DME and flight arrivals

[thornton0511]

So we are thinking of flying in late one evening and spending a free night at the mco Hyatt with reward points, as opposed to paying for a Disney room, and then taking the ME early the next morning to our Disney resort. I realize that I will not be able to use the luggage delivery system to the resort feature and that's not a big deal. But is this allowed? And if so what is the earliest bus that we can take the following morning to the resort. Technically your reservation arrival date is what gets you a tickets on the bus and not the flight correct?

 

[OKW Lover]

But is this allowed? And if so what is the earliest bus that we can take the following morning to the resort. Technically your reservation arrival date is what gets you a tickets on the bus and not the flight correct?

Yes, its allowed. People do this all the time. Just get up in the morning and head for the welcome center (Side B) with your bags and they will put you on the next bus to your resort. You'll be fine anytime from 5 am (or so) onward.

 

[thornton0511]

Yes, its allowed. People do this all the time. Just get up in the morning and head for the welcome center (Side B) with your bags and they will put you on the next bus to your resort. You'll be fine anytime from 5 am (or so) onward.

Awesome! Thank you for your response.

 

[totallytigger]

We just did this same thing in November. We had no problem at all getting on the DME the next am.

 

[seashoreCM]

Don't forget to make your advance Magical Express reservation for about the time you will be down at the DME welcoming area on your resort check in day to catch the DME bus.

 

[DaretoDis]

Don't forget to make your advance Magical Express reservation for about the time you will be down at the DME welcoming area on your resort check in day to catch the DME bus.

No need to do this. There is not a lot of action at DME early in the morning, and they expect some late arriving people will be staying at airport hotels.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Don't forget to make your advance Magical Express reservation for about the time you will be down at the DME welcoming area on your resort check in day to catch the DME bus.

That's good advice.

No need to do this. There is not a lot of action at DME early in the morning, and they expect some late arriving people will be staying at airport hotels.

It's not a matter of how busy it is. Orlando International Airport requires DME guests to have reservations.

From Airport revises rules in response to Disney shuttle in the Orlando Sentinel (December 15, 2005):

In November [2005], airport officials stopped Disney from posting employees on the main level of the terminal because no other transportation companies were allowed to welcome passengers there. It also prohibited Disney from letting travelers who had not pre-booked a reservation from riding Magical Express, because the airport has a policy against soliciting customers in the terminal.
​

 

[DaretoDis]

That's good advice.



It's not a matter of how busy it is. Orlando International Airport requires DME guests to have reservations.

From Airport revises rules in response to Disney shuttle in the Orlando Sentinel (December 15, 2005):

In November [2005], airport officials stopped Disney from posting employees on the main level of the terminal because no other transportation companies were allowed to welcome passengers there. It also prohibited Disney from letting travelers who had not pre-booked a reservation from riding Magical Express, because the airport has a policy against soliciting customers in the terminal.
​

As long as you have a DME reservation, even if it is from the day before, it will be honored.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

As long as you have a DME reservation, even if it is from the day before, it will be honored.

It would not be possible to have a reservation "from the day before" the resort-check-in date because DME reservations can only be made for the resort check-in date date (or afterwards during the course of the resort reservation) -- not for before.

The advice in post #6 claimed that DME reservations are not necessary. But reservations are necessary for DME.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm going to assume that perhaps the 'day before' comment meant that the reservation had been made the day before travel.

So, let's make this simple.
If you want to ride the DME bus, from MCO to your resort, you must have an existing reservation...you can make that reservation a year in advance, you can make it the day before (but you won't get your packet with tags, they need close to 2 weeks notice to do that).
You must have a WDW resort reservation, in force, for the day you want to ride the bus. You are free to arrive the day prior to the start of your resort reservation, stay at the airport (or close-by) and then take the DME bus in the morning.
Do you have to give DME 'fake' flight info? Nope. They just need to know about when you plan to arrive at the airport. It may be easier to just find flight info for an arriving flight around the time you want to take DME.....it makes it easier to fill in the info, but you don't have to.

 

[DaretoDis]

I'm going to assume that perhaps the 'day before' comment meant that the reservation had been made the day before travel.

So, let's make this simple.
If you want to ride the DME bus, from MCO to your resort, you must have an existing reservation...you can make that reservation a year in advance, you can make it the day before (but you won't get your packet with tags, they need close to 2 weeks notice to do that).
You must have a WDW resort reservation, in force, for the day you want to ride the bus. You are free to arrive the day prior to the start of your resort reservation, stay at the airport (or close-by) and then take the DME bus in the morning.
Do you have to give DME 'fake' flight info? Nope. They just need to know about when you plan to arrive at the airport. It may be easier to just find flight info for an arriving flight around the time you want to take DME.....it makes it easier to fill in the info, but you don't have to.

Exactly. DME doesn't care when your reservation is for, just that you have one. I may not have been clear in post 6, but every time this question/issue comes up the same people always say to make up a fake/dummy flight for the day you plan to use DME, but as I have claimed many times, it is not necessary.

 

[goofy4tink]

Exactly. DME doesn't care when your reservation is for, just that you have one. I may not have been clear in post 6, but every time this question/issue comes up the same people always say to make up a fake/dummy flight for the day you plan to use DME, but as I have claimed many times, it is not necessary.

I agree that it's not really necessary. BUT.....you can run into an issue if you don't have some kind of flight info. If you're filling out an online request, I'm not even sure it will work without flight info. If you're talking to a Disney 'specialist', they will tell you that you have to have flight info. If you talk directly to DME (they sometimes won't talk to you until closer to your trip since they don't have resort reservation details yet), they will usually have no issue with a lack of flight info.

It's a whacky issue....and it shouldn't be. Lots of people arrive at MCO via different transportation. Some have rental cars they are returning prior to heading to WDW. Others may have take a cruise shuttle back to MCO. There are lots of reasons for no flight info.