ME bad experience

[dana1003]

ok , so we get to the airport and had to wait like 25 min for our bus to arrive- we get to the resort at like 330pm and our bags didnt show up till 930pm. and thats because i kept harassing them at the front desk. they told me the bags were in the buliding but couldnt locate them??/? at this point i panic becuz we have 3 year old twins and no clothes..next time we'll lug our own stuff to the hotel or rent a car.

 

[OKW Lover]

Even if you don't use ME, its always a good idea when traveling to have a change of clothes and your medications in your carry-on. That way if your bag is lost/delayed you have something to work with.

As far as ME experiences goes, we landed at 3:00 but didn't get to WL until 4:30. First it was a long wait to check-in. The wait for the bus was brief. But then the driver took the long route to WDW and there were 3 stops ahead of us.

Our bags arrived about 8:00 pm.

 

[seashoreCM]

(digested from numerous other threads)
Always bring a carryon (or suitcase with no yellow tag for manual pickup at the airport carousels) with essentials (swimsuits, etc) for the first 24 hours.

 

[dana1003]

Even if you don't use ME, its always a good idea when traveling to have a change of clothes and your medications in your carry-on. That way if your bag is lost/delayed you have something to work with.

As far as ME experiences goes, we landed at 3:00 but didn't get to WL until 4:30. First it was a long wait to check-in. The wait for the bus was brief. But then the driver took the long route to WDW and there were 3 stops ahead of us.

Our bags arrived about 8:00 pm.

we did have change of clothes for the kids but not pajamas, tootbrushes etc. thats what was so frustrating!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Completely understandable, but if you reread seashore's post, (expanding slightly) travel experts and experienced travelers recommend packing in carry-on luggage: valuables, travel documents, medications, and whatever clothing/toiletries would be needed for the first 24 hours at one's destination.

While YOUR luggage issue was entirely Magical Express-related (see, Eric, I concede ) domestic airlines in October 2006 mishandled over 370,000 pieces of luggage. That's more than ten thousand bags PER DAY - and they generally take longer than six hours to get delivered to the passenger.

 

[Edd]

Did all this happen in Orlando? 10,000 bags per day? That is news to me. You know if you choose to ride DME you have to adjust to the system. The lady chose that type of transfer and knew ahead of time what to expect. No system is perfect, this includes the DME, so live with it and adjust. Tell the kids to go to bed in their shorts and brush their teeth tomorrow morning.

 

[helenk]

That is a shame it took so long to get your luggage. In all my trips that I've used ME I could not even tell you what time my luggage arrived in the room.
When I get to WDW I go right to a park and I do not get back to the room until later at night, at the very least after dinner and my luggage has always been there.
Whenever I travel, I always pack a change of clothes, pajamas and anything I might need if the airline loses my luggage. It is just something you get use to doing.

 

[CleveRocks]

ok , so we get to the airport and had to wait like 25 min for our bus to arrive- we get to the resort at like 330pm and our bags didnt show up till 930pm. and thats because i kept harassing them at the front desk. they told me the bags were in the buliding but couldnt locate them??/? at this point i panic becuz we have 3 year old twins and no clothes..next time we'll lug our own stuff to the hotel or rent a car.

Yeh, it definitely stinks to have a bigger delay than you expected, and even more frustrating to have someone tell you they have your things in the building but aren't sure where.

I'm among the originals in preaching about supplies for the first 24 hours packed in carry-ons. This applies even more so for anyone using DME, but when I fly ANYWHERE I follow this rule, and have been doing so since I first traveled by air in 1990. I think of it as travel insurance.

If you do this, you can still enjoy the free DME ride and eliminate one of the potential drawbacks. Both times I used DME, I absolutely didn't care when my luggage arrived, as long as it arrived within 24 hours of when I did. Took one potential stressor right outta the picture.

 

[dana1003]

Did all this happen in Orlando? 10,000 bags per day? That is news to me. You know if you choose to ride DME you have to adjust to the system. The lady chose that type of transfer and knew ahead of time what to expect. No system is perfect, this includes the DME, so live with it and adjust. Tell the kids to go to bed in their shorts and brush their teeth tomorrow morning.

when i spoke to ME they told me the luggage would take no more than 3 hours and when they arrived at music they were unable to locate them?? im sorry but i dont have to adjust to anything. not knowing where someone's luggage is is unacceptable. especially when they have a record of it being cheked into the building but its not in the luggage room?? and they are 3 year old girls who are in the process or being potty trained and need lots of clothes..so sorry but i dont agree.

 

[seashoreCM]

Psst! Who was that who reported (on another post) he found someone else's Magical Express luggage in his room?

 

[CleveRocks]

You know if you choose to ride DME you have to adjust to the system. The lady chose that type of transfer and knew ahead of time what to expect. No system is perfect, this includes the DME, so live with it and adjust. Tell the kids to go to bed in their shorts and brush their teeth tomorrow morning.

when i spoke to ME they told me the luggage would take no more than 3 hours and when they arrived at music they were unable to locate them?? im sorry but i dont have to adjust to anything. not knowing where someone's luggage is is unacceptable. especially when they have a record of it being cheked into the building but its not in the luggage room?? and they are 3 year old girls who are in the process or being potty trained and need lots of clothes..so sorry but i dont agree.

I suspect you are making Edd's point for him. Edd works in private airport transportation in the Orlando area, and he's understandably a big fan of people using private transportation services over DME. I think his point is that if you choose a service like DME then such delays can happen, but if you choose and paid for a different service (such as private transportation) then you'd have you luggage with you when you arrive your resort.

I agree with the idea that private transportation is a different level of service, with different perks. There are advantages and disadvantages to both DME and to private transportation services. The obvious advantage of DME is cost (ZERO), and the obvious advantage of private transportation is personalized service.

What you experienced really stinks and had to be quite frustrating. From what we read here on the boards, your experience is in a very small minority. Of course, that doesn't help YOU any at this point ....

 

[dbmarie]

Even if you don't use ME, its always a good idea when traveling to have a change of clothes and your medications in your carry-on. That way if your bag is lost/delayed you have something to work with.

I am confused didn't you have clothes with you for the trip itself. My dd's are older but I always make sure that I have at least two changes of clothes. Accidents happen and honestly I just think it's better to be prepared especially with younger children.

 

[Edd]

I didn't say anything about private transportation, nor was I thinking about that. You added that on. However I did try to make a point that if you are going to put down a whole tranfer system than find something better or a better reason to complain about it, especially if you are forewarned about it. Not one of the transportation schemes is perfect out of Orlando International Airport, but we all try to give the people who come here for vacation the very best. The complaint seemed absurd knowing what she got from the system by using it.

As I read the first post it occurred to me that this lady should have a little more patience, because you know at Disney the employees were busting their ***** trying to make her happy.

 

[nono]

im sorry but i dont have to adjust to anything. not knowing where someone's luggage is is unacceptable.

You are correct. You do not have to adjust to anything, but if you did, your perception of the event would be different.

Do you really think that the airlines/transfer companies/hotels really know where your luggage is at all times? I don't. Personally, I think it is miraculous that anyone ever gets reunited with their luggage. So, in my life of travel, I'm shocked, amazed and then downright tickled when I actually see my bag(s) again. I consider it one of the miracles of the universe.

Sorry you had a bad time of it reuniting with your bags.

 

[luvwdw]

I am all for bringing items with you in your carry on, but I know from traveling with small children and infant car seat, it is hard to pack every thing you would need for 24 to 48 hrs.

 

[CleveRocks]

I am all for bringing items with you in your carry on, but I know from traveling with small children and infant car seat, it is hard to pack every thing you would need for 24 to 48 hrs.

Do a test run some time, and I'll bet you'll see, as I have, that it's MUCH easier than you think it is. See the 2 kids in the pic in my signature below? They're 6 and 4 now. Last time (when DME was just 4 days old) they were 5 and 2.5, the younger one still in diapers.

So I'm not talking from the cheap seats here ... I'm talking from experience.

And by the way, I personally suggested 24 hours, not 48 hours (as you said someone suggested) -- let's not exaggerate. In reality, if an airline delays your luggage, chances are you'll be reunited with it within one day, hence my 24 hour recommendation. I agree 48 hours would stretch the bounds of possibility and comfort.

 

[manning]

ok , so we get to the airport and had to wait like 25 min for our bus to arrive- we get to the resort at like 330pm and our bags didnt show up till 930pm. and thats because i kept harassing them at the front desk. they told me the bags were in the buliding but couldnt locate them??/? at this point i panic becuz we have 3 year old twins and no clothes..next time we'll lug our own stuff to the hotel or rent a car.

Maybe it was the resort's fault, not ME. They did say they were in the building but couldn't locate them.

 

[CleveRocks]

Maybe it was the resort's fault, not ME. They did say they were in the building but couldn't locate them.

I'm a HUGE DME fan.

However, as I've so annoyingly pointed out in other threads ( ), it really doesn't matter whether the delay was caused by Disney DME CMs, a subcontractor's employees, or Disney resort CMs. The point is that guests put their faith and their belongings in a system, and in the OP's case the system didn't operate as promised (of course, I also pointed out that packing appropriately and self-protectively in carry-ons would prevent the unfortunate luggage delay from being unfortunate in the first place).

The system didn't work well in the OP's case. Someone who's waiting for their luggage shouldn't have to parse out which sub-entity caused the problem. All they know is that the SYSTEM let them down.

Let's consider this absurd example (it's long, please hang in there!) ....

Let's say that parking is at a premium at your favorite restaurant. For years, you had to pay a private parking lot $20 to park your car anywhere in the vicinity of this fantastic restaurant. Then the restaurant wises up and offers FREE valet parking, and you're happy to use this free service.

Now let's further pretend that restaurant employees are outside the doors accepting your car from you, and also get in your car and drive it to the valet lot, but that the restaurant subcontracts out the RETRIEVAL of your car (getting it from their valet lot back to the you at the front of the restaurant).

So let's say that on rare occasion there are big delays or substandard service ONLY in getting the cars back to people. If it took 30 minutes for you to get your car back, who are you going to blame? Who are you going to complain to? You will blame the restaurant. It makes no difference to you that the restaurant subcontracts out that part of the operation that you're unhappy with. Are you going to say. "Don't blame the restaurant and their valet service, blame the subcontractor"? OF COURSE NOT. You'll say that that one part of the restaurant's service sometimes can be a problem, and you want the restaurant to fix the problem. You would NOT absolve the restaurant of fault.

So if DME does a prompt and perfect job of getting your luggage to the resort, but your resort does a crappy job of getting the luggage to you, then the DME system let you down, at least in terms of luggage delivery. I don't care how they slaughter the cow, I just want my burger medium rare with sauteed onions.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Did all this happen in Orlando? 10,000 bags per day? That is news to me

Nope - nationwide. If it HAD been just at Orlando, trust me, you'd have heard!

 

[kaytieeldr]

when i spoke to ME they told me the luggage would take no more than 3 hours and when they arrived at music they were unable to locate them?? im sorry but i dont have to adjust to anything.

Frustrating, I know - can you imagine merely moving from one room to another in a single resort, and being told they'd transfer your luggage by that afternoon... and having it disappear for over twelve hours??? No? Neither could I - until it happened to me. Yes, it was at the resort 'somewhere', but nobody knew where. And I didn't have the luxury of a carry-on, since that was being moved as part of my luggage.

I didn't say anything about private transportation, nor was I thinking about that.

That's right, you didn't. I was thinking the same thing when I read Eric's response ("Edd didn't say that"). I guess we're just getting more reasonable about your point of view

Maybe it was the resort's fault, not ME. They did say they were in the building but couldn't locate them.

Ah, but Eric keeps (figuratively) knocking me over the head with it being a matter of perception, in that DME is supposed to include your luggage magically appearing in your room at some reasonable point after arrival, and that Guests don't care whose 'fault' it is that the bags disappear. As far as DME users are concerned, inbound luggage handling AT the resort is part of DME.