Just back from a quickie Labor Day weekend trip... mixed review (LONG)

[jrt1176]

We didn't any of theses DME problem when we stayed at the Poly in January. But, the Poly has less rooms, so I wonder if that has something to do with it?

I'm glad you had a great trip overall. The issues you had didn't seem to be major, but even smaller ones add up to cause frustration.

 

[BelleBway]

OP, I don't think your expectations were unrealistc. Sorry for the problems, but I hope your trip was fantastic!

Thanks! I got to spend the weekend giggling with IMO the most amazing 15 year old on the planet (I'm obviously biased) and getting to know her better; it would have been hard for the trip to have been less than spectacular overall! There were some things that could have been improved which I mentioned, but none of that took away from my overall joy.

Most importantly, I'd taken her older sister to Japan and Tokyo Disney for high school graduation; this trip was a bit of a trial to see how the younger niece and I travel together and if I'd feel good about taking her on the same trip in a few years. I had some hesitations in that regard but I'm thrilled with how things went and I feel more confident that we can have an amazing time together for a couple weeks in a foreign country.

 

[jkh36619]

Sunscreen can be carry-on if you get the right kinds. I hear you though. The spray stuff is definitely fastest.

We used to use ME. The last time we did ME+checked bags, we got to the hotel and realized we were stuck until we had our bags. I'd worn cheap flip flops ( for TSA check), that weren't good for Epcot's distance walking. After that we picked up our bags.

We now realize we prefer our own car. I don't mind the monorail or boats when they are running, but we have had a number of bad experiences with the buses: waits over 45minutes and too many problematic guests. At the end of the day when I'm tired, I have little patience left for inconsiderate people.

I was in FL for a week in August. I brought a few sunscreen options that were under the 3 ounce rule: a chapstick style one, a 3 ounce bottle, and a 3 ounce foil packet. They would have been plenty, but we stopped for water/snacks, so I also got a can of spray-on sunscreen. I only carry the chapstick style in the parks! Super light and compact!

Here here. I'm with you. I don't depend on anyone for anything. I drive myaelf and carry my own bags. I am a self sufficient traveler. I learned the 6 P's a long time ago.

 

[scrapquitler]

ve their own luggage. Also staff such that you can ensure that bags are delivered in a more timely manner at night. Also provide better training to the people answering the phones and empower them to do *something* to make things better for potentially upset guests. (I realize that DME is not Disney but I did also talk to someone at Disney because I was really upset at how the DME person was sassing me)

• Problem: We never got an express checkout on our door. We would have waited in a long line at the front desk but they were encouraging people to just rely on being automatically checked out at 11am. I had a chance to come back to the front desk later to get my print out, and they told me someone had specifically flagged my account not to get express checkout. I have no idea why that would have happened.
  Suggestion: Maybe this was a training issue? Honestly, I wouldn't have thought much about this at all if it hadn't been for the other problems I'd been having.

We stayed on site several times last year, and each time we did not get the print out on our door. Instead, we got in in an email, which I prefer. More confidentiality and I don't have to keep track of a bunch of paper. One time I thought I didn't get it, but it was in my spam folder. Maybe this is what happened to yours?

And as for calling the front desk about the issue with the pizza, when you call the front desk, you are actually calling a call center that isn't in Orlando.

 

[BelleBway]

We stayed on site several times last year, and each time we did not get the print out on our door. Instead, we got in in an email, which I prefer. More confidentiality and I don't have to keep track of a bunch of paper. One time I thought I didn't get it, but it was in my spam folder. Maybe this is what happened to yours?

Nope. The front desk person I eventually spoke to specifically said my account was flagged not to have express checkout. I asked if it had anything to do with having complained and she said that wouldn't be a reason to flag an account not to have express checkout. She seemed genuinely puzzled and says it typically happens when guests change credit cards or something like that.

And as for calling the front desk about the issue with the pizza, when you call the front desk, you are actually calling a call center that isn't in Orlando.

I actually didn't know that- I thought it may have been a central location within WDW. It makes more sense now why things went the way they did, and why when I spoke to a manager about the pizza, he was able to give me more concrete information. (he mentioned that I could go to the food court but warned me that it was swamped, that he could try to get dining services to call me but they were also swamped, and also that there were external delivery services people use although he didn't mention them by name) It was a positive response because it gave me good information and empowered me to make a decision from a list of realistic options; the FP were bonuses and I didn't ask for them or for any compensation. I'm not sure how long people think I should have held for before complaining that the wait was excessive.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Bellebway,

a few more thoughts...

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this detail, but I think the original ME policy was no bags delivered after 10pm, which created multiple issues and threads on the DIS. ME isn't actually Disney, it is Mears. As someone else said, their may also be an issue at the airport.

to other posters - we have had MANY delayed flights. I NEVER expect an on-time flight when I plan our arrival day. (mostly, no hard ADR's)

I think it is pretty clear that all commercial hotel front desks are always available 24 hours a day. (family hotels/BnB's are an exception.) Having a greeter with maps isn't a bad idea. While it won't have a room location, we also use the map/GPS in our phone quite often. Bypassing the front desk is still a rather new option for WDW. It is good for repeat guests who don't need maps, but is still a work in progress.

Someone should have answered your call inside of 20mintues, and I can't imagine how long it would have taken you to have food if the initial hold was that bad! Our solution is to keep a few snacks on hand in our room, but we've been caught unprepared. I try to bring a granola bar, note how late the food court is open, stop at a grocery/convenience store, and/or buy something at the airport. This past winter, our non-WDW flight was delayed. I thought our hotel had 24 hour food, but there was nothing at 10pm! The ONLY place open was an outdoor bar with no kitchen. The only non-alcohol was a few oranges meant for drink garnishes. I gave the bartender my best puppy eyes and asked if I could buy one. Oh, it was delicious!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

As far as I know, WDW did away with paper check out slips several years ago, unless a guest specifically asks. I also haven't seen any of the old ME reminders for some time either, come to think of it. Those used to arrive the day before check-out.

Once upon a time, your final bill was processed when you paid WDW at the front desk. With electronic check out, they process your charges just after midnight, BEFORE most guests review the final bill.

You can still charge to your room that day, and they can add the extras later.

I'm not fan of having my bill processed without my reviewing it. In short, online check-in = you gave them permission to charge your cc in this manner. My solution is that I don't usually charge anything to the room. I also go by the front desk on our last night to get a paper copy of the bill to verify there are no unwanted charges on my bill.

If I don't take that step, and there are extra charges on my bill, then I feel like I'm more at the mercy of WDW after to make corrections after they are processed. [You always have the right to refute cc charges via your cc company.]

Mind, WDW is not alone. Most hotels now use this system and try to sell it as a bonus guest service. No need to stop by the front desk, we already have your money!

 

[PabloMax]

Trouble with MDE luggage seems to be a theme:

We had a 5:05 arrival at MCO, the plane actually reached the terminal at 4:45. Yet by 8:30 still no bags in the room. Then finally a knock on the door, and the bellman handed over one suitcase (out of 4 we had checked).

I called Luggage Services--we were staying at All-Star Sports, but it was picked up by someone at All-Star Music. Then they transferred me, and the person at Sports seemed to have a problem with English. Finally I got the manager at Sports. She told me they had 2 more bags in the system and would be delivering them in about 15 minutes. She also said I should call her when I figured out which suitcase was missing.

Naturally, we started to panic that our 4th bag was somehow in Milwaukee or something. Anyway, 15 minutes turned into 30, we were all ready to get to bed when finally the knock came on the door, and fortunately all three of the suitcases were there.

Being tired and aiming for an early day at MK, we all hit the sack. About 10-15 minutes later the phone rang, it was the woman from Luggage following up. So I guess give her a thumbs-up, although at that moment I was just about falling asleep and didn't feel quite so thrilled about it.

We had definitely noticed that many of the people on the MDE "motor coach" had their bags with them instead of using the luggage delivery service--perhaps they had a bad past experience with it or heard not to trust it.

 

[disneynutz]

Here is some info that may help.

DME: if your flight lands after 10:00 PM, you are expected to collect your own luggage and bring it with you on the bus. Luggage deliveries in the evening will take longer, fewer trucks running and they wait for a full load. Bell Services has fewer CM's for deliveries. Same with the buses, evening they run fewer buses, wait for full bus and make more stops.

If you use direct to room I believe that you are signed up for express check out with an emailed statement.

Bill

 

[mickeyluv'r]

disneynutz, I think you are correct, except that I think maybe the default for everyone is express checkout.

 

[disneymom0104]

Overall I can't say we had any complaints about DME- they got our bags to us, and checked them for us on the way out. I was nervous about that but our bags made our flight and we had no issues coming home. I did think our bags would be delivered to us within 3 hours, but with an 8pm arrival, our bags were not delivered until 2am.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Moving to TP Community board as this has become a discussion on DME and not related to TPAS.

 

[disneynutz]

There are 2 different groups involved in luggage delivery, the airport/delivery to the resort and bell services. The first part was a company called Bags Inc, my guess is that they are still the vendor. Between the 2 is where the delay can happen. We waited several hours for our luggage at WL and come to find out our luggage had been delivered by Bags Inc hours earlier and they were sitting in the bell services luggage storeroom by mistake.

Bill

 

[rmcildw2m]

First of all, we had a fabulous time! But we're the type of people who can create lasting memories from a spontaneous road trip that ends up in a random 24 hour Walmart, so it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that we'd have a blast no matter what happened. I was traveling with my teenage niece; it was the first time I traveled with just her, but I'd taken 3 other trips with her and her older sister (who was at college already)

Also I was pleased that just about every cast member with whom I interacted in person- ranging from security to bus drivers to ride attendants to Photopass photographers- were excellent. Many were outstanding and really added a positive touch to our days.

We were lucky enough not to get caught in any major rain showers; it poured on Sunday but it didn't start until just after we'd stepped into our Uber car from Universal and we'd already decided not to go back out. Monday it sprinkled a bit but that was awesome because it kept the sun from beating down on us. We even joked that rain ruined the trip because it never rained enough to keep the crowds/sun away. LOL

Unfortunately... we did experience some problems which mostly seemed to indicate a decline in service. I plan to write Disney a letter because my feeling is that if they don't hear about it, they will never do anything to improve. I am not a big complainer and I do not want any compensation- what's done is done, basically. But these kinds of issues would make me more hesitant to return to WDW.

• Problem: The first not-so-magical moment came after we got off of the DME bus at Pop on Friday night. We'd already received our room assignment before we even got on the plane- 4th floor in the 70's section, just as I'd requested. There was one staff member to greet the bus. He didn't have any resort maps or check-in packets or anything. When I told him we had our room, he just basically told us to go to the right. I'm not sure if anything in my facial expression showed puzzlement but he corrected himself to say to the left before I could vocally question him. So that's it- we were left to hunt for the room ourselves in the dark- fortunately I'd stayed at Pop before and basically knew the layout of where the elevators are.
  Suggestion: Additional staff, hand out maps or even check-in packets to arriving guests (afterall, they know who is arriving because we scanned our bands)
• Problem: We arrived at the hotel at 9 (our plane landed before 8) and headed out to Disney Springs for 3 hours. When we returned to the room at midnight, the bags still weren't there. The DME literature says bags will be delivered within 3 hours of when you arrive and we were really tired; my niece had been up since 5:30am. I would completely not care how many hours the luggage delivery took if I'd arrived in the morning, but having to stay up til after 1am for our bags to arrive just simply isn't acceptable to me. Moreover, I called a few times to complain (really nicely, actually) and the DME person started giving me sass. Also, she stated that it can take up to 5 hours.
  Suggestion: Update DME literature to state that luggage can take up to 5 hours to arrive if that is indeed the case, so guests can make better decisions whether to retrieve their own luggage. Also staff such that you can ensure that bags are delivered in a more timely manner at night. Also provide better training to the people answering the phones and empower them to do *something* to make things better for potentially upset guests. (I realize that DME is not Disney but I did also talk to someone at Disney because I was really upset at how the DME person was sassing me)
• Problem: Having seen many signs advertising pizza delivery service, we decided we'd take advantage of that when we returned from Universal on Sunday night. I expected that it would take longer than usual since it was rainy. However, I gave up holding after at least 20 minutes, which is IMO a ridiculous amount of time. When I called the front desk directly, they blamed the holiday weekend and rain- both of which were predictable and could have been staffed for. The CM offered to transfer me back to the dining phone queue which was not helpful since I'd already done that for an absurd length of time and I didn't want to start from scratch. I finally spoke to a manager who at least gave us some extra FP+ for the next day so that was something and I was at least ok with his guest recovery since by that point, he couldn't call anyone else in and they were truly swamped.
  Suggestion: Staff extra people to man the phones on holiday weekends. Provide better training to front level phone support and empower them to do *something* to pixie dust upset guests.
• Problem: You know those extra FP+ they gave us? I checked them on my phone Sunday night and verified that they were there. We went to use them on Splash Mountain the next morning- and they were gone from the system! They were no longer on my phone and the really nice ride attendant couldn't find them either. I was livid, especially since we had to walk all the way back to guest services at City Hall to attempt to get this fixed. The lady there was very nice and supposedly gave us 3 extra FP+ instead of the 2 we had. (I say supposedly because they never seemed to go away- nor did our scheduled Splash FP that we made later as a 4th FP; we only did try to use the bonus ones 3 times though)
  Suggestion: I'm going to have to think that this was just another IT glitch so there's not much they can do other than fix their systems. However, it would be wonderful if there was a way to contact guest services that didn't involve going to front of the park- either more stations or a chat function on the app.
• Problem: We never got an express checkout on our door. We would have waited in a long line at the front desk but they were encouraging people to just rely on being automatically checked out at 11am. I had a chance to come back to the front desk later to get my print out, and they told me someone had specifically flagged my account not to get express checkout. I have no idea why that would have happened.
  Suggestion: Maybe this was a training issue? Honestly, I wouldn't have thought much about this at all if it hadn't been for the other problems I'd been having.

I'm not sure who to contact at Disney with my concerns and I'm frankly not sure if they will care. But I do want to get my feedback on record just in case it could help people. Also, perhaps my post will help people make a better decision about whether to get their own luggage if they use DME for a flight that lands at night. (ours landed just before 8pm) In all the trips I've made to WDW (see my signature), this is the first time I've ever felt dissatisfied- in the past, I've written a letter to praise cast members but I've never written in with complaints. That's generally not me. And I absolutely did not and do not want any monetary compensation- I just want the magical Disney experience I've always had, where there may be a very occasional minor glitch but it gets handled well. And I want that not just for me, but for everyone.

Meanwhile, I am very excited for my upcoming trip to the Asian parks where I'm confident I'll receive better service despite the language barriers. (I've been to HKDL and TDR multiple times)

Well I was there also over the labor day weekend a short but much enjoyed trip, however I will confess I have no love or even a little likeness for the new bus stop at Disney springs .I would never go there with the intent to buy levis pants or coach purses . I go there for the Disney type stores only so I would like to have back the marketplace bus stop back please .

 

[BelleBway]

We actually got a bit lost walking to the Marketplace... I was surprised how unfamiliar it looked and got really excited to spot the Lego store because it meant I was heading into familiar territory. Most of the new stores were disappointing to me, too, because I can buy that stuff at home.