Magical express

[tink76]

For people who recently went to WDW how was the magical express. Any trouble getting your bags to your room? How long did it take before they where there? Did you leave a tip for whomever brought them? Thanks!

 

[BCV23]

We tipped the man who brought our bags to our room. They arrived shortly after we got to the room. For us, that was the best part of the arrival part of ME.

 

[CleveRocks]

For me, the magical part of DME is that you don't need to sit and wait for your luggage -- it "magically" appears in your room. According to the official Disney info, the tip is covered for the inbound luggage delivery. Tyler, a Disney CM who is a frequent DISboards poster, explained that the Bell Services staff receive a specific amount of money per bag or per room (I'm not sure which), which he said is known in Disney-speak as a GTY rate. So while I'm sure your tip was appreciated, that CM was already "tipped" (compensated) for that luggage delivery by his/her employer, Disney, over and above his/her regular hourly wage.

When you check out, no tips are pre-paid and you are responsible for them as you see fit.

Please also note that the DME drivers (who are employees of a subcontractor, Mears) do not receive any "extra" compensation by Disney, so if a driver, in EITHER direction, handles your luggage or does something special for you it would be customary to tip him/her.

I forgot to add that I used DME in its first days and LOVED IT! No problems, it was great.

-- Eric

 

[Merandab4]

We will arrive at MCO at around 1:00pm and will be taken to the GF using the ME service. We have dinner reservations that evening at the California Grill at 7:50pm. We plan to wear our dressy clothes which will be in our checked luggage. Should I be afraid that we will not get our checked luggage by the time we want to get ready. (I would at least want it by 7:00pm).

I know to be on the safe side I could pack our dressy clothes in my carry one, but don't really want to do that as my carry-on really is for my video camera, digital camera and anything that is too fragil to pack in checked luggage and don't want DH or I to have to carry another carry-on. ( I like to travel light)

I have heard some instances where people have had to wait several hours for their luggae and other cases where it has been to their room with in the hour. What do you think?

 

[shondad]

Should I be afraid that we will not get our checked luggage by the time we want to get ready. (I would at least want it by 7:00pm).
I know to be on the safe side I could pack our dressy clothes in my carry one
I have heard some instances where people have had to wait several hours for their luggae and other cases where it has been to their room with in the hour. What do you think?

On our trip 9/1 - 9/6, we arrived @ MCO at approx midnight, we were given the option to have it delivered ASAP or in the a.m. We requested delivery as soon as they could. Our bags did not come until after 6am. I had intended to give a tip to the delivery person, but when I came back to the room with change (single $$) the luggage was there and the person was gone. Wanted to give tip, but DH never saw that person again. (Sorry!)

I think you should use a garment bag to pack your things for the evening, because there is no guarantee you'll have what you need in time for dinner. Or you could just not label that piece of luggage with the ME tag and retrieve it from baggage claim yourself, that way you know you'll have the things you'll need.

 

[Tink99]

Our plane landed pretty early, but the resort gave us a room before 3pm. So we just headed out to MK and by the time we got back to our room that evening the luggage was there.

 

[CleveRocks]

I know to be on the safe side I could pack our dressy clothes in my carry one, but don't really want to do that as my carry-on really is for my video camera, digital camera and anything that is too fragil to pack in checked luggage and don't want DH or I to have to carry another carry-on. ( I like to travel light)

I'm always amazed by people who are concerned about DME transporting luggage a few miles while they aren't concerned about their airlines transporting luggage hundreds or thousands of miles. This isn't a flame, it's an attempt to help. I always pack a carry-on with whatever I need for the first 24 hours, just in case the airline delays my luggage -- it actually happened to me twice in the last 15 years. I always have a change of clothes, PJs, medications, toiletries, etc. It's surprising how little space that all takes up, if we're not talking winter-weight clothes and a change of shoes. Just having those few little things in a carry-on is a good insurance policy.

When I was married about 3 years we took a trip to Phoenix and Tucson. When we didn't find our one and only suitcase on the baggage claim carousel at Sky Harbor, we went to the airline and they said they didn't know where it was. In other words, we didn't know if it was lost or just delayed. My wife had her birth control pills in the suitcase. Being young and frisky at the time (as opposed to late-30s and frisky now ), we weren't relishing, um, being without that medication for a week, especially during vacation. Lesson learned. Trying to find somwehere in a strange city late at night to buy socks, underwear, and toiletries wasn't fun, either.

-- Eric