Our ME experience....5/7-5/14

[Disneyorbust05]

We just got back from 8 days at WDW and used ME for our arrival and departure. I am happy to say that it was (for us) just what the name implies - a "Magical" transportation option. There were 11 of us in our group (3 families - all with small kids) travelling together.

We all were greated warmly when we arrived at MCO Saturday morning by a CM that showed us how to check in and where we should wait. Each waiting area was clearly marked and had a friendly CM waiting there to give us updates on the bus wait times. When our bus arrived, we were welcomed into a very large, plush, nice new bus with video screens. We were told the stops we would be making (our resort was the last one) - but that was okay since we were curious to see the other resorts. We watched a cute ME video played out by Disney characters and it was the length of our travel time (and kept the little ones in our group entertained) - okay, it kept me entertained as well . Anyway, we arrived safely at our hotel in a very timely manner and were very pleased with our driver and experience.

We did not know how long it took for the bags to get to our room and did not expect them to be there by check-in - we had switched rooms anyway, so that would have been difficult. Regardless, we all packed extra clothes and anything we would need in our carry-on bags just in case our luggage didn't make it. We could have gone a full day without our luggage and made sure of this since we knew that ME was VERY new. However, things went VERY smoothly and we received our bags by the time we arrived from the parks that night.

Returning to the airport was just about as smooth - the only glitch was that we had to physically handle and check our luggage since our airline was not one of the participating airlines. we didn't care since they handled it for us on the way down.

My point is this....for a FREE service it was wonderful. We would have even paid for this service. It was that nice. I have paid for limo and taxi service that has been A LOT worse!!!!!!! There will always be bad drivers and poor service no matter where you go or how much you pay. But for being free, this couldn't be beat. We would DEFINITELY take advantage of this service all over again if given a choice!

 

[iluvallthingsdisney]

Thank you for your post. ME sounds great so far. I have a few questions.

1. What time did you arrive at the airport?

2. How long did it take for you to arrive at your hotel?

3. Did you receive your ME bag tags or went tagless?

Thanks.

 

[Disneyorbust05]

Hi! Our flight left at 6:30 and arrived at MCO at 8:10. We were on the ME bus by 9:15 and arrived at our hotel at 10:30 (keep in mind that we were first on the bus and had to wait for it to fill and then had 3 stops before ours). We were at Epcot by 11:30 that afternoon!

And...we did receive our tags the day before we left -talk about cutting it close!

 

[ILoveDisney-Angie]

Thanks for posting DisneyorBust05. It's great to know that the ME is not as bad as some are posting. Hopefully, as the days go by, they will work out all of the issues and it will be smooth sailing for everyone using DME.

Thanks again!

 

[Disneyorbust05]

You're welcome! Maybe it is because I went into the ME thing with low expectations so the only place it could go was up...LOL!! Seriously, I did keep in mind that it was new, but also that it was free and that there was bound to be kinks - but despite these things...it shined!!!! It was a very positive and pleasant experience

 

[athenna]

Thank you so much for posting. I bet this will make a lot of people with trips coming up soon feel much better about it.

 

[paulad]

We're also using ME for our return to the MCO and we're with an airline that's not participating so we have to handle our luggage, too. How much time did it take? I'm wondering because we want to go to one of the parks that morning and we have a 5:30pm flight (we're staying at the Poly).

Thanks for the info... only 12 more days to go!!

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

We had a 536pm flight and our ME pick up time was 215pm from POR. Hope that helps in planning your last day.

 

[nichski]

Just wanted to give another positive feedback on DME. We arrived MCO at 5:00 pm 5/7 via a Delta flight and were on the bus headed for POP in a matter of 20 or so minutes. Our bags did not arrive in our room until 8:30 but we pack swim suits so it was no big deal.

Our pick up on 5/14 was hassle free as we had a 3:10 p.m. flight and a scheduled pickup of 12:10. We were able to dine with the princesses in the castle, hit some of our favorite rides and head back to POP around 11:15 to make our connection to ME for the airport.

It was absoulutely wonderful and included in the package!

Sit back and relax afterall it is vacation.

 

[mickeyluv]

Yes, thank you for your positive post. We will are flying out Friday, May 20th at 6:30am, arriving at MCO at 8:05am. We haven't received our luggage tags yet, but I'm still hopeful. Either way I think it will be just fine! As you said, we'll be on vacation so just sit back and relax!! Can I ask, what resort we're you staying?

 

[cristbaby]

Thanks for the ME report. We are thinking about using it on our trip in Oct.

 

[Disneyorbust05]

We were staying at the Polynesian resort. The only thing we did differently was take an earlier bus to the airport than the one we had been scheduled for. Our flight was scheduled for 8:54, but our pick-up at the Poly had been scheduled for 5:15. Well, we took the 4:45 bus because we were already ready to go and didn't mind waiting at the airport. It's a blessing that we did take the earlier bus because the security check at MCO was an absolute nightmare and ate up ALL of our airport rest time. I had planned on going to the Disney store for some last minute items - didn't happen. Security took FOREVER and I am serious about that.