those that have used ME ? from Canada

[disneyred]

hi there.
I have posted this in the transportation thread.. but then I thought I would
get greater response here as its a question for us Canadians ?

have any of you used the ME service from MCO to onsite resorts ??
How did it go??
Do we not have to take our own bags thru customs then lug them to the ME bus ?? so the only benefit is the free bus ride onsite ??

please help .. I am clueless on this issue..should I use this service..
any benefit to us canadians ??
any thoughts/opinions/experiencs welcome !

thanks !

 

[brooker]

hi there.
I have posted this in the transportation thread.. but then I thought I would
get greater response here as its a question for us Canadians ?

have any of you used the ME service from MCO to onsite resorts ??
How did it go??
Do we not have to take our own bags thru customs then lug them to the ME bus ?? so the only benefit is the free bus ride onsite ??

please help .. I am clueless on this issue..should I use this service..
any benefit to us canadians ??
any thoughts/opinions/experiencs welcome !

thanks !

We have used ME twice with no problems whatsoever. It was very fast. Our last time 2 weeks ago, we were at the All Star Sports in exactly one hour from the time we got off the plane until we arrived to the resort. You have to go to the B side (lower level) to access the ME desk, after you check in with ME, you are then told to go to a line up for your resort and then you wait for a few minutes until the bus loads. We cleared customs our first trip in Ottawa, our 2nd trip in Toronto going to and from Orlando. After you clear customs(most likely in Canada) you don't have to touch your bags again until they are delivered to your hotel. Just make sure to have your yellow tags from ME on each bag.

 

[disneyred]

We have used ME twice with no problems whatsoever. It was very fast. Our last time 2 weeks ago, we were at the All Star Sports in exactly one hour from the time we got off the plane until we arrived to the resort. You have to go to the B side (lower level) to access the ME desk, after you check in with ME, you are then told to go to a line up for your resort and then you wait for a few minutes until the bus loads. We cleared customs our first trip in Ottawa, our 2nd trip in Toronto going to and from Orlando. After you clear customs(most likely in Canada) you don't have to touch your bags again until they are delivered to your hotel. Just make sure to have your yellow tags from ME on each bag.

thanks for the clarification...
I had gotten off the phone with disney before I had written this and she said NO, i will not get the yellow tags for luggage because I have to go get them (my luggage) and put them thru customs at MCO myself ..
does that make sense ??
that was what I found confusing.

 

[LoveDopey]

As long as you clear Customs in Canada it's a breeze and I would highly recommend it. Once you get off the plane and find the ME check-in desk (they had a greeter with a sign) it takes no time getting on a bus and to your resort. We were at POR within 45 minutes of getting off the plane. We find it to be much more convenient and relaxing and somehow it gets you in that whole Disney mood thing! Our bags were in our room within the hour which at POR is a great benefit since it's a long walk from check-in to your room.

I just found once I got off the plane I had arrived and didn't have to worry about a thing.

Remember to take a change of clothes though in a carry-on bag. We travelled in March in our winter clothes (I got some strange looks wearing my winter jacket with a fur collar) and would have melted had we not had cooler clothes to change into. Plus DD wanted to get to the pool immediately.

 

[disneyred]

thanks for the reassurance...
!!
It just threw me for a loop when she said that about me taking
the luggage to the bus myself since I have to go thru customs !

 

[brooker]

thanks for the reassurance...
!!
It just threw me for a loop when she said that about me taking
the luggage to the bus myself since I have to go thru customs !

I am not sure about this but it probably depends on your air carrier whether you clear customs in Canada or not. We travelled Canjet last year and this year Westjet and cleared customs in Canada both times. A strange thing though this time...we were given customs forms in our hometown airport to fill out before even entering the U.S which I still don't understand as to why. We didn't even have them filled out when we went thorough customs in Toronto as we thought we didn't need them because we were still in Canada. We had to quickly fill them out at Pearsons airport right when it was our turn to go through the customs gate. Other than that mistake everything went really fast and smooth. Only customs at Pearson going into the U.S was slow, everywhere else was fast.

 

[Questforthemouse]

thanks for the reassurance...
!!
It just threw me for a loop when she said that about me taking
the luggage to the bus myself since I have to go thru customs !

The CM was presuming that because you are flying internationally you would be clearing customs at MCO. If that were the case then you wouldn't put the yellow tags on your luggage and instead would go pick up your own luggage, clear customs and then head to DME. But, when flying out of Canada, you usually clear customs in Canada (at the last airport you are in before entering the US) not at MCO. Therefore, you put the yellow tags on your bags before checking your bags at the airport and then head straight to the DME desk when you get off the plane at MCO.

Unless DME is extremely busy when you arrive you can usually count on being at your hotel anywhere from 60 minutes to 100 minutes after getting off your plane. Your luggage should arrive in your room within 4 hours of your plane landing. As others have suggested, make sure you pack a couple of days worth of clothing in your carry-on just incase your luggage doesn't arrive when it should. Also, if your luggage doesn't make it, don't just presume DME lost it. It is more likely that the airline lost it before it even got to the DME folks.

BTW, your luggage tags likely won't arrive until a few weeks before your trip.

Have a great trip!

 

[Hodder]

We did it in Oct 2005. No problems. We cleared customs in Toronto. We never arrived at MCO until after 1130pm so we had to get our luggage ourselves and bring to ME, but I didn't mind really because I am the type to worry that one of our bags will be missing. We will use it again this September.

 

[disneyred]

thanks for everyone's experiences......

I hope to book within the next few weeks !!

 

[LoveDopey]

I just wanted to add about luggage tags. I booked ME through CAA and was waiting and waiting for the tags to arrive. I just assumed I wasn't going to get the tags for whatever reason (and was ok with that -- read on these boards that they sometimes don't arrive). But 2 days before we left CAA phoned me. They got the tags. I had to phone Disney though because they didn't have an arrival flight or time on the tags and they told me sometimes on international flights the information is lost in booking. I was able to give that info verbably and we were ok upon arrival.

 

[PrincessNED]

The other issue we had with ME was that because our last destination of our return flight was international we could not take advantage of the onsite luggage check-in- we had to gather our bags from the ME bus and stand in line to check baggage at the airport. A little disappointing - would of preferred to not have to stand in a line at 6:00 am

 

[SAGE]

Not sure where you are flying from however we flew from Hamilton ON. via West Jet. Cleared customs in Orlando - a longer process. We picked up our bags, then went through a security check. We walked abit through a hallway and then had to give our luggage back. Walked more and ended up at another security check. Once we cleared that, we were in the main baggage pick up in MCO. Needless to say the Dis yellow tags were not used.
(We have flown from TO Pearson - it was much quicker clearing customs there and it's easier to use the tags).

 

[Wazzo]

We've used it twice, once flying out of Toronto and once out of Syracuse. The trip from MCO to Disney is great, but we have had some yucky trips from Disney to MCO... I'm thinking of booking a towncar/limo for the return to the airport next time.

Is there anyway to know ahead of time if your Canadian flight is going to clear customs in Canada or at MCO?

 

[Questforthemouse]

We've used it twice, once flying out of Toronto and once out of Syracuse. The trip from MCO to Disney is great, but we have had some yucky trips from Disney to MCO... I'm thinking of booking a towncar/limo for the return to the airport next time.

Is there anyway to know ahead of time if your Canadian flight is going to clear customs in Canada or at MCO?

Call your airline's customer service number and they'll tell you where you are clearing customs.

 

[Wazzo]

Call your airline's customer service number and they'll tell you where you are clearing customs.

Thank you!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I had no problems with DME, our bags were lost, but they got lost somehow between Halifax and Montreal (we had so many problems getting there, but none were DME's fault) and we didn't get them until Tuesday night when we arrived Sunday morning. That was Air Canada's fault though, so I would still use the service. Just be sure to pack things you'll need in your carry on, I was glad that I did.

 

[Starr_DJ]

Make sure you know EXACTLY where the ME counter is. We forgot to check when we went last August (not realizing how huge MCO is) and spent the first hour of our trip lugging our luggage around the airport looking for the counter (we had just booked our trip the week previously and were not eligible for the luggage pickup ME offers). Most people we asked around the airport had no idea what we were talking about when we asked them where to go. Once we finally found it the rest was quite easy.