How timely are ME pickups from DVC resorts?

[JoEllen]

DD and I are leaving in 2 weeks for BWV. I have a car reserved thru National but I'm thinking it may be easier for us to use Magical Express. I'm abit worried about driving around without DH there. He is usually the driver and I'm the navigater.

How early does ME pick you up from the resort for your return to the airport? I remember Mears could have you there up to 3 hours early which is way to long to sit at MCO. Have most of your experiences with ME been good?

 

[Chuck S]

I think ME is contracted through Mears, and run similar pick-up policies.

 

[PBader]

Some of our family used ME in June 05. They didn't have any problems in fact they really liked the service. They did have to leave from OKW about 3 hours before their flight, but I guess that allows for other pickups and such. I think they especially like the fact that it was free.

 

[JoEllen]

I like the idea of free, especially this time of year! May be worth it to skip the rental car this trip. I don't trust 16 yr old DD to help navigate yet!

JoEllen

 

[lizziepooh]

We used ME in November and were picked up at OKW 3 hours prior to our flight time. We stopped at Saratoga Springs next then on to the airport.
The lines waiting to get thru security were extremely long, so I was glad we got to the airport that early.

 

[Simba's Mom]

While most of my DME experiences have been good, my last one (just last week) was horrible. Yes, they've always picked us up about 3 hours before flight time, if not a few minutes earlier even. But be warned, they don't have a list of who they're picking up, so when they say, as the sheet does, "be there 15 minutes before pick up time" , DO IT! My pick up time was 12:10, and I walked out at 12:05, only to watch the bus leaving. The bell man told me he'd gotten there early and left early. When I called DME, they said there'd be another bus at 12:40. Well, apparently no one told the bus driver to stop at BCV at 12:40, so no one showed up. By 1:15, still no bus to pick me up, so DME told me to take a taxi and they'd reimbuse me. I'll let you know if they do!

 

[stacy6552]

I would use DME over national anytime, because national sucks about as bad as Mears.

ME does pick you up 3 hours early. However, like many many Mears headaches reported in the past, ME never showed up to take us back to the airport. But, unlike those previous reports, since Disney is the middleman, they took care of us by grabbing a cab and prepaying it as soon as we asked about the no show.

 

[snowbunny]

ME does pick you up 3 hours early. However, like many many Mears headaches reported in the past, ME never showed up to take us back to the airport. But, unlike those previous reports, since Disney is the middleman, they took care of us by grabbing a cab and prepaying it as soon as we asked about the no show.

We're probably renting a minivan from MCO and then dropping it off at the car care center the day before departure. How do you make a reservation for DME for one way only? thx

 

[paults]

JoEllen

I remember Mears could have you there up to 3 hours early which is way to long to sit at MCO. Have most of your experiences with ME been good

not at airport 3 hrs early, just picking you up at about 2 3/4 to 3 hrs before your flight. It could take an hour to get to the airport with extra pick-ups at resorts.

We used DME 2 x and never had a problem.

 

[JoEllen]

Thanks for all your feedback. I think I'll try the DME this trip just to try and reduce the stress level abit. I'll still have plenty of drama from 16 year old DD to make for an exciting trip.

 

[andriade]

Thanks for all your feedback. I think I'll try the DME this trip just to try and reduce the stress level abit. I'll still have plenty of drama from 16 year old DD to make for an exciting trip.

LOL

 

[cgcw]

DS & I used it in October without any problems.

The one thing that I noticed was that we were early for pickup and the CM in charge at the time asked the bus driver how many he was picking up at the next stop. Then she got onto the bus, counted the seats, and told us to go ahead and take that bus rather than wait for the next one.

We got to the airport a bit earlier, we would have sat at BCV's waiting anyway so it didn't really matter. I liked to idea of getting on a earlier bus. By nature, I'm a worrier that we'd miss the plane or whatever, and it gave me a little added comfort zone getting to the airport a bit earlier.

I hope they extend the service as we'd use it again in the future.

 

[tiberius]

We're probably renting a minivan from MCO and then dropping it off at the car care center the day before departure. How do you make a reservation for DME for one way only? thx

You should be able to make the reservation through www.disneysmagicalexpress.com

 

[dsneygirl]

We were picked up about 3 hours early from SSR on our Oct trip and we were the last stop. There was however a huge lineup at MCO security so we really didn't have a lot of time left over.

 

[yitbos96bb]

I like the idea of free, especially this time of year! May be worth it to skip the rental car this trip. I don't trust 16 yr old DD to help navigate yet!

JoEllen

If you take the toll road, getting to the Airport from WDW is quick and easy. So navigation isn't a big deal. THe non pay roads are not very fun and I would avoid them.

However, if your whole trip is ON property, I would skip the rental car. My wife loved ME (she met me there when I was on a road trip and flew back) and had no problems whatsoever. Of course disney transportation isn't bad either (it has gone down from what it was 10 years ago but it still isn't bad especially from Board Walk), so it is pretty easy to get around.