ME question

[justhat]

We're going to WDW in June with my inlaws and SIL's family. My SIL's family just switched from AoA to BWV. She has 3 kids, youngest is 4, but they listed her on my mil's room as in reality, her oldest and my oldest will likely both stay with my inlaws (we're still in AoA and inlaws are in Pop). Her older 2 don't want to share a bed and after asking here and learning that they don't have rollaways in the Villas, moving her oldest in with her parents will solve the bed issue (as the 4yo sleeps with them at home so the same on vacation).

The only issue she has now is that she is considering flying instead of driving. If she flies, can the 4yo take the ME bus with the rest of their family even though she is listed for a different resort? My inlaws are also flying in, but late that night while SIL will arrive in the morning.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Yes she can as long as the kid is listed on some ones room reservation.. The only thing is that the luggage tags for that kid will be sent to whomever has the child listed on their room reservation. She will have to get the luggage tags from that family member in order to put the tags on that childs luggage.

As long as the kid is listed on some ones room reservation they can ride the bus.

Oh it does not matter that your in laws will be arriving later in the day. The only issue will be that the luggage for that child will fly down with you but will be held at bell services until the in laws check into their room since the bar code will be different on the childs luggage since he/she will be staying in a different room. But you could always go do bell services and claim the luggage.

 

[justhat]

Great! So they won't care that she is on a BWV bus instead of a Pop bus? I've never done it that way so I just want to be sure I give them the right info. I mean it seems logical, but I have just never split my kids other than the same resort.

 

[maxiesmom]

Great! So they won't care that she is on a BWV bus instead of a Pop bus? I've never done it that way so I just want to be sure I give them the right info. I mean it seems logical, but I have just never split my kids other than the same resort.

They will care. You can only ride the bus to resort you are booked at. I'm not sure they will make an exception. You may want to call ahead of time and find out for sure.

Can I ask why you are not listing people wherethey are really staying? Why complicate things?

 

[justhat]

Hmm, so those are totally different answers. I called earlier to price out options for our room and the wait time was ridiculous so I don't feel like doing that again right now.

 

[purple figment]

If she's listed on MIL's reservation, then her DME reservation is linked to POP. Maxiesmom is correct that they will care because DME's contract with Disney is to take guests only to the resort where they are registered. She won't be able to take the DME to BWV. You'll need to call DME directly and talk to them about the situation. It's better to take care of this now and not wait until you arrive at MCO.

 

[Alesia]

Yes she can as long as the kid is listed on some ones room reservation.. The only thing is that the luggage tags for that kid will be sent to whomever has the child listed on their room reservation. She will have to get the luggage tags from that family member in order to put the tags on that childs luggage.

As long as the kid is listed on some ones room reservation they can ride the bus.

Oh it does not matter that your in laws will be arriving later in the day. The only issue will be that the luggage for that child will fly down with you but will be held at bell services until the in laws check into their room since the bar code will be different on the childs luggage since he/she will be staying in a different room. But you could always go do bell services and claim the luggage.

^This is not correct.

They will care. You can only ride the bus to resort you are booked at. I'm not sure they will make an exception. You may want to call ahead of time and find out for sure.

Can I ask why you are not listing people wherethey are really staying? Why complicate things?

^This is corrrect.

 

[tjmw2727]

I would list the kids that need to ride the DME bus with the adults that they are flying with and riding the DME with - as long as the room capacity isn't exceeded.

Then let everyone sleep where they want as long as everyone is a WDW Resort guest (and again you don't exceed room capacity) you should not have issues even if you switch things up.

We have traveled with extended family and although we all had our own rooms the kids did sleepovers with cousins and grandparents a few evenings!

 

[justhat]

That's the reason they aren't listing them that way, room capacity would be exceeded. Won't be an issue cause they aren't going to actually sleep in the room, the 2 oldest grand kids are staying with my mil (though in our case, all my kids are listed with us because we're in AoA). So they'll only have 4 people in the room, but 5 total in their family.

I guess I'll have her call tomorrow and explain and see if they'll let her kid ride the bus with her. I mean, either way they have to transport her from the airport and back, so I feel like it shouldn't be that hard to accommodate, but no way do I want them to deal with it on arrival.

 

[tjmw2727]

Gotcha - that makes sense now.

DME isn't really set up for any type of exceptions - generally a resort guest is transported to and from the resort they are staying/registered at on that day.

My suggestion is to call DME directly rather than reservations and see what they say.

Having used DME often I think if they were to check in at the DME desk in Orlando and explain the situation the CM would have no issues printing an extra voucher for them.
It is a chance I would take in this situation but I understand if others aren't willing

Interesting situation !

 

[seashoreCM]

Normally each person must be booked on Magical Express to go to the resort he is booked to stay at that night.

Yes, a problem can arise when the first person to go to a resort is a minor. A variety of ways have been utilized in the past to get a minor arriving at the airport alone to his resort but the way selected by Disney that day might not work in your situation. For example, an adult staying in that room (but who might not have arrived yet) may have to go to the airport (via DME of course) and escort the minor.

"Possession is nine tenths of the law."

If you do telephone well in advance and you do succeed in making DME reservations for everyone to go to your resort, most likely everything will go smoothly after that. DME reserves the right to audit the DME reservations when you arrive to catch room overloading, but if so, it will get more sticky for them after they find out that each person is indeed staying a "a" Disney's resort although not necessarily the same one.

When roving welcoming area CMs are sending guests to the bus queues skipping the counter, the chance of audit is reduced.

 

[justhat]

I would also take the risk but we used to go to wdw a few times a year (now we live in AZ so dl is our home park). So if dme didn't work for whatever reason, I would be fine finding a backup. But their last trip was 2008 and they drove, trip before that was 2004 but with us so we booked their airport transfer (before dme existed).

I don't want them risking it cause we get in at 7am and will be gone by the time they arrive so I'd anticipate phone calls and lots of directing.

 

[justhat]

Normally each person must be booked on Magical Express to go to the resort he is booked to stay at that night. Yes, a problem can arise when the first person to go to a resort is a minor. A variety of ways have been utilized in the past to get a minor arriving at the airport alone to his resort but the way selected by Disney that day might not work in your situation. For example, an adult staying in that room may have to go to the airport (via DME of course) and escort the minor. "Possession is nine tenths of the law." If you do telephone well in advance and you do succeed in making DME reservations for everyone to go to your resort, most likely everything will go smoothly after that. DME reserves the right to audit the DME reservations when you arrive to catch room overloading, but if so, it will get more sticky for them after they find out that each person is indeed staying a "a" Disney's resort although not necessarily the same one. When roving welcoming area CMs are sending guests to the bus queues skipping the counter, the chance of audit is reduced.

That actually wouldn't be so bad except my inlaws arrive later that night so no adult will be there yet. We arrive 7am, sil's family 11am, inlaws 5pm.

 

[tjmw2727]

I would also take the risk but we used to go to wdw a few times a year (now we live in AZ so dl is our home park). So if dme didn't work for whatever reason, I would be fine finding a backup. But their last trip was 2008 and they drove, trip before that was 2004 but with us so we booked their airport transfer (before dme existed).

I don't want them risking it cause we get in at 7am and will be gone by the time they arrive so I'd anticipate phone calls and lots of directing.

If they really can't deal with a back up plan on their own I would seriously consider suggesting they use a car service since DME doesn't really fit their needs on this trip.

With 5 they will need a van so it will be around $80 one way and $150 round trip.

Hopefully though they will get concrete info from DME in advance - including an extra voucher!

ps - I am not being snarky as I totally understand walking family through the ins and outs of a Disney trip. Three families are joining us next month with various experience levels traveling and different price points!!

 

[justhat]

If they really can't deal with a back up plan on their own I would seriously consider suggesting they use a car service since DME doesn't really fit their needs on this trip.

With 5 they will need a van so it will be around $80 one way and $150 round trip.

Hopefully though they will get concrete info from DME in advance - including an extra voucher!

ps - I am not being snarky as I totally understand walking family through the ins and outs of a Disney trip. Three families are joining us next month with various experience levels traveling and different price points!!

It is frustrating when you are a WDW veteran and dealing with relative newbies who don't get why things need to be booked early and such. I'm just happy I got them to nail down a resort before the discounts were booked up!

 

[justhat]

Update:

It is possible to get ME passes for someone not at your resort. My sil ended up listing one kid in her mom's room and we put our oldest with another sil. 4 different resorts. We called ME and explained. Kid X would be stating with whomever in another resort but flying in with us and hey said no problem. Got the ME tags today and all is well.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Not sure if this is even possible ... since our flight is arriving late i really don't think it is a good use of our money to spend that night on-site. Question is: can we stay at a hotel close to the airport and then return to the airport the following morning and STILL us ME to get to Disney on the day of our actual reservation? OR is it linked to the date of our FLIGHT??

Colour me confused!

 

[robertsfam5]

Yes. We are doing the same thing. You'll have to bring your bags with you on the bus