ME saw it with my own eyes

[mikec4me]

just got back yesterday from a great nine day trip at yc and hrh arrived 9/24 saturday at noon on continental from cleveland since we do a split say stay we use a car service not me after being met by the driver near baggage claim we took the elevator down one floor there was a couple with four young kids on with us the lady saw the card with our name on it and asked if they were going to be met by a driver using me our driver said no then the doors opened to reveal a line for me that snaked all the way through the airport our driver said the wait just to get on a bus was 4 HOURS lost the couples jaws dropped no lunch no dinner ressies no first day at the parks what a nightmare towncar driver said this happens more than people realize just thought i would share this and hope it does not happen to you not anyway to start a trip

 

[seashoreCM]

The limo driver's comments about the long line (only you could have concluded it was a Magical Express guest queue) and a 4 hour wait for a Magical Express bus (not proven on the spot), and that the preceding happens a lot (the preponderance of DME trip reports on The DIS suggests otherwise) are not the reason why discussion about your limo company is banned from The DIS forums.

Anyone upon completing the trek to the DME welcoming area and then sizing up the wait situation may change his mind and take alternate transportation. If you had yellow DME tagged bags (, not interceptable at the carousels,) and wish to so change your mind you should seek out some Disney/DME CM to assure its proper delivery to your room. However is time is of the essence (ADR, etc.) you can use your own judgment then and ask questions (hours) later (if any need to be asked).

 

[Alesia]

No one is going to believe this, sorry. Your driver was being dishonest with you. I would actually be interested in knowing what company it is so that I would know not to use them in the future.

 

[Lewisc]

Interesting the driver who mentioned the 4 hour wait works for a company which has been banned by DIS.

edited to add I suspect the number of DME guests who had to wait 4 hours before boarding a bus is less then the number of towncar passengers who had a no show driver.

 

[duffy]

Just got back yesterday from a great nine day trip at yc and hrh. Arrived 9/24 saturday at noon on continental from Cleveland since we do a split stay. We use a car service, not DME.

After being met by the driver near baggage claim, we took the elevator down one floor. There was a couple with four young kids on with us. The lady saw the card with our name on it and asked if they were going to be met by a driver using DME. Our driver said no, then the doors opened to reveal a line for DME that snaked all the way through the airport. Our driver said the wait just to get on a bus was 4 HOURS lost. The couple's jaws dropped. No lunch, no dinner ressies, no first day at the parks! What a nightmare!

towncar driver said this happens more than people realize. Just thought i would share this and hope it does not happen to you. Not any way to start a trip.

Easier to understand with punctuation and capitalization, to distinguish "ME" from "me".

 

[ssawka]

I bet you could find others at the airport to corroborate the limo driver's claim, such as other limo drivers, taxi drivers, and rental car agents.

Seriously, you need to consider the source with such a claim. Since ME cuts into the bottom line of other transportation services, it seems reasonable that these services would lie to dissuade potential customers from using ME.

 

[canwegosoon]

I have waited an hour to get on the ME bus(never four) and the check in line for ME while looks long moves extremly fast for it's lenght. Your limo driver got you hyped up. It is nice to have a town car- and I have used services before-but there is no need for this on behalf of private drivers.

Glad you had a great trip.

 

[Allison]

Sorry, that kind of wait would have been reported here if it happens "more than people realize".

 

[Wadecool]

Easier to understand with punctuation and capitalization, to distinguish "ME" from "me".

I was actually impressed that the OP was able to complete the worlds longest run on sentence. Notify Guinness!

 

[Missytara]

I was actually impressed that the OP was able to complete the worlds longest run on sentence. Notify Guinness!

Sadly, people make posts as if they are texting. Or this person was sitting in the car texting.

Where has punctuation gone?

 

[seashoreCM]

Easier to understand with punctuation and capitalization, to distinguish "ME" from "me".

Hint: Abbreviate it as DME (Disney's Magical Express) to avoid confusion with first person singular objective.

 

[duffy]

Hint: Abbreviate it as DME (Disney's Magical Express) to avoid confusion with first person singular objective.

Will do! (I never abbreviate, and I don't like acronyms because I don't like confusing newbies, but I didn't want to change the original post too much.)

 

[quirty30]

I'm not buying the OP's story. Our first trip to WDW in recent years was June of 2009. We arrived around noon on a Saturday. The DME queue was absolutely packed. In fact, on 8 subsequent trips, I've never seen the lines even close to being as long as they were that day. I don't recall exactly, but I believe we waited around 45 minutes that day to get on a bus. Despite appearances, it was not that bad. I would say our average wait time for DME is about 10 minutes. We've often arrived to find NO lines at all.

 

[goofy4tink]

Sorry, but just not true. I have been to the DME checkin counter when the line was back, way past the first car rental area. The wait that time was less than 30 mins!!!! It was obscenely crowded at that time...and it still took less than 90 mins, from gate to resort, using DME.
A wait of an hour is unheard of....forget the 'reported' time of 4 hrs. There is a reason some companies have been banned here.

By the way, discussion of a banned company is expressly against board guidelines. I am editing the OP's post in order to remove the mention of a banned company.

 

[budbeerlady]

Wow, someone fed you a line!!!!

On all of our prior trips we have been about an hour from landing to arriving at Disney. We have never waited for our DME bus to arrive, we might have waited a few moments for it to fill but we have never been at MCO for an hour for DME.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Sadly, people make posts as if they are texting. Or this person was sitting in the car texting.

Where has punctuation gone?

No kidding. I don't think it's too much to expect for people to make an effort to write clearly if they want to vent or are asking for advice. I don't read the posts of people who don't.

 

[aubriee]

Sorry, but just not true. I have been to the DME checkin counter when the line was back, way past the first car rental area. The wait that time was less than 30 mins!!!! It was obscenely crowded at that time...and it still took less than 90 mins, from gate to resort, using DME.
A wait of an hour is unheard of....forget the 'reported' time of 4 hrs. There is a reason some companies have been banned here.

By the way, discussion of a banned company is expressly against board guidelines. I am editing the OP's post in order to remove the mention of a banned company.

Same here! I go to WDW at least 4-5 times a year and and always use DME. In fact, I was one of the original guinea pigs that used it the very first week it was in existence. Just in the last year I've used it last Oct, again in Dec, again in May, again a few weeks ago, and will use it again in Nov/Dec, Feb, May, Sept, (maybe next Oct) and again next Dec. Arriving during the busiest times of the day and at the same time as tour groups and Pop Warner, I have seen the line down around the rental car desks. Even then, it's never taken me an hour to get on the bus (maybe 30 minutes at the absolute most, if the lines are really long). No way, has it ever taken me even close to an hour, much less four hours o get on a bus. Sorry, that just doesn't happen. When I was there a few weeks ago (Sept 10th-18th), there was no wait at all. As I entered the CSR line, a CM was at the end telling me to hurry as the bus was waiting. I didn't even slow down from the time I told the CM at the pedestal how many bags I had until I sat down on the bus, then we left immediately.

 

[mickey58729]

We were in disney last year during Pop Warner and I will say that it took us close to 2 hours to be put on a bus to Pop Century. We did arrive around 11:30 on a Thursday or so but we will still be taking DME this year. We are arriving at 10am on a Wednesday this year so I am hoping the line will be shorter.

 

[vettegirl]

4 hours That is way too funny!

 

[goofy4tink]

We were in disney last year during Pop Warner and I will say that it took us close to 2 hours to be put on a bus to Pop Century. We did arrive around 11:30 on a Thursday or so but we will still be taking DME this year. We are arriving at 10am on a Wednesday this year so I am hoping the line will be shorter.

Arriving on a Thursday, even during PW time, shouldn't give you a two hour wait for a bus. Everyone is aleady at WDW by Thursday, and if it was the Thurs prior to PW, then there just aren't that many PW people arriving then. They almost all arrive on that first Sat, with some arriving on Friday.

I can't imagine a 2 hr wait to get on a bus. The line must have been incredible. I have waited for 25 mins...longest wait time to date...and that line was pretty long. I was one of the first in line (just missed the bus, so had to wait), had to be about 50 people behind me. They all didn't get on the bus with me...the bus also went to AKL and CSR (if I remember correctly).
But 2 hours??? Highly unusual!!! I would have found out what the hold up was. Did you ever find out why it took so long???