Magic Express

pumba

DIS PUMBARIZER
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Dec 28, 1999
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My darling husband wants to know if anyone has any idea if US AIR has any plans to participate in ME.........we have used ME with Delta this past December and our next trip is with US AIR .......

ANother question........if we go US AIR and we use our yellow ME tags....and we decide to use a limo....will my luggage get to our hotel via ME.....
 
My darling husband wants to know if anyone has any idea if US AIR has any plans to participate in ME.........we have used ME with Delta this past December and our next trip is with US AIR .......
All airlines that fly to Orlando International Airport "participate" in Disney's Magical Express (DME) because no airline participation is involved in DME.

US Airways currently does not participate in Resort Airline Check-in. I would not be surprised if US Airways eventually joins the list. After all, the other legacy airlines participate in Resort Airline Check-in. However, until Disney makes such as announcement, the answer no. We can only guess at the reasons that US Airways has, so far, chosen not to participate.

See the DISboards "sticky" thread, Disney's Magical Express - What "Participating Airline" Really Means!

Also see Disney's official Disney's Magical Express FAQ.

ANother question........if we go US AIR and we use our yellow ME tags....and we decide to use a limo....will my luggage get to our hotel via ME.....
The official answer is that at least one member of your traveling party must use the DME transportation in order for your traveling party to get free luggage delivery (including bellman tips paid by Disney).

Disney is willing to pay the significant cost of DME airport-to-room luggage transfers because DME guests tend to spend more (often much more) on-site at WDW than guests with rental cars who can easily shop and dine off-site.

There's been all sorts of discussion on this board about what would happen if a family used the yellow tags but nobody actually checked in for DME and rode the DME motorcoach. The conclusion seems to be that the family's luggage would probably go to their resort anyway, but Disney would know what the family did. My guess is that if it becomes a big problem for Disney, they'll figure out a way to make it unattractive to break the rules.
 
why is it against the rules......honest question .....REALLY.....I mean we are staying at a Disney hotel........we paid for our HOTEL.....we used ME in December and were flying DELTA. we checked our bags at the hotel and received our boarding passes at the hotel AND we got to the gate as they were beginning boarding....if we had to check our bags we would of been not able to get to this gate for takeoff...so I think that their policy of going almost three hours early for leaving the hotel didnt cut it.......as ME didnt arrive on time and then we had to go to the other two hotels for picking up people to go to the airport with extended delays at each........
SO my honest question on a board I do not normally come to .......was what I posted.......I did not think that it was breaking any rules doing it this way......
 
Okey have read it all and we will not participate in ME .......not worth the hassle of not knowing if we are going to get to the airport on time
 

Going BACK to the airport, you are more than welcome to use the RAC service and take your own transportation.

Disney's literature states that going TO your resort, at least one member of your party must ride the ME bus to get your luggage transferred.
 
SO my honest question on a board I do not normally come to .......was what I posted.......I did not think that it was breaking any rules doing it this way......
You are not breaking any rules if you check your bags and obtain your boarding passes at the Resort Airline Check-in (RAC) counter and then return to the airport without using a DME motorcoach on the day of your departure from WDW.

From Disney's Magical Express FAQ:

Q. Do I have to use Disney's Magical Express Service to participate in the Resort Airline Check-In Service?
A. No. The Resort Airline Check-In Service is available to guests staying at select Walt Disney World® Resort hotels who are flying domestically on participating airlines departing from Orlando International Airport. You may take any transportation from your Resort hotel to Orlando International Airport.​

At this time, the RAC-participating airlines are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Northwest, United/Ted (plus limited testing with AirTran at some resorts). US Airways is not on the RAC list.

However, you are breaking Disney's rules if you try to use DME as a luggage-only service on the day of your arrival in Orlando. Disney is a business. As I wrote earlier in this thread, "Disney is willing to pay the significant cost of DME airport-to-room luggage transfers because DME guests tend to spend more (often much more) on-site at WDW than guests with rental cars who can easily shop and dine off-site." That doesn't mean that guests can't rent split their party or rent a car after arriving at WDW, but most guests are unlikely to do so.
 
Okey have read it all and we will not participate in ME .......not worth the hassle of not knowing if we are going to get to the airport on time
Leaving your resort 2 3/4 to 3 1/4 hours before scheduled flight departure should allow plenty of time to stop at a couple of other resorts, travel to the airport, check in, go through security, and get to the gate.

There have been a few reports on this board of DME guests arriving at the gate after boarding began. There have also been complaints from DME guests about arriving at the gate two hours before departure. I have never read a complaint from a DME guest who actually missed a flight, but given the millions of people who have used DME, I imagine that a rare, occasional missed flight is inevitable -- but I'm sure people have also missed flights because towncars, limos, or taxis didn't show up, or because such vehicles or rental cars broke down or got stuck in bad traffic.

If you are uncomfortable with a pick-up time 2 3/4 to 3 1/4 hours before scheduled flight departure, you can ask to be scheduled 30 minutes earlier -- or even earlier than that, typically at 30 minutes intervals. (For international flights, 4 hours is more appropriate than 3 hours).

Of course, a towncar or limo is more personal and more of a luxury than the shared, free DME motorcoach service. Some people prefer a towncar or limo, and are willing to pay for it. But I don't think that fear of missing the flight is a good reason to pick a towncar or limo over DME.
 
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usually two hours prior to getting to the airport is fine and plenty of time.......but DME arrived later then the scheduled pickup.......still had to go to two more resorts and .....what I am saying is IF we did use the bus to return to the airport with our luggage .....no boarding pass because us air is not participating.....we would of had to check in......put luggage in security.......go thru security and I am sure we would of missed our flight.....in december we had no luggage and had a boarding pass and we just made it.......
we have been to disney more then twenty or thirty times......have used everything from the Mears cattle car......to a private van.......to town cars.......to limo pick ups and also DME.....we have always gotten to the airport in plenty of time.....not this time in December with DME...
yah a hundred and twenty bucks is alot of spending money in Disney . but I will gladly take that over having to run thru orlando airport getting to a gate on time......
I know that I am a moderator on this site and we too have our own opinions....this happens to be mine.......thanks for your info though!
 
why is it against the rules......honest question .....REALLY.....I mean we are staying at a Disney hotel........we paid for our HOTEL....
What are the reasons that Disney policy states you must ride the DME bus to your resort from the airport in order to get the automatic luggage delivery from MCO to the inside of your resort room?

Well, I've never read an official explanation, but it seems awfully transparent that it's an important part of Disney's business model for DME.

Disney spends a significant amount of money on DME. They are not doing it to be kind. They are doing it because they hope to profit from it. I've only had one business class in my life (an undergrad elective), but I think DME for Disney could loosely be described as a "loss leader," like when a store advertises a very cheap price on a popular product, so cheap that they are charging less than their own cost for the product (they take a loss), but they do so in hopes of increasing traffic into the store, and if more people come into the store for that one product, then many of them will tend to buy other things in the store, and the profit from those other sales more than makes up for the loss taken on the advertised product.

I think that fits DME pretty well.

If you pay for a rental car, you have less money to spend in WDW.

If you pay for a car service, you have less money to spend in WDW.

If you paid for the former Mears shuttle service, you had less money to spend in WDW.

Also, if you have a rental car, you have easy access to meals and souvenirs and other entertainment opportunities (such as Universal, Sea World, restaurants), and thus more opportunity to spend money outside WDW.

If you used a car service, you may well have taken advantage of the complimentary grocery stop, which means you'd have less need to spend money on meals and/or snacks at WDW eateries and shops (since most people aren't aware that grocery deliveries are possible).

DME more or less strands you on WDW property. So you have more money in your wallet because you didn't pay to get there from the airport, and you have no easy means of leaving to spend money elsewhere. If you could use the luggage delivery WITHOUT riding the bus, it would undermine Disney's model of keeping more money in your wallet by removing your transportation costs, and then later removing that money from your wallet when you spend it in WDW because you have no place else to spend it on your needs and your wants. IT'S A BRILLIANT BUSINESS MODEL!

Everything I said about DME is not a negative, in my opinion. Corporations exist to make a profit and to make increasingly more profit every year, and Disney found a way to do that. If Disney didn't make a profit, then WDW wouldn't exist as it now does. [And this is coming from a bleeding heart liberal!]
 
pumba said:
yah a hundred and twenty bucks is alot of spending money in Disney . but I will gladly take that over having to run thru orlando airport getting to a gate on time......
Perfectly understandable... but there's another option. Since Guests aren't forced to use any particular mode of transportation round-trip*, taking DME from the airport to the hotel, then using a town car service or cab for the return cuts your cost in half.

*okay, fine - if you rent a car at the airport you have to return it at the airport unless you made the reservation to include a different drop-off.
 
I'm another one who loves DME especially for the trip from the airport to the resort. I love not having to schlep my bags around the airport. Is it a big deal? No, not really. It's just handy not to have to deal with my bags. But, I love being able to check my bags at my resort, get my boarding passes at the same time. Then, I don't have nearly as much stuff to accomplish at the airport...just head to security. I hate having to leave that 3 hrs early. No, I've never come close to not getting to the airport at least 90 minutes before my departure time. It's usually been much closer to the 2 hr mark. But, perhaps in the future, I'll do RAC and then hire a towncar for the return. Much more the 'master of my own destiny' type deal that way.
 
If you follow the Magical Express baggage delivery procedure but don't take the bus, what happens to your bags is unpredictable. Although some have reported that their baggage made it, there are also unusual circumstances where you might have to go back to the airport to resolve a problem.

Okey have read it all and we will not participate in ME .......not worth the hassle of not knowing if we are going to get to the airport on time

You can use ME to Disney and another form of transportation of your choice back to the airport going home if you wish.

Going to Disney, there is no problem if you are late for ME by a couple of hours because you missed your plane. For arrivals after 10 PM you would have to telephone and let them know when you will get there before you do.

If you are really paranoic you can request and will then get a bus back to the airport earlier than the normally scheduled 3 hours in advanc of your flight.

If your last meal would be just prior to Magical Expres back to the airport, suggest planning that meal at the airport instead. It is much easier to skimp on a meal at the airport as opposed to rush through a meal as your last Disney activity if a glitch happens.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm
 
Does anyone know what resorts airtran is being tested at? Hopefully CBR is one of them
 

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