Resort Airline Check-In Desk Update

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Starting sometime in mid-October (Not sure of the exact date), the RAC desk will shift its operating hours. It's new hours will be 5am-1pm daily. You can check in up to 12 hours prior to original scheduled flight time, but no later than 3 hours prior to original scheduled flight departure time.

(Updated 10/10/06) Airlines participating in homebound Resort Airline Check in are:

Alaska
American
Continental
Delta
JetBlue
Northwest
Ted
United

(All remaining Song flights are now Delta flights.)

You do NOT need to be using Magical Express to take advantage of the Resort Airline Check-in Desk. They will print your boarding passes and check your luggage. All members of your party must be present with photo ID as well as Resort ID.

 

[safetymom]

Thanks for the update. Hope life is treating you well these days.

 

[dgaston]

Glad to see you posting, Tyler. Hope the behind-the-scenes job is going well.

 

[clkelley]

Geez, they went the wrong direction!! They need to be open from like 10am - 6pm, so that folks flying out early in the morning can check their bags the night before!!!! or change their checkin rules to 18 hours!!!!!

Another solution would be a split shift, like 5am - 10 am, then 5pm - 8pm.

The early shift would take luggage for flights that day from 8am - 9pm. The night shift would take luggage for early flights the next morning from 5:30am - 8am

Or am I the only weird one that checks out the day before and takes the 5:30 am flight home the next morning.

Carol

 

[safetymom]

I flew out early every time we ever went to WDW but we paid for that day. I can't think of what I could do with kids if I checked out a day early.

 

[clkelley]

I agree, this does not work with young kids. I didn't do this when the boys were younger either. However, now that they are older (18 & 19), we have started checking out the day before and taking the early flight the next morning. Disney considers you a resort guest until PI closes the next morning. We stay in the parks, then go to PI till Hoopla! is over, then we go back to the resort and pick up our luggage. We stop by the pool house and take a shower and change, then get on the bus about 2:30 am. Then we snooze on the bus and plane and when we get home about 7:30 am, we go to work.

Even when we drive, we do this, except we drive up to Ocala after PI closes (with one of us not drinking, of course), then finish the drive the next day.

Even if someone has a late flight home in the evening, the 12 hour rule is just too short. Let's say you have a 9:30 pm flight home. If you want to head to the parks early, even though the desk is open at 5am, you can't use the resort checkin until 9:30 am which means you can't get to the park until later, or you have to come back earlier to take care of the luggage stuff before you get on the ME bus.

The hours they have just don't work.

(Can you tell I hate to burn park hours taking care of resort stuff )

Carol

 

[Lewisc]

Not 100% sure but I think the 12 hour rule is an airline or TSA rule. The new hours work well. Anyone who has a flight between 8:00a and 1:00a can use the service.

Carol--I don't think there are enough people with your schedule.

 

[safetymom]

I could never stay up that late. Also I couldn't find enough to do at PI to last until the wee hours of the morning. My kids don't function well in the early hours so there were times back in Pittsburgh where we would stay at the airport hotel and they could drag their bodies downstairs.

That is what is great about WDW, everyone can do it the way it works best for them.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks Tyler. I was curious to find out if it was going to be a hassle for me to use the luggage check-in without using DME. Might be sharing a car back to the airport. That's nice to know.

 

[bubbasmom99]

Does anyone know... we are staying at the BCV for a week, and then heading on the Disney Cruise for a week. On our arrival back to the port, we're going to rent a car and head over to Downtown Disney for the day, as our flight isn't until 6 pm. Are we able to go back over to the BCV to check in our luggage for our flight, or will we not be allowed to since we're not "current" resort guests?

 

[clkelley]

You probably could, as the RAC desk doesn't check your resort reservation when you use the service. As a matter of fact, I would think you could use any of RAC desks on property.

However, the RAC desks are only open until 1pm. Would you be getting back to Disney property by 1pm???

 

[eporter66]

Wow - you guys certainly leave early. It worked great for us and we have a 2 1/2 yr old. Our flight left Orlando at 9:10, so I just got down to the desk at 5am (no one else was checking luggage) and it took less than 5 minutes.

A split shift would be a great idea, keep the 5am to 1pm, and add something like 3-6 maybe?

Eric

 

[DiznEeyore]

Participating airlines have not changed. They are:
American
Delta
Song
United
Ted
JetBlue
Continental

I was sure I'd read that Northwest was now participating. Is that not the case?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I was sure I'd read that Northwest was now participating. Is that not the case?

Yes. Northwest Airlines is part of Resort Airline Check-in.

According to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/resorts/content?id=DMEBenefitsPage —

If you're departing Walt Disney World® Resort on domestic flights with American Airlines, Continental, Delta Air Lines/Song, JetBlue, Northwest Airlines, or United/Ted, you can receive your return airline boarding passes and check luggage at your Resort, bypassing airport check-in, by taking advantage of our Resort Airline Check-in service.​

Song no longer exists, which is why Song should no longer be on the official list. The Song aircraft and routes are once again branded as Delta Air Lines.

 

[kaytieeldr]

It should be noted, of course, that this thread was started just over a year ago with no activity between 10/6/05 and 10/7/06 (which is why the participating airline information may be inaccurate; however, there's a sticky for "What Participating Airline Really Means", which I'd think IS 100% up to date)

 

[DiznEeyore]

Thanks!! Missed that it was bumped.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We used RAC this morning @ 5am for our 8:45 am flight. We fly stand-by more often than we fly with confirmed seating, so the ability to check our bags at our resort was a treat! We went back to the room, slept until 5:55 am, got breakfast @ Everything Pop at 6 am (had to burn as many CS credits as we could) and drove to the airport.

 

[dvc guy]

Can anyone confirm they have Check in desk at OKW?
Also can you confirm that you must check in at least 3 hours prior to flight time?

This is great to be able to check the luggage and return the car and just walk to the plane with boarding passes in hand.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Can anyone confirm they have Check in desk at OKW?
Also can you confirm that you must check in at least 3 hours prior to flight time?

This is great to be able to check the luggage and return the car and just walk to the plane with boarding passes in hand.

Even if OKW doesn't have RAC, all you need is your ID and resort ID to use the service at any other WDW resort. I don't know what the official Disney line on this is, but the people working the check-in desk can't tell which resort you're in... and the desks are conveniently located out front.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Can anyone confirm they have Check in desk at OKW?
Also can you confirm that you must check in at least 3 hours prior to flight time?

This is great to be able to check the luggage and return the car and just walk to the plane with boarding passes in hand.

Yes they do (each Disney resort has its own RAC); and yes, you must check in at least three hours prior to your flight, but not more than twelve hours prior to departure.

Since the counter is open 5 AM to 1 PM, anyone flying on a participating airline between 8 AM and 1 AM can use Resort Airline Checkin - although for absolute safety, I'd figure 8:30 if you're also using DME, since you'd probably have to be on a bus three hours before your flight departs. And any resort Guest flying out of OIA can use DME - they're separate services.