Magical Express fears

[Cplofdisneynutz]

Bumping in to see what's going on

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

I will be using DME on May 7th, returning on May 15th, so I will be sure to post my experiences upon my return! We are flying USAir, so we will not be checking in at the resort for our return, but otherwise we are using it both directions. We are also using it from two different resorts as we arrive at BCV and spend our last night at POP. I found cheaper airfare for EARLY Sunday morning, so our flight leaves at 7:30 am, making our pick up around 4:45 am. But, the flight price was cheaper than the night at POP, so it is worth it!

 

[Margaret West]

are listed for the Magical Express luggage transfer. We are flying Southwest and it is not on the list but the CM at Member Services for the DVC said that we can still use the service. So that means we will have luggage on the ME. Tyler, have you heard of this situation? Please research and tell me that the CM was correct or I will have to rent a car service.

 

[philaround]

Remeber DME is a reserved service thru Disney, not Mears. They will know at all times how many people are arriving and which reorts they will be going to. I'm sure there will be some bumps in the road but I expect them to be few and minor in nature. I'm sure Disney will not tolerate busloads of disgruntled guests arriving at their resorts.
When I made my DME reservation I was told to be sure to bring 1 small carryon per guest with essential items as the luggage could take 2 or 3 hours to get to your resort.
I really think Disney has a handle on this new service and am looking forward to hearing from some of this first people to use DME in May.

 

[TDC Nala]

I hope Magical Express passengers will minimize their carry-on luggage. After all, why bother? It's more convenent to check luggage at your home airport, knowing that you won't have to bother with that luggage again until you get to your room.

I'm not entrusting anything to the airlines that I don't absolutely have to.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

are listed for the Magical Express luggage transfer. We are flying Southwest and it is not on the list but the CM at Member Services for the DVC said that we can still use the service. So that means we will have luggage on the ME. Tyler, have you heard of this situation? Please research and tell me that the CM was correct or I will have to rent a car service.

*ALL* airlines can utilize the DME coach and baggage transfer on the inbound journey.

On the outbound journey, non-participating airlines can utilize the coach service, however, baggage will accompany the guests on the coach, and they will check in at the airport as usual.

 

[gailb]

I have signed up for ME for a June 5th trip. I'm a little concerned about the proposed amount of wait time at the airport to the resort. Is there any way to determine what flights will be included on a certain ME so that I can guesstimate how long my wait will be from the time I check in w/ ME until the time we depart the airport.

For instance, would arriving flights, an hour apart, be on the same ME?? --or do they have a predetermined schedule of departure times that flights no more than 1/2 hr apart would be on the same ME????

On our last trip we had a town car--which except for the cost, worked out famously, and we arrived at our resort in a very timely manner.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

I don't know how the dispatches will go, but I would imagine they will be scheduled accordingly so that there is a minimal wait time. Disney knows the faster you get to WDW, the faster you spend money.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't know how the dispatches will go, but I would imagine they will be scheduled accordingly so that there is a minimal wait time. Disney knows the faster you get to WDW, the faster you spend money.

During the day I'd think the buses will fill up quickly. My concern would be with a late flight, many of the guests may even be staying at an airport hotel. Will Disney be dispatching vans to take a few guests, combine routes or make guests wait an hour or more for the remaining flights to land? Prehaps there are only a handful of people on my flight but there is an international flight due to land an hour later with a lot of guests.

There probably isn't an answer to this question yet, time will tell how it's handled.

I guess my question: Is there an absolute time standard; 30 minutes, 45 minutes an hour, after which you'll be sent even if it's just your group? I took a shared ride service from FLL to Miami Beach. We were told the maximum wait is 30 minutes, at that point we would be transported by ourself if necessary.

 

[CarolA]

I don't know how the dispatches will go, but I would imagine they will be scheduled accordingly so that there is a minimal wait time. Disney knows the faster you get to WDW, the faster you spend money.

Love the "faster you spend money" part!


I think that makes a very valid point. Disney is not going to want you to wait for hours.... then you will be mad at them and might not spend as much! LOL!

 

[Margaret West]

Your info has made me feel better!

 

[DrTomorrow]

One other hint for those using DME: you might want to sit as close to the bus exit doors as possible. Given that checking in to a WDW resort takes some time (tickets, maps, credit card, keys, resort.info packet, etc.), I wouldn't want to be the last one out of the bus - therefore, the last one in line - when a group of 20 or 30 people descend on the front desk CMs.

Bunching - I've seen what it can do on The Amazing Race.

 

[poochie]

All this information is great, but dare I ask? My flight times have changed but the flight numbers are the same. I have booked thru AAA. Do I need to contact anyone as to the changes?

 

[Lewisc]

One other hint for those using DME: you might want to sit as close to the bus exit doors as possible. Given that checking in to a WDW resort takes some time (tickets, maps, credit card, keys, resort.info packet, etc.), I wouldn't want to be the last one out of the bus - therefore, the last one in line - when a group of 20 or 30 people descend on the front desk CMs.

Bunching - I've seen what it can do on The Amazing Race.

The buses will seat around 50 and will go to 3 or 4 resorts. You're only looking at 6-8 famlies/stop. It's certainly possible that resort information and maps might be distributed on the bus.

 

[katypop]

Hi Poochie, when I booked recently they told me to make sure to let them know if the flight times changed, so you might be safer to call and let them know at CRO, or through your travel rep if that is how you booked ME.
Katypop

 

[spiceycat]

moving up for others to see.

 

[Tiggers&Springs]

I've seen a few questions about how it's going to work with the luggage tags and connecting that to your reservation. Having just had a few questions about this asked and answered, myself, thought I'd let folks know what I've been told in case the same thing happens to you!

My DH had booked a mid-afternoon flight out, getting in around 4pm, which I eventually managed to veto in favor of a much earlier flight. Who wants to waste a whole day in the airport? So, I changed our flight number to the earlier time.

However, a few days prior to this we had just received our luggage tags. I had an initial panic: "Does this mean they need to send us new tags now?" But there is NO BARCODE on the tags. There is a slip of paper where you write your name and other info, however. We called WDW to find out if we need to do anything other than notify them of our new flight number, and they said no. The tag itself simply flags the bag to be pulled. From there, they look up your info in their system using what you've provided on the tag, and they route the bag to the correct resort. Therefore, as long as you write clearly, there is no reason your bag shouldn't get where it's supposed to.

And speaking of the tags, they will only give you one tag per person. When asked about this, the rep said that's because the airlines only allow one checked piece pp. He might be right, but that sounded odd to me -- I guess I've lost track of the baggage allowances!

I'm going on May 8, and I'm a teensy bit leery about using ME less than a week after it starts, but it's free and I'm on vacation and I'll get there eventually. Three more weeks!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

And speaking of the tags, they will only give you one tag per person. When asked about this, the rep said that's because the airlines only allow one checked piece pp. He might be right, but that

I wasn't aware that anyone had received their actual Magical Express luggage routing tags yet. The official word is that each Magical Express passenger will get two tags. (By the way, all of the major domestic airlines still allow two pieces of checked luggage per passenger, although many have lowered the maximum weight and maximum dimensions.)

Please take another look at the luggage tags. What does it say on them? Are these the Walt Disney World vacation tags, or are they the actual Magical Express routing tags?

 

[MaxH]

I wasn't aware that anyone had received their actual Magical Express luggage routing tags yet. The official word is that each Magical Express passenger will get two tags. (By the way, all of the major domestic airlines still allow two pieces of checked luggage per passenger, although many have lowered the maximum weight and maximum dimensions.)

Please take another look at the luggage tags. What does it say on them? Are these the Walt Disney World vacation tags, or are they the actual Magical Express routing tags?

What we were told by the rep was that they will use the barcode on the AIRPORT routing tag. They are only sending the Vacation tags (Tinkerbell) to flag the bags. There is no actual ME routing tags. If this is not true, I've been misinformed!

 

[bugsy]

I wasn't aware that anyone had received their actual Magical Express luggage routing tags yet. The official word is that each Magical Express passenger will get two tags. (By the way, all of the major domestic airlines still allow two pieces of checked luggage per passenger, although many have lowered the maximum weight and maximum dimensions.)

Please take another look at the luggage tags. What does it say on them? Are these the Walt Disney World vacation tags, or are they the actual Magical Express routing tags?

I did receive an email back from WDW, cuz I was very concerned about
the 1 tag p/p a couple days ago. the email said we get 2 ME tags p/p,
and they, as well as pertinent info, will be mailed out approx 3 weeks
prior to WDW arrival.