CleveRocks
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster worshipper
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2005
I was in WDW May 8 (Mothers Day) through May 14. I have only positive things to say about Disney's Magical Express. I took notes:
ARRIVAL DAY:
9:37 a.m. to 9:42 a.m. -- in line at DME counter (same level as rental car counters). The line moved VERY quickly because there were 14 CMs serving customers, plus about 2-3 managers floating about.
9:44 a.m. to 9:54 a.m. -- in line at my bus queue (which seemed like a long timne because other lines boarded their buses before we did).
9:55 a.m. to 10:02 a.m. -- waiting on an idling, air conditioned, comfy, well-upholstered DME bus.
(LET'S STOP TO DO THE MATH: 25 MINUTES FROM FIRST GETTING INTO THE DME LINE TO OUR BUS PULLING AWAY FROM THE AIRPORT. NOT BAD IN MY BOOK.)
10:02 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. -- ride to Caribbean Beach Resort, the first stop (the bus then went on to All Star Sports and then Animal Kingdom Lodge)
10:30 a.m. to 10:58 a.m. -- waiting in the check-in line at CBR. Our rooms were ready!
We then waited for CBR's internal shuttle to take us to the "Trinidad North" bus stop, and then we got into our rooms. After a rest (mainly for the sake of our 5 year old and 2 1/2 year old) and then lunch at Old Port Royale's food court, we headed for Trinidad North's "quiet pool." Our luggage arrived at 2:30 p.m. while we were at the pool (my mother-in-law was in her connecting room, so that's how I know the time).
The fact that my luggage arrived 3 1/2 hours after I checked in doesn't bother me at all. I've been traveling as an adult for 15 years, and no matter where I go, under ALL circumstances, I pack in my carry on everything I anticipate needing for the first 24 hours in case the airline loses my luggage. Anticipating there might be luggage delays on DME's 4th full day of operations, I did nothing different than I do any other time I travel. And this was the first time I ever traveled by air with my two pre-schoolers. We each had a bathing suit, a change of clothes for our first evening in a park, PJs, toiletries, and a fresh change of clothes for the following morning. It's called proper planning (we cognitive psychology types call it "anticipatory problem solving"). Complaining about luggage arriving late when you know there's a good chance there will be problems is just plain foolish. Of course if we didn't plan properly, didn't bring swimsuits, didn't bring a change of clothes suitable for Florida heat (as opposed to the still-cool Northeastern US weather), we would have been miserable.
DEPARTURE DAY:
For our return trip, we had a 6:45 p.m. flight, so we were to be picked up at the CBR Custom House at 4:00 p.m. Check out time is 11:00 a.m., so we had Bell Services pick up and store our luggage, and we caught a bus to Downtown Disney. We returned to CBR in time for our 4:00 p.m. DME pick up, which was very prompt. The driver was friendly and loaded all of our luggage (checked and carry on) for us -- we flew on a non-participating airline, so we had to take care of our luggage ourselves. Here's what I had to do to "take care of my luggage myself" -- called Bell Services prior to Express Checkout, and was told to leave it stacked up just inside the door to our room; about 15 minutes before our DME pick up, I asked a Bell Services CM to retrieve our luggage from storage and she brought it out on a cart that I rolled up to the bus about 15 feet away (she declined the tip I offered, by the way); upon arrivign at the airport, the DME driver asked us to remain on the bus until he unloaded all of the luggage and lined it up for easy identification and retrieval; getting off the DME bus, I easily got a skycap to load our luggage onto a cart (and get a wheel chair for my mother-in-law) and escort us all the way upstairs to our airline check in desk (and he happily accepted his well-earned $20 tip).
A 4:00 p.m. pickup for a 6:45 p.m. flight may seem excessively early, but it actually worked very well for us. We got checked in, waited in VERY long security lines, then VERY long food lines, and by the time we got to our gate it was 6:10 p.m. and they were already pre-boarding our flight.
So as you can see, my family's DME experiences were nothing but positive.
-- Eric
ARRIVAL DAY:
9:37 a.m. to 9:42 a.m. -- in line at DME counter (same level as rental car counters). The line moved VERY quickly because there were 14 CMs serving customers, plus about 2-3 managers floating about.
9:44 a.m. to 9:54 a.m. -- in line at my bus queue (which seemed like a long timne because other lines boarded their buses before we did).
9:55 a.m. to 10:02 a.m. -- waiting on an idling, air conditioned, comfy, well-upholstered DME bus.
(LET'S STOP TO DO THE MATH: 25 MINUTES FROM FIRST GETTING INTO THE DME LINE TO OUR BUS PULLING AWAY FROM THE AIRPORT. NOT BAD IN MY BOOK.)
10:02 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. -- ride to Caribbean Beach Resort, the first stop (the bus then went on to All Star Sports and then Animal Kingdom Lodge)
10:30 a.m. to 10:58 a.m. -- waiting in the check-in line at CBR. Our rooms were ready!
We then waited for CBR's internal shuttle to take us to the "Trinidad North" bus stop, and then we got into our rooms. After a rest (mainly for the sake of our 5 year old and 2 1/2 year old) and then lunch at Old Port Royale's food court, we headed for Trinidad North's "quiet pool." Our luggage arrived at 2:30 p.m. while we were at the pool (my mother-in-law was in her connecting room, so that's how I know the time).
The fact that my luggage arrived 3 1/2 hours after I checked in doesn't bother me at all. I've been traveling as an adult for 15 years, and no matter where I go, under ALL circumstances, I pack in my carry on everything I anticipate needing for the first 24 hours in case the airline loses my luggage. Anticipating there might be luggage delays on DME's 4th full day of operations, I did nothing different than I do any other time I travel. And this was the first time I ever traveled by air with my two pre-schoolers. We each had a bathing suit, a change of clothes for our first evening in a park, PJs, toiletries, and a fresh change of clothes for the following morning. It's called proper planning (we cognitive psychology types call it "anticipatory problem solving"). Complaining about luggage arriving late when you know there's a good chance there will be problems is just plain foolish. Of course if we didn't plan properly, didn't bring swimsuits, didn't bring a change of clothes suitable for Florida heat (as opposed to the still-cool Northeastern US weather), we would have been miserable.
DEPARTURE DAY:
For our return trip, we had a 6:45 p.m. flight, so we were to be picked up at the CBR Custom House at 4:00 p.m. Check out time is 11:00 a.m., so we had Bell Services pick up and store our luggage, and we caught a bus to Downtown Disney. We returned to CBR in time for our 4:00 p.m. DME pick up, which was very prompt. The driver was friendly and loaded all of our luggage (checked and carry on) for us -- we flew on a non-participating airline, so we had to take care of our luggage ourselves. Here's what I had to do to "take care of my luggage myself" -- called Bell Services prior to Express Checkout, and was told to leave it stacked up just inside the door to our room; about 15 minutes before our DME pick up, I asked a Bell Services CM to retrieve our luggage from storage and she brought it out on a cart that I rolled up to the bus about 15 feet away (she declined the tip I offered, by the way); upon arrivign at the airport, the DME driver asked us to remain on the bus until he unloaded all of the luggage and lined it up for easy identification and retrieval; getting off the DME bus, I easily got a skycap to load our luggage onto a cart (and get a wheel chair for my mother-in-law) and escort us all the way upstairs to our airline check in desk (and he happily accepted his well-earned $20 tip).
A 4:00 p.m. pickup for a 6:45 p.m. flight may seem excessively early, but it actually worked very well for us. We got checked in, waited in VERY long security lines, then VERY long food lines, and by the time we got to our gate it was 6:10 p.m. and they were already pre-boarding our flight.
So as you can see, my family's DME experiences were nothing but positive.
-- Eric
