ME & An Evening Flight Out ?

[Deborah_Mary]

Dh & I just booked our plane tickets and room ressies for our late-July through early-August trip to Disney. We are debating whether we would like to rent a car or not and just stick with ME instead.

My question about ME is that when we are returning home, our flight out of Orlando airport doesn't leave till 6pm. We would like to spend some time at the parks that morning and wasn't sure if ME has busses that run throughout the day or just at specific times or what not. I know the airport says to arrive 3 hours prior to your departure time which is fine... just want to make sure we'd be able to get a ME bus to the airport when we need to!

So, do ME busses run continously throughout the day taking guests from their resort to the airport or is it only at very specific times (we will be traveling on Spirit)?

Also, even though Spirit is NOT one of the airlines that we can check our luggage right at our hotel on our return trip home, we do still need to check in at the airline counter at our resort, correct? Just checking! This is all new to us as we usually just drive down to Disney!

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Deb*

 

[MOmousefan]

Like you, I wanted to spend as much time in the parks as possible, so I flew out of MCO at 5:30. The day before I left, PoP Century hung a packet on my door telling me to be ready to leave the resort at 2:45 sharp. I also used the front desk to get my pre-boarding pass 24 hours in advance.

I checked my bags with bell service that morning and visited the parks until lunch, then at 1:30 I got my bags to put last minute souveneers in. They told me that I could take the bus that was out front right now (1:45) if I wanted. I took it and checked in at SW a little early. We had a 1:50 minutes delay because of Florida weather, but DME and SW did exactly what they advertised. Have a fun trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you have a 6:00 pm flight, DME will want to pick you upn around 3:15ish. So, sure..head to the parks for some fun time. You can leave your bags with bell services and then retrieve them when you get back for DME.
On your departure day, this is the proceedure...
leave your bags with Bell Services people first thing in the morning. Go off, have a terrific last day in the parks. Then, plan to be back at your resort by 2:30. You'll want to save some time to get your bags. It seems that if I have cut it too closely, I always have to wait in a long line at luggage desk, then they have trouble finding my bags! But, if I arrive there early, there is no line, and my bags come out within 5 mins!! Go figure. Anyway...once you have your bags in hand, head over to the DME bus stop. When the bus comes, your bags will be put underneath the bus, you hop on, and off you go. When you get to MCO, get your bags checked, get your boarding passes and settle down at the gate.
There is no need to stop at the resort RAC desk if you are not checking your luggage through from your resort.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

We always leave MCO between 7:00 and 10:00Pm (got to get that last day in) and have never had a problem getting the bus at around the 3hr mark give or take 15mins in both directions.

We also like the PP stated have gotten on the earlier bus with no problem when we are ready.

 

[CleveRocks]

Dh & I just booked our plane tickets and room ressies for our late-July through early-August trip to Disney. We are debating whether we would like to rent a car or not and just stick with ME instead.

My question about ME is that when we are returning home, our flight out of Orlando airport doesn't leave till 6pm. We would like to spend some time at the parks that morning and wasn't sure if ME has busses that run throughout the day or just at specific times or what not. I know the airport says to arrive 3 hours prior to your departure time which is fine... just want to make sure we'd be able to get a ME bus to the airport when we need to!

So, do ME busses run continously throughout the day taking guests from their resort to the airport or is it only at very specific times (we will be traveling on Spirit)?

The airlines/airport usually recommend you arrive TWO (2) hours before your flight, not three. Your scheduled DME bus pick-up time will be roughly 3 hours before your flight. On the morning of the day before your departure day, you'll get a DME packet hanging from your doorknob, and in there will be your assigned bus pick-up time. DME buses pick up at each resort every 30 minutes throughout the day, as long as there are reservations requiring a pick-up (in other words, if no one at your resort has a scheduled bus pick-up between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. today, then no DME buses will be swinging by between those times, as they know there will be no one waiting to go back to the airport).

So your scheduled bus time will be somewhere between 2:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. This will give you a huge amount of time to go out and have fun. Have Bell Services store your bags for you. Try to be back at your resort about 30 minutes before your bus time, to allow for a wait in getting your bags back from Bell Services. At that time of day, they might be VERY busy and there might be a wait to get your stuff.

And as far as the bus service goes, your airline doesn't matter a bit. There are not separate buses for different airlines.

Also, even though Spirit is NOT one of the airlines that we can check our luggage right at our hotel on our return trip home, we do still need to check in at the airline counter at our resort, correct? Just checking! This is all new to us as we usually just drive down to Disney!

Nope. There is no such thing as a DME counter at resorts, and there is no such thing as a generic airline counter at the resorts. The only thing they have is the Resort Airline Check-in desk, but this is ONLY for people flying on the participating airlines (think of RAC as curbside check-in -- if your airline doesn't do cirbside check-in, then you don't wait in line for curbside check-in, know what I mean?). So like I said, there is NO WHERE TO CHECK-IN FOR THE DME BUS. You just go to the designated DME bus pick-up area and wait for your bus. The only person you will deal with will be the DME driver.

ENJOY! And post again if you ave any more questions.

 

[Deborah_Mary]

For the great help and tips. They were all VERY helpful and yes, you've all answered all the questions I have thus far. If I come up with more, I'll be sure to post them.

Thanks again for the prompt replies, it is very much appreciated.

Deb*