Magical Express Late Arrival -- Experiences??

[caperkathy]

Our flight arrives at 9pm. Should we be getting out own luggage to take on the bus with us? I've heard it can take hours to get your luggage from DME so I'm assuming if we don't grab it ourselves that we wouldn't get it until the next morning?

 

[davedmaine]

Our flight arrives at 9pm. Should we be getting out own luggage to take on the bus with us? I've heard it can take hours to get your luggage from DME so I'm assuming if we don't grab it ourselves that we wouldn't get it until the next morning?

Yes, just pick it up and take it with you to the bus

 

[caperkathy]

Yes, just pick it up and take it with you to the bus

Thanks

 

[maxiesmom]

Our flight arrives at 9pm. Should we be getting out own luggage to take on the bus with us? I've heard it can take hours to get your luggage from DME so I'm assuming if we don't grab it ourselves that we wouldn't get it until the next morning?

You can pick up your luggage yourself. But imho that is extra time wasted at the airport.

Disney will still deliver your bags to you at night unless you tell them not to. Whenever you fly it is always smart to pack for the first 24 hours in your carry-on bags. Just in case the airline mis-directs your bags. So if you don't want to wait up for your bags have them held, then call down the next day when you want them. Everything you need right away should be in your carry-ons.

If you decide to pick up your own bags keep in mind a tip of a dollar or two to the bus driver is customary for their stowing your bags on the bus.

 

[Donald - my hero]

You can pick up your luggage yourself. But imho that is extra time wasted at the airport.

Disney will still deliver your bags to you at night unless you tell them not to. Whenever you fly it is always smart to pack for the first 24 hours in your carry-on bags. Just in case the airline mis-directs your bags. So if you don't want to wait up for your bags have them held, then call down the next day when you want them. Everything you need right away should be in your carry-ons.

If you decide to pick up your own bags keep in mind a tip of a dollar or two to the bus driver is customary for their stowing your bags on the bus.

Do you mean i should tip BOTH when i give them AND get them at the resort?? We always tip when we get them given to us not when we give them to the driver to stow.

 

[dis_guy]

Our first trip using DME was in Oct 2009. We were scheduled to get into Orlando at 11:30, so we were prepared to pick up our bags and go to the pick up zone. What we *didn't* bargain on was a 3 hour delay out of our home city due to a groundstop in Atlanta (which at least resulted in all of the last flights out of Atlanta for the night also being delayed). We finally landed at 1:15 am with two incredibly whupped boys in tow. I was worried that DME might be shut down - but when we finally straggled down there, we practically got hugs from the staff. "We've been expecting you! We knew you were having flight issues!"

Our DME driver was just incredible. We were the only ones on our bus (we were going to Wilderness Lodge), and he asked if we wanted the sound for the videos or if we just wanted to sleep. Our poor kiddos did pass out on the way there, and he told us that we could have as long as we needed to roust them and get them off the bus. We checked in at about 2:15, if I remember correctly - I have pictures showing the boys toppling into their beds at 2:30 AM.

It's hard to say how many other people you might have on the bus with you - but Disney really does seem to try to keep the buses moving so that you're not waiting for an overly long amount of time.

You know, this was almost exactly what our first experience was like in 2008. We were stuck in Denver when our connecting plane was on time but was stuck at the international terminal as it had just come in from Mexico. We never were told what the problem was but we waited four hours before finally leaving for MCO. We also got to DME sometime after one am. We had a few more people on the bus with us so we were the third stop. Once at CBR we were quickly checked in and driven to our room in a van. The driver was exceptional, making sure we got into our room and insisting that a we carry nothing ourselves. He quickly had us settled and made sure we didn't need anything else before he left us. I couldn't even imagine what we'd have done if we had to get a rental car and drive ourselves. It wouldn't have been very safe, for sure. Thats why we always use DME. When you are flying, you never know what might happen.

 

[bumbershoot]

Do you mean i should tip BOTH when i give them AND get them at the resort?? We always tip when we get them given to us not when we give them to the driver to stow.

No no. It's the same person so you just tip once.

Now if you have bell services help you get them to the room them you tip them too. But that's separate from the bus driver.

 

[wdwrich]

Yes, just pick it up and take it with you to the bus

If you decide to do this, DO NOT put the yellow tags on your bags. If you do, they will get picked up by the DME luggage handlers and will never get to baggage claim where you can get them yourself.

 

[caperkathy]

If you decide to do this, DO NOT put the yellow tags on your bags. If you do, they will get picked up by the DME luggage handlers and will never get to baggage claim where you can get them yourself.

Good to know