Dme....luggage only.....don't want to ride the bus!!!!!

[goofy4tink]

Okay, this is great! We are thinking of doing this on our August trip, staying at OKW. Just checking so we are clear on everything, and so DD26 can see it detailed, as she's not sure this would work or be a good idea, lol. We are flying SWA. So, we just yellow tag as usual and then instead of going to ME, we go wherever the Uber's(that's what we'll be taking if we don't do the ME), are picking up guests, correct? And our bags will show up, just as they would had we taken the ME, like they do their own thing in getting to the resort, as usual, and regardless of how we get to the resort?
We're supposed to land around 12:15 p.m. on a Saturday, our Aug trip, and 12:30 pm Wednesday, on our Nov trip. Any idea how much time this saves in getting to the resort? Usually for us, most times except maybe last time, it's about 90 min from landing to resort arrival, though of course things could change on any trip from what we've usually experienced. Can we expect to save a decent amount of time if we decide to Uber instead? And, where can we head to get the Uber car? Is it near where we get the ME?

So, how about the return home then. We take our bags to Rac before noon(thought it used to be 1 pm?). And, when ready to leave we can either take the ME from our resort at the time they notify us is our time to leave, or we can choose to leave a bit later and call an Uber to the resort and use that instead, correct? So, say our flight back to Chicago is about 10:30 p.m. When would we need to call for an Uber? Don't expect we need all that 3 hour time the ME allots us, but don't wanna leave too late either. Anyone know where we will be dropped off at MCO compared to where the ME drops us?

TIA to any who can help us!

Yes, that 'should' all work. Just be aware, Disney didn't set up DME to be used this way. They will tell you that you can't book just luggage delivery. Of course, that's not what is happening here. The vast majority of guests that do this have had no issues. Just know that if something were to happen to your bags, Disney would be within their right to tell you they have no responsibility because you didn't ride the bus. Will this be the case? More than likely not. Just want to be perfectly above board though.
How much time will you save? Possibly about 30 mins. I've taken a car service (and they meet me at baggage claim and go directly to their car), with no checked bags and it has taken me 45 mins to get to my resort. You'll need to add another 15 or so mins to that time using Uber. They are sitting in a cell phone lot about 10 mins away.
I'm curious to see what happens to car service fares with Uber being able to pick up at MCO now. I'm not sure a ton of people are going to use a car service that charges double what Uber charges.

 

[AngiTN]

Okay, this is great! We are thinking of doing this on our August trip, staying at OKW. Just checking so we are clear on everything, and so DD26 can see it detailed, as she's not sure this would work or be a good idea, lol. We are flying SWA. So, we just yellow tag as usual and then instead of going to ME, we go wherever the Uber's(that's what we'll be taking if we don't do the ME), are picking up guests, correct? And our bags will show up, just as they would had we taken the ME, like they do their own thing in getting to the resort, as usual, and regardless of how we get to the resort?
We're supposed to land around 12:15 p.m. on a Saturday, our Aug trip, and 12:30 pm Wednesday, on our Nov trip. Any idea how much time this saves in getting to the resort? Usually for us, most times except maybe last time, it's about 90 min from landing to resort arrival, though of course things could change on any trip from what we've usually experienced. Can we expect to save a decent amount of time if we decide to Uber instead? And, where can we head to get the Uber car? Is it near where we get the ME?

So, how about the return home then. We take our bags to Rac before noon(thought it used to be 1 pm?). And, when ready to leave we can either take the ME from our resort at the time they notify us is our time to leave, or we can choose to leave a bit later and call an Uber to the resort and use that instead, correct? So, say our flight back to Chicago is about 10:30 p.m. When would we need to call for an Uber? Don't expect we need all that 3 hour time the ME allots us, but don't wanna leave too late either. Anyone know where we will be dropped off at MCO compared to where the ME drops us?

TIA to any who can help us!

I'll help with return to MCO first. We haven't taken ME back to MCO in 2 years. We always use RAC that morning, head to the park and call for Lyft and go straight to MCO from the park. We leave our carry on bags in the luggage lockers outside Epcot (near the buses). We call for the car 2 hours before our flight. We do have PreCheck and know we won't have bags to check. Cars drop off at departure, not where ME does. So you have a much shorter walk in too. We have never been rushed and still have over an hour to wait at the airport.

As for arrivals, we have called for Uber even before the new rules. Using Select didn't save money since it was as much as a car service but it did at least get us on the way faster. It saves about 30 min, maybe more. Rarely less. Because it's always 30 min to Disney from the airport, you can't change that.

As for the bags, they take those right from the plane and on to Disney, based on your putting yellow tags on them. They do not wait to see if the person takes ME first. You aren't required to take the first ME bus after you land anyway. You can wait at the airport for however long you wanted. Say you wanted to wait on another party to arrive or wanted to stop and eat. If you did either of those things your bags would more than likely have been sorted and head off to Disney before you even got on ME anyway. So, while officially you are supposed to use ME if you have yellow tags there is no cross check to be sure that you do. We've not encountered any issues using yellow tags and not riding ME. We will do it again in August.

 

[Minniekins]

@goofy4tink and @AngiTN
Thank you both for responding! Interesting for sure. I'm definitely leaning towards call Uber for the return trip to MCO, just have to convince DD26 now, lol. I guess only saving 30 min on the way there isn't that great, but depending on the day it might be just the thing. Sounds good to me and pretty easy, but I don't think DD26 would be as likely to agree to that lol, plus we sorta like the ME. So will have to see on that one, lol. But, thank you both for sharing all the info, definitely appreciate it!

 

[emmabelle]

As for the bags, they take those right from the plane and on to Disney, based on your putting yellow tags on them. They do not wait to see if the person takes ME first. You aren't required to take the first ME bus after you land anyway. You can wait at the airport for however long you wanted. Say you wanted to wait on another party to arrive or wanted to stop and eat. If you did either of those things your bags would more than likely have been sorted and head off to Disney before you even got on ME anyway. So, while officially you are supposed to use ME if you have yellow tags there is no cross check to be sure that you do. We've not encountered any issues using yellow tags and not riding ME. We will do it again in August.

It does seem very difficult for Disney to police this. We have a rental set up for our vacation starting next Wednesday. I think I'll chance it and throw on the yellow tags. I was going to send two people on the bus and the other three in the rental but that just seems to be crazy. Would be better to all arrive together. The rental car will probably be too small for 5 suitcases since I'm chancing it with the Drive Happy deal from Alamo, so that's why we're doing ME too.

 

[goofy4tink]

It does seem very difficult for Disney to police this. We have a rental set up for our vacation starting next Wednesday. I think I'll chance it and throw on the yellow tags. I was going to send two people on the bus and the other three in the rental but that just seems to be crazy. Would be better to all arrive together. The rental car will probably be too small for 5 suitcases since I'm chancing it with the Drive Happy deal from Alamo, so that's why we're doing ME too.

Actually, it wouldn't be too tough for them to police it. Used to be that when you arrived at the DME podium, they asked you how many bags you checked. Then, they entered that number into the system. That could happen again. They would scan you band, plug in the number of checked bags, and then off you go to the bus. You get scanned again, as you walk to the bus. Your bags get scanned as they come off the plane (at least that's how it's supposed to work), then scanned as they go onto the specific resort trucks. Then, scanned again when they come off the truck. Like I said, that's how it's supposed to happen. Anyway...then, when they scan that last time, at the resort, the system could show if you were scanned, getting on a DME bus at MCO. If you weren't scanned, then the bags don't get delivered automatically. That would mean a tip would be involved now, and you would have to be in the room to have the bags delivered. They could even put a bag delivery charge from MCO if they wanted. But, they won't do that.
I would be thrilled if they actually scanned the bags those couple of times...when coming off the plane and being set aside in the DME section, again when put on a resort specific truck and finally when they reach the resort and are handed off to the Bell Services/Luggage Assistance CMs.

 

[AngiTN]

Actually, it wouldn't be too tough for them to police it. Used to be that when you arrived at the DME podium, they asked you how many bags you checked. Then, they entered that number into the system. That could happen again. They would scan you band, plug in the number of checked bags, and then off you go to the bus. You get scanned again, as you walk to the bus. Your bags get scanned as they come off the plane (at least that's how it's supposed to work), then scanned as they go onto the specific resort trucks. Then, scanned again when they come off the truck. Like I said, that's how it's supposed to happen. Anyway...then, when they scan that last time, at the resort, the system could show if you were scanned, getting on a DME bus at MCO. If you weren't scanned, then the bags don't get delivered automatically. That would mean a tip would be involved now, and you would have to be in the room to have the bags delivered. They could even put a bag delivery charge from MCO if they wanted. But, they won't do that.
I would be thrilled if they actually scanned the bags those couple of times...when coming off the plane and being set aside in the DME section, again when put on a resort specific truck and finally when they reach the resort and are handed off to the Bell Services/Luggage Assistance CMs.

Delta and American do scan bags as they come off the plane. I get alerts on my phone when the bags are off loaded. Southwest does not, though they say they are working to add this.
Once they turn them over to the airport, scanning stops.
I can see ME adding in a piece where they check for bags but if they do they'd probably have to also assign a guest a bus to take too. The problem now is a guest can take as long as they want to get on the ME bus.
That and ME doesn't handle luggage, Bags, Inc does. I wonder, when they used to ask about how many bags, was that before someone else handled them bags? Were the contracts different then? Could the contracts have changed over the years. Could Mears have done the bags at some point too? Or maybe someone other than Mears done both the bus and bags together? And when Mears took over buses and Bags inc took over bags is when things took off separately? No idea, just tossing out thoughts

 

[goofy4tink]

Delta and American do scan bags as they come off the plane. I get alerts on my phone when the bags are off loaded. Southwest does not, though they say they are working to add this.
Once they turn them over to the airport, scanning stops.
I can see ME adding in a piece where they check for bags but if they do they'd probably have to also assign a guest a bus to take too. The problem now is a guest can take as long as they want to get on the ME bus.
That and ME doesn't handle luggage, Bags, Inc does. I wonder, when they used to ask about how many bags, was that before someone else handled them bags? Were the contracts different then? Could the contracts have changed over the years. Could Mears have done the bags at some point too? Or maybe someone other than Mears done both the bus and bags together? And when Mears took over buses and Bags inc took over bags is when things took off separately? No idea, just tossing out thoughts

No idea who was handling them. It's interesting to think about though. My issue is that if I don't tag my bags, I know whether or not they made it to MCO vs being sent to Juneau Alaska! If they don't show up, I can sort it out before I leave the airport. But, if I tag those bags, and let DME (or whoever) handle the bags? I have no idea if all my bags arrived in Orlando! Add to that, I now assume that my bags will be waiting for me, in my room. So, I get to my resort, and then head to a park for the day. I'm sure that my bags will be in my room waiting for me, since I landed at 11am and it's now 10pm!!! But, wait, no bags are there! Where are they?! Who knows. If they didn't make it to Orlando, who is responsible? It's now many hours after I landed....will the airline accept responsibility? Will DME/Disney?
No, it doesn't happen often, but it can happen. I know I had one instance of taking the bus to our resort. My dd and I arrived, by car, since we had landed in Tampa and visited relatives. So, we returned the car at MCO, and had our bags with us. Dd's friend was joining us and we planned to ride DME together. She had tagged her one checked bag. She landed at 5. We walked up to DME, and they directed us to the Pop line. But. I had changed our reservation to POR, as a surprise for the girls. But, they couldn't find it in the system. So, over to the counter we went. It took them almost 15 mins to find the correct resort. The CM said it was a good thing we had all our bags otherwise it would be very confusing for baggage delivery. Oh terrific. No, we had one checked and tagged bag. So off he went to check out another system. After about 10 mins he came back and said we were all set now! Finally. So, off we go to the resort. We headed out to dinner and the fireworks at MK. We returned to POR about 11. No bag was delivered. We called down. They had nothing! Said it was probably on the way from the airport...seriously? Six hrs after landing?? Okay. By midnight, no bag. Called again. And again at 1am!!! They finally found the bag over at Pop...where it had been sitting since it was originally delivered! Sadly, dd's friend had stuff in that bag she needed for the night..yes, she should have put small containers of what she needed in her carryon but she trusted Disney to get her bag to her.
And to think that I had talked to both DME and Disney reservations (when I made the resort change about a month prior to arrival), and they both told me to do nothing to the tags, that when the tag was scanned, it would show the right resort because the reservation number was the same. I asked if I should cross out Pop and write in POR...nope, too many guests were covering the bar code so the scans didn't work. Don't put any marking on the tag. But then we get to MCO and are told that we should have crossed off Pop and put in POR! You can't win. But, if the bag had gone to a different airport, how would we have known? I'm just glad it doesn't happen very often!!!

 

[AngiTN]

No idea who was handling them. It's interesting to think about though. My issue is that if I don't tag my bags, I know whether or not they made it to MCO vs being sent to Juneau Alaska! If they don't show up, I can sort it out before I leave the airport. But, if I tag those bags, and let DME (or whoever) handle the bags? I have no idea if all my bags arrived in Orlando! Add to that, I now assume that my bags will be waiting for me, in my room. So, I get to my resort, and then head to a park for the day. I'm sure that my bags will be in my room waiting for me, since I landed at 11am and it's now 10pm!!! But, wait, no bags are there! Where are they?! Who knows. If they didn't make it to Orlando, who is responsible? It's now many hours after I landed....will the airline accept responsibility? Will DME/Disney?
No, it doesn't happen often, but it can happen. I know I had one instance of taking the bus to our resort. My dd and I arrived, by car, since we had landed in Tampa and visited relatives. So, we returned the car at MCO, and had our bags with us. Dd's friend was joining us and we planned to ride DME together. She had tagged her one checked bag. She landed at 5. We walked up to DME, and they directed us to the Pop line. But. I had changed our reservation to POR, as a surprise for the girls. But, they couldn't find it in the system. So, over to the counter we went. It took them almost 15 mins to find the correct resort. The CM said it was a good thing we had all our bags otherwise it would be very confusing for baggage delivery. Oh terrific. No, we had one checked and tagged bag. So off he went to check out another system. After about 10 mins he came back and said we were all set now! Finally. So, off we go to the resort. We headed out to dinner and the fireworks at MK. We returned to POR about 11. No bag was delivered. We called down. They had nothing! Said it was probably on the way from the airport...seriously? Six hrs after landing?? Okay. By midnight, no bag. Called again. And again at 1am!!! They finally found the bag over at Pop...where it had been sitting since it was originally delivered! Sadly, dd's friend had stuff in that bag she needed for the night..yes, she should have put small containers of what she needed in her carryon but she trusted Disney to get her bag to her.
And to think that I had talked to both DME and Disney reservations (when I made the resort change about a month prior to arrival), and they both told me to do nothing to the tags, that when the tag was scanned, it would show the right resort because the reservation number was the same. I asked if I should cross out Pop and write in POR...nope, too many guests were covering the bar code so the scans didn't work. Don't put any marking on the tag. But then we get to MCO and are told that we should have crossed off Pop and put in POR! You can't win. But, if the bag had gone to a different airport, how would we have known? I'm just glad it doesn't happen very often!!!

This is one reason why I use Delta and American more than Southwest now. Well, that and they are the only airlines that fly in our local airport. But they have smart tags when we check our bags. They scan them and we get alerts when they are loaded on the flight, and each time they are moved.

I had credits to use so we flew Southwest last month and boy did I miss that feature. Got home and ordered smart tags for my bags just in case we fly Southwest again, since we do have enough miles for 3 more free flights.

 

[goofy4tink]

This is one reason why I use Delta and American more than Southwest now. Well, that and they are the only airlines that fly in our local airport. But they have smart tags when we check our bags. They scan them and we get alerts when they are loaded on the flight, and each time they are moved.

I had credits to use so we flew Southwest last month and boy did I miss that feature. Got home and ordered smart tags for my bags just in case we fly Southwest again, since we do have enough miles for 3 more free flights.

Well, since I primarily fly JB and SW, my bags won't be getting scanned any time soon. But it does sound like a terrific idea!!

 

[emmabelle]

This is one reason why I use Delta and American more than Southwest now. Well, that and they are the only airlines that fly in our local airport. But they have smart tags when we check our bags. They scan them and we get alerts when they are loaded on the flight, and each time they are moved.

I had credits to use so we flew Southwest last month and boy did I miss that feature. Got home and ordered smart tags for my bags just in case we fly Southwest again, since we do have enough miles for 3 more free flights.

we are flying Delta. Smart tags? I didn't know that existed?

 

[AngiTN]

we are flying Delta. Smart tags? I didn't know that existed?

Smart tags was the best words I could use to describe it. They track your bags. I get alerts when they load the bags on/off the plane, including each time if you change planes

 

[mikat]

Hi all, from everything I'm reading, this will work, but I wanted to run it past the illustrious hive mind and make sure I'm thinking about this correctly.

My sister is arriving from a different city 2 hours before me. She is using 1 of our 3 Magical Express luggage tags (I mailed it to her) and she is taking Magical Express.

DS and I arrive 2 hours later. We are planning on using luggage tags #2 and 3, and taking an Uber only because time is of the essence (our arrival time is perilously close to our Flight of Passage FP+ time!) Since my sister rode Magical Express 2 hours before me, we should be fine, and our luggage should have no issues being taken to the resort, yes? Should I tell her to tell the Magical Express gate person that she has 3 pieces of luggage if they ask?

I figure there are many cases of misrouted luggage that shows up at MCO late, so I would think there would be no issue with our luggage showing up later.

I'd love any ideas or advice here, thank you in advance!

 

[LMO429]

Last October we rented a car thru alamo, put the magical express tags on our luggage and our bags arrived with zero issue at the Grand Floridian.

 

[Frankie Nova]

Okay...here's the deal. We get a ton of posts regarding this issue. If a guest calls Disney and asks if they can tag their bags but not ride the bus, Disney will tell them no, someone has to ride the bus. That is Disney's official stand if a guest calls and asks about it.
In all reality, if a guest tags their checked bags, but does not ride the DME bus to the resort, their bags will, in all probability, still get to their resort. Disney has a contract with MCO that states all DME tagged bags will be transported to WDW resorts.

Now....the only issue you may run into is this....
You tagged 3 bags. You get to your resort, using a towncar or rental car. You do not checkin at the DME welcome counter. You get to your resort, get checked in, and then head off to a park. You return to your room, many hours later, assuming your bags will be there, waiting, in your room. But, you find only 2 bags in your room! So, you call Bell Services and start the search. The airlines have a window in which you should be submitting a claim for missing/misdirected bags....this window may have passed by the time you realize you have missing bags. Of course, WDW/DME may have just sent your missing bag to the wrong resort.

So...long story short....Disney tells you that you have to ride the bus to get your luggage delivered. Disney will move all yellow, DME tagged bags, from MCO to WDW resorts...whether or not you are on a DME bus.

As long as you are aware of what 'could' happen, do what you wish. We have not seen reports of missing baggage here. It just doesn't happen very often...at least we aren't hearing of it happening.

There is no need for debate...this is how it works, plain and simple.

Maybe I don't under stand but why would you do this ? just so your luggage is taken to you room? if it is such a concern and if you are using your own transportation why not get your luggage drive to desired park and when you rooms ready bring you and your luggage to your room

 

[LMO429]

Maybe I don't under stand but why would you do this ? just so your luggage is taken to you room? if it is such a concern and if you are using your own transportation why not get your luggage drive to desired park and when you rooms ready bring you and your luggage to your room

The reason why we did this was 2 fold. 1. We did not have enough room in our rental car for the luggage 2. we did online check in went straight to a park from the airport

 

[Frankie Nova]

The reason why we did this was 2 fold. 1. We did not have enough room in our rental car for the luggage 2. we did online check in went straight to a park from the airport

ok thanks for clearing that up

 

[goofy4tink]

Maybe I don't under stand but why would you do this ? just so your luggage is taken to you room? if it is such a concern and if you are using your own transportation why not get your luggage drive to desired park and when you rooms ready bring you and your luggage to your room

There are those who don't want to ride the DME bus, from MCO to their resort, but don't want to stop and get their checked bags. They want to get into their rental car, or their hired car service, and go directly to the resort. Doing this, it takes you about 45-50 mins, from gate to resort. If you stopped to get your bags, it would add another 15 or so mins on. Taking DME, although free, can take up to 90 mins.
So, people want the shortest time to their resort.

 

[AngiTN]

Hi all, from everything I'm reading, this will work, but I wanted to run it past the illustrious hive mind and make sure I'm thinking about this correctly.

My sister is arriving from a different city 2 hours before me. She is using 1 of our 3 Magical Express luggage tags (I mailed it to her) and she is taking Magical Express.

DS and I arrive 2 hours later. We are planning on using luggage tags #2 and 3, and taking an Uber only because time is of the essence (our arrival time is perilously close to our Flight of Passage FP+ time!) Since my sister rode Magical Express 2 hours before me, we should be fine, and our luggage should have no issues being taken to the resort, yes? Should I tell her to tell the Magical Express gate person that she has 3 pieces of luggage if they ask?

I figure there are many cases of misrouted luggage that shows up at MCO late, so I would think there would be no issue with our luggage showing up later.

I'd love any ideas or advice here, thank you in advance!

I would do as you plan
I wouldn't expect them to ask your sister anything about number of bags. In all our flights they've never asked. I wonder if this practice was stoped when a different company started handling the bag portion? Just a guess.

 

[bumbershoot]

Should I tell her to tell the Magical Express gate person that she has 3 pieces of luggage if they ask?

I haven't had that question asked in...at least three years. Possibly more. We don't always do dme so it's hard to gauge how long it's been. I do remember it in 2010 or 2011.

 

[clippers6]

Last trip, my DME tag fell off of my luggage at some point between LAX and MCO. I was already in the DME bus when I got a call from Frontier Airlines saying they had my bag at their baggage office in the airport. I told them it should of been sent to ASMu and they just said ok and hung up. When I got to ASMu they had a CM call up DME at the airport (took awhile for them to figure out who to call) and they confirmed that Frontier had brought my bag over to them. After breakfast at Ohana and a few hours at the parks, we came back to find all our luggage delivered including my bag which had a handmade sign that said “Disney bag” taped on it.

Kind of wonder if I’d be out of luck had I not actually taken DME.