DME Baggage and RAC - Should I reconsider?

[Elmo007]

On my last trip to WDW, I used DME for the first time. My plane landed at 7:45pm but i did not get my bags untill Midnight and almost 2AM. Based on that experience I did not use RAC as I did not want to be sitting at home wondering when my bags would be at the airport. (and unlike at the resort, I would have to go back and get them)

Now I almost a year removed and wondering whether I should give them another chance. I will do DME either way but I may just get my own bags. I think (but am not sure) that RAC is a different service.

Any thoughts?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, but you're not going to like them

Let Magical Express deliver your bags to your room.
Let RAC deliver your bags to the plane.
Have in your carry-on in both directions: travel documents, valuables, medications, and whatever items you will need for the first 24 hours at your destination - yes, even if that destination is home.

Generally, delayed luggage is due to the airline(s) misdirecting it; having a prepared carry-on will eliminate any immediate need. It will also allow you to direct Bell Services to hold your luggage until morning so you're not disturbed at 2 AM (you can double-ensure this by placing the "Privacy Please" card in your door's key slot.

Ditto for the return trip. Look at the luggage tag/s attached by the RAC Agent - make sure it has your airport code. Take your boarding pass. You're all set. On the off-chance your luggage is delayed getting to your home airport, the airline - again, likely the responsible party - will deliver it to your home, since it was their fault.

 

[Alesia]

Yes, but you're not going to like them

Let Magical Express deliver your bags to your room.
Let RAC deliver your bags to the plane.
Have in your carry-on in both directions: travel documents, valuables, medications, and whatever items you will need for the first 24 hours at your destination - yes, even if that destination is home.

Generally, delayed luggage is due to the airline(s) misdirecting it; having a prepared carry-on will eliminate any immediate need. It will also allow you to direct Bell Services to hold your luggage until morning so you're not disturbed at 2 AM (you can double-ensure this by placing the "Privacy Please" card in your door's key slot.

Ditto for the return trip. Look at the luggage tag/s attached by the RAC Agent - make sure it has your airport code. Take your boarding pass. You're all set. On the off-chance your luggage is delayed getting to your home airport, the airline - again, likely the responsible party - will deliver it to your home, since it was their fault.

I completely agree.

The reason your bags were delayed the first time was very likely the fault of the airline. If that was indeed the case, instead of arriving at your resort when you did (which I assume was around 8:30ish) you would have been stuck at the airport filling out forms. And you still wouldn't have gotten your bags until at least 2:00 am.

I think it's so much better to be able to get to your resort quickly and get on with your trip - whether that means settling in for the night or heading out to a park. To me, that's the best part of Magical Express.

 

[goofy4tink]

On my last trip to WDW, I used DME for the first time. My plane landed at 7:45pm but i did not get my bags untill Midnight and almost 2AM. Based on that experience I did not use RAC as I did not want to be sitting at home wondering when my bags would be at the airport. (and unlike at the resort, I would have to go back and get them)

Now I almost a year removed and wondering whether I should give them another chance. I will do DME either way but I may just get my own bags. I think (but am not sure) that RAC is a different service.

Any thoughts?

I have to ask...when did you get your bags...midnight or 2am?? That's a pretty big window.
If your flight landed at 7:45, I would expect that you were off the plane and leaving the gate area by 8pm-ish. So....you should have been at your resort by 9:15ish. You should have expected your bags to be delivered to your room around midnight.....3 hrs after your resort checkin. So, nothing really out of the ordinary there. Can I ask what resort you were at? That will also make a difference in luggage delivery times.

When using RAC, you are basically using curbside checkin, but the 'curb' is way far away from the airport! Very few people have reported any issues with not getting their luggage when they went to baggage claim at their home airport. I guess it can happen, but it's just not something that happens very often. As long as you get your business accomplished at RAC well before that 3 hr window, you should be fine. I have a feeling that it's those people who cut it too close, right at the 3 hr window, that may have baggage issues. BUT...RAC does tell you that you have to have your bags tagged and boarding passes in hand before you hit the '3 hrs before flight departure' window.

If you are looking for your luggage to get to you faster, then allowing DME to schlep it for you may not be your best plan. You have a few options. You can leave the bags untagged and go to baggage claim when you get to MCO, then get your bags and bring them to the DME bus with you..that way you'll have them at the resort when you checkin. But be advised, the bus driver will be looking to be tipped if he touches one bag!! And if your room isn't ready when you arrive, and you leave your bags with Bell Services, or you use Bell Services to lug your bags, you will be expected to tip then as well.

Or, you can hire a car service for your group and your bags.

 

[maxiesmom]

On my last trip to WDW, I used DME for the first time. My plane landed at 7:45pm but i did not get my bags untill Midnight and almost 2AM. Based on that experience I did not use RAC as I did not want to be sitting at home wondering when my bags would be at the airport. (and unlike at the resort, I would have to go back and get them)

Now I almost a year removed and wondering whether I should give them another chance. I will do DME either way but I may just get my own bags. I think (but am not sure) that RAC is a different service.

Any thoughts?

If you have no problems letting the airline handle your luggage, you should have no problems letting Disney. The airlines misdirect luggage way more often that Disney does!

Don't forget that you should expect your bags in your room 3 hours after you check in to the resort, not 3 hours after your plane lands. And when the parks are busy, the DME bus driver will often say it will be 4 hours.

I think the luggage handling is the best part of DME. And I love using RAC at the resort and not having to worry about schelpping my luggage thru the airport.

 

[Elmo007]

I have to ask...when did you get your bags...midnight or 2am?? That's a pretty big window.
If your flight landed at 7:45, I would expect that you were off the plane and leaving the gate area by 8pm-ish. So....you should have been at your resort by 9:15ish. You should have expected your bags to be delivered to your room around midnight.....3 hrs after your resort checkin. So, nothing really out of the ordinary there. Can I ask what resort you were at? That will also make a difference in luggage delivery times.


I was staying at the Pop Century. One bag arrived at Midnight, the other one arrived around 2am. (I dont recall the exact time). It was also during a slow period as we arrived sunday night in December between Thanksgiving and Christmas

 

[goofy4tink]

I have to ask...when did you get your bags...midnight or 2am?? That's a pretty big window.
If your flight landed at 7:45, I would expect that you were off the plane and leaving the gate area by 8pm-ish. So....you should have been at your resort by 9:15ish. You should have expected your bags to be delivered to your room around midnight.....3 hrs after your resort checkin. So, nothing really out of the ordinary there. Can I ask what resort you were at? That will also make a difference in luggage delivery times.


I was staying at the Pop Century. One bag arrived at Midnight, the other one arrived around 2am. (I dont recall the exact time). It was also during a slow period as we arrived sunday night in December between Thanksgiving and Christmas

That explains a lot. Your issue wasn't with DME, it should have been with POP. POP has some of the slowest baggage handling I have ever seen. I have used DME, with luggage delivery, more times than I can remember. I have never been disappointed in the delivery time..until my stay at POP. Those that have heard this story before may now leave the area...
I was traveling to WDW and POP with my 32 y/o dd..her first trip to WDW. I had told her to pack her carryon bag with anything she might want when we checked in..her checked bags could take several hours to get to the room. Did she listen? No. She packed that carryon with shoes..no room for them in the checked bags. So..we arrive at POP around lunchtime...I wanted to head out to a park. But, no....dd didn't want to go anywhere until she changed her clothes. She felt 'icky' from flying. So, there we sat...for hours...waiting. Now, I changed my clothes, I had my swim suit...but dd had nothing. Well...she could have changed her shoes.

Finally...around 5:30ish, our bags were delivered. It took close to 6 hrs to get them. POP doesn't automatically deliver the bags as they arrive, or even make runs every hour or so. They wait and send out CMs when they get a huge number of bags to be delivered.

Now...I can't imagine why you got bags at 2am....I was under the impression that POPs baggage handling dept closed down at midnight and reopened around 5ish. That was just really bad service.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, we don't know when the OP's last trip was . It's also possible his luggage got to Pop at 1:30 or so, and someone manning the luggage area delivered it almost immediately as a courtesy.

My first time using Magical Express at Pop Century, I know it took about an hour and a half after I got into my room (at 11ish!) for my luggage to be delivered - because I had to wait for it . All other visits, I have NO idea how long it took because I never waited.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, we don't know when the OP's last trip was . It's also possible his luggage got to Pop at 1:30 or so, and someone manning the luggage area delivered it almost immediately as a courtesy.

My first time using Magical Express at Pop Century, I know it took about an hour and a half after I got into my room (at 11ish!) for my luggage to be delivered - because I had to wait for it . All other visits, I have NO idea how long it took because I never waited.

Good point. That second bag could have been delivered to POP very late...perhaps the airline misdirected it, perhaps it got 'left behind' at MCO..who knows. And maybe some caring CM did see it and decided to deliver it to the OP, even though it was late.

 

[Missytara]

Good point. That second bag could have been delivered to POP very late...perhaps the airline misdirected it, perhaps it got 'left behind' at MCO..who knows. And maybe some caring CM did see it and decided to deliver it to the OP, even though it was late.

Whichever way it did get misplaced, it is good to know that Disney was diligent in making sure it got to the OP.

 

[Lewisc]

We all like to blame the airlines. It's also possible DME delivered the bag to the wrong resort or POP delivered the bag to the wrong room.

 

[maxiesmom]

We all like to blame the airlines. It's also possible DME delivered the bag to the wrong resort or POP delivered the bag to the wrong room.

And it is just as possbile the airline mis-directed the luggage. Only the Shadow knows!

 

[Lewisc]

And it is just as possbile the airline mis-directed the luggage. Only the Shadow knows!

True but POP doesn't normally deliver luggage that late. That leads me to at least suspect the problem may have been at POP's end.

 

[bumbershoot]

I did not use RAC as I did not want to be sitting at home wondering when my bags would be at the airport. (and unlike at the resort, I would have to go back and get them

You wouldn't have. The airline would have contacted you and brought the bags to you.

 

[Megan07]

[Generally, delayed luggage is due to the airline(s) misdirecting it; having a prepared carry-on will eliminate any immediate need. It will also allow you to direct Bell Services to hold your luggage until morning so you're not disturbed at 2 AM (you can double-ensure this by placing the "Privacy Please" card in your door's key slot.

QUOTE]

I just used the RAC for the first time during my trip June 15-23rd.

I will allow Disney to handle my bags.

We dialed for luggage assistance to help us get our bags to the RAC. At the time we requested he was there. We actually left the privacy please stub on our door because we were getting ready and didn't want mousekeeping coming in. Well I didn't know this but, the RAC guy said he is not suppose to knock on doors with the privacy please.

My luggage got to the airport we were traveling to with no problems we even had a 6 hour flight delay!! I did get nervous because as the bags were coming by...ours weren't. They were at the end of the luggage belt.

LIke a previous poster said, if you trust the airlines with your bag, you should trust Disney.

If it makes any difference, we were flying SWA. They don't have many luggage issues.

 

[Elmo007]

Wow what a variety of opinions.

I have decided to wear the clothes on my back and use the $40 I would have spent in baggage fees and jsut buy T-shirts and shorts when I get there

In any event, WDW is always a fun trip.

Thanks all

 

[goofy4tink]

Wow what a variety of opinions.

I have decided to wear the clothes on my back and use the $40 I would have spent in baggage fees and jsut buy T-shirts and shorts when I get there

In any event, WDW is always a fun trip.

Thanks all

Well..you do get that carryon bag as well as a personal item for free. I would imagine that you could probably fit a fair amount of clothing into a carryon bag. I know I can pack for a week in one if I'm careful. Between my carryon bag and my tote bag (my personal item), I am good to go.