ME or Town Car?

[Native NYer]

We arrive on 1/16 at 8:49 pm from LGA. Right now, we have Magical Express. But I'm thinking of using a town car/limo service instead. We are not using the ME tags because we don't want to wait for our luggage. I'm concerned about the time it will take to get to the POLY. I really don't want to be on a bus for a long time, stopping at lots of hotels, delaying our check-in. We're traveling with a 4 yr old and I want to get him to bed at a decent hour. Plus, I'm teaching that day and will be exhausted, especially after fighting NYC rush hour traffic to get to LaGuardia. Any advice? Should I ditch ME? Any suggestions on a town car/limo company?

 

[clkelley]

Personally, I would use DME AND let them handle the bags with the yellow tags.

Pack what you need to go to bed and get out the door in the morning in a carryon, and head straight for the bus, get to the Poly and get that little one to bed. Since you'll have less to unpack that night, you'll get to bed sooner. (If I have all my stuff I'd want to unpack it then, if I only have 1 night's worth of stuff it takes less time, and we get to bed pronto.)

Just make sure you tell Bell Services to hold your bags till the morning.

Or if you really want your bags, divide and conquer. Have one adult head straight to DME with the little one (and a carryon with the little one's bedtime stuff) and have the other adult collect the bags. If you end up on the same DME bus, fine, if not the adult with the little one can get checked-in and get them to bed and the adult with the bags can follow on the next bus.

 

[CleveRocks]

We arrive on 1/16 at 8:49 pm from LGA. Right now, we have Magical Express. But I'm thinking of using a town car/limo service instead. We are not using the ME tags because we don't want to wait for our luggage. I'm concerned about the time it will take to get to the POLY. I really don't want to be on a bus for a long time, stopping at lots of hotels, delaying our check-in. We're traveling with a 4 yr old and I want to get him to bed at a decent hour. Plus, I'm teaching that day and will be exhausted, especially after fighting NYC rush hour traffic to get to LaGuardia. Any advice? Should I ditch ME? Any suggestions on a town car/limo company?

The later in the day you are arriving, the more critical it is that you pack your carry-ons with your necessary supplies for the night. What if the airline delays your luggage??? Your carry-on is your own form of flight insurance.

If you do it this way, then it really shouldn't matter when your luggage would be delivered by DME, since you'll have packed in your carry-ons as if you expect your luggage to be delayed (by the airline) until some time the next day. Do you follow what I'm saying here??? [I pack this way no matter where I fly -- it's not a special plan I made after hearing about DME.]

It's incorrect to assume that DME will take longer to get you to your resort than a car service. They should take the same amount of time, provided that if you take DME you let them deliver your luggage for you. Skipping baggage claim saves a lot of time, and makes up for any delay such as stopping at another resort or two before yours.

I've used DME twice, and I timed it each time. From walking off the airplane to being dropped off at the resort, it was 63 minutes the first time and 56 minutes the second time. Both times, we had our two little children with us. The second time, our flight landed around 10:00 p.m. As noted above, we had all of the stuff we needed to get the kids washed up and in bed in their favorite jammies with their favorite bedtime items, AND have everything we needed to get moving to a park the next morning. And yes, the second time was AFTER the new restrictions on carry-on items that went into effect in August 2006.

We planned to have Bell Services hold our luggage 'til morning, but I forgot to request this ... we got a call at 1:16 a.m. asking if we wanted our bags now or later. Had I remembered to request the bags be held 'til morning, I wouldn't have been woken up by that call.

I was happy to NOT wait at baggage claim. I was very happy to get our kids to bed as quickly as possible, and I decided that the quickest way to accomplish that was to use DME, including the luggage delivery. I made an excellent decision.

 

[goofy4tink]

Here are the breakdowns of my own different experiences with getting to my WDW resort...
Using DME....average of 70 mins from deplaning to resort checkin. If first stop, it's about 60 mins, third stop, about 85 mins. The one time it took me 85 mins was when I was at POP and we stopped at AKL and unloaded a ton of luggage, then on to CBR and more luggage to unload. It adds time to get that luggage out and disbursed.
Figure about 70 mins with DME, using the yellow luggage tags.

With a towncar....one time, no checked luggage, only carryon..took about 45 mins from deplaning to POP. Went right to the baggage area where we found our driver.
Towncar with checked luggage....about 60 mins...had to wait for bags at baggage claim. Some bags came right out, had to wait close to 15 mins for the last bag (that's a huge pain).

If you use DME and don't tag your bags, plan on about 85 mins....the usual 70 min average with a 15 min wait for your bags to come out.

It's up to each person to decide what mode is best for their family.

 

[Edd]

If you come during the busy periods of the year your times arriving your resort may be longer. Also if you arrive during the evening hours your times will be shorter arriving your resort. There are many times during the day that the DME lines are heavy and the busses are slow getting to the airport. So you should expect this.

Arriving around 10:00 p.m., in the evening, will usually mean that you can walk down to DME and get directly on the bus for a very fast ride out, so one poster's times are correct. Keep in mind, as you look at the 70 minute average time that Disney transports over 70% of the 5000 daily average between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. that evening.

 

[Native NYer]

Thanks for the advice. I may stick with ME. I'm hoping most people arrive before 8:45 pm!!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

But also keep in mind that the seventy minute average is based on the time the Guest steps off the plane into the terminal, not from when he or she arrives on Level 1, or enters the Welcome Center Line, or boards the bus.
It's likely that any time supposedly "saved" by taking a town car directly from the airport to the hotel would be negated by the time used to collect one's luggage.

And, after my recent (non-Disney) vacation, I can't emphasize enough CleveRocks recommendation to pack immediate needs in carry-on luggage. I flew non-stop from Boston to Las Vegas on a Saturday. My checked luggage didn't leave Boston until the following morning, and was then transported to New York, and then to Long Beach, and finally to Las Vegas. Darn! I forgot to ask about TrueBlue points for my luggage!

 

[gobo2]

Good morning!

I have not used DME but I paid for Mears once and I assume the experience is similar.

I am VERY impatient when I first get to WDW, so much so that my DH no longer allows me to speak to the check in people. Once I am in my room, the magic hits and I am fine and become a grown-up again.

The Mears bus stopped at seemingly every other resort before ours which was awful for me but not nearly the worst part. When at our stop, the other couple grabbed 2 of their bags but the third was NOT THERE! Now I know airlines can lose luggage but I fly non-stop and this has not happened to me but I cannot imagine getting to WDW without any of my stuff that I so thoughtfully packed.

So know it is Town Car for us! The friendly driver picks us up at baggage, helps with our stuff, takes us to the grocery and liquor store and takes us directly to our resort where the bell staff takes over from there. We also don't have to be ready to leave our resort 3+ hours before our flight. They say time is money, right?

To me, the money spent is more than worth it.

Good luck!

 

[pamjb]

I prefer the town car as well. I like the personal service and the free grocery stop for the few things that we may need.
My last trip 2 of our bags were MIA. We reported and it showed up at our hotel within six hours. Not sure what would have happened if we had used ME.

 

[goofy4tink]

Good morning!

I have not used DME but I paid for Mears once and I assume the experience is similar.

I am VERY impatient when I first get to WDW, so much so that my DH no longer allows me to speak to the check in people. Once I am in my room, the magic hits and I am fine and become a grown-up again.

The Mears bus stopped at seemingly every other resort before ours which was awful for me but not nearly the worst part. When at our stop, the other couple grabbed 2 of their bags but the third was NOT THERE! Now I know airlines can lose luggage but I fly non-stop and this has not happened to me but I cannot imagine getting to WDW without any of my stuff that I so thoughtfully packed.

So know it is Town Car for us! The friendly driver picks us up at baggage, helps with our stuff, takes us to the grocery and liquor store and takes us directly to our resort where the bell staff takes over from there. We also don't have to be ready to leave our resort 3+ hours before our flight. They say time is money, right?

To me, the money spent is more than worth it.

Good luck!

Just to clarify...although Mears operates DME, DME is still owned by Disney. They make the rules, Mears carries them out. When traveling with DME you may stop at 2, possibly 3, resorts before your own. The longest time I have had was when I was at POP and for the first time ever, POP was number 3 stop. It took me about 85 mins from deplaning to resort checkin. The DME bus does not make those 'multiple stops' that Mears did. I used Mears in the past and it is not the same, in any way, shape or form, as DME.
Now, I use DME for the most part. If I want groceries, I use a grocery delivery service. It may cost me about $20 over the cost of groceries (delivery charge as well as tip) but that is still cheaper than a towncar. And the groceries are delivered right to my room.

As for missing luggage..if you have luggage that goes astray, Disney will take responsibility for finding it. If your luggage doesn't show up in your room within those three hours after checking in at the resort, just let Bell Services know and they will take it from there.

But still...DME is not for everyone. Sometimes you may want that special feeling of a towncar. I've been there, done that. I love the towncar experience. But, for me, riding the DME bus has worked very well in the 5 times I've used it...and yet again in 9 days!!!

 

[CleveRocks]

Good morning!

I have not used DME but I paid for Mears once and I assume the experience is similar.

Well, we all know the cliche about what happens when you assume ....

DME is run nothing like the Mears shuttle. There is a 4 resort maximum. They don't make multiple stops on the airport grounds. They don't sit around and wait for the bus to fill up. And if you use DME as desgined, your luggage will be delivered separately, so you won't have luggage under the bus to begin with.

So your assumption is incorrect that the experiences are similar. They are both buses, but the experiences differ from that point.

 

[tmatthews]

If you have a 3:18 flight home what time does ME pick you up? or is it a one stop deal....EVERYONE LEAVES at such a such time???

 

[clkelley]

Pickup times from your resort are schedule from 2 hours 45 minutes from your flight time to 3 hours 15 minutes from your flight time. So the earliest pickup would be 12:00- the latest 12:30.