Storing Luggage While in the Parks...

[coolingjupiter]

So we have a quick trip coming up in the fall and we are trying to maximize our time at the parks. We originally booked a late flight on the day we are leaving with the hopes of getting as much time in parks before Magical Express brings us to the airport. Of course, as our luck would have it, the airline cancelled our later flight and has changed our reservations to an earlier flight. With the fact that DME assigns pick up three hours before your flight, and we'd have to also account for how much time it will take DME to get us back to our resort, we are losing a significant amount of time in the parks that day! So, we are likely going to forego DME on our last day and take a cab to the airport so that we can leave directly from the parks and not have to worry about waiting for DME to take us back to the resort and then back to the airport. My question is this: what do we do with our luggage while we are at the parks? One cast member told me that we can check in for our flight at the resort and DME would take the luggage to the airport without us physically taking DME to the airport. But, when I just called to give our updated flight information, the cast member I just spoke to on the phone is now telling me the opposite. So, if that's not an option, we are thinking of bringing our carry-ons to Epcot that day and then storing our luggage in the lockers. Does this sound like a good idea? Are they big enough? Are they readily available? Safe?

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

 

[mrsR123]

Resort check-in for your flight and Magical Express are two separate things. You can send the bags.

FWIW, some airlines send your bags ahead of you. I know mine got to Midway a few hours before I did once.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

So we have a quick trip coming up in the fall and we are trying to maximize our time at the parks. We originally booked a late flight on the day we are leaving with the hopes of getting as much time in parks before Magical Express brings us to the airport. Of course, as our luck would have it, the airline cancelled our later flight and has changed our reservations to an earlier flight. With the fact that DME assigns pick up three hours before your flight, and we'd have to also account for how much time it will take DME to get us back to our resort, we are losing a significant amount of time in the parks that day! So, we are likely going to forego DME on our last day and take a cab to the airport so that we can leave directly from the parks and not have to worry about waiting for DME to take us back to the resort and then back to the airport. My question is this: what do we do with our luggage while we are at the parks? One cast member told me that we can check in for our flight at the resort and DME would take the luggage to the airport without us physically taking DME to the airport. But, when I just called to give our updated flight information, the cast member I just spoke to on the phone is now telling me the opposite. So, if that's not an option, we are thinking of bringing our carry-ons to Epcot that day and then storing our luggage in the lockers. Does this sound like a good idea? Are they big enough? Are they readily available? Safe?

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Ok, so a few things going on here. I'll try to break it down.

Disney offers a service called Resort Airline Check-In (RAC) - which is effectively curbside check-in at the airport, just at your resort. You can check-in for your flight and they will physically take your luggage to the airport, regardless of how you get to the airport. It's only available for certain airlines and has other restrictions, so make sure to check out these links:

Disney's Website - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/guest-services/resort-airline-check-in/
Transportion Board FAQ - https://www.disboards.com/threads/dme-and-rac-faqs.944813/

DME and RAC are fundamentally separate services. If folks don't use RAC, they bring luggage with them to the DME bus and it gets loaded underneath the bus that takes you to MCO.

If you don't use RAC and you do end up with some carry-on sized bags with you that day, Epcot is the ONLY park that has lockers outside the gate large enough to accommodate carry-on bags. I'm tagging @AngiTN as she posts about using them frequently and may have more info. The lockers are located outside the the main gate.

Note, you're not supposed to take bags/luggage on Disney buses, so you'd need to take a cab/Uber/Lyft to Epcot that morning.

Sorry that was long. Hope it helps!

 

[coolingjupiter]

Ok, so a few things going on here. I'll try to break it down.

Disney offers a service called Resort Airline Check-In (RAC) - which is effectively curbside check-in at the airport, just at your resort. You can check-in for your flight and they will physically take your luggage to the airport, regardless of how you get to the airport. It's only available for certain airlines and has other restrictions, so make sure to check out these links:

Disney's Website - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/guest-services/resort-airline-check-in/
Transportion Board FAQ - https://www.disboards.com/threads/dme-and-rac-faqs.944813/

DME and RAC are fundamentally separate services. If folks don't use RAC, they bring luggage with them to the DME bus and it gets loaded underneath the bus that takes you to MCO.

If you don't use RAC and you do end up with some carry-on sized bags with you that day, Epcot is the ONLY park that has lockers outside the gate large enough to accommodate carry-on bags. I'm tagging @AngiTN as she posts about using them frequently and may have more info. The lockers are located outside the the main gate.

Note, you're not supposed to take bags/luggage on Disney buses, so you'd need to take a cab/Uber/Lyft to Epcot that morning.

Sorry that was long. Hope it helps!

Both of these responses are incredibly helpful. This is what I thought was the case and what the first cast member I spoke to told me! But now I have spoken to two cast members afterward and they are telling me that this is NOT the case. They keep telling me that the bags travel with you under the bus. To which I clarify that if I'm using resort check-in, I won't have the bags with me whether I take the bus to the airport or not! And then person just repeated that they travel under the bus! Oh well. I will call back to clarify closer to the trip. I have until September so I am jumping the gun a bit.

And thank you for the clarification about luggage on the buses. If I do have to bring them with me, it's good to know I can't bring them on the bus to the park!

Thanks again!

 

[AngiTN]

@GADisneyDad14 pretty much covered it all
You can use RAC for all checked luggage no matter how you get back to MCO
Epcot does have coin operated lockers large enough to hold a carry on bag located near the bus depot. They take 4 quarters and no change machine so bring your own. We get one for each of our carry on bags or one can hold our 2 back packs
They are safe.
We then call for an Uber 2 hours before our flight. I go to call for the car while DH does to get the bags and he meets me at the pick up which is sort of next to the lockers, between them and the monorail station
We have Precheck so 2 hours is more than enough time

 

[AngiTN]

Both of these responses are incredibly helpful. This is what I thought was the case and what the first cast member I spoke to told me! But now I have spoken to two cast members afterward and they are telling me that this is NOT the case. They keep telling me that the bags travel with you under the bus. To which I clarify that if I'm using resort check-in, I won't have the bags with me whether I take the bus to the airport or not! And then person just repeated that they travel under the bus! Oh well. I will call back to clarify closer to the trip. I have until September so I am jumping the gun a bit.

And thank you for the clarification about luggage on the buses. If I do have to bring them with me, it's good to know I can't bring them on the bus to the park!

Thanks again!

Don't waste your time calling. Whoever is telling you they go on the bus is flat out wrong. If you use RAC they do not go under the bus.

You do have to have 3 hours before your flight to use RAC. As long as you have that, no problem

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Both of these responses are incredibly helpful. This is what I thought was the case and what the first cast member I spoke to told me! But now I have spoken to two cast members afterward and they are telling me that this is NOT the case. They keep telling me that the bags travel with you under the bus. To which I clarify that if I'm using resort check-in, I won't have the bags with me whether I take the bus to the airport or not! And then person just repeated that they travel under the bus! Oh well. I will call back to clarify closer to the trip. I have until September so I am jumping the gun a bit.

And thank you for the clarification about luggage on the buses. If I do have to bring them with me, it's good to know I can't bring them on the bus to the park!

Thanks again!

Yeah, not to be negative, but the mis-information from different phone CMs isn't that surprising to me. That's a layer of detail I doubt some reservation CMs really have full or complete training on (I don't know that, just a guess). The folks around the DIS with real-world experience using these services are arguably a better resource for these kinds of things.

 

[Lynne M]

Both of these responses are incredibly helpful. This is what I thought was the case and what the first cast member I spoke to told me! But now I have spoken to two cast members afterward and they are telling me that this is NOT the case. They keep telling me that the bags travel with you under the bus. To which I clarify that if I'm using resort check-in, I won't have the bags with me whether I take the bus to the airport or not! And then person just repeated that they travel under the bus! Oh well. I will call back to clarify closer to the trip. I have until September so I am jumping the gun a bit.

And thank you for the clarification about luggage on the buses. If I do have to bring them with me, it's good to know I can't bring them on the bus to the park!

Thanks again!

Well, they're not wrong, in that if you approach the ME bus with your luggage, it will be put under the bus. If you want to do resort airline check-in, you need to do that ahead of time, before you walk up to the bus. Two separate services, two separate processes.

 

[Hatbox]

@GADisneyDad14 A+ for clarity and thoroughness! I would've had to ask this eventually myself, so thanks! (And thanks @coolingjupiter for asking. I'm suddenly facing the same issue.)

 

[coolingjupiter]

I just called baggage services directly and they confirmed that I can check the bag at airline check-in and then go to the airport myself. Should have done that in the first place. Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[siskaren]

I just called baggage services directly and they confirmed that I can check the bag at airline check-in and then go to the airport myself. Should have done that in the first place. Thank you everyone for your help!

Even though three people on this thread told you that you could?

 

[coolingjupiter]

Even though three people on this thread told you that you could?

I just meant that instead of talking to three separate cast members through the general phone number, I should have called bag services...or, as I’m learning as a newbie on these boards, just ask on here in the first place and not talk to cast members at all!

 

[bryanb]

So we have a quick trip coming up in the fall and we are trying to maximize our time at the parks. We originally booked a late flight on the day we are leaving with the hopes of getting as much time in parks before Magical Express brings us to the airport. Of course, as our luck would have it, the airline cancelled our later flight and has changed our reservations to an earlier flight.

Does the airline offer a later flight and would you be able to take it? The airline probably put you on the earlier flight in order to get you to your destination (home) on time.

However, if you don't like the flight they put you on, you can always ask to be rebooked on a different one as long as there is space available. You can also cancel your ticket entirely and get a full refund (since the cancellation was their doing), and book on another airline. Since this is happening in the fall, I presume that there's still plenty of time to find alternatives. Just wanted to say that -- even if you bought a non-refundable ticket -- you don't necessarily have to settle for less time in the parks if there are alternatives you'd like to take.

 

[coolingjupiter]

Does the airline offer a later flight and would you be able to take it? The airline probably put you on the earlier flight in order to get you to your destination (home) on time.

However, if you don't like the flight they put you on, you can always ask to be rebooked on a different one as long as there is space available. You can also cancel your ticket entirely and get a full refund (since the cancellation was their doing), and book on another airline. Since this is happening in the fall, I presume that there's still plenty of time to find alternatives. Just wanted to say that -- even if you bought a non-refundable ticket -- you don't necessarily have to settle for less time in the parks if there are alternatives you'd like to take.

Thanks for this. The airline does offer a later flight, but nothing that is direct and since it is such a quick trip, I am only willing to take a direct flight. Also, my dates are not flexible because I am a teacher and I cannot take extra days off, just the days that are given (otherwise my pay gets docked). Furthermore, we are tied to United because we are using our reward miles. What was really sneaky was that we just got an email saying that our flight had been pushed up, not that it had been canceled and we were put onto another flight! They made it just seem like the time changed, but when I saw it was 3 1/2 hours earlier, I looked into it! Shady!

 

[AngiTN]

I just called baggage services directly and they confirmed that I can check the bag at airline check-in and then go to the airport myself. Should have done that in the first place. Thank you everyone for your help!

The real lesson is, when possible, ask the direct folks involved instead of the general information line. They are the worse at knowing, unfortunately. I guess because it's just too much to know. Which is a shame because they are who folks will call. They should be able to help or know who can for everything. Instead of saying we need to get you to the right department (baggage services in your case) they try to handle it all and give a whole lot of wrong info. So frustrating. Saying you don't know and getting someone who does is not a bad thing

Not that the kind folks here aren't glad to help too. Everyone is.