. I know there have been a lot of folks who do the exact same thing you are doing, so I'm curious as to what DME says.

 

[C.Marie]

Ok everybody - I just got off the phone with DME and this is what they told me.

If your flight leaves the day after your official checkout date and you still want to use the ME service you MUST board the bus BEFORE MIDNIGHT of your checkout date.

That means for our early Sunday AM departure we'll be leaving Disney at approximately 11:45PM Saturday and spending a couple of extra hours at the airport instead of at Pleasure Island.

When you call to reserve ME they leave the outbound flight number and time empty so that the day before your checkout you can call ME and tell them you want to be picked up the next day. You give them the time you prefer and they set it up for you - as long as that time falls before midnight.

We decided leaving a bit earlier than we had hoped isn't a major loss (especially since we'll be back there two weeks later anyways) and though spending that time napping at the airport isn't my idea of fun it's better than having to spend extra money on a car service.

Hope this info is useful to some of you out there!