Missing your Scheduled ME Airport Departure Pickup

[malice]

Has anyone here missed your Magical Express pickup from the resort to the airport? I am just curious as to whether you were able to reschedule another shuttle.

 

[Jestocost]

Has anyone here missed your Magical Express pickup from the resort to the airport? I am just curious as to whether you were able to reschedule another shuttle.

If you miss your shuttle you should plan on arranging to take a cab to the airport.

For one, there might not be another DME bus in 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes if there are no guests scheduled to leave at that time. For another, if a bus does come it may be fully booked for guests who actually are supposed to be on it and you may not be able to ride.

 

[Alesia]

If you miss your shuttle you should plan on arranging to take a cab to the airport.

For one, there might not be another DME bus in 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes if there are no guests scheduled to leave at that time. For another, if a bus does come it may be fully booked for guests who actually are supposed to be on it and you may not be able to ride.

True on all counts.

 

[goofy4tink]

Buses are planned in advance, the day or so before departure. There may very well not be anyone from your resort returning to MCO for several hours after your designated DME bus ride. So, based on that, no buses will be dispatched. And, they won't call for a bus if you miss your bus and want to go later.
If you miss your bus, plan on taking a cab...at your expense. If you think you may miss the bus that day, I would take any and all carryon bags with me, to the park (I assume you'll be at a park), rent a locker and have your fun. Then, when you're ready to head to the airport, take a cab right from that park.

 

[Lewisc]

DME is a free service. It doesn't work for everyone. Guests who don't want to end their trip at their resort and who want to squeeze an extra hour or so are better served with a taxi.

DME works great if you want to end your trip in your resort. A meal. Pool. Take pictures.

Use DME and you'll need start heading back to your resort 4 hours before your flight, maybe even earlier if you're ending your trip at a resort and need to transfer at a theme park.

You could probably catch a taxi at another resort or theme park 2 - 2 1/2 hours before your flight, assuming you don't need to check bags at the airport.

The extra 2 hours isn't worth it to me but different people have different opinions.

 

[aubriee]

I've posted this story before, so just cut and pasted it from my old post:

I always thought the three hour pick up time was too early too until one trip when I barely made my flight. Just as we were getting onto the bus at the resort, a family came running up and said they had missed their DME bus, because it had taken longer than they expected to get back from DTD. They then demanded to be put on our bus and when told there wasn't room demanded that some of us be made to wait for the next bus, since we had more time than they did. When told that wasn't happening, the dad then pushed his way onto the bus and said they'd just stand then. He refused to get off the bus and kept yelling that they were going to miss their flight. The bus driver and the guy that stands out front with the clip board were both insisting he get off the bus, as the bus still had another stop to make and there was not going to be room for them and it was not Disney's fault that they missed their assigned bus. Finally in all his ranting, the dad let it slip and admitted that they had missed their assigned bus on purpose, because they thought the three hour pick up time was ridiculous, but then they got tied up in DTD (at this point he glared at his wife, who was holding several shopping bags), then the bus from DTD was slow, and anyway they absolutely had to get on our bus and they thought it wouldn't matter if they caught a later bus. A manager from the resort finally came out and managed to get them off the bus, but his refusing to get off the bus threw our departure late, then the bus had to make a stop at another resort, then going back to the airport we got tied up in a wreck (we weren't in the wreck thank goodness, but traffic was stopped for a little while). Then my airline was the second stop at the airport. Then security lines were longer than usual. By the time I got to my gate, I had just a few minutes before they started loading. At that point I understood the reason for the three hour pick up. If it had just been one little delay we'd have been fine, but the delays just kept adding up that day. I don't know how that family finally got to the airport, but the dad was ranting and raving as the manager escorted them back into the resort.

 

[malice]

thanks for the valuable insight.

 

[bdoyledimou]

I've posted this story before, so just cut and pasted it from my old post:

the dad prolly stole the managers car, and raced to the airport -- that wreck that held you up .. was probably that family. Karma ya know ...

 

[disneychic2]

We've used ME since it came into being and love it. Two years ago we missed our scheduled ME bus quite by accident. They were able to get us on the next bus, thankfully. I realize we were lucky. If they hadn't been able to accommodate us, we would have known it was our responsibility to get ourselves to the airport and called a taxi.

 

[seashoreCM]

... a family came running up and said they had missed their DME bus, ... They then demanded to be put on our bus and when told there wasn't room demanded that some of us be made to wait for the next bus, since we had more time than they did. When told that wasn't happening, the dad then pushed his way onto the bus and said they'd just stand then. He refused to get off the bus ... . A manager from the resort finally came out and managed to get them off the bus, but his refusing to get off the bus threw our departure late, ... I don't know how that family finally got to the airport, but the dad was ranting and raving as the manager escorted them back into the resort.

Miss your DME bus back to the airport and it's the end of the world (Armageddon).

This was a no-win situation for Disney. Either offer that family a free taxi to get them off the bus, or let this family stay on the bus and offer some other family at the next stop a free taxi. To reduce delay to others on the bus, the second choice would probably have been better.

 

[aubriee]

Miss your DME bus back to the airport and it's the end of the world (Armageddon).

This was a no-win situation for Disney. Either offer that family a free taxi to get them off the bus, or let this family stay on the bus and offer some other family at the next stop a free taxi. To reduce delay to others on the bus, the second choice would probably have been better.

Personally since the dad admitted that they'd intentionally missed their assigned bus, because they thought it was stupid to be picked up three hours early, and because the dad was causing such a scene, I hoped Disney didn't do anything for them and they had to find their own way to the airport paying out of their pockets. You're right though. I bet that manager did offer them a free taxi.

 

[MHSweb79]

I believe it states right on your ME voucher that if you miss your bus, you’re on your own getting to the airport.

We had a different scenario last time we took DME: The driver showed up and saw about 20 of us waiting for his bus. He got out and stated that he didn’t have enough seats and that only 8 of us would make it onto this bus. He then loaded a woman with a scooter and said her scooter took up the space of several seats and he now only had 4 seats left (after seating her family). We got on this bus because we had gotten there first (we were extra early!) and the other folks were told that another bus would be by to pick them up. I never understood why the bus driver was so surprised to see 20 people waiting for his bus- didn't he have a count for each resort?

Later, I saw some of these people at the airport and they didn’t seem too frazzled, so I assume DME got them there in ample time to make it through security before their flight.

So the extra cushion of time protects people when DME has a problem, too.

 

[Jestocost]

I never understood why the bus driver was so surprised to see 20 people waiting for his bus- didn't he have a count for each resort?

Could have been a DME overbooking issue, could have been people who "missed" an earlier bus trying to get on a later bus, could be that the previously scheduled bus failed to show up (that has been reported), could have been people trying to catch an earlier bus, for that matter. At least DME does have a way to deal with their mistakes by sending another bus or even paying for cabs.

 

[aubriee]

Could have been a DME overbooking issue, could have been people who "missed" an earlier bus trying to get on a later bus, could be that the previously scheduled bus failed to show up (that has been reported), could have been people trying to catch an earlier bus, for that matter. At least DME does have a way to deal with their mistakes by sending another bus or even paying for cabs.

I go to WDW several times a year. Sometimes I'm solo and sometimes I have my husband, mom, or both with me. I have a fear or missing my flight, so frequently catch an earlier bus. Now I do always ask the driver and the majority of the time he says he has room and lets me on. Pretty much if it's a solo trip there is an available seat for me. The only time they ever tell me no is if my mom and husband are both with me. If we had not asked and just got on the bus, the driver could have been short of seats at the next stop. I wonder how many people just get on an earlier bus without asking.

 

[seashoreCM]

I have a fear or missing my flight, so frequently catch an earlier bus. .

(coped from another post)
You can ask (before day before checkout) to be scheduled on an earlier bus. This request is always granted. That "earlier" bus becomes your one and only assigned bus.

Somehow I think this is advisable since I have read numerous reports of people running for their plane.

Now you are thinking, "What if I end up sitting at the airport for a long time?". That would be a good time to eat (inside security), you would have not scheduled or taken a mealtime at Disney ending within 2 hours of your DME bus (5 hours of your flight). THis would give you more park/packing/sleep time.

 

[goofy4tink]

I go to WDW several times a year. Sometimes I'm solo and sometimes I have my husband, mom, or both with me. I have a fear or missing my flight, so frequently catch an earlier bus. Now I do always ask the driver and the majority of the time he says he has room and lets me on. Pretty much if it's a solo trip there is an available seat for me. The only time they ever tell me no is if my mom and husband are both with me. If we had not asked and just got on the bus, the driver could have been short of seats at the next stop. I wonder how many people just get on an earlier bus without asking.

I have always had to show my 'reservation' to the bus driver. I've seen instances where someone wanted to get on the bus I was getting on. The driver told them no, he was too full. He asked to see their confirmation letter or voucher. They had none. Add that to the fact that the driver knew how many people he was supposed to pick up at BW and he had that many already, not including those addtl 3 people. I can't say if they had missed their assigned bus, or if they were trying to get on an earlier bus, or if they never actually made a reservation and thought they could just get on any old bus.....in any event, they didn't get on that particular bus.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I have always had to show my 'reservation' to the bus driver. I've seen instances where someone wanted to get on the bus I was getting on. The driver told them no, he was too full. He asked to see their confirmation letter or voucher. They had none. Add that to the fact that the driver knew how many people he was supposed to pick up at BW and he had that many already, not including those addtl 3 people. I can't say if they had missed their assigned bus, or if they were trying to get on an earlier bus, or if they never actually made a reservation and thought they could just get on any old bus.....in any event, they didn't get on that particular bus.

This is exactly what happened to us last November at the AKL. We had our designated time for ME and when we got outside we saw a LOT of people already there. I remember looking at my DH & kids and saying that unless the bus was empty, i didn't see everyone fitting. About 20 min. later the bus arrived with people already on it. The bus driver got out, looked at all of us, & told everyone to get their vouchers out. Some folks tried pushing there way towards the bus, but the bus driver immediately put a stop to it. There was a lot of commotion as clearly there were people there who weren't supposed to be but in the end, only those who had their vouchers for that particular time got on...everyone else had to wait for another bus.

 

[aubriee]

I have always had to show my 'reservation' to the bus driver. I've seen instances where someone wanted to get on the bus I was getting on. The driver told them no, he was too full. He asked to see their confirmation letter or voucher. They had none. Add that to the fact that the driver knew how many people he was supposed to pick up at BW and he had that many already, not including those addtl 3 people. I can't say if they had missed their assigned bus, or if they were trying to get on an earlier bus, or if they never actually made a reservation and thought they could just get on any old bus.....in any event, they didn't get on that particular bus.

I've always shown my 'reservation' to the DME driver too. But sometimes I've shown up early, waited until almost everyone else was on, then approached a driver, shown him my reservation and ask if there was anyway I could catch the earlier bus. Almost every time if it's just me, they've had that one extra seat and they've told me it's not a problem. There have even been a few times they've allowed me on when my mom and/or husband is with me too, if they have enough empty seats. I always tell them I know it's not my scheduled bus, but just wonder if he might have any empty seat available. I'm always very nice about it and tell the driver thank you no matter what he says.

My point was, I am sure there are others who just try to get on an earlier bus without asking and if they do make it, then the driver might be short of seats at the next stop. I've seen people just hand the driver the transportation voucher out of the DME booklet and get on the bus. The driver will accept either the travel voucher out of the DME packet that doesn't have a pick up time on it or the DME letter with the pickup time that the resort leaves on your door the night before. The driver would be busy loading luggage under the bus and wouldn't even glance at the voucher as he took it, so I could see how some people might sneak onto an earlier bus. Personally I'd be afraid to do that. I'd be afraid that if he was short of seats at the next stop, he'd ask all of us about our flight times and I'd be kicked off at a different resort where I didn't have a DME reservation and wouldn't be able to get on the next bus.

 

[stitch34]

I definitely would not want to miss the bus. We're out there about 15 minutes ahead of time hanging out to wait for it.
And have been times where that 3 hours is JUST enough time.

Last trip... waiting out there with a couple other families.... as we're all boarded and bus driver about to get in the bus another family comes up... clueless family... didn't have vouchers right or something, bus driver left to take care of that with them..... 10 minutes later finally left..... and then stopped at 2 more resorts, one of which was a big pickup..... which there was another bus there already - perhaps the one prior was running late? So had to wait for them to finish loading up before we could even pull up. Then a lot of time for bus driver to load everyone's luggage and all.
Finally an hour after getting onto the bus... we left for the airport. The people who just got on, well, they had no time issues... but I was getting nervous. OF course, we're the second stop for the airport... so add in time for that.... AND time for the darn family who was late in the first place to have no idea which stop they were and got off the bus, had bus driver get their luggage... .just to realize, oh, wait, load it back on, we're the next stop.

we did make if for our flight thankfully - if security line had been worse, may not have been the case. Thank goodness for checking in luggage at the resort and not having to wait in line at airport to do that.
We've had two other close calls.... both were we arrived with 10-20 minutes to spare till they boarded.... which is cutting it close I feel.

so yeah, miss the bus... I'd be taking a cab unfortunately.

 

[goofy4tink]

I definitely would not want to miss the bus. We're out there about 15 minutes ahead of time hanging out to wait for it.
And have been times where that 3 hours is JUST enough time.

Last trip... waiting out there with a couple other families.... as we're all boarded and bus driver about to get in the bus another family comes up... clueless family... didn't have vouchers right or something, bus driver left to take care of that with them..... 10 minutes later finally left..... and then stopped at 2 more resorts, one of which was a big pickup..... which there was another bus there already - perhaps the one prior was running late? So had to wait for them to finish loading up before we could even pull up. Then a lot of time for bus driver to load everyone's luggage and all.
Finally an hour after getting onto the bus... we left for the airport. The people who just got on, well, they had no time issues... but I was getting nervous. OF course, we're the second stop for the airport... so add in time for that.... AND time for the darn family who was late in the first place to have no idea which stop they were and got off the bus, had bus driver get their luggage... .just to realize, oh, wait, load it back on, we're the next stop.

we did make if for our flight thankfully - if security line had been worse, may not have been the case. Thank goodness for checking in luggage at the resort and not having to wait in line at airport to do that.
We've had two other close calls.... both were we arrived with 10-20 minutes to spare till they boarded.... which is cutting it close I feel.

so yeah, miss the bus... I'd be taking a cab unfortunately.

I've had that exact same type experience as well. We left BW and headed to CSR (I think it was anyway). We had already had a family board at BW, just before the bus was ready to leave, with a ton of luggage. So, when we got to CSR, and ran into a large group, with about 2 bags each, it seemed to take forever to get them settled. Then, as the driver stood outside the bus, scanning the area, a group of about 4 or 5 ran up, bags in hand. They told the driver that the other half of their group was coming. So, she loaded the bags, and the group got on the bus. Well, we sat there for yet another 5 mins. The driver questioned the group about the rest of their party...they tried calling them on a cell phone. No answer. Waited another 4 or 5 mins. Now, the driver sees a bag, sitting all by itself, on the ground. She asks those on the bus if it belongs to anyone. Nope. So, now she has to get off the bus, and go talk to Luggage Assistence about the 'stranded' bag. Then, wait again to see if the missing guests show up. She gets back on the bus...she yells back to the group that's missing half of their group...'Should we just leave??' A resounding 'YES' went up...so off we went. But, we sat at that resort for about 20 mins...got to MCO about 90 mins prior to our flight and security was, of course, really slow, so we got to the gate with about 70 mins to spare.

I no longer complain about that 3 hr prior to flight pickup time.