ME question

[WINTER]

Can I grab our luggage and then get to the meeting place for ME? I think I want my luggage with me and not have to wait hours to get it. This won't be a problem, will it?

 

[cassie]

Check out the transportation board. They may have an answer for you.

 

[CleveRocks]

Can I grab our luggage and then get to the meeting place for ME? I think I want my luggage with me and not have to wait hours to get it. This won't be a problem, will it?

Yes, you can, but you'll be waiting at baggage claim for a while before waiting in line at the DME counter and then waiting in line for your bus. Instead of adding to your waiting time, just pack for your immediate needs in your carry-on and then go off and enjoy your vacation. Do you feel the need to sit in your room stressed and waiting for your luggage? If so, I feel badly for you.

-- Eric

 

[n2mm]

I think my daughter will be doing this next month too.

BTW: I have never waited more than 10 minutes at the baggage claim for my luggage, so the wait isn't as bad as some folks may say (and we vacation in WDW 5-6 trips a year). BUT, while zipping off to our rental car last month, I turned and saw the line for ME at Gate A and is was huge. Not sure if this was the norm and it was July....

 

[CleveRocks]

In addition, if there's anything SO valuable and SO important in your suitcase that you feel the need to wait for it, then you probably shouldn't be packing it in your suitcase to begin with. Suitcases may be gone through for security reasons (and, in unfortunate and rare circumstances, for criminal reasons), and thus you should NEVER pack anything very valuable or vital in a checked suitcase. Such items should be carried with you at all times for your own protection.

The other reason I always bring everything I need for the first 24 hours of my vacation is that airlines can lose or delay luggage. It's happened to me twice in 15 years of air travel.

-- Eric

 

[CleveRocks]

while zipping off to our rental car last month, I turned and saw the line for ME at Gate A and is was huge. Not sure if this was the norm and it was July....

I've only used DME once. It was May 8, Mothers Day, the 4th day of operations. The line was HUGE, it snaked well outside of the rope lines. However, there were 14 CMs working, along with several managers, and I was in and out of line and on my way to my bus in less than 5 minutes.

-- Eric

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Can I grab our luggage and then get to the meeting place for ME? I think I want my luggage with me and not have to wait hours to get it. This won't be a problem, will it?

Yes, you're allowed to throw away the best feature of Disney's Magical Express.

Just don't use the yellow DME luggage routing tags. Then, while other passengers on your flight go directly to Disney's Welcome Center to board the next DME motor coach to their resort, you can make a detour to baggage claim, wait for your bags, handle your bags at the airport, catch a later motor coach, and handle your bags at the resort.

Other passengers won't have handle their luggage from the time they check in at our home airport until they get to the room -- with Disney even taking care of the inbound bell service gratuity. But since you're not using this feature, you should plan on tipping anyone who assists you with your luggage -- at the airport, at the DMS motor coach, and at the resort.

Even if you handle your own bags, I would still recommend packing a small carry-on bag with valuables and anything you need right away. (I agree with CleveRocks that that's always a good idea when you check bags with an airline.)

 

[WINTER]

Geez, I asked a simple question and seemed to have gotten some snotty answers here! No, I would not be sitting in my room waiting for my luggage, and no I don't pack valuables or will I mess with a carry-on. I didn't plan on going to a park the first day and have read several places where ME has on occasion messed stuff up. It was just a question . . . chill out!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

Winter,

I am sorry you got such rude responses. This board is about asking questions, not making judgements on what other people do with their luggage.

I still haven't decided if we are going to use ME for our trip because we have a late arrival. I am hearing that you need to get your own luggage - it almost seems faster to get our rental car that night rather than the next day since we come in on the B side of the airport.

So, yes...you can get your own luggage and take it on the bus with you.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm sorry if my post came across as snotty or rude. Believe it or not, that was not my intention. My intention was to answer a question accurately, and to state my opinion about the premise that retrieving ones own bags somehow saves time.

I do think that the luggage transfer is the best feature of Magical Express. (Many others agree; there have been numerous threads in which people have been trying to figure out how to use the luggage transfers without using the transportations.)

An arriving passenger who goes directly to the Disney Welcome Center is likely to be on a motor coach to WDW sooner than a passenger who waits at baggage claim first.

There is no reason for a guest who uses the DME luggage transfers to wait in the hotel room. Disney pays the inbound bell service gratuity, so the guest does not need to be in the room. After the guest checks in at the resort, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours for the luggage to be delivered. But it shouldn't make any difference, as long as the guest has a carry-on. Guests who arrive late at night can opt to have their bags delivered in the morning.

People who think that it's not a good idea to bring a carry-on bag with items for the first 12-24 hours, whenever checking luggage, are likely to change their minds the first time an airline misdirects their luggage. And that statement doesn't just apply to passengers using DME, or flying to Orlando, for that matter.

Again, my post should not be read as an attack on the OP. And I don't think it was. But I was trying to make a point that challenged the premise of the OP. So I can see why it could be read as being "snotty."

 

[Lewisc]

The Disney Welcome Center and the ME buses are on level one in the A side of the terminal.

If your luggage claim is on the B side you'll have to wait for your luggage take the elevator up to one flight walk all the way across the terminal then take the elevator down. Probably add at least 30 minutes.

It makes might make sense if you have a late flight or have something like golf clubs that you can't take on the plane but may need shortly after your arrive.

Taking your own luggage will require tipping the ME driver and bell services. I wouldn't be scared based on the early experiences where most of the guests didn't even have the ME tags.

NOT A RUDE POST, OP has decided to get his own luggage, this is intended to for others reading the post. If you arrive early your room may not even be ready. You'll be tipping to have the bellhop store your luggage. For most guests letting ME handle your luggage makes the most sense.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

Horace,

I wasn't referring to your post, which was informative and a polite opinion. It's comments like "sitting in your room feeling stressed waiting for your luggage" that are uncalled for.

 

[CleveRocks]

Geez, I asked a simple question and seemed to have gotten some snotty answers here! No, I would not be sitting in my room waiting for my luggage, and no I don't pack valuables or will I mess with a carry-on. I didn't plan on going to a park the first day and have read several places where ME has on occasion messed stuff up. It was just a question . . . chill out!

I apologize if my posts seemed snotty. REALLY. That wasn't my intention one bit. I was reading too much into it, I guess, based on similar questions from others in the past. PEACE.

-- Eric

 

[seashoreCM]

Valuables, medicine, keys should be in a small suitcase or satchel that you keep with you all the time including on the airplane. You would bring this to the ME welcoming area also but may have to put that under the bus.

While you may leave off the yellow ME tags and go get your checked suitcases yourself, ME reserves the right to require that you surrender those larger items at the ME welcoming area for automatic resort delivery before boarding the ME bus. This latter is rare, though. YOu may keep things you know you wil need right away, including golf clubs, under the bus.

If your flight arrives after 10 PM, you will need to go to the ME welcoming area first, to make sure they don't close up without you. If your airline has "B" side carousels (all passengers disembark halfway between "A" and "B"), you then have to go back up and over to the "B" side, get the baggage without yellow tags, and go back up and over again to the welcoming area. (Late breaking news, some nights there are no CM's to get untagged baggage for you that late)

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[KristiKelly]

Geez, I asked a simple question and seemed to have gotten some snotty answers here! No, I would not be sitting in my room waiting for my luggage, and no I don't pack valuables or will I mess with a carry-on. I didn't plan on going to a park the first day and have read several places where ME has on occasion messed stuff up. It was just a question . . . chill out!

I was about to ask the same question as you, some folks did get a bit snotty - it's not like you were interfering with their vacation . We are not taking any valuables but we are traveling with 3 children - 1 being an infant. We will need our stroller when we get there (that is a valuable to us though ). I just called and reserved Magical Express through DVC and was told that we could retrieve our own luggage, I would prefer to know where it is and that I can get anything that I may need when we get to the resort since I can't pack everything for an infant in a carry on. Have a great trip!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I just called and reserved Magical Express through DVC and was told that we could retrieve our own luggage, I would prefer to know where it is and that I can get anything that I may need when we get to the resort since I can't pack everything for an infant in a carry on.

Please take what I'm about to write as a friendly idea -- not as a snotty or rude criticism of your plan to handle all of your own bags at the airport.

Especially with 3 children, one of whom is an infant, you may at least want to consider the idea of limiting the amount of baggage that you need to handle at the airport. One possibility would be to use the Magical Express luggage transfers for at least some of your bags.

You could put the yellow Magical Express luggage routing tags only on bags that you know you can be without for a few hours. Those bags will be retrieved behind the scenes at the airport and transported to your resort room.

You can check other bags without the yellow Magical Express luggage routing tags. You can retrieve those bags yourself at the baggage claim. As noted earlier, the extra time for baggage claim is likely to mean that you'll be on a later Magical Express coach, but I think you've made that decsion already.

Again, please understand that I'm just trying to share an idea.

 

[Lewisc]

Most airlines will let you gate check a stroller. Carryon bags can include small suitcases, generally up to a 22 inch rolling bag.

You might re-consider using ME for your luggage, particularly if your airline uses the "B" side of the terminal or if you're going to be arriving the the am or early pm before your unit will even be available.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Geez, I asked a simple question and seemed to have gotten some snotty answers here! No, I would not be sitting in my room waiting for my luggage, and no I don't pack valuables or will I mess with a carry-on. I didn't plan on going to a park the first day and have read several places where ME has on occasion messed stuff up. It was just a question . . . chill out!

I know how you feel. I was surprised at the response you got from some people. We are getting our luggage and then riding ME as well. Our luggage usually beats us to the claim area or is there within 5 minutes so it's no big deal. Plus, ME is on the same side as our claim area so it's a breeze. I like to unpack when I arrive and not have to wait until hours later to find out if my bags arrived. And I don't mind the additional tipping required.

 

[wiggles]

Don't you have to get your own bags if your are not on one of Disney's approved airlines?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Don't you have to get your own bags if your are not on one of Disney's approved airlines?

No. WDW resort guests can use Magical Express to have their bags "magically appear" in their rooms, regardless of what airline they're using to travel to Orlando.

The participaing airline list only comes into play for the optional Remote Airline Check-in service, which allows guests to check their bags and get their boarding passes at their resort for the trip home.

There's no such thing as a participaing airline list for the overall Magical Express service.