Daxx's Wife here! Just back from a wonderful WDW vacation and thought I'd share my DME experience!
For all the complaining that I did about not receiving the DME luggage tags, I have to say that I am happy that I didn't receive them!
When we got off at MCO on Thurs. (5/5), there weren't any CM's to guide us on where to go, even though DME said they'd be at the gates at all hours. Good thing I know where to go. So, DS and I grab the tram and get our bags at the baggage claim area. No CM to help us there, again, as promised by DME. Oh, well ... we haul luggage ourselves and head down to the shuttle area. We find the DME counter and check in. While we were checking in, we noticed several people flipping through "Luggage R Us" photo catalogs trying to pick out luggage that looks most like theirs. So, I'm thinking "whew - have mine here!" At this point, I was expecting the CM to take my luggage, tag it and haul it off to the resort for me. No dice. I had to haul luggage to the bus myself ... which ended up being a good thing, as I found out later.
Here's the not so express part -- it took us two hours to get to our resort! We get on the bus and leave MCO at 10 pm. We had to hit two other resorts (AKL & CBR) before getting to ASMo (our resort). Well, if there were 45 people on that bus, that was a lot. Not many guests at all. We drove right past ASMo and I'm thinking "a vast majority are ASMo guests" (based on the line we were in) and couldn't figure out why we passed it by. Our bus driver went to CBR first, but not after passing Pop Cent. 3 times before getting to CBR. So, we drop off maybe 10 people at CBR and the driver heads out. This time, he goes completely off property. We couldn't figure out what was going on ... but, eventually, he turned around. We passed by Pop again! Then, he finally got to AKL and, I kid you not, dropped off one family! So, back on the road and the driver proceeds to leave Disney property again. Some how, driving past Pop one more time, leaving property and turning around. It was crazy! The whole thing is that most people didn't have luggage to take off the bus b/c it went through w/tags. I first figured it was due to getting luggage off the bus. Not so! I thought that I clocked the drive wrong, but when a woman in the check in line said "We were on that bus for 2 hours!" I knew I was right. By the time we got to ASMo., it was 12 am! Insane! We were starving and the food court was closed. Of course, we were too tired to head to the DTD restaurants. I'm sure if I had gone w/MEARS and paid the $20-something, I would've arrived at my resort faster as most everyone was using DME.
I am one of the lucky ones, though. I talked to some guests who were told they'd have a 3 hour wait for their luggage and waited 6+ hours, were constantly on the phone trying to get info. on their luggage, some didn't receive the DME luggage tags but handed their luggage off to CM's at DME and were still waiting for it the next morning, etc. I don't think I heard one person say anything positive about DME. However, those w/o luggage said that the resort CM's gave them "free reign" of the gift shop for what they needed.
I didn't complain to any CM's about my experience. I figured that the CM's were up to their eyeballs w/bigger complaints than mine. And, I'm sure WDW knows how disgruntled their guests are over this whole thing. I really question whether my voice will be heard if I do complain.
And, when I questioned the Guest Services about the lanyard and pin, they had no idea what I was talking about. As I hadn't received my DME luggage tags, I didn't have anything to show them or to go by. So, I got gypped out of that deal. Bummer.
Will I use DME again on our July WDW vaca.? I'm not sure. Paying the $20-something, just might be worth it to get to my resort in under an hour. If we choose to use DME, we'll haul our own luggage to the bus and to our room. I will not let DME take care of it b/c I don't need the hassle, even if they've "worked out the kinks" by then. Even though the service was free, the 2 hour drive was less than fun to deal with.
All in all, I guess if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is ...
For all the complaining that I did about not receiving the DME luggage tags, I have to say that I am happy that I didn't receive them!
When we got off at MCO on Thurs. (5/5), there weren't any CM's to guide us on where to go, even though DME said they'd be at the gates at all hours. Good thing I know where to go. So, DS and I grab the tram and get our bags at the baggage claim area. No CM to help us there, again, as promised by DME. Oh, well ... we haul luggage ourselves and head down to the shuttle area. We find the DME counter and check in. While we were checking in, we noticed several people flipping through "Luggage R Us" photo catalogs trying to pick out luggage that looks most like theirs. So, I'm thinking "whew - have mine here!" At this point, I was expecting the CM to take my luggage, tag it and haul it off to the resort for me. No dice. I had to haul luggage to the bus myself ... which ended up being a good thing, as I found out later.
Here's the not so express part -- it took us two hours to get to our resort! We get on the bus and leave MCO at 10 pm. We had to hit two other resorts (AKL & CBR) before getting to ASMo (our resort). Well, if there were 45 people on that bus, that was a lot. Not many guests at all. We drove right past ASMo and I'm thinking "a vast majority are ASMo guests" (based on the line we were in) and couldn't figure out why we passed it by. Our bus driver went to CBR first, but not after passing Pop Cent. 3 times before getting to CBR. So, we drop off maybe 10 people at CBR and the driver heads out. This time, he goes completely off property. We couldn't figure out what was going on ... but, eventually, he turned around. We passed by Pop again! Then, he finally got to AKL and, I kid you not, dropped off one family! So, back on the road and the driver proceeds to leave Disney property again. Some how, driving past Pop one more time, leaving property and turning around. It was crazy! The whole thing is that most people didn't have luggage to take off the bus b/c it went through w/tags. I first figured it was due to getting luggage off the bus. Not so! I thought that I clocked the drive wrong, but when a woman in the check in line said "We were on that bus for 2 hours!" I knew I was right. By the time we got to ASMo., it was 12 am! Insane! We were starving and the food court was closed. Of course, we were too tired to head to the DTD restaurants. I'm sure if I had gone w/MEARS and paid the $20-something, I would've arrived at my resort faster as most everyone was using DME.
I am one of the lucky ones, though. I talked to some guests who were told they'd have a 3 hour wait for their luggage and waited 6+ hours, were constantly on the phone trying to get info. on their luggage, some didn't receive the DME luggage tags but handed their luggage off to CM's at DME and were still waiting for it the next morning, etc. I don't think I heard one person say anything positive about DME. However, those w/o luggage said that the resort CM's gave them "free reign" of the gift shop for what they needed.
I didn't complain to any CM's about my experience. I figured that the CM's were up to their eyeballs w/bigger complaints than mine. And, I'm sure WDW knows how disgruntled their guests are over this whole thing. I really question whether my voice will be heard if I do complain.
And, when I questioned the Guest Services about the lanyard and pin, they had no idea what I was talking about. As I hadn't received my DME luggage tags, I didn't have anything to show them or to go by. So, I got gypped out of that deal. Bummer.
Will I use DME again on our July WDW vaca.? I'm not sure. Paying the $20-something, just might be worth it to get to my resort in under an hour. If we choose to use DME, we'll haul our own luggage to the bus and to our room. I will not let DME take care of it b/c I don't need the hassle, even if they've "worked out the kinks" by then. Even though the service was free, the 2 hour drive was less than fun to deal with.
All in all, I guess if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is ...
to hear this. susan
