Disney's Magical Express/RAC - What "Participating Airline" Really Means!

[DisneyFansInLINY]

Question about doing a split stay at Beach Club and Dolphin. We check out of the Beach Club on 12/25 and then out of the Dolphin on 1/1. Can we use RAC on 1/1 at the Beach Club since we didn't get to utilize it on our check out day? Not ME and just RAC.

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally Posted by DisneyFansInLINY

Question about doing a split stay at Beach Club and Dolphin. We check out of the Beach Club on 12/25 and then out of the Dolphin on 1/1. Can we use RAC on 1/1 at the Beach Club since we didn't get to utilize it on our check out day? Not ME and just RAC.

No.

You can only use RAC at a Disney hotel where you have an active stay. You would typically use it on your checkout day (but in some cases, before checkout day if, for example, one family member is flying home early to return to college).

You can't use RAC a week later or even a day later.

[DisneyGuess]

Quick question. A friend is staying at AoA & coming home on Monday. They flew Frontier. They were told they can use DME to go back to MCO but they have to handle their own luggage

Is that right? They won't handle the luggage?

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally Posted by DisneyGuess

Quick question. A friend is staying at AoA & coming home on Monday. They flew Frontier. They were told they can use DME to go back to MCO but they have to handle their own luggage

Is that right? They won't handle the luggage?

See the first post in this thread for a complete answer.

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by DisneyGuess

Quick question. A friend is staying at AoA & coming home on Monday. They flew Frontier. They were told they can use DME to go back to MCO but they have to handle their own luggage

Is that right? They won't handle the luggage?

DME doesn't 'handle' luggage for your return home. RAC (remote/resort airline checkin) does. And you need to be on a participating airline for that to happen..and Frontier isn't one of them.
So...they will just take their bags with them to the DME bus. The bags will go beneath the bus and handed back to them when they get to MCO. They will then check their bags the 'old-fashioned' way at the airport.

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I'm going for a solo weekend trip in December and am flying due to time constraints and finding cheap airfare. I haven't flown anywhere in several years and I'm a little nervous.

Questions!

1. Online check-in - if I can check in on my phone, is there any point in checking in using RAC? I'm not checking any luggage.

2. Using ME, I'll just give my carryon to the bus driver to stow under the ME bus, or can I carry it on to the bus and store it under my seat or overhead?

3. On the day I leave, I will need to check out earlier than my ME reservation time. Can I leave my bags with bell services and retrieve them myself, or will bell services give them to the ME bus driver directly?

4. I am very familiar with WDW and several of the resorts. This time I'm staying at AoA; where are the bus stops at the parks, in relation to Pop's? For example, Pop's bus stop at MK is the.very.last.one - I was hoping for something closer for AoA. At the end of the day that is quite a walk!

Thanks for your help!

[siskaren]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Bradbury

I'm going for a solo weekend trip in December and am flying due to time constraints and finding cheap airfare. I haven't flown anywhere in several years and I'm a little nervous.

Questions!

1. Online check-in - if I can check in on my phone, is there any point in checking in using RAC? I'm not checking any luggage.

2. Using ME, I'll just give my carryon to the bus driver to stow under the ME bus, or can I carry it on to the bus and store it under my seat or overhead?

3. On the day I leave, I will need to check out earlier than my ME reservation time. Can I leave my bags with bell services and retrieve them myself, or will bell services give them to the ME bus driver directly?

4. I am very familiar with WDW and several of the resorts. This time I'm staying at AoA; where are the bus stops at the parks, in relation to Pop's? For example, Pop's bus stop at MK is the.very.last.one - I was hoping for something closer for AoA. At the end of the day that is quite a walk!

Thanks for your help!

1. Would you get some kind of boarding pass on your phone then? Because that would be the only other reason to use RAC if you don't have luggage - to get a boarding pass.

2. It depends on the size of your carry-on. I use a backpack for a carry-on and can just hold that in my lap, but since you're not checking luggage, I'm assuming that your carry-on is most likely a small rolling suitcase. If that's the case, I'm pretty sure it would have to be stowed under the bus, in which case you should tip the driver for handling it.

3. You can absolutely have Bell Services hold your luggage for you until your ME time. You should pick up your luggage about 30 minutes before your pick-up time because there might be other people waiting for their luggage at the same time, and because the pick-up time is actually when the bus leaves your resort, not when it gets there, so you want to be at the pick-up about 15 minutes before your scheduled time.

4. I don't think there are set locations for the different resorts' stops at the various parks; I believe it can change.

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Bradbury

I'm going for a solo weekend trip in December and am flying due to time constraints and finding cheap airfare. I haven't flown anywhere in several years and I'm a little nervous.

Questions!

1. Online check-in - if I can check in on my phone, is there any point in checking in using RAC? I'm not checking any luggage.

2. Using ME, I'll just give my carryon to the bus driver to stow under the ME bus, or can I carry it on to the bus and store it under my seat or overhead?

3. On the day I leave, I will need to check out earlier than my ME reservation time. Can I leave my bags with bell services and retrieve them myself, or will bell services give them to the ME bus driver directly?

4. I am very familiar with WDW and several of the resorts. This time I'm staying at AoA; where are the bus stops at the parks, in relation to Pop's? For example, Pop's bus stop at MK is the.very.last.one - I was hoping for something closer for AoA. At the end of the day that is quite a walk!

Thanks for your help!

1. If you check in using your phone, you will still have to stop, at the airport, to get your boarding pass. May as well do it at RAC.

2. If you have a carryon that is larger than a tote bag, it will need to go beneath the bus. There is no room under the seats, and the overhead bins are small. They will accomodate a tote bag but nothing larger.

3. Leave your bags with luggage assistence. Then, be sure to leave plenty of time to retrieve them. Luggage Assistence at the values tends to be a bit slower than other resorts. Figure on 15 mins. They will not give the bags to DME...you have to get the bags yourself.

4. If AoA bus stops are closer than Pop's, it would mean moving an existing resort stop. I haven't heard of any reconfigurations, so I imagine that the AoA stops are located pretty much the same as Pop's....toward the end.

[Mrs. Bradbury]

Originally Posted by siskaren

1. Would you get some kind of boarding pass on your phone then? Because that would be the only other reason to use RAC if you don't have luggage - to get a boarding pass.

2. It depends on the size of your carry-on. I use a backpack for a carry-on and can just hold that in my lap, but since you're not checking luggage, I'm assuming that your carry-on is most likely a small rolling suitcase. If that's the case, I'm pretty sure it would have to be stowed under the bus, in which case you should tip the driver for handling it.

3. You can absolutely have Bell Services hold your luggage for you until your ME time. You should pick up your luggage about 30 minutes before your pick-up time because there might be other people waiting for their luggage at the same time, and because the pick-up time is actually when the bus leaves your resort, not when it gets there, so you want to be at the pick-up about 15 minutes before your scheduled time.

4. I don't think there are set locations for the different resorts' stops at the various parks; I believe it can change.

Originally Posted by goofy4tink

1. If you check in using your phone, you will still have to stop, at the airport, to get your boarding pass. May as well do it at RAC.

2. If you have a carryon that is larger than a tote bag, it will need to go beneath the bus. There is no room under the seats, and the overhead bins are small. They will accomodate a tote bag but nothing larger.

3. Leave your bags with luggage assistence. Then, be sure to leave plenty of time to retrieve them. Luggage Assistence at the values tends to be a bit slower than other resorts. Figure on 15 mins. They will not give the bags to DME...you have to get the bags yourself.

4. If AoA bus stops are closer than Pop's, it would mean moving an existing resort stop. I haven't heard of any reconfigurations, so I imagine that the AoA stops are located pretty much the same as Pop's....toward the end.

Thanks so much to both of you, this is very helpful! And goofy4tink, I apologize, I realized after the fact that I probably should have posted this as a new post instead of in the DME/RAC sticky.

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Bradbury

Thanks so much to both of you, this is very helpful! And goofy4tink, I apologize, I realized after the fact that I probably should have posted this as a new post instead of in the DME/RAC sticky.

Not a problem..glad you got your answer!!!

[peachplumpear]

I have a question:
When I made my reservation I entered my flight info for the DME service, but when I made the final payment I noticed I'd made a typo on the departure flight, so I called Disney and asked if they could fix it. They did, but this caused my arrival flight to be removed from my reservation details.

I gave it a couple days to update, still nothing. So I called back and explained everything, gave the CM all my flight info and she said she fixed it. I checked today (it's been a couple days again) and now there's nothing. It says "ground transport inclucded" but when I click view details and scroll down to the DME there's nothing, neither the arrival nor the departure flight is there. It says to enter flight info to receive the DME...

I got my luggage tags today. I'm going to have to call Disney again, but I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else? I'm a little worried...!

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by peachplumpear

I have a question:
When I made my reservation I entered my flight info for the DME service, but when I made the final payment I noticed I'd made a typo on the departure flight, so I called Disney and asked if they could fix it. They did, but this caused my arrival flight to be removed from my reservation details.

I gave it a couple days to update, still nothing. So I called back and explained everything, gave the CM all my flight info and she said she fixed it. I checked today (it's been a couple days again) and now there's nothing. It says "ground transport inclucded" but when I click view details and scroll down to the DME there's nothing, neither the arrival nor the departure flight is there. It says to enter flight info to receive the DME...

I got my luggage tags today. I'm going to have to call Disney again, but I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else? I'm a little worried...!

Okay, you said you got your luggage tags?? The yellow DME ones, that come in the packet with your vouchers?? If so, you're good to go. They don't need your exact arrival info...as long as you are listed on the reservation and you have made the DME reservation, you're good to go.
When you get to MCO, you can make sure they have the correct departure info. That's the really important info.They need that in order to correctly schedule your ride back to MCO on DME.

[dana278]

Hi everyone. I'm currently planning my first trip in 15 years, so this Magical Express stuff is all new to me!

I'm clear on how all of the inbound stuff works, but the outbound makes me nervous. (With all of this talk of RAC and BAGS.) I'll be flying first class and since checked baggage is free I don't know how that would all work. Rather than deal with someone thinking I didn't pay my fees I think I'd rather just take my bags with me and check in at the airport as I usually would.

So my question...when you take your bags from bell services to the bus how complicated is it to store your luggage? Specifically how much work is it when you are dropped off at the airport? Are there a ton of bags to sort through before finding yours? I'm assuming most people do the RAC thing so hopefully mine will be the only ones there!

And just in general, how reliable is the inbound baggage transfer? Do they routinely lose bags? I've got a black cloud over my head so if anyone's bags will be lost, they'll be mine! I'm sure I can get away with only bringing one large bag but I'm planning on two so I can mix up my items in each of them. That way if one bag is lost at least I'll still have underwear in the second! LOL

Thanks so much!

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally Posted by dana278

I'll be flying first class and since checked baggage is free I don't know how that would all work. Rather than deal with someone thinking I didn't pay my fees I think I'd rather just take my bags with me and check in at the airport as I usually would.

Having your bags loaded onto your DME coach and then dragging them to your airline's ticket counter (or to a skycap) is an option. Sadly, it's the only option for guests who are flying very early in the morning or not flying on a RAC-participating airline.

If you qualify for RAC, I would highly recommend that you use it. It's a remote skycap service at your resort. The RAC skycap issues your boarding pass and attaches luggage routing tags to your bags. The bags then go into TSA-approved, secure, locked cages which are sent to the airport by truck and turned over to your airline.

Yes, your airline could screw up and not load your bags onto the flight, but that can also happen if you check in at the airport with a skycap or at the ticket counter.

The RAC skycap knows who qualifies for free bags. It's not something you have to worry about. (Many passengers qualify for free bags due to class of service, frequent flyer elite status, or using the airline's credit card.) The RAC skycap also knows who has prepaid their bag fees. And the RAC skycap knows who still needs to pay. That's because the RAC agent sees the same computer record that someone at the airport would see.

[siskaren]

Originally Posted by Horace Horsecollar

If you qualify for RAC, I would highly recommend that you use it. It's a remote skycap service at your resort. The RAC skycap issues your boarding pass and attaches luggage routing tags to your bags.

Think of RAC as curbside check-in, only the curb is 20 miles from the airport.