transportation on non cruise days?

[farrishq]

I just read in the docs that if you are checking into a WDW resort
any day besides Sunday or Thursday you are not suppose to tag your bags with the special tags because DCL buses won't be there to pick you up and you have to claim your own luggage and find Mears Shuttle Service to transport you. I am very dissappointed with this and had no idea you were Penalized for flying in on a different day. Is this true?

 

[KMovies]

I'm not sure if I agree with "penalized", I would say that it is probably pretty impractical.

You would probably need to wait hours for a DCL to fill up or the buses would end up going with just a family or two - there just wouldn't be a stream of people flying in on non-sailing days to justify having the DCL buses, meet and greet people, special luggage handling etc.

Let's just say that 1 of 3 take Disney transport (I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS IS CORRECT). On a sailing of 2700, that would be 900 flying into Orlando. Let's say that 80% come in on sailing day (AGAIN, HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS IS TRUE) and the other 20% come in on other days. That would be 720 on a sailing day and 180 split between other days. With buses holding up to 50 people (NOT SURE OF THE EXACT NUMBER), it doesn't seem like it would be efficient on non-sailing days. The extra cost associated with it would need to be passed on to everyone.

Just my thoughts but I do understand your concerns about not getting the same level service on non-sailing days. Going on Mears on a non-sailing day would probably be quicker than going on DCL buses as they would need to wait longer to fill up. Mears is fairly quick since they are vans. Going to get your luggage is a pain though.

 

[TheWog]

The cruise tags are for people arriving the day of the cruise. The bags would be taken directly to the ship without you ever seeing them. If you are arriving prior to your cruise date you don't want that to happen so you would need to get your bags yourself. Whether there is a process for going to a resort I do not know, but I know the cruise tags work this way for same day arrivals.

 

[mmouse37]

I also agree that this is not a penalty.....it is the way the land/sea process is set up....if you deviate from the standard land/sea plan then you need to get your own transportation. If you check into WDW on a Sunday you are doing the 4 night land/3 day sea....if you are checking into WDW on a Thursday then you are doing the 3 day land/4 day sea... any other check in day at WDW requires your own transportation.

DCL buses are owned by Mears....so the cost is about the same, you just won't have the luggage handling aspect of it.

MJ

 

[MajorWoody]

Hello all,

I recently found out the same thing about our upcoming trip, where we added an extra couple of days up front. I found it was cheaper to get a one day car rental, which we pick up at MCO ( Alamo), and drop off at WDW Car Care Center. It came to $29 with all taxes and charges included, while two of us on the additional ground transfer leg would have been $38. So we saved $9, and have the use of a car for a day to go shopping at the outlets. We still have the DCL transfers for the resort to port, and port to airport legs.

Take care,

Bill

 

[cristit14]

When we did land/sea in July we flew in a day early also. I was disappointed when I read about not being on a disney bus and having to get my own bags. We were pleasantly surprised though when we got to the terminal and a disney rep was there holding a sign with our name. She walked us down to baggage claim, we grabbed our bags, she had a cart for us to put them on and then she showed us where to wait for the Mears shuttle. She even waited with us and gave us some good tips of things not to miss at MK, like Mickey's Philharmagic.