Mickey Mouse Express Problems?

[ladybug_ag]

I'm starting to pack for our flight leaving Friday and we are using the Mickey Mouse Express Service. I realize that our luggage may not make it to our room immediately, but in trying to decide what to pack in the carry-on vs. what to check, I was wondering if anyone has ever had a big problem with the service? Did anyone's luggage not arrive?

Our flight lands at 1:50...think we'll have our luggage by dinner?

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I have never experienced a problem with Magical Express. We have always received our luggage at a reasonable time, but you can never tell.
I pack a toothbrush, deodorant, a brush, extra pair of clothes, underwear and a bathing suit.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

I think its all over the place as when you get your lugguage. I have seen people post that they had their luggage in 30 minutes and others say it was 5 hours. I think it depends on the time of year and what time of day you arrive. We are using ME for the first time this week-end, we are dressing the boys in polos and nice shorts for the plane ride so if we are unable to change for dinner they will be fine, we are also carrying on our swim stuff and toilitiries if we hit the pool before our luggage is delivered.

Hope that Helps

 

[ShannonMB]

My mom was one of the few unlucky ones who did not get her luggage until the evening of day 2.

It set her trip off on the wrong tone, but they were so apologetic, and when the CM finally brought her bag, he had a stuffed animal for each of us, a $25 gift card, balloons, and upgraded all our tickets to park hoppers. Then, 5 days later, on our final park day, we returned to the room to find the whole room decked out in streamers, balloons, and adorable balloon animals, with a note apologizing. I thought that was so nice, and my DD was over the moon about it! Even Mom, who had to go without luggage for a day, left with a wonderful Disney magic feel. Some CMs really do take their job of creating magic seriously!!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

We've also never had a problem with it and it's so convenient. However our first time doing it I forgot to pack sunscreen in my carryon and had to buy a teeny-tiny bottle for $10 at the hotel gift shop!!! My DH also forgot to pack a tshirt and had to walk around in the heat in a hoody sweatshirt!

The moral of the story is to make sure you're carry-ons have everything you need b/c you might not see your bags for a few hours.

 

[Jestocost]

There are tons of discussions about this subject on the Transportation board. The consensus will be that DME does an excellent job of delivering luggage to the resorts and that it is MUCH more likely that your luggage will be lost or delayed by the airline than by DME.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Transportation board.

 

[goofy4tink]

Generally speaking, and according to Disney's Magical Express literature, you can expect your checked bags to 'magically' appear in your resort room up to 4 hrs after resort checkin..and that may actually be 5 hrs now. I just can't remember which it is. Most people don't sit around waiting for their bags to show up..they head off to a park and start their vacation. I certainly wouldn't stay at the resort, hoping the bags arrived in an hour or so.
So...pack anything you may need to start your vacation in your carryon bags...each person who has paid for a seat on the plane is entitled to one larger carryon which will go in the overhead bin and one personal item which will go underneat the seat. That will hold quite a bit of 'stuff'. I usually bring..
bathing suit
change of clothes (shorts and a tee shirt, undies)
socks
hair brush
resort reservation info
book
deoderant (solid)
electronice (camera, cell phone, chargers)

in my 3/1/1 baggie I put...toothpaste, sunscreen, mouthwash, hand lotion, Purell...that is usually enough to get me through until that evening.

DME does a really good job of getting luggage to guests at their resorts..it just isn't immediate.

 

[Alesia]

In your carry-on, pack everything you will need for the first 24 hours as well as anything that is irreplaceable.

 

[mareed]

There are tons of discussions about this subject on the Transportation board. The consensus will be that DME does an excellent job of delivering luggage to the resorts and that it is MUCH more likely that your luggage will be lost or delayed by the airline than by DME.

And if the airline does lose it, I'd much rather find out while I'm at the airport picking up my own luggage and report it then rather than find out when DME doesn't deliver it! DME wouldn't know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you, so they wouldn't know one is missing until it just doesn't show up in your room many hours later. Then I guess you report it missing through DME and they report it to the airline - I'm not really sure because I'm too much of a control freak to consider letting DME handle my luggage! I also have to have my own car even when staying at a Disney resort because I'd go crazy relying on Disney's transportation.

 

[MrsPooh]

Bags were brought to our room within about two hours. Unfortunately we had eight bags and only three were brought to our room. Even worse is the fact that one was ours and the other two belonged to another guest. I was in the room at the time and refused the luggage that was not ours. The remaining pieces of our arrived about an hour later.

 

[nikkipowell1]

My mom was one of the few unlucky ones who did not get her luggage until the evening of day 2.

It set her trip off on the wrong tone, but they were so apologetic, and when the CM finally brought her bag, he had a stuffed animal for each of us, a $25 gift card, balloons, and upgraded all our tickets to park hoppers. Then, 5 days later, on our final park day, we returned to the room to find the whole room decked out in streamers, balloons, and adorable balloon animals, with a note apologizing. I thought that was so nice, and my DD was over the moon about it! Even Mom, who had to go without luggage for a day, left with a wonderful Disney magic feel. Some CMs really do take their job of creating magic seriously!!

I was also one of those lucky ones. Traveling at the time with me, DH, DS2 and DD8months. To make a long story short. They delivered the adult luggage and lost the kids. Did not get the kids until 2 days later, and we left on day 3. Barely got any consolation.

 

[aubriee]

And if the airline does lose it, I'd much rather find out while I'm at the airport picking up my own luggage and report it then rather than find out when DME doesn't deliver it! DME wouldn't know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you, so they wouldn't know one is missing until it just doesn't show up in your room many hours later. Then I guess you report it missing through DME and they report it to the airline QUOTE]

As a matter of fact DME does know how many bags to look for. When you check in at the DME desk they ask you how many bags you checked and enter it into their computer, so if one was missing they'd be looking for it, even before you got checked into your resort.

I go to WDW 4-6 times a year and was one of the people who used DME the very first week it was in existence. Yes, I was one of the original guinea pigs. I've never had a problem with it and my bags have always been waiting for me when I get back from the parks on my first night. In fact, I am using it this Saturday. I'll be using it again in Sept/Oct and again in Dec.

To OP: I am naturally a cautious person, so I always pack extra underclothes, a couple of outfits, swimsuit, any valuables, and anything else I think I might need for the first couple of days in my carry on.

 

[WalkingintheFog]

I agree with all about putting your valuables and 24hrs worth of gear in your carry-on. Always make provision for worse case scenario of not getting your luggage--whether due to ME or to the airlines.
I'd rather be safe than sorry! And these days with the rolling carryon, it's so much less of a nuisance (although you do need to be careful that you don't exceed your carry on weight limit).

My carryon includes:
change of footwear
socks/undies
change of outfit
PJs & pillow
swimsuit
toiletries
camera/electronics/chargers
all my paperwork.

I can wash my travel clothes to get me to the next day if I need.
It would be a nuisance to buy replacement clothes during the trip, but I wouldn't risk losing my broken in footwear or the pillow I need in order to have a painfree night.

I did travel w/ ME for the first time last Sept. I did not use their tags, but collected my luggage to bring to the bus myself......I felt, if I was able to ensure that my luggage was going to arrive at the hotel with me, I would.

Maybe it meant I missed a bus and waited for the next, but maybe it also meant the difference between having my luggage in my room immediately and not having to modify my park hours to get the luggage at a reasonable hour.

This next Sept, I'll prob still collect my luggage myself.

 

[goofy4tink]

And if the airline does lose it, I'd much rather find out while I'm at the airport picking up my own luggage and report it then rather than find out when DME doesn't deliver it! DME wouldn't know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you, so they wouldn't know one is missing until it just doesn't show up in your room many hours later. Then I guess you report it missing through DME and they report it to the airline - I'm not really sure because I'm too much of a control freak to consider letting DME handle my luggage! I also have to have my own car even when staying at a Disney resort because I'd go crazy relying on Disney's transportation.

As already noted, DME does know how many bags you checked...they ask you when you get to the DME counter. You stand a much greater chance of the airlines misdirecting a bag than DME, but everyone has to make their own choices.

I agree with all about putting your valuables and 24hrs worth of gear in your carry-on. Always make provision for worse case scenario of not getting your luggage--whether due to ME or to the airlines.
I'd rather be safe than sorry! And these days with the rolling carryon, it's so much less of a nuisance (although you do need to be careful that you don't exceed your carry on weight limit).

My carryon includes:
change of footwear
socks/undies
change of outfit
PJs & pillow
swimsuit
toiletries
camera/electronics/chargers
all my paperwork.

I can wash my travel clothes to get me to the next day if I need.
It would be a nuisance to buy replacement clothes during the trip, but I wouldn't risk losing my broken in footwear or the pillow I need in order to have a painfree night.

I did travel w/ ME for the first time last Sept. I did not use their tags, but collected my luggage to bring to the bus myself......I felt, if I was able to ensure that my luggage was going to arrive at the hotel with me, I would.

Maybe it meant I missed a bus and waited for the next, but maybe it also meant the difference between having my luggage in my room immediately and not having to modify my park hours to get the luggage at a reasonable hour.

This next Sept, I'll prob still collect my luggage myself.

And as I said, everyone can make their own choices, but....the big issue with those who collect their own bags is that they are also impacting others as well. While I realize that there are going to be situations where someone has to have their bags with them, when they use the DME bus, for the most part it is only for the sake of convenience. And when guests do that, it slows down the process for everyone.
DME was designed to get guests to the resorts fairly quickly and allow them to bypass having to retrieve their luggage. When used in that way, the process works extremely well. But, if a lot of guests decide to get their own luggage, it does tend to slow down the process a bit.
I always recommend that if someone really wants/needs to get to the resort or a park quickly, they either rent a car or take a car service. DME isn't always the fastest way to the resort. And you get help with that luggage at baggage claim as well.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And if the airline does lose it, I'd much rather find out while I'm at the airport picking up my own luggage and report it then rather than find out when DME doesn't deliver it! DME wouldn't know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you,

Well, really - as long as the Guest gives the honest/accurate response to "How many bags did you check?" at the Welcome Center while checking in... yes, Magical Express WOULD know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you.

 

[Alesia]

And if the airline does lose it, I'd much rather find out while I'm at the airport picking up my own luggage and report it then rather than find out when DME doesn't deliver it! DME wouldn't know how many bags they're supposed to pick up for you, so they wouldn't know one is missing until it just doesn't show up in your room many hours later. Then I guess you report it missing through DME and they report it to the airline - I'm not really sure because I'm too much of a control freak to consider letting DME handle my luggage! I also have to have my own car even when staying at a Disney resort because I'd go crazy relying on Disney's transportation.

Since they ask you how many bags you checked, they do know how many to look for.

If they find that a bag is missing, they will file a claim for you. It doesn't get any easier than that.

 

[Edd]

The real technical procedure, which is really simple, is the DME luggage service picks up the only bags that have the yellow tags on them, or if you go to the Welcome Center and state you have no yellow tags on them Disney will send a CM up and find only the bags that you stated on the statement and described to the CM. If you have 5 bags and state you have 5 bags at the welcome center, but only 4 have yellow tags you better be up there to pick up that bag, unless you ask the Welcome Center to pick up for you. Otherwise that bag will be sitting in the airline office waiting for someone to figure out where it should go. Stating 5 at the welcome center does not mean you will get 5 if you left a yellow Disney tag off one.

The airlines hold the bags over because when you say you are missing a bag Disney will question whether you tagged it or not. When they find out the answers they need they will go back to the particular airlines to see if that bag is still in the office. I have been told by the airline employees that this happens once in a while and the luggage will finally get to the guest maybe a day later.

But let me tell you because you state you have 5 bags that doesn't mean you will get 5 bags if you leave a yellow tag off one and do not say anything about it at the Welcome Center. You have to say something at the welcome center about the untagged lugggage before they will go look for it. The number of bags you state you have has no significant meaning except for Disney when you try to state you had more or you state you are missing any.

 

[mareed]

Since they ask you how many bags you checked, they do know how many to look for.

If they find that a bag is missing, they will file a claim for you. It doesn't get any easier than that.

I'm so sorry for putting mis-information out there about DME not knowing how many bags you checked! I still personally wouldn't be comfortable with giving up the control of my bags and would want to know right away if the airline had lost it (& it has happened to me once in all of our many trips). Actually our one bag incident was a damaged bag, and we had to be there to give a very detailed description and accounting for the value of every item in the bag. I can't imagine how DME would have been able to handle that for us!

I am glad that DME works for so many others. Perhaps a tip for those who use it would be to mix everyone's clothes among the different suitcases. That way if a single suitcase is lost (admittedly probably by the airline and not DME) then it won't be a single person without ALL of their clothes, and everyone could get by without part of their clothes until the bag is found. And everyone should carry on all their toiletries and essentials that they absolutely couldn't live without. And yes, I consider my toiletries, makeup, etc. as essentials and I would not be able to replace them while on vacation!