Using "Magical Express" & arriving @ 9:25pm

[TinyLolitaBunny]

Has anyone arrived later at night and used ME to pick up their luggage? How did this work out for you? We are just wondering when we can expect to have our bags by, most likely. Especially now that we can't bring toothpaste in our carry-on!

Thanks!

 

[highlander]

I used ME but my flight arrived in the afternoon. We were told that it could be 6 hours before we get out luggage, and it was.

I suggest that you check your luggage on the trip down without the ME tag attached and pick it up yourself at that hour. That way you will have your bags and can hop on the bus with them.

 

[tpholland]

we arrived on a night flight last yr & our luggage arrived about 1am!! glad we had a bag packed with us, but they woke us when they came. not happy. i would suggest taking an overnight bag & asking them to hold your luggage until morning. fortunately we are arriving in the morning this yr.

 

[shondad]

On our visit last year, we checked into the ME at or around midnight, and arrived at our hotel to a relatively long line to check in @ 1:00AM!!! We got our luggage close to 8am, I guess. It really wasn't too bad, except DH and I had no clothes to change into for bed, but the kids did (go figure, and I did the packing).

 

[mandy200587]

Depending on what hotel you stay in, some of the hotels have toothbrush and toothpaste in them. As far as luggage, we went for a walk at 12 and our luggage just arrived and we got to the hotel at 8.

 

[anneofgreengables]

Especially now that we can't bring toothpaste in our carry-on!

Why can't you bring toothpaste in your carry-on? That's what I was planning to do. Is it forbidden now in the airlines?

 

[mandy200587]

Any liquid or gels are now banned from your travel on due to the newest terror foiled plot.

 

[CleveRocks]

Why can't you bring toothpaste in your carry-on? That's what I was planning to do. Is it forbidden now in the airlines?

Wow. Even if you don't watch TV news or listen to the radio, check out cnn.com or msnbc.com or something.

 

[mom of one]

We are also getting in around 9:52pm and want to pick up my own luggage also, but when I booked the package, I asked if we can use the ME but pick up our own luggage and take it with us on the ME, because I have a 5 yr old and do not want to wake her up at 1:00am, she told me that they do not allow you to bring your luggage with you, because there is no space. Is that true?

 

[clkelley]

You can bring your own luggage with you if you want. They would like as many people as possible to use the tags to make loading and unloading the busses easier, but you are allowed to get your own bags if you wish.

 

[keliblue]

I just called ME yesterday because they had our arrival dates wrong (make sure you check) The nice CM suggested that we not use our yellow tags and pick up our luggage ourselves because we arrive at 11:50 pm in orlando. She said this way we won't be disturbed in the middle of the night.

Her other suggestion was to go ahead, us the tags and let the front desk know not to deliver till the a.m

We are going to take our own bags to ME.... I have to have my toothpaste

 

[lovetoscrap]

When we used ME in Feb I packed about 2 days worth of clothes, snacks, our jammies and toilitries in a seperate bag and did NOT put the ME tag on it. We picked that one up ourselves and took it with us--no problem. Lots of people had luggage with them. There is lots of room under the bus, but if each family brought 7 or 8 bags it would be a problem. We got in late, around 7:00 I think. The rest of the bags were tagged for ME and they woke us up around 12 or 1 in the morning to deliver--I wish I had told them to just hold them.

A good packing tip--Don't give everyone their "own" suitcase! I always just pack a few days of clothes and supplies for everyone in each suitcase. That way if some of the bags are lost or delayed everyone will still have something to wear! My mother always packed by "person" and usually someone would end up with a suitcase lost and no clothes for a day or two. She finally learned to "mix it up".

 

[tjmw2727]

We are also getting in around 9:52pm and want to pick up my own luggage also, but when I booked the package, I asked if we can use the ME but pick up our own luggage and take it with us on the ME, because I have a 5 yr old and do not want to wake her up at 1:00am, she told me that they do not allow you to bring your luggage with you, because there is no space. Is that true?

You can choose to get your bags at MCO and bring them on ME with you.
I was in a similar situation in October, arrived at MCO at 9pm and with 2 kids I wanted to have our checked bags with us rather than using the luggage delivery option. I just went to the baggage carosel first, grabbed the bags and then checked in with ME. The driver loaded our bags under the bus (yes I tipped him) and off we went.

The buses should have plenty of room for luggage, remember that not all airlines participate on the return so many of us have no choice but to bring our bags on the bus. Also these are the same buses and the same company that transported the majority of people prior to ME and there was no delivery option then.

TJ

 

[CleveRocks]

Also these are the same buses and the same company that transported the majority of people prior to ME and there was no delivery option then.

From what I understand, most or all of the dedicated DME motorcoaches were brand spanking new.

Also, pre-DME, when Mears filled buses it's possible that their maximum number of passengers was less than the number of seats on the bus, if in their experience the luggage bay couldn't handle all the luggage of a bus-full of people.

 

[nasmith]

You can choose to get your bags at MCO and bring them on ME with you.
I was in a similar situation in October, arrived at MCO at 9pm and with 2 kids I wanted to have our checked bags with us rather than using the luggage delivery option. I just went to the baggage carosel first, grabbed the bags and then checked in with ME. The driver loaded our bags under the bus (yes I tipped him) and off we went.

Do NOT use the yellow tags if you want to pick them up yourself - recently, I tried to do just that, and the bags never came out on the carousel- the were pulled by the ME people before that.

We arrived on a 9:00pm flight - heading to Pop Century. - we finally made it to our room around 11pm - the bags didn't show up until 7am the next day. I called around 1am - and they told me that due to having no baggage handlers at that time - I could go pick them up myself, or wait until the morning shift came on. As I was travelling alone with a 5yo (who was snoring) - I couldn't exactly leave him in the room and trek to the front to get my bags.

I LOVE "lovetoscrap"'s idea - and will definitely use that whenever I use ME in the future. Jill

 

[kaddjr]

On our visit last year, we checked into the ME at or around midnight, and arrived at our hotel to a relatively long line to check in @ 1:00AM!!! We got our luggage close to 8am, I guess. It really wasn't too bad, except DH and I had no clothes to change into for bed, but the kids did (go figure, and I did the packing).

Don't feel bad, I did the SAME thing! Only we arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon and didn't get our bags until 1:00 am the next morning!

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

I will be doing the same thing in Sept. I will land in MCO at around 10pm and I really don't want a knock on my door in the middle of the night! So I will just pick them up and take them to the ME bus.

 

[CleveRocks]

I will be doing the same thing in Sept. I will land in MCO at around 10pm and I really don't want a knock on my door in the middle of the night! So I will just pick them up and take them to the ME bus.

In November, we'll be arriving at MCO around 9:30 or 9:45 p.m. Here's how I'm going to prevent being waakened at 1:00 a.m. with baggage delivery:

1) Inform the Front Desk that I want my DME bags held 'til morning

2) Inform Bell Services that I want my DME bags held 'til morning

3) Put the Do Not Disturb sign on my doorknob.

I think triple-redundancy oughta do it.

 

[tpholland]

i think i will check my bags with the ME tags, except for a backpack that I will load with what we need for the day & just grab that before we board the ME bus

 

[44sun]

When we used ME in Feb I packed about 2 days worth of clothes, snacks, our jammies and toilitries in a seperate bag and did NOT put the ME tag on it. We picked that one up ourselves and took it with us--no problem. Lots of people had luggage with them. There is lots of room under the bus, but if each family brought 7 or 8 bags it would be a problem. We got in late, around 7:00 I think. The rest of the bags were tagged for ME and they woke us up around 12 or 1 in the morning to deliver--I wish I had told them to just hold them.

A good packing tip--Don't give everyone their "own" suitcase! I always just pack a few days of clothes and supplies for everyone in each suitcase. That way if some of the bags are lost or delayed everyone will still have something to wear! My mother always packed by "person" and usually someone would end up with a suitcase lost and no clothes for a day or two. She finally learned to "mix it up".

Wow what great advice! I have been traveling for many, many years and never thought of the mix-it-up suitcase idea! We will use this idea - thank your mom for us!