Claiming your own luggage for ME

[bytheblood]

Just a note - not trying to start a debate.

I called CRO and asked to speak with somebody in Guest Services. Of course, they did not just transfer me, which I expected.

The lady I talked to, Fontaine (and very very very nice by the way), contacted Guest Services and the lady she pulled on is a manager who has been working the airport since DME started.

She said that you do not have to use the luggage tags and can go and claim your own luggage, pull it to the welcome center and they will put your luggage on the bus for you and you can take it to the resort.

I told her that when I called DME, they told me that I most certainly cannot claim my own luggage and that if I do, I will have to recheck it and they will not allow me to take it on the bus.

She told me that DME is a contracted service (which we already knew) and this is not their decision (so-to-speak). She said that many of the people there work the Disney Cruises as well, but are not Disney employees (which we already knew as well) and that you are more than welcome to go claim your own luggage.

I am going to email Disney to ask, because I want it in writing. I will post the answer I receive on this thread.

 

[Lewisc]

There is only one location for ME. I'm not so sure I'd want to have claim my luggage, go up to the main level, drag it across the airport then go down to the Disney Welcome desk. If you want to claim your luggage you might be better off with a towncar or rental.

You can have all the emails you want. If the ME employee wants to check your bag it's probably not worth the delay it will take for the employee to check with someone else. I'm sure you're correct and there may be some cases in which it's critical you get your luggage immediately upon arrival at the resort. Someone mentioned a tee time that may not allow enough time for his golf clubs to make it to the resort.

Not trying to start a debate, I'm sure you're correct. Just wondering if ME is really worth it if you're going to get your own luggage.

 

[LittleDino]

I had the same question before my trip... because I never did receive my luggage tags. So I went in blindly to the whole experience, but it all worked out very well. When we arrived in Orlando at 6:25 PM on 5/7, I found a "waving mickey hand" employee who told me that it was okay to go pull my own luggage from baggage claim. For peace of mind, we went and got our own luggage and then took it to the Magical Express counter to "check in" for our bus ride. They printed new bus vouchers for us right there (since we didn't receive those in the mail either), and we were on our way.

Being able to grab our own luggage was very nice... I would have been nervous about leaving my claim ticket with them. The bus driver had no problem loading our luggage onto the bus when we got on... there were plenty other people who also had luggage to be stored under the bus.

So I would say the answer is Yes - feel free to grab your own luggage from baggage claim (especially if you never received luggage tags), they let us do it and didn't give us any problems.

 

[bytheblood]

I had the same question before my trip... because I never did receive my luggage tags. So I went in blindly to the whole experience, but it all worked out very well. When we arrived in Orlando at 6:25 PM on 5/7, I found a "waving mickey hand" employee who told me that it was okay to go pull my own luggage from baggage claim. For peace of mind, we went and got our own luggage and then took it to the Magical Express counter to "check in" for our bus ride. They printed new bus vouchers for us right there (since we didn't receive those in the mail either), and we were on our way.

Being able to grab our own luggage was very nice... I would have been nervous about leaving my claim ticket with them. The bus driver had no problem loading our luggage onto the bus when we got on... there were plenty other people who also had luggage to be stored under the bus.

So I would say the answer is Yes - feel free to grab your own luggage from baggage claim (especially if you never received luggage tags), they let us do it and didn't give us any problems.

Thank you, LittleDino, for posting your experience. I am glad to hear they did not give you any trouble. I think that is what I plan to do as well, because I do not forsee this going as smooth as DCL in 20 more days. I am more concerned about the luggage tags not making it.

I did call DME and was told that until further notice (whatever that means ) that travel documents will not be mailed until 7-10 days before your travel date, NOT 21. So - If I do not have them when I leave, I will most certainly be claiming my own luggage.

 

[Lewisc]

Thank you, LittleDino, for posting your experience. I am glad to hear they did not give you any trouble. I think that is what I plan to do as well, because I do not forsee this going as smooth as DCL in 20 more days. I am more concerned about the luggage tags not making it.

I did call DME and was told that until further notice (whatever that means ) that travel documents will not be mailed until 7-10 days before your travel date, NOT 21. So - If I do not have them when I leave, I will most certainly be claiming my own luggage.

I thought I read they were going to mail them to TA's 21 days in advance but directly to customers around 7-10 days so everyone will get them about a week before their trip.

I agree with you. Without the magical tags I'd get my own luggage.

 

[shelleybell]

We do not land until 10:15 pm. I was dreading waiting up for my luggage.
I like the idea of pulling my own.

shelleybell

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I can certainly understand allowing guests to claim their luggage NOW while the system is still so bumpy. But it was my understanding that the whole point of NOT bringing your luggage on the bus was that it would slow everything down, exactly like using regular Mears.

I personally hope that once everyone is getting their tags prior to departure that they enforce that you may NOT claim your own luggage and put it on the bus. I don't want to wait for everyone to fool with their luggage, or even for a few people to fool with their luggage. If the protocol is to tag your bags so they can be loaded on the truck without going to the baggage carousel but people are purposely NOT tagging their bags so they can bring them to the bus I will be irritated. Just my opinion.

 

[bytheblood]

jackskellingstonsgirl - ITA with what you are saying. If things were going real smooth, I could not see wanting to fetch my luggage. It worked our on our DCL cruise, but this whole DME is a bit chaotic right now. I will certainly consider what reviewers between now and June 2 have to say, however.

I am not wild about getting my bags, but I will do it if it means that I am not having to worry about a 6 - 8 hour deliverly.

 

[Tink03477]

When I called DME yesterday I asked them if I had to put the tags on my luggage if I recieved them in time and she told me that if I felt more comfortable getting my luggage myself and bringing it to the bus, then I could do that. She told me not to put the tags on them if I wanted to get them. I don't have my tags yet and we leave in 8 days.
My biggest fear with the luggage is that the airline will lose it; not WDW. I just want to make sure my luggage made it to Orlando just like me.
I've looked all over the boards and haven't found any info on what would happen if my "tagged" luggage was not there. Will they tell me before I get on the bus or will they wait until I am checked in at the resort and have to go all the way back to MCO to fill out paperwork? That would totally bum me out.
Does anyone know anything about that?
Thank you!

 

[Leigh123]

Does anyone have anymore information on this? If this is true and you can get your own luggage, I will be using a towncar service....seems to me if you can take your own luggage on it will be as slow as regular old mears service (which I did once and will NEVER do again).

 

[bizeemom4]

It says on my Magical Express tags - "If you elect not to use Disney's Magical Express service after receiving this booklet, please do not tag your luggage with the enclosed tags."

My booklet does not have my arrival flight information even though DME reps told me several times that it was in the system. I have changed resorts and my tags are now incorrect so I will have to pull my luggage. NO BIG DEAL since it's only a long weekend trip and I won't have that much.

 

[bytheblood]

Does anyone have anymore information on this? If this is true and you can get your own luggage, I will be using a towncar service....seems to me if you can take your own luggage on it will be as slow as regular old mears service (which I did once and will NEVER do again).

I think the above posts make it pretty clear that you can get your own luggage.


I've used Mears and have never had an issue.

 

[Lewisc]

Does anyone have anymore information on this? If this is true and you can get your own luggage, I will be using a towncar service....seems to me if you can take your own luggage on it will be as slow as regular old mears service (which I did once and will NEVER do again).

ME only leaves from one airport location vs 4 for Mears. ME has a lot more guests using it, therefore a lot few stops and shorter waits for the bus.

Guests who elect to get their own luggage may have to truck it through the airport but I wouldn't think it would slow the bus down by more than a minute or two.