Not so 'magical' magic express

[Edd]

The gypsy town car services, which Tyler has mentioned are gone also. The Orlando International Airport ground transportation is eliminating this type of transferees. It is against regulations for any driver to come up to you and ask if you need transportation to the parks. The skycaps are not allowed to find your ride for you. If you arrive Orlando with no ride there are the demand taxis on the first floor or the demand shuttle on the first floor. Everything else has to be pre-arranged by you, that includes DME or car service. So if you don't want to ride in the taxis or the Mears shuttle make your reservations ahead of time.

 

[CleveRocks]

Thank you Edd ...

...and thank you Tyler ...

for providing us with FACTS.

 

[Vickie46]

I will never forget the time I traveled back home with just my daughter and myself and our luggage.. the cm for the bus had me in tears.. he did not want to help me by any means and asked where my husband was (what if I wasn't married) he asked why I had x amount of luggage etc... the day before my husband went back.. (he had to go to work) anyways.. he just raved to me on the phone on how much I would like the movie etc on the bus.. we never saw the movie and I didn't enjoy the ride to the airport. oh.. I just try to forget it.

 

[seashoreCM]

My casual and indirect inquiries via The Dis have not revealed to me how the guest can obtain a sure fire tangible official confirmation of his DME reservation. Absent such a method, Disney should go to bat for the guest who claims to have made a DME reservation,

1. By reimbursing the guest for transportation via Mears, or via whatever transportation is operating if Mears is not, upon arrival at the resort, or

2. By taking a copy of the reservation information that the guest did present, transporting the guest on DME, and using the aforementioned information as a defense should GOAA attempt to bring a case against Disney.

According to the case as described by the OP, he did not pay attention to any driver or white gloved agent who may have come up, did not ask any skycap to find any ride, did not need on-demand services, and everything else was pre-arranged by him. Regardless of what he did or did not want to ride in, he did make his reservations ahead of time.

>>> Magical Express is a complimentary service and [your] clients don't have to use it ...
If they followed the directions for reserving and using it then they are entitled to have it.

Many of us don't want to give the CM the benefit of the doubt because the CM did not (according to the OP) use the choicest words, but maybe we have nothing more than a basic situation of the CM's goofing but then catching himself.

 

[Hoopfamily]

I don't see the concern you're trying to convey. Stuff happens. In this case, a reservation was misplaced for a short period of time, and due to the nature of a scheduled service, that could have caused a longer delay. There was no actual denial of service. While it would have be nice for DME to offer the family who's records were misplaced vouchers for a meal in the airport, to compensate for the inconvenience of waiting for the next bus, why quibble over what would be worth less than $20 anyway? If your clients really did get as bent out of shape as you made it sound, over a 15 minute period where their situation was unclear, then I have to wonder where they developed such an unreasonable expectation that nothing could ever go wrong.

Surely folks should be aware that perfection isn't forthcoming, and that they may encounter minor bumps on the road -- just like if the rental car service ran out of cars, or the town car service driver never showed. Stuff happens. Be prepared. Know your options. And don't let stuff like this ruin your vacation.

Please understand I do respect your perspective. I just disagree with it.

I agree 100% with you bicker. Stuff happens, it's just a hiccup. I think the "clients" were overly freaked out and should have been happy as heck that they were in fact able to get on the bus in a reasonable timeframe.

 

["thegirls"]

Hello Again,
yes the client had an ADR that was special to them made for 3 hours after their arrival in MCO. I did advise them that it was cutting it close but they took the risk.
Also DME was added at the 45 day mark, same as final payment. It showed as a reservation item on the client confirmation.

To clarify, I am not questioning the 'perfection' of the Disney system just the lack of 'magic' at DME.

Tyler, if I may, could you please help me to understand why the CM supervisor I spoke with(I do have the name if you want me to pm you it) would tell me when I asked about offering the guest a few fast passes offered through the 'year of a million dreams promotion', did she respond "I know nothing about anything going on in the parks, DME is voluntary and a complimentary service. We offer no compensation for the guest'. Because I am totally confused, if she IS a Disney CM then she should have portrayed herself to me in that manner. Are any of the CM's both a Disney CM and old Mears employee's? It appears that way to me? Or possibly did I strike a nerve with a temporarily unhappy CM? I really do not see the 'technical' response she gave to me to be representative of past Disney interactions I have had with CM supervisors.

Thanks,
Debbie

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Debbie --

I will private you with more information.

 

[bicker]

Absent such a method, Disney should go to bat for the guest who claims to have made a DME reservation ... 2. By taking a copy of the reservation information that the guest did present, transporting the guest on DME,

That's not up to Disney. As others have pointed out, Disney is required to comply with regulations to preclude what you're suggesting. The best Disney can do is create an "official" confirmation -- that could be a good idea, depending on how often problems like this occur. If they're incredibly infrequent, then no sense in going down that route.

1. By reimbursing the guest for transportation

Would we feel okay with this idea -- would we (all) still book WDW vacations with just as much frequency -- if it meant we all had to now pay more per night for our hotel, to cover the added costs for DME?

 

[seashoreCM]

Would we feel okay with this idea -- would we (all) still book WDW vacations with just as much frequency -- if it meant we all had to now pay more per night for our hotel, to cover the added costs for DME?

I think it is fair for all of us to each pay five cents more per stay in order that the one in 10,000 families who had something not their fault go wrong not have to pay fifty more dollars for a taxi. That is part of the proper cost of (The Walt Disney Company's) doing business. The less frequently a problem occurs the less aggravation the company will experience going down a route that should still be kept open. If a seemingly obscure problem occurs frequently then it is time to rethink the whole process.

 

[Edd]

I can't agree with you at all. There are procedures set up for passengers to follow. I for one know that some passengers are alerted or pay attention to the "free" ME after they leave home. I suspect some are told about it on the plane ride down here. They than go from their planes to the Disney Desks thinking they can talk their way into a free ride. Some of them get very stubborn when the rules are mentioned to them, to the extent of putting up a verbal fight, saying they should have signed up ahead of time. Many come up with great stories why they should go on the "free" ME. I would imagine it happens many times each day. When the passengers are turned down, maybe they should make a mental note that they need to follow the procedures the next time they return to Disney.

I don't think the visitors to Disney ought to be charged any more, we all know Disney is not a cheap vacation, for the passengers who cannot follow the rules and regulations set up by Disney and Orlando International Airport. Remember, these rules are set up for the good of the public and not for those who choose to flirt around with the rules.

If Disney makes a mistake they will take care of the passenger much more than a paid ride would have cost them. I have known many passengers who were reimbursed much more by Disney, than their inconvenience cost them. Let Disney make the decision and the passenger will not be sorry. The honest claims will be taken care of efficiently by the proper Disney officials. The receptionist at the Disney Desk should only be given authority to process the authorized passengers.

 

[fivefordisney]

Maybe I am being overly simplistic here...but it seems like the problem resided in the ME/CMs attitude. In the service industry, it really goes to show how far a little honey will go. Had the ME/CM just extended a bit of empathy or even feigned concern, we may have never even heard of this situation...

One of the things we all love about Disney is the wonderful CMs.

We used ME twice in the past year... Besides the annoyingly long wait to get on the road during our second trip, we had an okay experience.

 

[ducklite]

I haven't read the entire thread, but if a 45 minute delay caused a missed ADR, then the ADR should have been booked later to begin with. Frankly a 45 minute window is too close. What if the plane had been delayed?

Any ADR booked on a travel day should have a back up plan in case of delay.

And frankly 45 minutes isn't that big of a deal. Even if they ended up having to arrange seperate transportation inbound, it would have cost $40~, certainly not enough to get in that much of a lather over.

DME is nothing more than Mears in a warm fuzzy bunny suit, and the sooner people understand that, the sooner the public will understand that there really is nothing magical about the service.

Anne

 

[goofy4tink]

Anne, I have to disagree on this one. I've used Mears in the past....so not doing that again. However, while I understand that Mears does the driving, I have found DME to be much more 'magical' than the old Mears shuttle. I make no stops at any non-Disney resorts along the way...the 'old' Mears shuttle made many stops. Yes, I may be number 3 stop but it still is only about 40 minutes on the bus, after stopping at the first 2 resorts. I have't had long waits to 'checkin' at the DME counter, or long waits for a bus. I have had both with Mears. I really don't think it's the old Mears dressed up in a warm fuzzy 'Mouse' suit.

So far, I have had good interaction with the CMs behind the counter. But, I haven't had any situations for them to deal with either. Since none of us were there, as bicker said before, it's hard to make a 100% call as to who is right here. Could the CM at DME been more sympathetic to the travelers plight? Probably. But, since people very seldom will tell you if they were snippy/rude/short/hostile in their tone, we'll never know, will we? And I am NOT saying the OP's clients were any of those things. We tend to get caught up in a game of 'he said, she said'. I can only hope that this is an isolated incident. This is not a good way to start your WDW vacation. And if it were me...well, to begin with, I would have had something that showed them I was entitled to DME, especially if I hadn't gotten my packet of tags/info. But, if I had had that experience, no amount of free food, or fast passes would have made up for the stress of worrying about how I was going to get my family to WDW. Rather than focus on 'well, perhaps we should be comped for our distress' we should focus on holding people accountable for their actions. I would have taken down names, times, verbal exchanges (in some form). Then, I would have contacted the appropriate dept to express my concerns.
But, it is nice to be able to post here, on the DIS boards, to let people have a 'heads up' so that they realize that a situation could occur. That whole ounce of prevention vs pound of cure thing.

 

[bicker]

I think it is fair for all of us to each pay five cents more per stay

How did you arrive at that number? : Did you factor in the costs associated with unscrupulous guests using this as yet-another loophole to exploit for their own personal gain? I suspect that would drive the number up substantially, whether to account for the abuse, or to account for preventing the abuse.

If a seemingly obscure problem occurs frequently then it is time to rethink the whole process.

It depends. A minor problem (from the standpoint of the business) that occurs frequently, but is excessively expensive to fix may not raise a red flag as much as a major problem that occurs occasionally.

 

[Lewisc]

The ADR was 3 hours after landing, most of us said they were cutting it close.

You couldn't be more wrong with your comparison between DME and the former Mears program.

Mears left from 4 locations at MCO, would make guests wait 30-60 minutes in order to fill a van/bus and would make many stops. The stops would include offsite resorts and the resorts might not even be near each other.

DME leaves from one location. Passengers don't make stops in MCO. The bus stops at 3 or 4 resorts, in the same general area. The buses aren't held much more than 20 minutes, even if the bus leaves half empty. Passengers get to skip baggage claim. If the room isn't ready we don't have to be in the room when our luggage is delivered. The average time from landing to arrival at the resort is around 70 minutes, that includes the 5-10 minutes it takes to get from the aircraft to the DME desk.. Car service can take long, depending on how long a passenger has to wait at baggage claim.

The guest didn't have the voucher and it took the CM a half hour to find the reservation. It should have been faster but it's really not the end of the world.

I haven't read the entire thread, but if a 45 minute delay caused a missed ADR, then the ADR should have been booked later to begin with. Frankly a 45 minute window is too close. What if the plane had been delayed?

Any ADR booked on a travel day should have a back up plan in case of delay.

And frankly 45 minutes isn't that big of a deal. Even if they ended up having to arrange seperate transportation inbound, it would have cost $40~, certainly not enough to get in that much of a lather over.

DME is nothing more than Mears in a warm fuzzy bunny suit, and the sooner people understand that, the sooner the public will understand that there really is nothing magical about the service.

Anne

 

[bnorm27]

We were told by our driver (who seemed to be so friendly I would have thought he was a disney employee), that on busy days, 10,000 people come in to MCO and use ME. 10,000! My god that's a lot of people to handle & deliver luggage for, check reservations of, and transport to Disney resorts. On our arrival day, he claimed there were only 4,000 coming in. If two families had a problem, even on a slow day, ME did an outstanding job.

I too agree that the ADR was too close to arrival time. There are way too many factors that could have messed that up.

 

[seashoreCM]

IDME is nothing more than Mears in a warm fuzzy bunny suit, and the sooner people understand that, the sooner the public will understand that there really is nothing magical about the service.

Disney is certainly capable of making the service a lot more magical than just plain Mears. Walking up to "the Disney counter" at the airport as opposed to 20 miles later at the resort is magical to many folks. Even the on-board videos (which are really infomercials) are magical to many folks. Where did I hear the term "pampered" in connection with staying at Disney? In a travel agent's brochure? Maybe we need to eliminate the word "pampered" and we can do that without eliminating the word "magical".

Disney would probably have loved to call the brown soft drink Disneycola and called the little strips of potato Disneyfries but Disney gets a lot more money and/or free products from Coca-Cola and McDonalds by letting those companies keep their names on the products instead. Disney apparently decided that the cost effectiveness was better not giving Mears the naming rights to DME.

How did you arrive at that number?

Almost out of thin air. Please PM me for additional explanation which is too OT to put here. If 5,000 persons were transported on a day, five cents per person added into each room stay equals $250. which could be used to spread around and fix two or three problems which I feel the OP's situation does not qualify as one of.

 

[ducklite]

I don't like the idea of supplementing a MEARS related problem by charging all guests--including many who drive their own vehicle to WDW to compensate the disenfranchised guest.

Rather MEARS should take those costs out of their profits to compensate any guest issues.

Anne

 

[bicker]

No problem. I do think your numbers are too low, but we can just agree to disagree about that.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

DME is nothing more than Mears in a warm fuzzy bunny suit, and the sooner people understand that, the sooner the public will understand that there really is nothing magical about the service.

That's just plain incorrect.

See post #20 in this thread from Tyler (Chip 'n Dale Express) for the real story.

I don't like the idea of supplementing a MEARS related problem by charging all guests--including many who drive their own vehicle to WDW to compensate the disenfranchised guest.

Rather MEARS should take those costs out of their profits to compensate any guest issues.

Mears operates the motorcoach fleet for Disney's Magical Express. That means licensing, maintaining, and driving the motorcoaches. That's it.

Mears does not operate the DME reservation system. Mears does not run the DME Welcome Center. Mears does not handle the "magical" luggage transfers. Mears is not involved with Resort Airline Check-in. And, most importantly, Mears did not design the DME service, which is run very differently from the old Mears shuttle service.