DME to MCO but No Flight

[cbg1027]

I will be staying at a Disney resort in late October. My husband I will be driving down together, but he is going back home in our car and I am renting a car I need to pick up at the airport. Can I use ME to get to the airport and take my bags? I will not have a flight to catch, nor will I be checking my luggage. I just need a ride to the airport and would like to save my husband from having to drive the opposite way of where he will be going.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes. Others will tell you how. (some CMs can do it based on just what you said; other CMs will need a flight number to enter in, and I get confused about what time the flight should be based on when you want to get to the airport)


Have you checked the local-to-WDW rental agencies, though? Sometimes they can be cheaper than renting from the airport. If you're using National or Alamo, definitely check to see about the Car Care Center's location.

 

[cbg1027]

I will check the agencies at the Car Care Center again. When I looked at rental rates, getting a compact at the airport ran around $45 a day. From the Care Care Center the same category was over $100 a day!

 

[CLKnCA]

I did this last year for the same reason you're asking: I had to return to the airport to pick up a rental car. I had a relatively small time frame in which I wanted to arrive at the airport, though, so it took a tiny bit of research.

DME will pick you up at your resort about 3 hours before a domestic flight is scheduled to depart, and it takes about 30-40 minutes to get to MCO from WDW. So, last year, I needed to arrive at MCO at 2:30pm. My family arrived right around that time, and I wanted to have the car rented by the time they retrieved their bags. Since I wanted to arrive at MCO at 2:30, I knew I'd need to be picked up around 2:00 pm. Since they pick up 3 hours before a domestic flight, I just went on American Airlines website (though you could pick any airline), and just searched for a flight from MCO to DFW (I picked that because there are many flights to DFW from MCO each day) that departed close to 5:00 pm. I jotted down the flight number and gave it to the DME reservation agent. There were no additional questions, and there's nothing else that needed to happen beyond giving them the flight number. Once you give them that, they can see the flight time, and the reservation time will be about 3 hours prior to that.

 

[cbg1027]

Thank you so much CLKnCA! That was very helpful!

Can I bring luggage on DME without checking it? Will they put things under the bus and let me retrieve them when we get to MCO?

 

[tjmw2727]

Thank you so much CLKnCA! That was very helpful!

Can I bring luggage on DME without checking it? Will they put things under the bus and let me retrieve them when we get to MCO?

Sure, just bring your bags with you to the bus stop and the driver will load it under the bus for you and retrieve it at the airport. Lots of people do this if they can't use the resort airport service.

You can also make the one way reservation online one way as the poster above described if that's easier.

 

[cbg1027]

Fantastic! Thank you! Is there a limit on how many items you can bring? I will have 2 beach chairs, 2 umbrellas, and a small cooler in addition to my suitcase. Do you tip the drivers when they are handling bags?

 

[hedberg1661]

I did this last year for the same reason you're asking: I had to return to the airport to pick up a rental car. I had a relatively small time frame in which I wanted to arrive at the airport, though, so it took a tiny bit of research.

DME will pick you up at your resort about 3 hours before a domestic flight is scheduled to depart, and it takes about 30-40 minutes to get to MCO from WDW. So, last year, I needed to arrive at MCO at 2:30pm. My family arrived right around that time, and I wanted to have the car rented by the time they retrieved their bags. Since I wanted to arrive at MCO at 2:30, I knew I'd need to be picked up around 2:00 pm. Since they pick up 3 hours before a domestic flight, I just went on American Airlines website (though you could pick any airline), and just searched for a flight from MCO to DFW (I picked that because there are many flights to DFW from MCO each day) that departed close to 5:00 pm. I jotted down the flight number and gave it to the DME reservation agent. There were no additional questions, and there's nothing else that needed to happen beyond giving them the flight number. Once you give them that, they can see the flight time, and the reservation time will be about 3 hours prior to that.

Fantastic advice. I may have to use this on future trips. Thanks!

 

[Hopefully]

I have never heard of anyone bringing beach chairs and umbrellas on the bus, as most folks wouldn't be flying with those. I don't know if that will be a problem or not.
Yes you should tip the driver for handling bags. We tip $2/bag handled.

 

[Shellyred8]

I will be staying at a Disney resort in late October. My husband I will be driving down together, but he is going back home in our car and I am renting a car I need to pick up at the airport. Can I use ME to get to the airport and take my bags? I will not have a flight to catch, nor will I be checking my luggage. I just need a ride to the airport and would like to save my husband from having to drive the opposite way of where he will be going.

I've done this before. I signed up for ME on-line and when inputting my flight info, I just put in any domestic airline and a dummy flight number (999). It asks you for your time, so put a time in that is about 3 hours after you want to arrive (as mentioned by another poster here). This was a couple of years ago though, so things may have changed since then.
Have a great trip!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I used it once to ride back to WDW after turning in a rental car. Don't see why it can't be used the other way around.

Drivers may be able to put all that stuff under the bus; yes, they should get a tip for handling it. On the other hand, you could probably leave all that stuff with the resort.