Magical Express Departure Day

[poohluvrs]

Thanks to the boards I have a good grip on ME arrival, but on our check out/departure day, how do I schedule ME to pick us up at the resort, how far in advance should we plan to leave our resort to make our 3pm flight? THanks for the help!

 

[Bob P]

They will tell you what time they will pick you up. It is usually about 3 hours before your flight time, so figure they will pick you up around noon.

 

[K9pal]

We used ME for departure only on Saturday, 9/23. We had a 2:45 flight and they scheduled us for pickup at 12 noon. Be on time - they were there at 11:57 and pulled out at noon!

 

[goofy4tink]

Since you provided DME with your resort and your flight times, they will notify you, via a note to your resort room, the day before your departure. It will tell you what time to be at the bus stop. It is about 3 hrs. before flight time. As someone else has said....be there on-time, they leave at the appointed time. You should plan on arriving at the stop about 15 minutes beforehand. If you have left any luggge with bell services, get there at least 40 minutes before your DME departure time to pick up your bags. It can take up to 20 minutes to retrieve your bags from them.

 

[poohluvrs]

Wow, thanks for the info! So bags travel w/ us on the way back, no tags, thanks!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Depends on your return airline. If you're flying home on a participating airline (see the "What Participating Airline Really Means" sticky), you can check your bags through from the Resort Airline Counter at your hotel straight through to your home airport (or other destination).

 

[LAS]

We used ME for departure only on Saturday, 9/23. We had a 2:45 flight and they scheduled us for pickup at 12 noon. Be on time - they were there at 11:57 and pulled out at noon!

How does using ME for departure only work? That is what I want to do on my next trip because we are starting at Universal and ending at POFQ.

 

[CleveRocks]

How does using ME for departure only work? That is what I want to do on my next trip because we are starting at Universal and ending at POFQ.

Make sure you make your reservation for departure (POFQ to MCO) only. If you reserved a round trip, there would be the possibility they would cancel your return trip since you never "arrived."

The day before your departure, you'll get a packet of info that will include your scheduled bus pick up time at your resort. If you are flying one of the "participating airlines," you can check your luggage in and get your boarding passes at your resort; if you are able to use this service (called "Resort Airline Check-in"), you won't see your checked luggage again until it's on your home airport's baggage claim carousel.

If you are not using a "participating airline," you simply bring your luggage to the bus and the driver will store it under the bus for you, then return it to you when you arrive at the airport.