Magic Express Questions.....Help!!!!

[TinkerbellTris]

O.k. we leave in 7 days so I have now hit the panic state. I keep thinking i'm gonna forget something. AHHHH! ANyways, i've read a lot of things about M.E. and i'm very nervous. Should I be packing clothing into my carryon bag i will be keeping with me at all times? Are my bags really gonna be delivered hours after i get there? What happens if they lose my bag? How does the hotel know where to put my bags? Should I expect them to be in my room? Someone left a comment on another thread that said his bags were delivered at 1 in the morning. So has this happened to a lot of people. Any help or advice you can give about M.E. would be greatly appreciated.

 

[legalslave]

O.k. we leave in 7 days so I have now hit the panic state. I keep thinking i'm gonna forget something. AHHHH! ANyways, i've read a lot of things about M.E. and i'm very nervous. Should I be packing clothing into my carryon bag i will be keeping with me at all times? Are my bags really gonna be delivered hours after i get there? What happens if they lose my bag? How does the hotel know where to put my bags? Should I expect them to be in my room? Someone left a comment on another thread that said his bags were delivered at 1 in the morning. So has this happened to a lot of people. Any help or advice you can give about M.E. would be greatly appreciated.

You should pack anything you will need right away in your carry on. It takes on average 3 hours for your bag to reach your room. They have lost very few bags out of the millions handled. They will appear in your room about 3-4 hours after your arrival. The person who posted that they were delivered at 1:00 in the morning was probably on a late evening flight. They will not deliver the bags that late unless you ask them to. They will keep them at bell services until the morning and deliver them then. If you are arriving in the morning or afternoon, just check your carry on with bell services, go to the parks or go to your resorts pool (using the swimsuits you packed in your carry on) and have fun. When you return your bags will be in your room. DME is wonderful. Relax and enjoy.

 

[CleveRocks]

O.k. we leave in 7 days so I have now hit the panic state. I keep thinking i'm gonna forget something. AHHHH! ANyways, i've read a lot of things about M.E. and i'm very nervous.

No need to be nervous.

Should I be packing clothing into my carryon bag i will be keeping with me at all times?

This is a smart way to fly ANYWHERE. WHat if the airline delays your luggage? This way, you're prepared just in case. Think of it as free 'travel insurance." Actually, I can't imagine flying anywhere without my carry-on packed with the first 24 hours' worth of supplies.

Are my bags really gonna be delivered hours after i get there?

Yes, maybe 2-3 hours after you arrive.

What happens if they lose my bag?

From everything we've all read on this and other boards, such a circumstance would be exceedingly rare. DME has served around 2 million people so far, so maybe has had 3 million bags. I think a truly lost piece of luggage might be a literal example of the cliche "one in a million." If a bag is unaccounted for, DME will do everything they can to find it for you, even if it's the airline's fault. On the DME side of things, Tyler explained to us that each piece of luggage has its barcode scanned something like 5 or 6 times during its short trip from airport to your resort room. Disney and its subcontractors seem to have a pretty good handle on where your luggage is; the luggage trucks are even equipped with GPS so they can even know where your bags are on the road.

How does the hotel know where to put my bags?

DME luggage is delivered to each resort from the airport via truck. The luggage is delivered to each resort's Bell Services (or in the case of the Vaule resorts, Luggage Assistance). The DME tags have barcodes on them. The barcodes are scanned and then the mighty Disney computers tell the luggage delivery CMs everything they need to know.

Should I expect them to be in my room?

YES. To me, the "magical" part of Disney's Magical Express is that the bags are delivered to the inside of your resort room whether you're in there or not. There are some people who've posted that they've wasted time sitting around the room worried and waiting for their bags. What a waste of time!!! For people who are going to worry that much, the solution is to NOT put the DME tags on their checked luggage, get their own luggage from baggage claim at the airport, then bring it to their own DME bus, where the driver will load it under the bus. That way, they'll have their luggage with them when they arrive. This slows down the process, of course, because they have to spend the time waiting at baggage claim rather than skipping baggage claim and getting to WDW already!!!

Someone left a comment on another thread that said his bags were delivered at 1 in the morning. So has this happened to a lot of people. Any help or advice you can give about M.E. would be greatly appreciated.

Well, as a PP said, it's highly likely that someone who got a 1:00 a.m. luggage delivery landed at MCO at maybe 10:00 p.m. In November, my flight will arrive at around 9:30 p.m. When I check in at my resort, I will ask the front desk AND Bell Services to please make sure my luggage is held until the following morning. We always pack well in our carry-ons for immediate needs, anyway, so we won't need our suitcases so soon AND we won't need to be awakened at midnight.

DME has been around for over a year now. I used it on its 4th day of operations and I found it to be wonderful and convenient. AND, it was supposed to end in late-2006 but was recently extended through at least 2011. To me, that's objective PROOF that it's working well. Seriously, over 2 MILLION people have used it so far. If it was a bad system fraught with problems and horror stories, it wouldn't have been extended for another 5 years, and it wouldn't be as popular with Disney guests as it is.

No matter what you do, it's ALWAYS a good idea to be prepared with a carry-on packed with essentials. I do this whether I fly to Orlando or Omaha. It's just a smart, self-protective way to travel.

 

[goofy4tink]

O.k. we leave in 7 days so I have now hit the panic state. I keep thinking i'm gonna forget something. AHHHH! ANyways, i've read a lot of things about M.E. and i'm very nervous. Should I be packing clothing into my carryon bag i will be keeping with me at all times? Just put a change of clothes/swimsuits in your carryon. Anything you might like in order to freshen up in case your room isn't quite ready yet.



Are my bags really gonna be delivered hours after i get there? What happens if they lose my bag? How does the hotel know where to put my bags? Should I expect them to be in my room? Take a deep breath....yes, your bags will be delivered. They will not lose your bags. You are more likely to have the airline lose them, rather than DME. The tags have a bar code on them that is tied in to your room reservation. When they get to your resort, they are scanned and then placed in the room. When??? Well, that depends. If you are able to get into your room right away, then your bags will get there in the near future. If you can't get in, then head off to a park, or go for a swim....when your room is finally ready, you can get into it and most likely your luggage will already be there.



Someone left a comment on another thread that said his bags were delivered at 1 in the morning. So has this happened to a lot of people. Any help or advice you can give about M.E. would be greatly appreciated Those that get their bags at that hour have usually checked into the resort very late. If you are arriving late, then just tell the front desk to hold your luggage, put the do not disturb sign on your door. The bags should arrive early in the morning. Have no fear...DME works perfectly well the majority of the time!!

 

[TinkerbellTris]

Thank you all so much for the information. It's so hard to sort through all the DME threads and find anything really positive, or that answers the questions I had. I appreciate all the information. It's nice to talk to people who have actually used this service. Thank you.