Complaint

[koho]

Can anyone tell how I can file a complaint with Disney? My problem is that we used ME to get to the resort and the airport. Everything was great on our trip to the resort. However, on the return trip to the airport things were not so great.

Our paper work for the return trip said that the bus will be at the resort between 2:00pm and 2:15pm. That time was fine since our flight left MCO at 5:05pm. Well we were at the ME stop at 1:50pm to wait for the bus. A bus shows up at 2:15pm just like clock work, but the driver gets off and says that he is not picking up just droping off (one family). So, we wait for the next bus which does not arrive until 2:30pm. Then it takes the driver 15 -20 minutes to load the bus because of all the people leaving. Then we drive to the GF to pick up more people. This time it takes 30-40 minutes to load the bus because of all the people waiting and one person is in a wheel chair.

So by the time we get to the airport, get to our stop, get the bus unloaded and we get through security we had about 2 minutes to spare before we board.

I would not so upset if it was not for the fact that my 4yo lost the doll that she bought in Disney World and it only sold in Disney World.

So if anyone can tell me how to get in touch with disney that would be great.

Thanks,

[Mickey country]

Go to the Disney web site, and click on contact us.

[LoraJ]

Wow! Sorry you had to deal with that. This is exactly why we rent a car. I like being in control of stuff like this, not having to rely on buses and not knowing exactly when you will arrive at the airport. That would drive me nuts.

[goofy4tink]

Sorry you had such a horrific experience. I would imagine that it was due to that one driver. Seems he was pretty clueless.
The thing everyone needs to understand is that the buses that drop off guests, are not going to be picking up guests to get them back to MCO. They have other places to go....I've sat there and waited for my bus back to MCO and watched three buses dropping guests off, then drive off.
I can't imagine why it took so long to load your bus..at either location. The bus usually spends no more than 10 mins at a resort, heading back to MCO. It just doesn't take all that long to toss bags underneath the bus. And 40 mins it truly excessive.
I would most certainly let Disney know of your experience.

[Lynne M]

I'm going to move this to the Transportation board, where the DME experts live.

[Lewisc]

DME schedules your pickup about 3 hours before your flight. A couple of times a week (at least it seems that frequently) a poster wants to know how to "cheat" the system to get a later pick up time. The 3 hour time is designed to allow enough time to accommodate the kinds of "issues" you encountered. With all those issues you got to your gate before your flight started to board, you probably had 15 minutes to spare. Your experience documents the reason for a scheduled pickup around 3 hours before your flight.

Unless something is changed DME gives a specific pickup time. Was your pickup time 2 or 2:15?

I agree you should contact Disney. It sounds like (at least) some drivers need more training on how load a wheel chair.

Your numbers don't sound right. I've never heard of a bus unloading arriving passengers and then immediately loading departing passengers. I've never heard of it taking 20 minutes to load a bus at one stop and then 40 minutes to load a bus with a wheelchair.

Sounds like extreme "worse case" scenario and you still made your flight.

edited to add--The OP said they were picked up at 2:30 and it took up to 20 minutes to load at the first resort and up to 40 minutes to load at the GF. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from WDW to MCO. The numbers suggest they left to GF at 3:30 and arrived at MCO at around 4p. 90 minutes is generally more then enough time to get through security. I agree it's cutting it close if you have bags to check.

Unless something has changed pickup times for the POLY are :15 and :45. Sounds like your bus was 15 minutes late. Everything went wrong. The bus was late. It took longer then normal to load at both stops. Your pickup was 2:50 before your flight, less then 3 hours. That said you still made your flight.

[TillyMarigold]

Originally Posted by Lewisc

DME schedules your pickup about 3 hours before your flight. A couple of times a week (at least it seems that frequently) a poster wants to know how to "cheat" the system to get a later pick up time. The 3 hour time is designed to allow enough time to accommodate the kinds of "issues" you encountered. With all those issues you got to your gate before your flight started to board, you probably had 15 minutes to spare. Your experience documents the reason for a scheduled pickup around 3 hours before your flight.

Unless something is changed DME gives a specific pickup time. Was your pickup time 2 or 2:15?

I agree you should contact Disney. It sounds like (at least) some drivers need more training on how load a wheel chair.

Your numbers don't sound right. I've never heard of a bus unloading arriving passengers and then immediately loading departing passengers. I've never heard of it taking 20 minutes to load a bus at one stop and then 40 minutes to load a bus with a wheelchair.

Sounds like extreme "worse case" scenario and you still made your flight.

edited to add--The OP said they were picked up at 2:30 and it took up to 20 minutes to load at the first resort and up to 40 minutes to load at the GF. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from WDW to MCO. The numbers suggest they left to GF at 3:30 and arrived at MCO at around 4p. 90 minutes is generally more then enough time to get through security. I agree it's cutting it close if you have bags to check.

Unless something has changed pickup times for the POLY are :15 and :45. Sounds like your bus was 15 minutes late. Everything went wrong. The bus was late. It took longer then normal to load at both stops. Your pickup was 2:50 before your flight, less then 3 hours. That said you still made your flight.

Boarding for a 5:05 flight would be at 4:35, so they would have 30 minutes or so, which given you have to go through security and then catch the monorail thing, is really not much time at all.

[Lewisc]

Originally Posted by TillyMarigold

Boarding for a 5:05 flight would be at 4:35, so they would have 30 minutes or so, which given you have to go through security and then catch the monorail thing, is really not much time at all.

Boarding may start 30 minutes before flight time but your reservation isn't cancelled until 10 minutes or so before flight time.

My point is everything went wrong (3 hour time was rounded down, bus was late and a long load time at both stops) and the OP still got to the gate with 20 minutes to spare.

NOT IDEAL this serves as a warning to those posters who want to (lie) in order to schedule a DME pickup 2.5 (or even 2) hours before their flight.

That said if I was the OP I'd probably not use DME (at least for my return to MCO) next trip or would at least request an earlier pickup time.

[bicker]

I think many airlines now cancel reservations if you haven't checked in 20 minutes prior to a flight.

[Lewisc]

Originally Posted by bicker

I think many airlines now cancel reservations if you haven't checked in 20 minutes prior to a flight.

Yes but we check in when we get our BP online or when we check our luggage. I'm not going to take the time to check airline sites but I don't think many airlines cancel a reservation if a passenger who checked in isn't at the gate 20 minutes prior to their flight. There isn't any requirement (domestic flight) to check in with the GA. The airline won't even know you're not at the gate until boarding is completed and your BP wasn't scanned.

Some airlines require luggage checking be completed at least 45 minutes before your flight is scheduled to depart (MCO).

That said my wife wouldn't be happy cutting it that close.

[seashoreCM]

A tleast a day before check out you can request a DME bus back to the airport that is even earlier (say 3-1/'2 hours in advance of your flight) and this request will always be granted. Now you do have to be punctual for this bus.

You can use extra time at the airport to grab a bite to eat, preferably at the gate hub, that is, inside security.

[snowiit]

Originally Posted by seashoreCM

A tleast a day before check out you can request a DME bus back to the airport that is even earlier (say 3-1/'2 hours in advance of your flight) and this request will always be granted. Now you do have to be punctual for this bus.

You can use extra time at the airport to grab a bite to eat, preferably at the gate hub, that is, inside security.

Just clarifying... the OP WAS punctual..... maybe you didn't mean anything by the response but just wanted to say that they posted they were 10 minutes early for the bus that they needed to catch at the resort.

That said.... glad to read this post as I will be checking ME's time to take us back to the airport when we head for home on 12/11

[bgirl29]

While I do agree that the OP was on time, while reading this thread I did wonder if they ended up on a later bus. But this is only because yesterday we too had a flight that was scheduled for 5:05. We were at POR waiting for our ME bus that was scheduled for 2:00 when it showed up at 1:45 maybe even a couple minutes earlier. I did check the time on my cell phone when we were pulling away from the next stop that was POFQ and it was 2:00 then. I thought to myself that it was scary how early the bus was because if people are unaware that they need to be early they could really have some problems.

[koho]

Originally Posted by bgirl29

While I do agree that the OP was on time, while reading this thread I did wonder if they ended up on a later bus. But this is only because yesterday we too had a flight that was scheduled for 5:05. We were at POR waiting for our ME bus that was scheduled for 2:00 when it showed up at 1:45 maybe even a couple minutes earlier. I did check the time on my cell phone when we were pulling away from the next stop that was POFQ and it was 2:00 then. I thought to myself that it was scary how early the bus was because if people are unaware that they need to be early they could really have some problems.

No we were on the correct bus. Our paper work said that the bus would be at the Poly at 2:15pm and to be there 15 minutes early. So I made sure to be at the stop by at least 1:50pm just to be safe. When the correct bus pulled up the driver even asked if we were ont he 2:15 pick up.

[Tara]

Originally Posted by bgirl29

While I do agree that the OP was on time, while reading this thread I did wonder if they ended up on a later bus. But this is only because yesterday we too had a flight that was scheduled for 5:05. We were at POR waiting for our ME bus that was scheduled for 2:00 when it showed up at 1:45 maybe even a couple minutes earlier. I did check the time on my cell phone when we were pulling away from the next stop that was POFQ and it was 2:00 then. I thought to myself that it was scary how early the bus was because if people are unaware that they need to be early they could really have some problems.

It's always been my understanding that the time arranged for ME is the time the bus is supposed to leave the resort, not the time it arrives to pick up guests. So a 1:45 arrival and a 2:00 departure from the resort makes perfect sense to me.