Let me preface this by saying we are not Disney novices. Since 1999, we have gone to Disney World 9 times, and for all but one of those times, we have used a limo service (Atlantis Limos).
But with DME, and a savings of $150, we could not pass that up.
We got back yesterday, and were there for 6 days.
Our general impressions is that as long as it is a FREE service, we would continue to use it. If Disney starts charging for this, we'll go back to Scoobey and Atlantis in a heartbeat.
First of all, we landed on Saturday, March 11 at 2:30 pm. We did not get to our room at Villas at Wilderness Lodge until 4:30 pm, and our luggage did not arrive until 7:15 pm.
Check-in at DME counter moved quickly, but when we were "directed" to the bus line, the greeter had no idea where we were going. I showed him our voucher and told him "Villas at Wilderness Lodge". He said, "OK. Old Key West". I said NO, Villas at Wilderness Lodge. He said, "OK. This line. Fort Wilderness." I said NO, WILDERNESS LODGE. He finally pointed us to the right line. (Scary. Had I not known the difference between resorts, we would have ended up at Old Key West!!!!).
We then had a 25 minute wait for the bus. Still not quite sure we were in the right line, when we started to proceed toward the bus, I attempted to ask the worker directing the passengers toward the loading area if this was the Wilderness Lodge bus, and I was RUDELY brushed off, with a curt, "Keep MOVING, keep MOVING!!!!". (Nothing like being treated like cattle to start your vacation off on a 'magical' note!!!). I did manage to ask again before boarding the bus and did confirm the correct bus.
On the day before our departure, we got our pick up notice. It said that they were unable to confirm our flight and to call them. Well, it turns out that United had changed our fight numbers, and we did not get notification from them. I called United, and got our correct flights. I then called the DME number on our departure notice, and got another rude, condescending agent. Now, I was told when I booked DME that our reservation number was the same as our hotel reservation, when she asked for our reservation, I started to give her that number. She barked at me, "No, no, no. I need a number that started with 1900!" Well, I didn't have a number that started with 1900. She starts over, and asks for our "reservation". Huh? I ask "You mean our reservation number?" She says, "NO, your reservation; your hotel!" She finally gets all our info, and gives me another reservation number (a 1900 number), but she doesn't give me a pick-up time. I ask, "And when is the bus picking us up?" She replies, "At 8:35", like I should have known that already.
We do leave at promply 8:35 am, but pick up more people at the Poly and then the Grand Floridian. Then, we were supposed to go to the "B" side first, where United is, but it was too "backed up", so the driver goes to the "A" side, and drops those people off, then goes back to "B". By now, it is after 10:00, and our flight leaves at 11:28.
The best part of DME, in our opinion, is the Airline Resort Check-In service. We were able to check our bags and get our boarding passes at the hotel, and only had to clear security at the Orlando Airport. All 4 of our bags arrived back home with us yesterday.
I understand that we can use the Airline Resort Check-In Service without using DME. If they do start charging for DME, we use our limo serivce and the Resort Check-in and skip the busses!
But with DME, and a savings of $150, we could not pass that up.
We got back yesterday, and were there for 6 days.
Our general impressions is that as long as it is a FREE service, we would continue to use it. If Disney starts charging for this, we'll go back to Scoobey and Atlantis in a heartbeat.
First of all, we landed on Saturday, March 11 at 2:30 pm. We did not get to our room at Villas at Wilderness Lodge until 4:30 pm, and our luggage did not arrive until 7:15 pm.
Check-in at DME counter moved quickly, but when we were "directed" to the bus line, the greeter had no idea where we were going. I showed him our voucher and told him "Villas at Wilderness Lodge". He said, "OK. Old Key West". I said NO, Villas at Wilderness Lodge. He said, "OK. This line. Fort Wilderness." I said NO, WILDERNESS LODGE. He finally pointed us to the right line. (Scary. Had I not known the difference between resorts, we would have ended up at Old Key West!!!!).
We then had a 25 minute wait for the bus. Still not quite sure we were in the right line, when we started to proceed toward the bus, I attempted to ask the worker directing the passengers toward the loading area if this was the Wilderness Lodge bus, and I was RUDELY brushed off, with a curt, "Keep MOVING, keep MOVING!!!!". (Nothing like being treated like cattle to start your vacation off on a 'magical' note!!!). I did manage to ask again before boarding the bus and did confirm the correct bus.
On the day before our departure, we got our pick up notice. It said that they were unable to confirm our flight and to call them. Well, it turns out that United had changed our fight numbers, and we did not get notification from them. I called United, and got our correct flights. I then called the DME number on our departure notice, and got another rude, condescending agent. Now, I was told when I booked DME that our reservation number was the same as our hotel reservation, when she asked for our reservation, I started to give her that number. She barked at me, "No, no, no. I need a number that started with 1900!" Well, I didn't have a number that started with 1900. She starts over, and asks for our "reservation". Huh? I ask "You mean our reservation number?" She says, "NO, your reservation; your hotel!" She finally gets all our info, and gives me another reservation number (a 1900 number), but she doesn't give me a pick-up time. I ask, "And when is the bus picking us up?" She replies, "At 8:35", like I should have known that already.
We do leave at promply 8:35 am, but pick up more people at the Poly and then the Grand Floridian. Then, we were supposed to go to the "B" side first, where United is, but it was too "backed up", so the driver goes to the "A" side, and drops those people off, then goes back to "B". By now, it is after 10:00, and our flight leaves at 11:28.
The best part of DME, in our opinion, is the Airline Resort Check-In service. We were able to check our bags and get our boarding passes at the hotel, and only had to clear security at the Orlando Airport. All 4 of our bags arrived back home with us yesterday.
I understand that we can use the Airline Resort Check-In Service without using DME. If they do start charging for DME, we use our limo serivce and the Resort Check-in and skip the busses!
