Once your flight landed, how long did it take to arrive at the resort using DME?

[DVC Mike]

I've become disenchanted with DME. Although the service is complementary, it will cost you a lot of time. As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[burberryplaid]

It usually takes right around an hour but our last trip in April to Kidani we got there in less than that even with stops at Pop and and AoA

Note - we always travel in the morning. This trip we had to take a connecting flight so we got there around 1....got to ME by 1:30 and Kidani by 2:30

 

[crisi]

I've become disenchanted with DME. Although the service is complementary, it will cost you a lot of time. As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

It depends on how you do it and what your options are. If you only take carryons and grab a cab or have a car service waiting, that's going to be the fastest way from the airport to the resort. You aren't waiting for anyone.

But DME cuts out waiting for your luggage on the carrousel, which at MCO is pretty fast, but isn't instantaneous. DME is going to be a wash with renting a car from an off airport rental, or renting a car if you don't have something like National's Emerald Aisle (which a lot of business travellers have - and which makes it easy - but which a lot of casual travelers don't).

Once you are in a car, its about half an hour (per Google maps) from the airport to Disney. You aren't getting rid of that time no matter what you do. And its ten minutes from your gate to transportation if you hustle (I think its probably longer for most people - I've moved through that airport with young kids and seniors, as a solo business traveler who can run a 5k with just a carryon; I'd think ten for the last case), you aren't getting rid of that no matter what you do. So if you had a car waiting, carryons, were sitting next to the airplane doors so you got off first, hustled, you could do it in 40 minutes - maybe 35 if everything worked in your favor. People are saying DME takes them less than an hour. A cab from MCO to Disney is around $75 including tip - that's a lot of money for 20 minutes.

I think an hour for DME is probably optimistic if you are trying to plan. If you are making dinner reservations or Fastpasses for a park, I'd plan on the first thing you have to be at being closer to two and a half hours - by the time you get your luggage dropped off, check in, drop your stuff in your room (if its available), and get where you are going (unless its your own hotel's restaurant) - plus plan for a delay in the flight, or traffic, or the person in front of you at the resort line needing to have a twenty minute discussion over their assigned room location with no other CMs around (been there, done that) - if your flight lands at 11:03, its probably 1:30 before you are actually using that Fastpass at TSM.

 

[lovin'fl]

It's always been about 1.5 hours for us (used it 5 times since 2011). We too are always one of the last 2 stops. Takes about 30 minutes to get off plane and down onto ME bus. Then about an hour until we get to resort.