Can you Walk Me Through Airline Check In, Bell Services, etc for a late departure?

[mmbrad02]

We normally department Disney in relatively early flights (like one was 7am and one was 10am) so we have always just packed our bags up and sat at the DME on departure day. We have never done any check ins at our resort nor have we used Bell Services to hold anything. We even haul our luggage to the front ourselves

This trip is different. For one, we have a preschooler. We also have a 6:25pm departure flight. So we have until about 3pm that day to do something, and I'm currently thinking we will spend it at MK wrapping up some undone things.

So what do we do with our stuff? Do I arrange Bell Services, like the day before, to come and get our checked in luggage? Can we just take it to the front to them? Do we HAVE to check in at the resort for our airline or can they just hold our luggage? Is it best to check in? I'm just confused as to how all this works. And then we also give Bell Services our carry ons as well?

Anyone care to walk us through this process?

 

[harbin]

We always take a later flight so we can spend the morning in MK. We have bell services come get our bags, we check in for our flight and check our bags at the resort. Any carry on bags we store at bell services. We then head to MK. When it comes time for our magical express pick up, we return to hotel, grab our carry on bags and head to the airport. No need to check in at airport as they have already given us boarding passes at the resort! It is a seamless process. I don't believe every airline has resort check in, but most do!

 

[mmbrad02]

Thanks! Anyone know if Southwest has resort check in?

So once you check in at your resort, you don't have to touch your checked in luggage anymore? Is this check in area limited on times you can check in or is it all day?

 

[harbin]

Southwest does have resort check in. You have to check in several hours before your flight. I do it in the morning as you have to check out of your hotel anyway. That way, you can enjoy the park in the morning without having to worry about rushing back to get checked in. Magical express (if you are using it) will often pick you up about three hours before your flight time.

 

[Pattil1960]

Yes, Southwest does resort check-in. You have bell service take your bags to the airline check-in, and you bring your paperwork. They take your bags and you see them again when you land. You leave your carry-on with the bell service a, and get those before boarding the Magical Express.

 

[lroger01]

Just so you know, flight check in and luggage drop off is in a separate area at the front of the resort - at least it is at the value resorts I've stayed in. It's run by an outside vendor and they have scales and everything like at the airport. They'll take your bags, check your tickets, put the long bar code airport ID sticker tags on your luggage, and give you your boarding passes.

After that is done you take your carry-ons to the bell services podium. They'll have you fill out tags with your name and number of bags. Make sure you tag (and number) everything you leave with them - merchandise bags, giant stuffed Mickey, or the ginormous monorail set your kid insists on getting as a souvenir and you hope will fit under the seat on the plane. When you pick up the bags do a count to be sure you got everything.

Give yourself about 30 minutes to pick up your carry ons from bell services. If there is a line (and there will be a line!) it could take that long. This is in addition to any time you need to change clothes or get cleaned up before getting on the bus. If you do plan on changing clothes, pack everything in a single bag (or two - one for each gender) to make changing easier.

 

[mmbrad02]

You all are wonderful - thank you for the information!

Is there a place where I can find the resort airline check in times?

 

[disneybirds]

We did this process today ... Checked in at the airline kiosk at Wilderness Lodge at 8:00 a.m. and left our carry on bags with the bell services. Headed to the MK for the morning, then returned for our carry on bags and ME. The only problem was that our bags were sent on an earlier flight. So after we waited for all the bags on the carousel, we had to find the baggage services for our bags. We flew AirTran booked on Southwest, if this helps anyone. It might be better to store everything with bell services and then check your bags right before catching the ME.

 

[ArielRae]

Did you know your bags were sent on an earlier flight or found out when your bags didn't show up on the carousel at your home airport? How did you go about getting your bags found?

 

[kaytieeldr]

you all are wonderful - thank you for the information!

Is there a place where i can find the resort airline check in times?

5:30 am-1:00 pm.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Southwest Airlines does participate in the resort airline check in. You will receive notification of your Magical Express pickup times the day before your departure day. It will have complete instructions in the letter. On the morning of your departure there should be another letter which will contain your luggage tags. You have to check your baggage at least 3 hours before flight time or by 1pm, whichever comes first. You need to have a photo ID in order to check the baggage. An adult can check in their spouse or child, but other adults on the reservation would have to check their own bags.

The way we do it is to completely check out of the room, take our luggage to the airline resort check in site, and then drop our carry ons at bell services. The airline check in will be located near the same area that the ME uses. Keep that information letter with you, the one that comes to your resort room, because they won't let you on the bus without it. The MagicBands will work on arrival day but not for your departure.

We have traveled to WDW many times using SWA and never had a problem with our luggage arriving on a different flight. The only times there has been a problem is when someone has an overweight (heavy) bag. Those had been handled a little differently at our airport and we had to pick them up in a different area.

 

[disneybirds]

Did you know your bags were sent on an earlier flight or found out when your bags didn't show up on the carousel at your home airport? How did you go about getting your bags found?

We waited on all the bags to be delivered on the carousel. I then found the AirTran/Southwest luggage services in baggage claim. There were other people that didn't have bags on that flight as well. I didn't ask if they had used ME.

 

[lroger01]

We waited on all the bags to be delivered on the carousel. I then found the AirTran/Southwest luggage services in baggage claim. There were other people that didn't have bags on that flight as well. I didn't ask if they had used ME.

I had this happen to me on my last trip. My daughters bag came out with all the other luggage, but mine did not. It was in the unclaimed luggage area.

I think the best plan is to just check the unclaimed luggage area when you first get to the baggage carrousel. You might get lucky and not have to wait for bags to be unloaded from the plane. I can see from an airline point of view that if they have luggage going to a specific destination, and there is room for it on an earlier plane, to put it on there. I'm sure the later flights tend to be full more often than morning flights.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

When you said late departure, I thought you meant like 10pm.

As others have said, you can check your bags in the morning, enjoy some time relaxing, then take ME back to the airport.

On SWA, each person can check up to two bags. So if you only have - say- two bags to check- then only one person has to check them. SWA isn't going to look inside to make sure the contents are only your clothes.

You could, in theory, check your bags after you arrive at MCO, but it's much easier to use WDW's service. You never know how long the line will be at MCO. The SWA line gets quite long.

Another line that gets quite long at SWA is the line to enter the secure area. the queue is divided into different groups, and the 'family' line can be especially slow. Also, if you are not familiar with MCO, beyond the security checkpoint, travelers have to take a shuttle out to the gate. ME should get you to the airport with enough time to do both. That said, if you ALSO want to get a snack, I suggest doing down by the gate - AFTER you have been on the shuttle.

One more thought. If you have a toddler, you might also have a stroller. The procedure for strollers is to 'gate check' the stroller. That is done down at the gate desk. The airline will tag if for you there. You can use the stroller all through the airport, right up until you can touch the plane. You fold it and leave it in the gangway (with tags). When you disembark the plane, you wait in the gangway to pick it up. So again, you get to use it in your home airport. It's similar to how the airline does wheelchairs.

I guess the other thing to consider: allow plenty of time on departure day. You can go to a park, but beware- mid day travel via WDW transportation can be very slow. Make sure you arrive back with plenty of time. Also know that ME buses are not 100% on time.

We like to make sure we're back at the hotel with plenty of time to spare. One favorite departure day activity is swimming at the resort. All the resorts have very nice locker rooms. Also, many resorts have little known fun 'resort activities,' including using the arcade discount coupon that comes with WDW 'packages.' Find a list of the resort activities with your check-in packet.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

SWA does participate in RAC, but one word of warning: if you're flying an all SW itinerary, you won't be able to do RAC. However, if you're flying a mixed SW/Air Tran itinerary, you can't do RAC. We didn't realize that on our last trip and ended up dragging our luggage with us to MCO. It's been reported by several other people on the Transportation board that this has happened to them as well. So if you're doing a mixed itinerary, plan to take your own bags to MCO and plan on having to check in at the airport. That really caught us by surprise.

We did pay a porter at MCO to help with the luggage and that was the best $10 we spent on the entire trip!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We usually check out of the room and store all of our bags at bell services, head to the park, come back and get bags out of bell service and do airline check-in. We like being able to pack any extras we may have purchased in the park that morning in our checked bags. Sometimes the airline check-in line can get long so we allow plenty of time before our ME pickup.

To other posters who are worried about bags being sent ahead, this can happen to anyone at anytime whether you do early airline check in or not. It happened to my mom on our way to Disney one year. They put our bags on an earlier connecting flight. Once they arrived in Orlando they put them in a "roped off" area by the bag carousels but no airline employees were standing there. My bag was there but mom's was not. Long story short, bag was never found. We didn't tag the bags for Disney since we didn't want to wait for our bags for several hours. As you can imagine this made for an interesting trip with her having 0 changes of clothes. Lesson learned, always tag your bags for Disney and pack a carryon that you could live out of if absolutely necessary.

 

[mmbrad02]

We are doing a SWA itinerary only. In the pays we had early flights and we always drug out own luggage to DME and then checked it in at MCO. Now I'm wondering why we did that

Let's talk tips. If I have bell services take my checked luggage to the resort airline check in, what is the customary tipping amount? On the flip side, I can take it there myself, correct? We will likely have three checked bags total even though we are allows six, and carrying themselves will likely not be an issue since that is what we are accustomed to anyways (hence the above).

And again, leaving our carry ons with bell services - what is the customary tipping there?

I had pretty much planned to do a 9-1 day at MK which would allow us two hours to get back to that resort and claim our carry ons. We may cut it off at noon and head back to CSR just incase. I tend to be a huge worrier about time and we do a lot of sitting and waiting.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We are doing a SWA itinerary only. In the pays we had early flights and we always drug out own luggage to DME and then checked it in at MCO. Now I'm wondering why we did that

Let's talk tips. If I have bell services take my checked luggage to the resort airline check in, what is the customary tipping amount? On the flip side, I can take it there myself, correct? We will likely have three checked bags total even though we are allows six, and carrying themselves will likely not be an issue since that is what we are accustomed to anyways (hence the above).

And again, leaving our carry ons with bell services - what is the customary tipping there?
QUOTE]

Usually the bell services desk is right inside the lobby and the airline check-in is right outside the lobby so you would walk your luggage from one to the other. If you need help getting your bags from your room to bell services before you check out, I would definitely tip (I usually do $5 for 2 bags). I have never tipped just for leaving my bags there, only if they have to come get them. Maybe I should have ...curious what other people do.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

You have to go down to the RAC checkin desk personally. You're checking in to your airline, so they have to verify your ID. Bell Services can help you get your luggage there, but you have to physically check in. One person in the party can check in for everyone, though.

If Bell Services is helping me move my luggage, I give them $5 (to or from the room). If I leave my bags with Bell Services, I tip $1/bag when dropping off and $1/bag when picking up. If I were taking the bags to RAC myself, I wouldn't tip.