Magical Express Problems!

[GillieRose]

I agree with CleveRocks. The worst that can happen we have to go pick up are luggage on our own. Then at least you know it's on the way to the Hotel for you. But it is Free. Don't take it out on the CM they have to make a living just like everyone else and I'm sure you wouldn't want them coming to where you work and treating you bad.

 

[jiggerj]

I called yesterday as we have not received our tags yet either. He told me that I probably wont be before our trip. I intend to get our luggage ourselves and check in at the kiosk. I do not want to wonder where my luggage is. No big deal. I have always taken a towncar on arriving at the airport that takes us to our Disney resort so to me this new magical express has saved me about $100.00 on my trip. If I have to grab my own luggage for piece of mind thats fine.

 

[DebbieB]

To add to what Eric said I am sure that the DME CMs will get this on the right track! Waiting for your own luggage at MCO can take a VERY VERY long time at busy times of day, so by giving your information to the DME CMs you will be able to board your bus and start your vacation right away vs waiting for your bags, then boarding. The luggage is supposed to be pulled behind the scenes and I am confident this service will be awesome if everyone will allow it to happen with a few hiccups.

But will the luggage be pulled behind the scenes if you do not have the proper DME tag attached? By the time you get to the DME desk and hand them your claim checks and they go to baggage claim, that luggage is more than likely out on the carousel.

 

[disneyaggie]

My wife told me she'll go to a fabric store to get something really unique and visible, and bring some extra swatches with us so she can give them to CMs to help them find our bags.
-- Eric

GREAT IDEA! If I am forced to do the same thing, I will use the swatch idea, too! Thanks!

 

[Minnie1156]

I hate to say it, and I know I'll take heat for this, but please stop whining!

This is a new and FREE service. It IS free! My package would have been the same price April 8 - 14 as it is now May 8 - 14. There was NO difference in the price before and after May 5 when I booked, and I know this because I wasn't sure of the best time to go and I checked several options.

There is NO other scenario other than this new service in which you wouldn't have to get your own bags from baggage claim. We get spoiled so quickly. Sure, I'd have loved it if it worked out perfectly, but for Pete's sake, you're still getting a FREE RIDE TO YOUR HOTEL. Maybe my perspective is different because I booked in October, before DME was announced. I'd already booked a towncar service and then cancelled it in favor of DME for free.

The reason they're not better prepared is the company they subcontracted to make the DME tags themselves screwed up and made substandard tags that had to be discarded and new ones made. Why did they wait so long to print the tags, and why didn't Disney demand them sooner? Well, I'm FAR from being a business person, but I am aware of the concept of "just-in-time" inventory -- it costs a lot of money to warehouse items (and to pay for them too far in advance), so all sorts of companies get all sorts of products and raw materials at almost the last minute. If Disney didn't do it that way, our expensive vacations would be that much more expensive.

Relax, enjoy your Disney vacation with your little ones. Remember, the people arriving there TODAY have to go to baggage claim and retrieve their own luggage! DME hasn't started yet. Most of them have kids, just like you and I do. Put it in perspective, it's not such a bad thing to get a free ride to and from your hotel.

And I address this final thought to everyone: Please, PLEASE do not take out any frustrations on the DME CMs -- can you imagine how screwed over THEY feel by all of this?! Their jobs just got very unpleasant and stressful and it's certainly not what THEY signed on for, and none of this mess is in any way their faults.

I can't get all upset that one small (but nice) aspect of my vacation that was promised to me will not happen. Now if they offered a free diaper changing service and messed that up, THEN I'd be fuming ....

-- Eric

I agree with you. Give Disney a chance to get it together. Anything new has little problems. I am going in July and I am sure it will be straightened out by then. Disney has never let me down.

 

[chipscinderelly]

But will the luggage be pulled behind the scenes if you do not have the proper DME tag attached? By the time you get to the DME desk and hand them your claim checks and they go to baggage claim, that luggage is more than likely out on the carousel.

According to the program that won't be your concern as their people can pull it the same as you can. In my opinion everyone who is really that worried about their luggage might be better off making other arrangements for transportation. We made a concious decision not to use ME for our short Mother's Day weekend trip as we anticipated there would be hiccups and would rather let them be worked out and use it in September when we are there for longer.

 

[dbenlee]

Like anything else "new", I would imagine that it will have a few kinks that need to be worked out right at first. Few hings seem to start off withut a hitch n the beginning. We are leaving at the end of May and are hoping that they will have the kinks worked out, but f not, we will deal with the situation as best as possible and still have a wonderful Disney vacation. Hopefully, anyone who has any prolbems with DME in the beginning will do the same and not let it ruin their trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

It's really kind of funny to 'listen' to those of you who are so upset with Disney and the kinks in DME. Everyone knew there would be problems. Huge numbers of guests signed on for this. Who would have thought for a minute that all would be fine for the first day of travel. Those of you that are telling us that you have changed your minds and are going with a rental or a towncar service...you still have to go to baggage claim for your stuff. Then lug it to your 'car'. And pay on top of that. Nope, I'll take my chances with Disney. I figure that if our tags don't get here, I'll just go get my own bags and hand them off to the Disney rep that will most likely be there. My word...there were many, many posts from people over the past month saying they didn't want to have their baggage taken off since they didn't trust Disney to get it 'right' and it would get lost in the bowls of MCO (OIA)!!! This almost seems like an answer to your prayers.

Nope, I'm with Eric on this one. Just take a deep breath. This is not the end of the world or the beginning of a bad trip. I do feel badly for those of you going in the near future. You seem to be getting conflicting advice from CRO/DME. That's kind of rotten. But, I'm sure your trips will all be terrific.

 

[DisDarling]

We havent got out tags either yet, so we plan on getting the bags ourselves and then head to the DME line or area.
D.D.

 

[Pedler]

I can't believe this is happening. Disney has known about the start of this program for a very long time and now they don't have "enough" tags!!!

We have taken 3 Disney Cruises and 5 RCCL cruises and have never had any problems getting tags or getting picked up by the cruiselines. And the way this program sounds it is run just like the cruises.

C'mon Disney let's get it together!!!

I agree with what Eric said. The worse case scenario is you have to get your own luggage and you would have to do that in any other case.

As for the problems I can see why people are frustrated with Disney on this but lets remember that while this is essentially the same system as DCL uses it is on a much larger scale.

Yes, Disney should have run full scale tests of processing the tags and paperwork. One estimate is that they are going to process 6,000 people a day, That is a lot more than DCL handles in a week. That equates to printing and organizing / mailing 12,000 tags. (2 per person). Being a software developer I have been in meetings where everyone with the best of intentions relies on some spec on what printer througput is or theories on how to process the paperword and get the envelopes stuffed but until you do a full scale production test you just don't know what the problems are going to be. So yes, there is some blame for Disney on this problem. But as Eric said NONE of the people you will have contact with either at MCO or on the phone had anything to do with creating the problem or are involved in correcting it. I am sure that they are aware of the magnitude of the problem and taking out your anger on people you come into contact with will not help at all or make Disney move any faster than they are all ready doing. All you will be doing is taking out your frustration on people that don't deserve it.

Lets all lighten up, take a deep breath and remember that the worst case scenario is that all you have to do is get your own luggage to get a free ride.

Pedler.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

I hate to say it, and I know I'll take heat for this, but please stop whining!

This is a new and FREE service. It IS free! My package would have been the same price April 8 - 14 as it is now May 8 - 14. There was NO difference in the price before and after May 5 when I booked, and I know this because I wasn't sure of the best time to go and I checked several options.

There is NO other scenario other than this new service in which you wouldn't have to get your own bags from baggage claim. We get spoiled so quickly. Sure, I'd have loved it if it worked out perfectly, but for Pete's sake, you're still getting a FREE RIDE TO YOUR HOTEL. Maybe my perspective is different because I booked in October, before DME was announced. I'd already booked a towncar service and then cancelled it in favor of DME for free.

The reason they're not better prepared is the company they subcontracted to make the DME tags themselves screwed up and made substandard tags that had to be discarded and new ones made. Why did they wait so long to print the tags, and why didn't Disney demand them sooner? Well, I'm FAR from being a business person, but I am aware of the concept of "just-in-time" inventory -- it costs a lot of money to warehouse items (and to pay for them too far in advance), so all sorts of companies get all sorts of products and raw materials at almost the last minute. If Disney didn't do it that way, our expensive vacations would be that much more expensive.

Relax, enjoy your Disney vacation with your little ones. Remember, the people arriving there TODAY have to go to baggage claim and retrieve their own luggage! DME hasn't started yet. Most of them have kids, just like you and I do. Put it in perspective, it's not such a bad thing to get a free ride to and from your hotel.

And I address this final thought to everyone: Please, PLEASE do not take out any frustrations on the DME CMs -- can you imagine how screwed over THEY feel by all of this?! Their jobs just got very unpleasant and stressful and it's certainly not what THEY signed on for, and none of this mess is in any way their faults.

I can't get all upset that one small (but nice) aspect of my vacation that was promised to me will not happen. Now if they offered a free diaper changing service and messed that up, THEN I'd be fuming ....

-- Eric

AMEN!

You took the words out of my mouth. It's amazing that people think new systems run smoothly. I'm sorry to tell you that just because Disney is famous for creating "Magic" some things are being done that, just like any other business, will have to have the kinks worked out.

Give the people at CRO (who ONLY take your information) And the DME group a bit of a break. If you feel the need, get your own luggage, No harm in that. If you want to pay for transport, No harm in that either. Disney is just trying to make it easier for you to get there and start your vacation off without a hitch.

My only concern is that if your baggage gets lost by the airline, who is going to catch the most flack? DISNEY of course.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I would have thought with DCL doing this that Disney would already KNOW what sort of materials they would need to produce the luggage tags. But whatever.

I hope everyone with trips during May manages to get to their resort either WITH their luggage or that your luggage manages to find you within the first 12 hours of your trip!

I know when we came home from WDW in January one of our luggage tags was broken - I didn't recognize my OWN bag. I can just imagine what it would have been like if a stranger had been looking for it! Luckily the airline does tag each bag with a barcode and the passenger's name.

I just can't imagine telling a DME rep to look for five black suitcases and one red one! They are going to be quitting in droves!

Good luck, everyone! I hope the kinks in the system are minor and not enough to seriously impede anyone's ability to enjoy their trip!

 

[ericafny]

When I first read about the ME, I was a little concerned, I will admit. It sounds like a great idea, but can it really work?!? I am going in July and I am still skeptical about it, so I plan to go and get my own bags and bring them with me to the bus. My question is, will I get penalized for this? Can I do this? I am so worried that my luggage will get lost in transit, and I do not trust anyone else (even a disney trained professional) to handle my luggage...

Erica

 

[ABWTmom]

I am scheduled to leave in 16 1/2 days! Am supposed to be scheduled for DME, and I see that many people have called DME abuot their scheduled trips. Could someone please tell me the phone number for DME?

Thank you.

 

[bytheblood]

I can't believe this is happening. Disney has known about the start of this program for a very long time and now they don't have "enough" tags!!!

We have taken 3 Disney Cruises and 5 RCCL cruises and have never had any problems getting tags or getting picked up by the cruiselines. And the way this program sounds it is run just like the cruises.

I am totally expecting them to get this all worked out very soon because they can't operate a reputable program where people have to mark their own luggage and just hope the DME people find it

C'mon Disney let's get it together!!!

I could not agree more. They have been doing this with DCL for years and they have been planning DME for well over a year. This should have been worked out by now. What a "Mickey Mouse" operation.

Honestly, I am not worried. I will have a teriffic time either way.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Ericafny-

If I understand correctly ME is SUPPOSED to work like this:

Your bags are tagged when you leave home. When the plane lands at MCO the bags tagged for ME are intercepted BEFORE they go to the baggage carousel and loaded on a truck for the resorts. Passengers and their carry-ons get on the bus and go to the resort.

You aren't supposed to bring your luggage on the bus because it slows loading and unloading. That's why they have the trucks take your luggage. Otherwise it wouldn't be that different than a regular shuttle.

I don't know if the system WILL work that way, but it's supposed to. When I called to ask how long the lag will be between us getting into our room and our luggage arriving the CM said they were being told the luggage SHOULD be to the room FIRST. I don't think that will happen.

 

[Debs1963]

We are leaving 5/14 and I just spoke with my travel agent about this subject today. We still have not recieved our tickets either or bags tags like everyone else. This was her story. According to WDW they ordered all the tags but when they came in there was some errors on them so they needed to re-order them. The story continues that if the tags have not arrived by departure date that when we arrive at MCO there will be many, many extra CM at airport. Guests will be asked to point out what luggage pieces are theirs and CM will take care of things from there. Not exactly "magical" or hasstle free. I had hoped to avoid having to deal with luggage are with our 4 and 6 year old.

 

[bugsy]

maybe they should rename magical express to maniacal stress!

 

[bugsy]

Ericafny-








I don't know if the system WILL work that way, but it's supposed to. When I called to ask how long the lag will be between us getting into our room and our luggage arriving the CM said they were being told the luggage SHOULD be to the room FIRST. I don't think that will happen.

and little piggies will soon be flying out of my
hinnie!! sorry, I guess I am getting a little cynical

 

[newscick27]

good one bugsy.... I didnt realize this post would open up such a can of worms.. when I wrote it, I just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced similar problems... I actually called dme myself this morning(instead of letting the travel agent handle it) and I feel much better. Something that will give you others hope, he said that it is possible we will receive our other tags in the next few days.. that only four come to a book and that since we have six in our party we may receive two seperate books.
We'll keep our fingers crossed and if not... well a day in disney without luggage is better than a day with luggage anywhere else!!!! (Plus it would give me an excuse to shop