Magical express

[msheriffm]

It is unbelievable to me but this problem still is not resolved. I thought Disney had terrific customer service, I hope it is better when we are at WDW. I found some flights near the times we want to depart and arrive at MCO so after having no success last night with the truth decided to just lie. Tonight when I called Disney reservation they would not help me because I booked my travel through AAA. I am going to try ME number tomorrow morning and see if I get a new agent. I am now to the point that I will be asking for a manager if I don't get some help tomorrow. If all else fails I will call AAA but am afraid that they will not get the vouchers in time. We will be arriving July 8th.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Apologies in advance, but with all the advice given here immediately after the original post, could I ask why (it seems) you haven't already called the Magical Express toll-free number directly? But also, have you checked with your AAA office/travel agent to see if they have your DME kit?

 

[goofy4tink]

It is unbelievable to me but this problem still is not resolved. I thought Disney had terrific customer service, I hope it is better when we are at WDW. I found some flights near the times we want to depart and arrive at MCO so after having no success last night with the truth decided to just lie. Tonight when I called Disney reservation they would not help me because I booked my travel through AAA. I am going to try ME number tomorrow morning and see if I get a new agent. I am now to the point that I will be asking for a manager if I don't get some help tomorrow. If all else fails I will call AAA but am afraid that they will not get the vouchers in time. We will be arriving July 8th.

Ahhh..now we see an issue. IF you book with a travel agent, you can't talk to Disney about your reservation. Why? It's not your reservation until you check in. AAA owns that reservation. So, they need to make all those arrangements for you. That's common knowledge here.
You aren't going to get vouchers in time...DME needs 10 days to get them printed and out to you. This all should have been done much earlier. Disney/DME isn't doing anything wrong..you just didn't understand the 'rules'...too bad your AAA office didn't explain them to you.
So....have AAA make the DME reservations for you. They can just say that you are being dropped off at the airport, so no flight info is available for your arrival at WDW. Then, when you get to MCO, just head to the DME counter, give them your ID and resort reservation info...they will print you up the vouchers that you need.
You are stressing for no reason. This will all be fine. There has never been any dishonesty involved. Not sure why you think there is/has been.
But please, just have your AAA office make the call to book DME. Then, have the DME counter print up your bus vouchers when you arrive at MCO.

But, in all reality (and honesty!!)..you are not able to use DME if you don't have an active resort reservation. So, if you arrive a day early and stay at the airport, you have to give fake info, or try and tell them there is no flight info. And you have to do the same thing for your departure...give them either fake flight info, or tell them you just have to be at MCO at a particular time.

 

[seashoreCM]

One thing some of us may need/want to investigate is whether AAA and other resort reservations are released to Disney at some time (7 days? 72 hours?, 48 hours?) prior to arrival.

After unsuccessfully trying to get the Magical Express reservation from AAA and also unsuccessfully trying to make a DME reservation by calling the DME toll free number, the OP might try again 71 hours and 47 hours in advance, respectively.

Magical Express hot line number: toll free 866-599-0951

(Don't wait until 71 hours prior to arrival in order to investigate solely for the purpose of investigating.)

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

One thing some of us may need/want to investigate is whether AAA and other resort reservations are released to Disney at some time (7 days? 72 hours?, 48 hours?) prior to arrival.

No. AAA does not wait until 7 days, 72 hours, or 48 hours prior to arrival. By that time, there would often be no rooms left. AAA books against WDW room inventory at time of booking.

However, OP should reserve DME through AAA because AAA "owns" the relationship if the room or package reservation was made through AAA. The AAA agent should know what to do, but, if not, the AAA agent can seek assistance from a next level AAA Disney specialist.

 

[momof3ds]

I just called the ME number directly because we are staying at a non disney hotel the night we check out before flying home.

She said we need to book the ME ride back to the airport when we check in because they need to use our room number as a reference point since we don't have a flight number.

Also, she did not see our incoming flight info in her system even though I specifically called that info in to the reservations line.

 

[maxiesmom]

You aren't going to get vouchers in time...DME needs 10 days to get them printed and out to you. This all should have been done much earlier. Disney/DME isn't doing anything wrong..you just didn't understand the 'rules'...too bad your AAA office didn't explain them to you.
So....have AAA make the DME reservations for you. They can just say that you are being dropped off at the airport, so no flight info is available for your arrival at WDW. Then, when you get to MCO, just head to the DME counter, give them your ID and resort reservation info...they will print you up the vouchers that you need.

I'm wondering if this is what we will need to do too. Flying in to MCO, but then 2 of our group are talking about visiting friends the first night and using DME the next day. Is that what we need to do as well to get them on a DME bus?

 

[msheriffm]

Ahhh..now we see an issue. IF you book with a travel agent, you can't talk to Disney about your reservation. Why? It's not your reservation until you check in. AAA owns that reservation. So, they need to make all those arrangements for you. That's common knowledge here.
You aren't going to get vouchers in time...DME needs 10 days to get them printed and out to you. This all should have been done much earlier. Disney/DME isn't doing anything wrong..you just didn't understand the 'rules'...too bad your AAA office didn't explain them to you.
So....have AAA make the DME reservations for you. They can just say that you are being dropped off at the airport, so no flight info is available for your arrival at WDW. Then, when you get to MCO, just head to the DME counter, give them your ID and resort reservation info...they will print you up the vouchers that you need.
You are stressing for no reason. This will all be fine. There has never been any dishonesty involved. Not sure why you think there is/has been.
But please, just have your AAA office make the call to book DME. Then, have the DME counter print up your bus vouchers when you arrive at MCO.

But, in all reality (and honesty!!)..you are not able to use DME if you don't have an active resort reservation. So, if you arrive a day early and stay at the airport, you have to give fake info, or try and tell them there is no flight info. And you have to do the same thing for your departure...give them either fake flight info, or tell them you just have to be at MCO at a particular time.

Thank you for your clarification. I am not saying Disney is dishonest I am needing to be dishonest in order to ride the ME. On the days we plan to ride the ME we will be staying at a Disney resort. I actually thought the ME did not run after 10:00 p.m. but have read more carefully and see it just does not deal with your luggage. Our arrival is at 9:30 p.m. since we are coming in from CA.
I am contacting my travel agent to add our ME information.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm wondering if this is what we will need to do too. Flying in to MCO, but then 2 of our group are talking about visiting friends the first night and using DME the next day. Is that what we need to do as well to get them on a DME bus?

As long as they are on your room reservation, and you have booked DME for them, prior to their arrival, it won't be an issue. They can just go to the counter and get vouchers printed up.

Thank you for your clarification. I am not saying Disney is dishonest I am needing to be dishonest in order to ride the ME. On the days we plan to ride the ME we will be staying at a Disney resort. I actually thought the ME did not run after 10:00 p.m. but have read more carefully and see it just does not deal with your luggage. Our arrival is at 9:30 p.m. since we are coming in from CA.
I am contacting my travel agent to add our ME information.

It's not a case of you being dishonest. Disney knows that not everyone is arriving in Orlando on the exact same day their WDW reservation starts. they have no issue with you arriving the night prior to your reservation start day. Not dishonest at all. I have used DME to return to MCO with no flight info...it was never an issue. I needed to get there to pick up dd who was arriving and to then rent our car to head to Tampa.
Just give then the flight info for any flight that fits your needs. Find a flight that arrives around 8am on the day you want to head to WDW. Then, for your return ride, give them the flight info for a flight that leaves MCO around 10pm..that will get you a pickup time of about 7pm. Or just wait until you get to your resort and tell them you need to be at MCO by such and such a time. It has always worked very easily for those of us who need to get to, or from, MCO without an actual flight.

 

[msheriffm]

Our travel agent was able to book our ME. Thank you to all that have listened to my complaints and given me advise. And yes I finally did just give them a flight number that fit our needs. Just a few more days and we are off.

 

[paults]

I just called Disney because our vouchers for ME did not come with our documents. The problem is that we are flying in late and flying out early so we are not staying at WDW resorts our first and last nights in Orlando. The agent in ME told me that we can just go to the ME booth in the morning and they will be able to give us vouchers to ride to WDW. Then on the way back we should call and schedule the ME 24 hours before we need to be picked up. Since we do not have flight numbers for those days they can not schedule the transportation ahead of time for us. She said we have to be staying at a WDW resort on the day of travel on ME. Has anybody done this? I am sure we are not the only family staying at the Airport Hyatt before or after a flight. This hotel is actually in the airport so we will not be using cabs to or from its location. Personally, I thought we were being smart not paying Disney prices and wasting ticketed days by doing this. Now I am having doubts that we have saved any money if we can't ride on the ME.

If OP is not staying at a WDW resort there last night how can they use DME?

 

[tjmw2727]

If OP is not staying at a WDW resort there last night how can they use DME?

She isn't using DME on the last day of her trip - she IS using DME on the last day of her WDW Resort stay which is perfectly fine.

Per the OP's update everything is all set