Current DME transportation poll and thoughts..

[goofy4tink]

Okay...i'm seeing more and more comments saying that you can now go to the DME podium and ask to be put on a different bus than the one going to your reserved resort. As well as the many posts saying that they just walked up, without a reservation, and were put on a bus.
I'm curious to know if anyone here has had these experiences. Add comments as you see fit as well...always interested in getting the latest info from those who have been there recently.

 

[tjmw2727]

My most recent trip was pre-booked as usual but the party in front of us when we checked in (lines were long) did not have a DME reservation and the CM was making it for them, it took a long time

If this is the new procedure I hope they realize the time issues with making new/walkup reservations and maybe have a designated lane for those of us who did make our DME Reservations in advance.

 

[mcall12]

I have had a couple instances dating back to 2011 where I have forgotten to make the DME reservation and walked up to the podium to do so upon arriving at MCO. I usually also made the return leg reservation at the desk since I had completely forgotten to provide my flight information. Most recently did this in December 201$ after a last minute trip we booked.

While not me personally, my parents took DME to Pop with my grandmother so she didn’t have to ride alone even though they were staying at the contemporary. This was for my wedding. My parents went to the DME desk and had no problems with being able to do this. They took a magic kingdom bus from Pop and met us along the walkway to the contemporary when they arrived as we were coming back from the MK to meet them for dinner. This was in 2012.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Never asked to go to a different resort, but I have walked up with a RESORT reservation but no DME reservation. They just check to make sure you have a Disney resort reservation in the system and then print you a voucher for the bus. They will want your return info though, so you won't have to arrange it at the resort. (But you can arrange it at the resort if you wish, or call DME directly).

I also saw somebody trying to do this to get to the Dolphin...they weren't so lucky, but DME does not service the Dolphin. Boy, did he get mad.

When you say "existing reservation" in the poll, I take it you mean a DME reservation with flight times and all that. You need to have a Disney resort reservation. If you have that, they can arrange your DME transportation if you walk up. It does take longer and might gum up the works, so they discourage it.

and it's not like it is recent...I did this in 2011 and 2013 for sure, and at least one other time several years ago.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks guys! Keep posting.
And yes, I mean dme reservation. I'm going with the assumption that everyone has a resort reservation!

 

[VAfamily1998]

I have only asked to be put on a different bus than my resort once. I was staying at POFQ, but for some reason they were using different buses for POFQ than POR. A bus for POFQ had just left, so I had a long wait ahead of me. A bus for POR was just about to leave, with plenty of room still available. I asked if I could get on that bus, since it was such a quick walk to POFQ and the cast member said yes. That was in November 2014.

 

[AngiTN]

Okay...i'm seeing more and more comments saying that you can now go to the DME podium and ask to be put on a different bus than the one going to your reserved resort. As well as the many posts saying that they just walked up, without a reservation, and were put on a bus.
I'm curious to know if anyone here has had these experiences. Add comments as you see fit as well...always interested in getting the latest info from those who have been there recently.

The bold happening would not surprise me at all. They can pull up the Disney reservation system and see your reservation. So I can totally see that they would take a guest who had not otherwise reserved DME, provided they are able to verify your onsite reservation.

Going to a different resort. That one I would put is likely to be very hit/miss. I would not want to count on it unless it comes out as official policy.

 

[goofy4tink]

The bold happening would not surprise me at all. They can pull up the Disney reservation system and see your reservation. So I can totally see that they would take a guest who had not otherwise reserved DME, provided they are able to verify your onsite reservation.

Going to a different resort. That one I would put is likely to be very hit/miss. I would not want to count on it unless it comes out as official policy.

That's why I'm looking for numbers. It used to be that you had to have an existing DME reservation before riding the bus. You weren't allowed to just walk up. Then, that got changed, with basically, no official word. I'm seeing more and more posts from people, on other sites, that say they have been allowed to ride other buses due to ADRs, meeting other family members, etc. You know me....I prefer to have the 'official' word here vs hearsay. I hate thinking that someone is going to read something here, take it as gospel and then have an less than stellar experience at the DME podium and have their plans ruined.

 

[AngiTN]

That's why I'm looking for numbers. It used to be that you had to have an existing DME reservation before riding the bus. You weren't allowed to just walk up. Then, that got changed, with basically, no official word. I'm seeing more and more posts from people, on other sites, that say they have been allowed to ride other buses due to ADRs, meeting other family members, etc. You know me....I prefer to have the 'official' word here vs hearsay. I hate thinking that someone is going to read something here, take it as gospel and then have an less than stellar experience at the DME podium and have their plans ruined.

I have a feeling it's going to be like the luggage thing. No official policy change but seeing how they can't possibly track guests who have ridden ME before they send the luggage on they just can't enforce a rule about it. Doing it will be a "at your own risk of it not working" type of thing. Going to a different resort, probably never going to be anything else. Going without a prior DME reservation, I'd say they'll do that one 100% of the time, may even be able to tell you that officially if you give them a call (though you know how that can work out......)

As to guests who want to get on a different bus, something tells me that it's not something that happens a lot. I mean most have carry on bags and most won't want to tote them around so most will want to get to their own resort. The ones who ask for transportation to somewhere else are probably so small it doesn't impact their scheduling enough for them to worry about it. If it was a big problem and they had enough who did it that it caused them to not have adequate buses scheduled then I'd see them curtailing it. I just don't see that happening.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You must make a DME reservation ahead of time if you want the luggage tags. That is why they tell you you have to have a reservation ahead of time.

In reality, if you don't care about the luggage tags, you can do everything at the DME desk so long as you have a resort reservation. You can arrive without having a DME reservation. You can depart without one so long as you call DME directly and have them give you a pickup time the day before. You need to get a voucher from the resort desk though. But it can be done and it always could. They just prefer you do it the regular way, because then 1) you can't complain about not getting luggage tags 2) you can breeze through the checkpoint at the airport because you already have a reservation, lines don't build up behind you.

As far as going to a different resort, I've never tried that and I have only heard recently about DME allowing that under certain circumstances. I think once they have everybody demanding to go to Contemporary or Beach Club so they can walk to a park, they'll cut that out pretty quickly.

 

[AngiTN]

You must make a DME reservation ahead of time if you want the luggage tags. That is why they tell you you have to have a reservation ahead of time.

In reality, if you don't care about the luggage tags, you can do everything at the DME desk so long as you have a resort reservation. You can arrive without having a DME reservation. You can depart without one so long as you call DME directly and have them give you a pickup time the day before. You need to get a voucher from the resort desk though. But it can be done and it always could. They just prefer you do it the regular way, because then 1) you can't complain about not getting luggage tags 2) you can breeze through the checkpoint at the airport because you already have a reservation, lines don't build up behind you.

As far as going to a different resort, I've never tried that and I have only heard recently about DME allowing that under certain circumstances. I think once they have everybody demanding to go to Contemporary or Beach Club so they can walk to a park, they'll cut that out pretty quickly.

True. However, luggage tags are not required to use DME luggage service. Just gotta give DME CM your claim checks. They still get bags for you.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yeah but they're not going to say "unless you don't want luggage tags." they're going to assume that everyone wants luggage tags. Disney likes to make assumptions. Most of the time, they are correct, because I guess most guests on DME are using the luggage service. I don't, because I almost never check luggage for WDW. Also, they want as many people as possible to use the tags, because they don't mind having a few folks without tags having DME look for their untagged bags, but if the majority did it that way it wouldn't work as well.

 

[tjmw2727]

It makes sense for Disney to "loosely require" everyone have a DME reservation in order to use the service. Firstly because IIRC it was part of the agreement with the airport and secondly because they can schedule buses.

Accommodating a few guests who walk up with just the resort reservation won't affect the numbers much, nor would a few guests asking for a different resort. However if it gets out of hand as things do once word spreads on the internet then we will see a longer waits to check in and longer waits for buses and perhaps forcing Disney to crack down on the reservation requirement.

 

[seashoreCM]

My most recent trip was pre-booked as usual but the party in front of us when we checked in (lines were long) did not have a DME reservation and the CM was making it for them, it took a long time

If this is the new procedure I hope they realize the time issues with making new/walkup reservations and maybe have a designated lane for those of us who did make our DME Reservations in advance.

That would be a dead giveaway of not requiring an advance Magical Express reservation, loosely or otherwise!

 

[tjmw2727]

That would be a dead giveaway of not requiring an advance Magical Express reservation, loosely or otherwise!

Not necessarily - they used to have a check in desk for guests who required printing of vouchers or other attention as well as the regular kiosks they have now.

 

[goofy4tink]

Here's my issue. Once they start allowing, officially, people to get on different buses than the one to their resort, word gets out. Yes, we all tend to think that the majority of people read boards such as this one. But, they don't....but it might be just enough people getting the word to make an impact.
If that were to be the case, then a new voucher would have to be printed up, to hand the driver. That takes time. I would hope that there would be a specific line for this, including those without existing reservations. It doesn't seem quite right that those of us that are doing what Disney has told us to do, book prior to arrival and go to our specific resort, should have to stand, waiting while someone show us with no reservation or that wants to change it. Sure would be nice if Disney had an official stand on this vs ignoring it and dealing with it on a person to person basis. It makes it very hard to give correct info, and we all know how I feel about incorrect travel info!!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

If Disney starts allowing people to get on different buses than the one to their resort then there would be no need for "a Caribbean Beach voucher" or "an All Star Music voucher." All that would be needed is "a voucher" to hand to the driver.

The implementation of roving DME CM's several year ago eliminated the need for many guests without unusual situations to get on DME buses sooner.

All along, there were guests doing their homebound DME reservations at the welcoming area upon initial arrival into Orlando.

One use of the interrogation of persons without DME reservations would be to cull out shills from the livery industry trying to show that Disney is taking walkup customers.

 

[kenthanson]

I'm just confused why someone would make plans to fly to mco and book a resort but fail to book mde, am I missing something?

 

[mcall12]

I'm just confused why someone would make plans to fly to mco and book a resort but fail to book mde, am I missing something?

Well, in my case I’ve booked trips without my flight info handy and forgotten to go back and call it in to DME. Or, once we intended to drive but wound up finding good airfare a few months out and again forgot to call.

Another time we went sure if we were going to take private transportation for expediency upon landing. As we’ve been able to make DME arrangements at the desk for years upon arrival, in our personal experience, it’s not something I’m overly concerned about, it’s often the last thing I think about. We rarely check bags so the luggage tags aren’t something I’m waiting on.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm just confused why someone would make plans to fly to mco and book a resort but fail to book mde, am I missing something?

Many reasons....as already mentioned, someone makes their resort reservation but doesn't have their flight info yet, and Disney tells them they have to have that in order to book DME. Or, they thought they were going to take private transportation or rent a car, and change their minds, but forget to book. There's a lot of misinformation out there...people get told all sorts of bad info about DME. Then, when it gets close to their departure, they start to panic because they didn't make the reservation.