Can your bags go ME if you don't?????

[kahluacream]

Considering renting a car for our next trip due to resort location, but hate to give up the convenience of having bags delivered to the room.

Is it possible to get the ME tags and send your bags along even if you don't ride the bus? Has anyone done this?

 

[Edd]

This has been done before, but you need to go back and read some of the previous posts so you know the complete story. There is a lot of discussion on this topic.

 

[Jestocost]

Officially it's not allowed, but there are a number of reports of people doing it successfully, so Disney apparently doesn't actively enforce the policy. That said, there's always a risk that they could start at any time and it would be a major hassle to get your baggage if they do. I'm a rules following kind of guy, so I wouldn't do it. If people abuse the service, it always could go away too.

 

[ToyStory]

We are doing is the following. My mom, two sons and myself are taking ME. My DH is going to get the rental car and pick up one piece of luggage (going to have stuff that we might need prior to our luggage arriving by ME) and the car seat from baggage claim. He doesn't know this yet, but he his stopping to get a couple of cases of water too. Therefore I will just have to worry about my two sons and no carry on luggage.

This way we don't have to rent a minivan or SUV. We can fit a midsize car when we don't have luggage to contend with.

 

[Edd]

Actually enforcement won't start anytime until a contract signed by Disney and Orlando International Airport is renegotiated. I assume if negotiation takes place the airport will ask more than .75 per passenger for compensation so nobody wants to renegotiate a contract until it is time for this contract, which is good until 2011, to expire.

Disney will have to take it on themselves to charge you for the transfer of luggage, if you don't ride the DME, and I am sure they will announce it when they want to do it. Actually if they charge to transfer luggage only than it still probably would be worth it for you to pay for the transfer and get your own transportation.

The way it is, if you put the Disney luggage tags on your baggage, Disney is responsible for getting the luggage to their properties. no, if, ands or buts.

 

[seashoreCM]

Under normal conditions with the current system it is easier for Disney to transport your yellow tagged luggage to the resort compared with not doing so if you did not ride the bus yourself. (You'll need a Ph.D. in logistics to fully understand why.)

But if luggage got misdirected by the airline before ever reaching Orlando, you might be on your own regarding recovering it if you did not check in for and ride Magical Express.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[kahluacream]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not looking to break any rules, I was just wondering what was allowed.

 

[goofy4tink]

We are doing is the following. My mom, two sons and myself are taking ME. My DH is going to get the rental car and pick up one piece of luggage (going to have stuff that we might need prior to our luggage arriving by ME) and the car seat from baggage claim. He doesn't know this yet, but he his stopping to get a couple of cases of water too. Therefore I will just have to worry about my two sons and no carry on luggage.

This way we don't have to rent a minivan or SUV. We can fit a midsize car when we don't have luggage to contend with.

That's actually quite a good way to do things. If I didn't think my dh would get lost in the rental car I might even be tempted to try it. And everyone is happy...boys get the fun of riding the bus and the video, you have no hassle to speak of, dh gets the car, stops and picks up what you tell him to..yep, good plan.

Thanks for the replies. I'm not looking to break any rules, I was just wondering what was allowed.

According to Disney's official site regarding DME....you can not book luggage transfer. So....can you just put the tags on, say you're going to ride the bus, but then go off and rent a car or take a towncar, and then let DME transfer your bags? I guess so....but that is not the spirit in which Disney intended it to be used. I truly think we will see a change down the road..not in the next year but at some point. But as of this moment, you can send your luggage with DME and not ride the bus. Now, if something happens to your luggage, I'm not sure what Disney will say about sorting out the issues if you haven't ridden the bus to your resort.

 

[granmanh603]

When we traveled in Jan there were 7 of us 4 adult and 3 kids. The parents got car seat and car and took 1 kid, we rode ME with the other 2 kids. We waited at hotel for them since DVC and rental was in their name and worked fine. Same on return to MCO we took kids but since we were SWA they took luggage and car we took us and kids. As a side note they went off to POL and used left over counter service and snack vouchers and got take out in bags and we had a nice little picnic at MCO before we went thru security.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I guess so....but that is not the spirit in which Disney intended it to be used.

As a comparative example: The Disney Dining Plan wasn't being used in the spirit in which Disney intended it (adults used child credits for adult table service meals), so Disney changed the process and the enforcement of proper usage. This change was announced not long before it went into effect, at the beginning of this year.

When we traveled in Jan there were 7 of us 4 adult and 3 kids. The parents got car seat and car and took 1 kid, we rode ME with the other 2 kids. We waited at hotel for them since DVC and rental was in their name and worked fine.

Aha!!! Evidence that Magical Express is, at least in one actual experience, faster than renting a car!!!!

I assume if negotiation takes place the airport will ask more than .75 per passenger for compensation

Seventy-five cents may sound petty, but given that DME transports an average of 7,500 passengers per day (actual amounts range from 5,000 to 10,000), this is over two million dollars a year. On the other hand, I don't know how much the other various transportation providers pay the airport each year... on the other hand, those others ARE getting direct, live payment for their transportation services, from the customers.

 

[Edd]

The airport receives more income from the various other transporters of passengers than they do from Disney. The DME only transfers approximately 7% of the passengers that arrive at MCO. The other transporters average paying more per passenger than the .75 the DME pays.