A Magical Express surprise

[AKLFan3]

I'm not quite sure whether to put this here since it is DVC related or start the thread in the transportation board. I hope it is in the right spot.

My mother and I decided to rent a car for our upcoming holiday trip to WDW instead of taking the Magical Express bus. I thoroughly read the transportation board and saw that ME will not transport luggage without the guest riding the ME bus. I also read on ME's website that they will not transport luggage without the guest riding the ME bus. However, my mother wanted me to triple check with ME so she had me call and ask whether they would still take our luggage to the resort. Much to my surprise, the CM said that they would still take our luggage, even those I told her we are renting a car!

Do you think this is a DVC perk or is it more likely that the CM I spoke to was misinformed?

As a sidenote, I did not speak to the ME office directly. I called the main Disney number and they transferred me to DVC Member Services. So perhaps MS was mistaken.

 

[disneynutz]

I'm guessing that the ME contract pays for bus rides with the luggage as a extra. In other words, if they don't scan your travel voucher, they don't get paid.

Bill

 

[MrShiny]

Well, they can't really tell if you are on the bus or not! They get the luggage and passengers separately, so no way to really stop the luggage if you aren't on the bus. Now going back if you can't check in for your airline at the resort I could see that they wouldn't load luggage on the bus unless you are riding.

I think they have policies to prevent abuse, but they do really try to please the geusts. We had a flight canceled after we went to the airlport once and were transported back without any issues.

 

[bumbershoot]

My mother and I decided to rent a car for our upcoming holiday trip to WDW instead of taking the Magical Express bus. I thoroughly read the transportation board and saw that ME will not transport luggage without the guest riding the ME bus.

One of the stickies on the Transportation forum discusses it. And basically says what you have said...that they SAY they won't, but the reality is they probably will (and I don't think anyone has had their bags NOT picked up and delivered when they didn't take the bus personally).

But any thread on that forum that is started about it is closed, and people are referred to the sticky thread.

(but it's not a DVC thing at all)

 

[disneynutz]

Well, they can't really tell if you are on the bus or not! They get the luggage and passengers separately, so no way to really stop the luggage if you aren't on the bus. Now going back if you can't check in for your airline at the resort I could see that they wouldn't load luggage on the bus unless you are riding.

I think they have policies to prevent abuse, but they do really try to please the geusts. We had a flight canceled after we went to the airlport once and were transported back without any issues.

I don't know if that is true in all cases. The bus passengers are scanned a couple of hours before the luggage is processed. If the bus voucher isn't scanned it wouldn't be difficult to reject the luggage which is also scanned. The question is what do they do with the luggage?

The investment that Disney makes for the ME is only because they want you to use ME and stay on property. If we rent a car but use them to transfer our luggage, I would expect Disney to take exception.

Bill

 

[AKLFan3]

If we rent a car but use them to transfer our luggage, I would expect Disney to take exception.

Bill

I agree with this and fully understand it. That is why I was puzzled the CM told me there wouldn't be a problem for ME to take our luggage even though we aren't riding the bus. I'm actually tempted to call ME again next week to see if a different CM says the same thing, lol. I have never had a CM tell me something that is contrary to Disney's policy, but I suppose there is always a first time.

 

[Tozzie]

If you put the yellow tags on the luggage ME takes the luggage, it was explained by a poster that they have to do that because of the contract DME has with MCO. The problem with not riding the bus and tagging your luggage occurs if something happens with your luggage through the airline, because you didn't check in with DME and you didn't tell them you have luggage then they won't be looking for it and if you try to file a claim with the airline for lost luggage you would have a problem.

 

[dburg30]

Yea, Tozzie has hit on one of the points. If you take DME as it's designed, disney will know that you were on the bus, used tags and should have some luggage. If you are on the bus, WDW will act for you to try to chase it down. If you dont check in and ride the bus, you MAY have to get back to MCO to get your luggage / chase it down, which is a big pain. The transportation board will pretty much close all the threads because bottom line, the way it's designed is for people to use BOTH the bus transportation and the luggage transfer. Unless the official word has changed that is, and I mean real written official policy not just a random CM saying someone can do it.

 

[supernova]

The one important thing I think I missed here by scanning this tread quickly is that, for direct transfers, the luggage does NOT ride on the bus WITH you. If you are collecting your own luggage and THEN riding the bus, yes, it is on the bus with you. Otherwise, for people who use the luggage tags and then expect to not see their bags until they check in, your luggage is taken to your resort by a white truck. The bell hops wheel out cages, and they transport your luggage to the holding area at the hotel until you come claim it. Believe me, your ME driver is NOT standing around until your luggage comes down the conveyorbelt inside. Luggage is sorted at the gate and then loaded onto Disney's (unmarked) truck for transportation to the hotels.

So no, you do not need to necessarily ride ME to get your luggage to your hotel. I rent a car every time I'm at WDW and only use Disney's luggage service when I'm checking out. I go over to the hotel's airline desk, get my boarding passes and say goodbye to my luggage. Then, by the time I'm driving back to the airport, all I have with me is my carry on piece. Disney takes care of the rest. And it is NOT riding on a ME bus

 

[castleri]

The bell hops wheel out cages, and they transport your luggage to the holding area at the hotel until you come claim it.

Actually if your luggage is transported by ME then it is also delivered to your room whether you are there or not; unlike luggage which is checked with bell services by individuals who collected theirs at the airport and took it on the bus or used a town car service.

 

[bumbershoot]

The transportation board will pretty much close all the threads because bottom line, the way it's designed is for people to use BOTH the bus transportation and the luggage transfer.

they close the threads EXCEPT for the sticky thread that's all about it.

 

[paults]

The one important thing I think I missed here by scanning this tread quickly is that, for direct transfers, the luggage does NOT ride on the bus WITH you. If you are collecting your own luggage and THEN riding the bus, yes, it is on the bus with you. Otherwise, for people who use the luggage tags and then expect to not see their bags until they check in, your luggage is taken to your resort by a white truck. The bell hops wheel out cages, and they transport your luggage to the holding area at the hotel until you come claim it. Believe me, your ME driver is NOT standing around until your luggage comes down the conveyorbelt inside. Luggage is sorted at the gate and then loaded onto Disney's (unmarked) truck for transportation to the hotels.

So no, you do not need to necessarily ride ME to get your luggage to your hotel. I rent a car every time I'm at WDW and only use Disney's luggage service when I'm checking out. I go over to the hotel's airline desk, get my boarding passes and say goodbye to my luggage. Then, by the time I'm driving back to the airport, all I have with me is my carry on piece. Disney takes care of the rest. And it is NOT riding on a ME bus

when checking out of your resort and using Airline check-in at the resort you don't have to use DME to go back to the airport, you can go anyway you want . It's only on arrival to MCO that Disney expects you to use both services ( dme bus and yellow tags ). If you use the tags and don't take the DME bus don't blame Disney if your bags don't show up.

 

[AKLFan3]

If you use the tags and don't take the DME bus don't blame Disney if your bags don't show up.

Lol, yes, this is exactly what I fear, which is why I was surprised the CM said, "sure, you can drive your rental car and Disney will still take your luggage." I think just to be on the safe side, we'll just pick up our luggage from baggage claim. Hopefully it won't take too long since we are attending a scheduled event and want to get to Kidani as soon as we possibly can.

 

[aan1701]

Wow, I find the back and forth on this thread funny. I have a friend that used to work for SWA at MCO, she is now in a new city. If they had a lost bag report from someone and they said that they were staying at a Disney hotel, they would just give the bag to DME once it arrived Yellow tag or not.

 

[CarolMN]

Since this really isn't a DVC topic and has been repeatedly discussed over on the Transportation Board, I am going to close this thread.

Anyone who wants to discuss this further may do so on the Transportation Board - and remember that the official policy is contained in the Sticky thread at the top of that board:


Guidelines regarding DME and luggage only...