DME with minor

[jmartinez1895]

I hope that one of you may be able to confirm this. Quick background- family of 5, our oldest son ( 14) will not be bale to fly down with us and will be coming in a few days after.
I called ME and the guy I spoke to said that anyone under 16 could not ride alone, but that one I am at the resort I can arrange to have ME pick me up a couple of hours before his flight is due and then I meet him at the airport and then ride the ME back to our resort with him.
He said that they do this for minors because they do not want the liability.
Has anyone here done this? I just don't want to rely on bad information.

 

[seashoreCM]

I hope that one of you may be able to confirm this. Quick background- family of 5, our oldest son ( 14) will not be bale to fly down with us and will be coming in a few days after.
I called ME and the guy I spoke to said that anyone under 16 could not ride alone, but that one I am at the resort I can arrange to have ME pick me up a couple of hours before his flight is due and then I meet him at the airport and then ride the ME back to our resort with him.
He said that they do this for minors because they do not want the liability.
Has anyone here done this? I just don't want to rely on bad information.

Technically you are not allowed to ride Magical Express out to meet him and ride it back with him if you already used DME. At any rate it would be a hideous waste of your time. He could take Mears' shuttle; a counter where he could buy a ticket (about $20.) is close to the DME counter.

I haven't seen this done but would you want to be the guinea pig? Before leaving home you give him a opy of the room reservation papers and DME papers. Once there, you return to your resort at about the time DS is due in at the airport. First he tries to take DME saying nothing about his age. If that fails then you perhaps with the help of the resort concierge and he perhaps with the help of a DME welcomng CM get on the cell phones and try to "work things out" or more specifically "orchestrate something".

.

 

[Kimberle]

I have a 14 yo. I would not have her ride ME alone. We've taken in many times, too. It's a fairly long walk from the plane and not on the same level.

I would ask the ME people if they would allow you to ride it back/forth to accompany him. They may give you permission since he's a minor.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I have a 14 yo. I would not have her ride ME alone. We've taken in many times, too. It's a fairly long walk from the plane and not on the same level.

I would ask the ME people if they would allow you to ride it back/forth to accompany him. They may give you permission since he's a minor.

I do not want him wandering around the airport alone or on the bus alone.
The guy I spoke to at ME told me that the resort will arrange for me to catch the ME to the airport and then I will ride back with him. I am not concerned about wasting my time because sometimes you have to do these things. I have just never heard of anyone doing this and wanted to make sure that the guy at ME was not telling my wrong info ( like the Disney call center is known for giving).

 

[Traveliz]

I do not want him wandering around the airport alone or on the bus alone.
The guy I spoke to at ME told me that the resort will arrange for me to catch the ME to the airport and then I will ride back with him. I am not concerned about wasting my time because sometimes you have to do these things. I have just never heard of anyone doing this and wanted to make sure that the guy at ME was not telling my wrong info ( like the Disney call center is known for giving).

I have read where parents have done this exact same thing. Typically you are only allowed one trip in and out BUT this is a different circumstance that they allow.

Liz

 

[Tozzie]

Technically you are not allowed to ride Magical Express out to meet him and ride it back with him if you already used DME. At any rate it would be a hideous waste of your time. He could take Mears' shuttle; a counter where he could buy a ticket (about $20.) is close to the DME counter.

I haven't seen this done but would you want to be the guinea pig? Before leaving home you give him a opy of the room reservation papers and DME papers. Once there, you return to your resort at about the time DS is due in at the airport. First he tries to take DME saying nothing about his age. If that fails then you perhaps with the help of the resort concierge and he perhaps with the help of a DME welcomng CM get on the cell phones and try to "work things out" or more specifically "orchestrate something".

.

It has been posted on here several times that DME will allow the parent/guardian of a minor to go back to MCO and get the minor and ride back with him. For all you post on here I can't believe you have never read those threads.

 

[sam_gordon]

It has been posted on here several times that DME will allow the parent/guardian of a minor to go back to MCO and get the minor and ride back with him. For all you post on here I can't believe you have never read those threads.

I don't have the posts Seashore has, but I don't remember reading these threads either.

 

[drinkme]

I have a 14 yo. I would not have her ride ME alone. We've taken in many times, too. It's a fairly long walk from the plane and not on the same level.

I would ask the ME people if they would allow you to ride it back/forth to accompany him. They may give you permission since he's a minor.

I wouldn't have any problems allowing my 14 year old to get off of the plane and head to the DME counter alone.

I looked into this last year and I found out my 14 year old couldn't ride the DME alone because she was too young. I was never told about a parent riding the bus back to the airport to get her. We ended up cancelling that trip so I didn't further look into it.

What about just having your son take a taxi to the hotel? You could meet him right in the front and pay the driver.

Let us know what you end up doing. It would benefit others to know how to do it in the future.

 

[Alesia]

I don't have the posts Seashore has, but I don't remember reading these threads either.

I've read two or three.

 

[sam_gordon]

I've read two or three.

I'm not saying they're not out there. But why assume someone (even with as many posts as Seashore has) has read EVERY thread?

 

[goofy4tink]

I have also seen threads saying that DME allows this. Here's the issue...if DME/Disney says they won't transport minors, then they need to have something in place to enable late arriving minors to get from MCO to WDW. And I can well imagine that DME/Disney will allow a parent to ride back to the airport to accompany the minor back to WDW. Just not a big deal. It isn't causing any addtl cost..the bus is going there anyway. No one is getting a 'freebie' so to speak.
If the OP has called DME directly, and has been told that this will be the case for her, then fine. If it were me, I would call them back (DME), ask again, and take the person's name that gave her the okay...as well as time and date. It really shouldn't be a huge issue.

 

[seashoreCM]

I don't have the posts Seashore has, but I don't remember reading these threads either.

Psst! I don't have anyone's trip reports in mind either. That's why I suggested that the OP would be a guinea pig if trying what I suggested.

 

[jmartinez1895]

I called back today and they again told me not to worry. They said it is rare and that I may in fact encounter a CM at the resort who does not understand so they told me to have them call DME directly to confirm. I tried doing a search and could not pull anything specific up. I will let you all know how it goes so that if anyone else in this type of situation they will know what ot do.