No, there is not a specific thread regarding DME experiences. The vast majority of experiences are good ones. There have been a few, sporadic posts reporting less than wonderful experiences. But, we found, upon investigation, that these less than wonderful experiences were a result of the poster being either 1. uninformed as to how DME works, 2. poster had unrealistic expectations 3. the airline misdirected luggage and the poster hadn't used DME correctly so didn't get the full benefit.
I, personally, have used DME to Pop about 4 times to date...as well as another 10-15 times to other resorts. I have always had good experiences. Well...there was that one bad experience, but that was more my dd's issue, not DME. I told her to pack anything she would need to start the trip, in her carryon bag. But nooooo, she had to put all her extra flip-flops in there since they didn't fit in her checked bags. And of course, she refused to go to a park without showering and getting the 'airplane feel' off her. Sooooo, we sat around the resort, twiddling our thumbs for almost 5 hrs. That's how long it took for our bags to get to our room via DME. Now....I can't say for sure how long it took on other stays at Pop...I don't usually sit there and wait. I pack my carryon appropriately and then when I arrive at my resort, I change and head off to a park. My bags are in my room when I return later in the evening!!
The value resorts tend to have slightly slower luggage delivery service than other level of resorts. So, plan accordingly.
If you don't want to wait for your bags to arrive via DME, then leave them untagged. You can then head to baggage claim and get them yourself and then bring them to your bus with you. But, be aware the the driver will be expecting a tip for baggage handling. This is not included. Yes, when you use DME tips are included, but that's when you use it as intended....taking the bags to the bus is not the intent. The tips that are included are the tips for the CM who delivers your bags to your room.
Also....having to unload a bunch of checked bags from the bus tends to slow down the whole process for everyone.
But, DME works very well. It all depends on what you want from the service. Also...if you arrive at 10pm or after, your tagged bags will not be picked up. There is no luggage delivery service with DME between the hours of 10pm and 7am...at least not from the airport. If I were arriving anytime after 8pm I would get my own bags. The DME booklet tells us to expect luggage delivery at our resort up to 3 hrs after resort checkin...note that is RESORT checkin, not airport arrival. So, if you arrive at MCO at say, 6pm, you can expect to be at your resort by 7:30. Which in turn means that you may not get your bags in your room until 10:30 or so. Plan accordingly.
I've never had a problem and think it's a great service. In fact I used it in Sept, Nov/Dec, earlier this month, and will be using it again in May, Sept, and Oct/Nov, so six times in 13 months.
