The above quote are words to live by!
I love love love The Unofficial Guide, but I'm very surprised by their views on Disney's Magical Express. The latest edition I read was 2009, but in that edition I was totally shocked by their take on DME. You know how they quote parts of letters/e-mails from people? At least one of the customer quotes revealed a total lack of understanding how the system works, something about people surprised that they wouldn't have immediate acces to their checked bags as soon as they arrived at their resort, and then the UG commented that yes, there are often problems with the luggage service.
But my response is NO! That is not an example of a problem. It's an example of misunderstanding what DME offers and promises. Right there in the DME booklet, it says to expect your bags about 3 hours after you check-in at your resort and it advises you to take what Disney calls a "day bag" for anything you'll need immediately.
So I don't know how in the world such a smart book like the UG can agree with a guest who was bothered that she didn't have immediate access to her checked bags.
But it does show that the UG doesn't understand DME like we'd expect them to understand it.
Can you imagine what it would take in order to have the guest have their bags, in their rooms, at checkin??? There are a couple of issues here....first, your room may very well not be ready for hours when you check in. So, even if you get to your resort at 11am, and your room isn't ready until 3:00, then there is no way that your bags are going to magically appear in your room in that 3 hr window. There is NO room for them to go to!!
Or....let's imagine the kind of system that would be necessary to get bags to the resort within 30 mins of the guest arriving there. The bags would have to be grabbed, scanned and immediately put onto a resort specific truck for delivery. Now, you would have to have multiple trucks going to each one of the WDW resorts. People are constantly arriving and using DME. It would be a nightmare.
So...it makes perfect sense to not expect your bags immediately upon arrival. If it is important that you have those bags, then leave them untagged and get them yourself. Bring them to the DME bus with you and they will go underneath your bus. But as I already said, tipping will be expected by both the bus driver and the bell services person at your resort if your room isn't ready yet.
This is pretty much how the system currently works..at least it's how it was explained to me.....DME tagged bags, arriving between 7am and 10pm, are pulled out of the group of bags coming off each plane. They are scanned as they are put aside. Then, they are grouped by resort area...DTD, Epcot, MK, AK. They are scanned again. They are then put on trucks going to a group of resorts. I 'assume' that they are scanned when they reach the resort. Yes, sometimes a bag gets misdirected by DME, but it is easily found and sent on it's way.
I, too, have an issue with the UoG saying what they say. No, DME isn't for everyone. There are those who want to rent cars, there are those who prefer to book a car service. That's fine. But to put out downright incorrect info about a 'free' service is just wrong. People need good, correct info in order to decide what is best for their family. If they are told that DME doesn't work well, that it takes hours on end to get to your resort, that luggage is frequently lost...well, how are guests to make a good choice??? They will feel that DME is just a big old mistake and they'll spend well over $100 for a car service. But if the only reason they did that was because they thought DME was awful??? Just not right.
..... not ME
