Car rental/ME ??

[Promomx2]

Okay we're flying in on June 30th and picking up rental car until July7th and staying in Cocoa Beach. We're thinking of staying at wdw checking in on the 7th when we turn in rental car until the 9th, when we fly home. Can we ride on ME after we turn in the rental car? Our flight is not until 9:50 p.m. so the day of departure where will our luggage go?

 

[seashoreCM]

Okay we're flying in on June 30th and picking up rental car until July7th and staying in Cocoa Beach. We're thinking of staying at wdw checking in on the 7th when we turn in rental car until the 9th, when we fly home. Can we ride on ME after we turn in the rental car? Our flight is not until 9:50 p.m. so the day of departure where will our luggage go?

Yes, you can be in the area for awhile and return the car at the airport (MCO). Then (on the 7'th) take Magical Express to a Disney's resort you booked for your last few nights in town (perhaps enjoying the parks too). Then check out (on the 9'th) and take DME back to the airport that day. Be sure to reserve DME in advance of when you will be riding it.

Or drop the car off at Disney in which case you only need DME one way, back to the airport. Again, reserve DME at least two days in advance.

If you can't check baggage at the resort for your airplane flight (selected airlines only) then the bellhop can hold it for you until you get back to the resort later in the day for Magical Express home.

Be sure to allow extra time for the bellhop to get your baggage back to you and for you to be at the Magical Express platform 15 minutes before your schedules bus.

 

[disneymayz]

You may want to call ME and ask (you have to call to set it up anyway). Reason I say this is becasue I have read that you can not use ME the night before so not sure if they will let you use ME 7 days after landing. Someone wanted to use ME to get to the airport the night before and stay at an airport hotel since they had an early flight. And they were told that would NOT be allowed to use it the day before it had to be the day of.
Luggage Services will hold your bags for you. They can do this also if you check in and your room is not ready.

 

[seashoreCM]

You may want to call ME and ask (you have to call to set it up anyway). Reason I say this is becasue I have read that you can not use ME the night before so not sure if they will let you use ME 7 days after landing. Someone wanted to use ME to get to the airport the night before and stay at an airport hotel since they had an early flight. And they were told that would NOT be allowed to use it the day before it had to be the day of.
Luggage Services will hold your bags for you. They can do this also if you check in and your room is not ready.

DME is tied to your resort stay and there is no requirement to fly in or out at any given time.

You take DME to the resort on check in day (some family members can arrive later) and take DME back to the airport on check out day (some family members can leave earlier).

Making the DME reservation does go more smoothly when you have a flight number in mind. Name a flight, any flight, any airline arriving at about the time you want to take DME to Disney and leaving about 3 hours before the time you want to leave the resort for the airport.

However never attempt to schedule a DME trip back to the airport less than 3 hours before a flight you will actually take.

 

[tjmw2727]

You may want to call ME and ask (you have to call to set it up anyway). Reason I say this is becasue I have read that you can not use ME the night before so not sure if they will let you use ME 7 days after landing. Someone wanted to use ME to get to the airport the night before and stay at an airport hotel since they had an early flight. And they were told that would NOT be allowed to use it the day before it had to be the day of.
Luggage Services will hold your bags for you. They can do this also if you check in and your room is not ready.

This is incorrect, DME is tied to your resort reservation and has nothing to do with your flight or even how you arrive at the airport.

I have done exactly what you describe above, checked out of WDW and used DME to MCO on my checkout day and stayed at the hyatt for an early morning flight the next day. I have also done the opposite and arrived at MCO late at night, stayed at the Hyatt and used DME the next day. What you may have read is someone wanting to do this they day before checkin or after checkout and not during the WDW resort reservation.

OP - You can use DME for one round trip per person any time during your reservation at a WDW resort. You do have to advance reservations. So you can use DME either one way back to the airport or r/t if you are returning the rental to MCO. We have had members of the party arrive in the middle of the reservation and leave early on several occasions and never had a problem.

It is sometimes easier to make the DME reservation by pcking a flight that departs about 3 hours after you wnat to leave WDW or around the time you want to leave the airport for WDW. Most of the DME reservation CM's can book you without a flight but the resort CM's seem to need/want a flight to make things easier.

 

[Promomx2]

Thanks for all the help. We're still on the fence as to what to do for the last 2 nights in Orlando. Either 1)wdw and use DME or 2)Hilton Bonnet Creek and extend rental car or 3)Just wait until we get to florida and just decide then.

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for all the help. We're still on the fence as to what to do for the last 2 nights in Orlando. Either 1)wdw and use DME or 2)Hilton Bonnet Creek and extend rental car or 3)Just wait until we get to florida and just decide then.

Just fyi even though DME is free you do need a reservation in advance.