DME -35 Minutes Late

[johnnyr]

There was a vey large basketball team that occupied an entire DME bus at CSR on our day of departure. There must have been 75 people waiting all with the same pickup time. They didn't let anyone on the bus except for the team. Until people started getting irate Disney did nothing. The bus they finally call for after people complaining arrived 35 minutes late. Is this acceptable?

 

[bumbershoot]

Let me get the timeline situated.

Everyone was there; you, other people, and the team, all before your scheduled (and you were all on the same pickup schedule?) time and waiting.

A bus came up. It picked up the basketball team. (sounds like they filled the bus, and I personally have NO interest in being on a bus with a bunch of athletes unless I am one of those athletes (been there done that))

No one else got on.

The CMs then did...what? The bus pulled away and?

People started asking questions? Went straight to irate? What was going on as the bus pulled away?

At what point did you feel the CMs called a bus? (or perhaps called dispatch to see where the second scheduled bus was?)

And then the bus came by 35 minutes after your pickup time?

Gotta tell you, with only maybe 10 people waiting a bus from WL was at least 25 minutes later than we expected, and we had been there 20 minutes before (the CMs at WL were sooo confused as to why we were there and ready so early...we were following the Dis rules, but none of the CMs or RAC employees there that day had EVER heard of getting there so early before scheduled pickup time). Nothing was done. Nothing was said beyond "it's on its way".

So I'm not sure if it's acceptable or not. I personally need the timeline.

Did you make your flight? One of the reasons they schedule the pickup so early is to make up for any of those issues that might happen that aren't expected. FWIW.

 

[johnnyr]

Let me get the timeline situated.

Everyone was there; you, other people, and the team, all before your scheduled (and you were all on the same pickup schedule?) time and waiting.

A bus came up. It picked up the basketball team. (sounds like they filled the bus, and I personally have NO interest in being on a bus with a bunch of athletes unless I am one of those athletes (been there done that))

No one else got on.

The CMs then did...what? The bus pulled away and?

People started asking questions? Went straight to irate? What was going on as the bus pulled away?

At what point did you feel the CMs called a bus? (or perhaps called dispatch to see where the second scheduled bus was?)

And then the bus came by 35 minutes after your pickup time?

Gotta tell you, with only maybe 10 people waiting a bus from WL was at least 25 minutes later than we expected, and we had been there 20 minutes before (the CMs at WL were sooo confused as to why we were there and ready so early...we were following the Dis rules, but none of the CMs or RAC employees there that day had EVER heard of getting there so early before scheduled pickup time). Nothing was done. Nothing was said beyond "it's on its way".

So I'm not sure if it's acceptable or not. I personally need the timeline.

Did you make your flight? One of the reasons they schedule the pickup so early is to make up for any of those issues that might happen that aren't expected. FWIW.

The bus filled with the team. Bus then pulled away. No other bus came. CM's disappeared into the luggage storage room. Everyone had been waiting for the first bus at least 30 minutes. People started getting nervous. When a CM reappeared. People started demanding another bus be called immediately. It started to get ugly. When the 2nd bus arrived people were helping the driver load bags because the CM's disappeared again. We made our flight but not sure about people that had earlier flights than we did.

 

[minnie mum]

When the first bus arrived, how far before your flight time was it? How far before your flight did the second bus arrive? Did the CMs call for a second bus or just call to make sure a second bus was enroute. Since return flight times have to be given to DME in advance, presumably they knew that they would need more than one bus.

 

[sam_gordon]

I would be surprised a "large" team (I'm assuming that's large in numbers) would be utilizing the normal DME busses. I would think they'd have a bus to themselves. Now, whether the bus that showed up was supposed to be for the team or for other guests we don't know.

Assuming you're correct and your bus showed up 35 minutes after your assigned pickup time, that's unacceptable. Even though you made your flight, I would let Disney know the bus was late.

 

[Polydweller]

By all means contact Disney, they'll want to know. But keep in mind that the real screw up was at Mears. DME is a contracted service with Mears and whatever company that now handles luggage at MCO (sorry not sure who that is cause MCO changed the provider in the last few months.

It is entirely Mears responsibility to have the correct number of busses at the location and they appear to have gotten it wrong. The resort's CM had little they could do other than to get another bus. Another came in 35 minutes, and if it had to be called in its not that long. However, Disney should know so they can take it up with Mears but I wouldn't be hard on the CMs since they aren't Mears employees but I would comment on how that makes it difficult to correct issues like this.

 

[seashoreCM]

Apparently Magical Express is sufficiently magical that if anyone missed their plane due to a DME screwup, DME has caused the bus to plane connection to behave as a schedule irregularity (force mineure) missed connection.

I haven't seen any trip reports to the contrary.

You can always request an earlier bus back to the airport and that request, made in timely fashion, is always granted. However I doubt that DME has ever or will currently suggest that as a defense to failure to get you to the airport on time.

Ten minutes after the DME bus leaves without you you should go in and ask the resort manager for money to pay for a taxi.

If you did miss your plane you would of course try to reschedule but, before spending any money on change fees, etc. go to the DME welcoming area to ask for help.

Who (Mears, BAGS, Disney, etc.) is accountable in a DME screwup is Disney proprietary information.

 

[goofy4tink]

A 'for instance'....your flight is at 3:00. You are given a p/u time of 11:45 (your time can be anywhere from 11:45-12:15). You get out to the bus stop at 11:15 (you say you all were waiting 30 mins for your bus. A bus arrives at 11:50...you assume that's your bus, but there is no room for you, so you must wait for another bus...along with the other guests that weren't with the team. A bus arrives around 12:15....30 mins after your bus was scheduled to pick you up. If I had exact times for your situation it would be easier to discern.

Your 11:45 bus may have just not been dispatched. I doubt that DME had a bus for the team as well as 'regular' guests. There have been more than a few reports of guests having to wait for the next bus because their scheduled bus didn't arrive....not to say that's okay, just saying it happens. I'm not sure why anyone would have been waiting for 30 mins before their scheduled p/u time...we suggest 15 mins. If you're out there 30 mins prior, you run the risk of thinking the bus before yours (scheduled for 11:15) is actually your bus!!! And that is irritating to think you aren't being allowed on your bus!!! I can't imagine that those with earlier flights were supposed to be on your bus to begin with....not unless when you say 'earlier' you mean by 15 or so mins. I also can't understand why there were a lot of bags to be stowed...don't guests use RAC anymore?
I would be interested in the exact time frame...time of flight, time you were given for p/u, time you got to the bus stop, time the team bus showed up, time you got on a bus and time you got to MCO. Just curious...I like to track what DME is doing.

 

[seashoreCM]

If your Magical Express bus back to the airport was genuinely late, like, 35 minutes after the time printed on your confirmation page, DME can make up some of the time if the bus makes no additional resort stops along the way.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're out there 30 mins prior, you run the risk of thinking the bus before yours (scheduled for 11:15) is actually your bus!!!

Agreed.

I also can't understand why there were a lot of bags to be stowed...don't guests use RAC anymore?

I took it to mean carryons.

 

[Starwind]

I also can't understand why there were a lot of bags to be stowed...don't guests use RAC anymore?

Not everyone is eligible for or chooses to use RAC.

As international guests and not flying on a US carrier, we cannot use RAC even if we wanted to (our choice would be to not use RAC anyway even if eligible ... just as we pick up our luggage at baggage claim at the airport instead of putting the ME tags on it).

When we used ME on our recent trip, it appeared most guests only had carry-on size bags and presumably at least some of them used RAC, but the obvious international guests (going by the luggage tags from foreign airlines) certainly had their checked bags too and cannot use RAC.

SW

 

[tjmw2727]

A 'for instance'....your flight is at 3:00. You are given a p/u time of 11:45 (your time can be anywhere from 11:45-12:15). You get out to the bus stop at 11:15 (you say you all were waiting 30 mins for your bus. A bus arrives at 11:50...you assume that's your bus, but there is no room for you, so you must wait for another bus...along with the other guests that weren't with the team. A bus arrives around 12:15....30 mins after your bus was scheduled to pick you up. If I had exact times for your situation it would be easier to discern.

Your 11:45 bus may have just not been dispatched. I doubt that DME had a bus for the team as well as 'regular' guests. There have been more than a few reports of guests having to wait for the next bus because their scheduled bus didn't arrive....not to say that's okay, just saying it happens. I'm not sure why anyone would have been waiting for 30 mins before their scheduled p/u time...we suggest 15 mins. If you're out there 30 mins prior, you run the risk of thinking the bus before yours (scheduled for 11:15) is actually your bus!!! And that is irritating to think you aren't being allowed on your bus!!! I can't imagine that those with earlier flights were supposed to be on your bus to begin with....not unless when you say 'earlier' you mean by 15 or so mins. I also can't understand why there were a lot of bags to be stowed...don't guests use RAC anymore?
I would be interested in the exact time frame...time of flight, time you were given for p/u, time you got to the bus stop, time the team bus showed up, time you got on a bus and time you got to MCO. Just curious...I like to track what DME is doing.

This exact thing happened at AOA today - and for the 11:15 vs the 11:45 bus ! The 11:15 was a bit late but the CM at AOA knew exactly how many passengers were scheduled for the bus so when he noticed there were too many guests he made it clear that only guests with paperwork for the 11:15 bus would be boarded and the rest would be waiting on their assigned bus at 11:45. There were at least two families that were not boarded when the driver pointed out to them their paperwork was 11:45 (I only noticed because they were ahead of us) and based on the number of people waiting and the fact that the CM said there were 16 scheduled passengers I imagine there were more.

The families we saw had mistakenly assumed this was their bus - and if the CM wasn't as clear as he was they may have assumed they were denied boarding of their assigned bus vs instructed to wait for their actual bus.


You can move your pick up time earlier if you like but you have to schedule that in advance, you can't just show up for an early bus and count on boarding, although on slow days it probably isn't an issue.

If I was denied boarding for my scheduled DME bus and had the correct paperwork in hand I would definitely be contacting guest relations and fwiw 30 minutes would be my max time waiting before getting a cab even if it has to be at my own expense.

 

[helenk]

There was a vey large basketball team that occupied an entire DME bus at CSR on our day of departure. There must have been 75 people waiting all with the same pickup time. They didn't let anyone on the bus except for the team. Until people started getting irate Disney did nothing. The bus they finally call for after people complaining arrived 35 minutes late. Is this acceptable?

Were you late for your flight or did you get to the airport on time? The only time I had an issue with DME being late the driver then got lost. It was stressful but we still made it in time for our flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

Not everyone is eligible for or chooses to use RAC.

As international guests and not flying on a US carrier, we cannot use RAC even if we wanted to (our choice would be to not use RAC anyway even if eligible ... just as we pick up our luggage at baggage claim at the airport instead of putting the ME tags on it).

When we used ME on our recent trip, it appeared most guests only had carry-on size bags and presumably at least some of them used RAC, but the obvious international guests (going by the luggage tags from foreign airlines) certainly had their checked bags too and cannot use RAC.

SW

Oh, I understand that! It just sounded like there was a lot of luggage being stowed in this instance. I've seen guests with bags to be stowed, when boarding the DME bus. It's just never been all that much.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Does DME not schedule pick ups 3 hours prior to flight departure anymore? Isnt that mainly for the cushion to make sure your at the airport on time? Even at 35 minutes late, unless they made numerous stops after you were picked up idk how you would be late for a flight.

 

[goofy4tink]

Does DME not schedule pick ups 3 hours prior to flight departure anymore? Isnt that mainly for the cushion to make sure your at the airport on time? Even at 35 minutes late, unless they made numerous stops after you were picked up idk how you would be late for a flight.

Yes, they still do that. And that's why I was curious as to actual times.

 

[sam_gordon]

Does DME not schedule pick ups 3 hours prior to flight departure anymore? Isnt that mainly for the cushion to make sure your at the airport on time? Even at 35 minutes late, unless they made numerous stops after you were picked up idk how you would be late for a flight.

The pickup time is between 3:15 and 2:45 before the flight. If the assigned pickup is 2:45 and the bus is 30 minutes late, that means being picked up 2:15 before the flight. 30 minute drive, and you're at the airport 1:45 before the flight. If you have to check luggage, it could make it tight.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

You made your flight. End of story. What do you really have to complain to Disney about? If you had to reschedule a flight and pay change fees, you have a complaint. If you had to run full-speed through the airport and jump onto the plane as it was pulling out of the gate, you have a complaint. If you got to the airport in a reasonable time to catch your flight, there really was no problem.