Which is faster?

[dogsmom]

I did a search on this topic but, couldn't come up with an answer. so please excuse me if this has been discussed before. We are arriving about 10PM and and will be staying at AKL. I'm wondering if it would be faster to hire a town car than to use DME to get to the hotel. I believe I read somewhere that the AKL bus also stops at , at least two additional resorts and I really don't want to be checking in at midnight. There will only be two of us, so I know DME is definitely more cost effective. But I don't relish driving around for a couple of hours from resort to resort. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[kaytieeldr]

There are NO set routes for DME. You could just as easily be the first (or only) stop on a given bus.

Average time from debarking to resorts is 70 minutes, unless you choose to get your own luggage in which case you need to add luggage wait time; if you're going to do that, then yeah, a town car is probably faster.

 

[CleveRocks]

Average time from debarking to resorts is 70 minutes, unless you choose to get your own luggage in which case you need to add luggage wait time; if you're going to do that, then yeah, a town car is probably faster.

Either Ronda stayed up too late or I woke up too early, because this just doesn't sound right ....

She's correct that the reported average time from landing to resort drop-off is 70 minutes. Yes, DME is designed as a shared ride, which on the surface would make it sound like it HAS to be slower than a car service, but in reality that doesn't have to be the case. Sure, it CAN be the case, but on average your timing will be about the same either way.

The time savings with DME is in NOT HAVING TO WAIT AT BAGGAGE CLAIM. The trade off is you save time at baggage claim, but on the bus you MAY have a stop or two before yours. In fact, the DME stops are designed to be very quick, no lingering at the resort, NO PICKING UP OF GUESTS GOING BACK TO THE AIRPORT, etc.

And Ronda was correct in saying there are are no-set routes with DME, that there's no way to know if you'll have other resorts on your bus (you most likely will), and if you do in which order the resorts will be dropped off.

Now I'll take a guess at what I thing Ronda may have tried to say. The only way you can almost guarantee you'll get faster service with a car service versus DME is if you DON'T CHECK ANY LUGGAGE. If you use strictly carry-ons AND use a car service, you get the best of both worlds -- you get to skip waiting at baggage claim AND you get a direct ride without waiting in any other lines. Maybe this would shave about 15 minutes off your time.

NINE DAYS (!!!!!!) from now, we'll be taking DME to POFQ after our 10:00 p.m. landing at MCO. No worries here.

 

[havencruiser]

There generally have been posts by folks who have done both the town car and DME saying that they are about equal in time.

 

[clkelley]

I took DME in December 05 and I was the third stop. The time from the first stop to the third stop was only about 12 - 13 minutes. So even if you are the first stop, you only gain about 10 - 15 minutes. The ride from the airport to the edge of Disney property is a minimum 30 minutes.

The best way to have a quick ride on DME is to pack a 24-hour carryon bag, put the tags on the rest of your bags, have one party member hustle down to the DME desk, then when you arrive at your resort, tell them you want the rest of your bags delivered in the morning.

With a towncar, you have to wait on your luggage, walk down to the first level, wait at the curb while the towncar driver goes to the parking area and gets his/her car, load your bags, then drive to the resort.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Now I'll take a guess at what I thing Ronda may have tried to say.

Oh, wow - is it morning already? Yeah - what Eric said. I gotta stop dozing on the sofa for two hours at night, then getting lured by the computer on my way to bed...

 

[Edd]

There is some pretty good information on the threads. I just want to add that there are some airlines that have your luggage to you very fast and some that are very slow. Delta and Jet Blue many times the luggage is rolling on the carousels before a lot of people get down the escalators. U.S. Air , American and Air Tran are slow when it comes to luggage. If the passenger traffic is high than your luggage comes out slower. No one can tell how long you may wait for your luggage. To compare it this way. The time you take to walk to the ME Welcome center from Southwest from the baggage floor could be equal to the time you might wait for baggage.

One important thing you should try to do before landing Orlando is to plan your route to the Welcome Center. Landing on the "A" side of the terminal could mean a quite a bit longer walk if you don't know your way around.

ME is located on the "B" side of the terminal. If you land with one of the "A" side airlines, and walk down to "A" side baggage and than start your trip over to ME, you have just wasted 10 - 20 minutes depending on your family.

If your bags are tagged to go directly to Disney and you came in on the "A" side, you could save a lot of time by going down the "B" side escalators. At least you are on the side the ME loads at.

If you walk over to the "A" side and go down the escalators, to "A" side baggage, you will find out you have to go back up the escalators to the third floor and walk to the other side of the terminal, B side, go back down the escalator and get directions to the ME area. That all gets pretty rough when you are pushing 3 kids, one in a stroller and carrying hand luggage. There are also elevators around every escalator to the second floor (baggage Claim). There are no signs on the 3rd floor to tell you this.

It has been pointed out that many people think the time to the resorts, by ME and Car Service, probably is equal and in many cases doesn't even matter. Personally that is not a selling point to me. Individual family service, intermediate stops, baby seats and boosters and individual service highlight the reason you may want to use the car services. There are no lines to wait in and you normally go straight to your destination. On the return it is the same as the driver picks you up at an appointed times and takes you directly to the ticket counters on the third floor of the airport, directly outside of your airlines ticket counters or at the luggage check-in outside. The DME lets you off on the bottom floor and from there you are on your own to navigate to the ticket counters, or the third floor security gates to begin the process of getting out of Orlando.

 

[dogsmom]

Quote: One important thing you should try to do before landing Orlando is to plan your route to the Welcome Center. Landing on the "A" side of the terminal could mean a quite a bit longer walk if you don't know your way around. ME is located on the "B" side of the terminal. If you come out and walk down to "A" side baggage and than start your trip over to ME, you have just wasted 10 - 20 minutes depending on your family. If your bags are tagged to go directly to Disney and you came in on the "A" side, you could save a lot of time by going down the "B" side escalators. At least you are on the side the ME loads at. If you walk over to the "A" side and go down the escalators you will find out you have to go back up the escalators to the third floor and walk to the other side of the terminal, go back down the escalator and get directions to the ME area. That all gets pretty rough when you are pushing 3 kids, one in a stroller and carrying hand luggage. There are also elevators around every escalator to the second floor (baggage Claim). There are no signs on the 3rd floor to tell you this.

okay, I'm lost already!!!

 

[Edd]

Sorry,

Just follow the map they give you. I haven't seen one so I don't know what route they planned for you. I tried to clean it up. As soon as I find the right papers I will list the airlines that gate on the A and B sides.

Since I have a little time here are a few of the major airlines.

A-side

American
Southwest
Jet Blue
Air Tran


B-side

Delta
United
Spirit
Northwest
U.S. Air
Virgin

 

[dudspizza]

The ride from the airport to the edge of Disney property is a minimum 30 minutes.

Our driver did it in 20 minutes from departure at the airport to CBR. She was doing 80 on the Greenway.... I know, because we sat up front and I watched.... I was going to Disney, so I said punch it Margret!

Duds

 

[CleveRocks]

Thanks for the walking directions, Edd. I printed them out and they're now in with my other travel documents.

 

[dogsmom]

Edd, thanks for the airline list. We are on Air Tran so we are on the A side.

Dudspizza, I'm asking for your ME driver!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Last Sat we arrived at 11:50, Delta. No line, at all, at the checkin counter, waited about 5 minutes for a bus since we were the first in the line. Got to BWV by 12:45!!! We were able to get into our villa right away, our luggage was in the room when we returned from lunch about 3 hrs. later.

Your DME packet gives you very good directions from the gates to the checkin desk. Don't obsess over getting lost. It's really quite easy.

The three times I have stayed at POP, we have stopped at AKL first two times and at POP first once. THere was another resort in there, but I can't remember which one...either CBR or CSR.

 

[seashoreCM]

Upon arrival at MCO you don't look for A side or B side until after exiting security and by that time it is almost the same distance to either the A side or the B side.

I'm not sure exactly where along the B side the ME welcoming area is, namely whether it is in line with the Hyatt atrium or in line with the shopping court.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Edd]

The ME Welcome Center is underneath the Shopping area side of the terminal. If you walk in from an A side airlines you will exit security closer to the A side escalators by about 50 feet than the B side escalators. If you walk in from a B side airline you will be about 50 feet closer to the B side escalators. If you look to your left or right, over the portals, you will see a big Blue B or Orange A for the exits from the third floor. Remember Security has the middle tied up for those who are heading out of Orlando. A and B side exits are on each end of the security check in.

DME is actually under the United Northwest Baggage area. If you fly in on Southwest you have to cross over to B side, walk downstairs to baggage or the commercial floor (first floor) and walk to the farther end of the building to find DME. This just sounds hard. It is fairly easy to figure out once you get your bearings.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thanks, Edd! You know, and experienced MCO travelers are generally aware, that the two terminals are actually so close and in the same building - but new visitors don't always realize that and get concerned over how to get from one terminal to the other.

 

[salmoneous]

Quick comment and then a technical note.

First, if anyone has never flown into MCO, don't be scared by the comments in this thread. Getting around MCO may sound complicated, but it's really one of the easier airports to get around in. A very straightforward layout, with lots of signs and helpful people.

The main terminal at MCO is one building - one side is the A side, the other is the B side. "A-side airlines" have ticketing and baggage claim on the A side, B-side airlines have theirs on the other.

There are no gates or airplanes at the main building. All gates and flights leave out of 4 "pods" that connect to the main building via trams. The entrance/exit to the trams is in the center of the building, but two are closer to the A side, and two are closer to the B side. A-side airlines typically use gates that connect to the main building closer to the A side, but not always! A-side only refers to ticketing and baggage claim - gates can be on either side.

As I said, this is much simpler in person that it sounds. Maybe a map will help:

 

[Lewisc]

Although DME doesn't have set routes resorts are logically grouped and the bus generally stops at the closer resorts to the airport first.

POP--CSR--AKL is a popular routing. AKL is generally the last stop but a DME stop isn't only a few minutes. The bus doesn't pick up passengers, only drops off.

After you get off the tram and leave the secured area you're only a few feet from the imaginary line that seperates the A and B side of the terminal. SW guests will be walking to B side instead of walking to the A side. You're really not walking from the A side to the B side, unless you get your own luggage.

 

[Boston5602]

I use to use < is that right ?> town cars all t he time , now I started using DME and for easy round numbers I'll say it just about always took 1 hour from landing to resort with a TC . DME avgs out to an hour , plus waiting for suitcases in the room. Some of my DME trips have been 45 minutes ( good ) and my last one in Aug to POP was 1 hour 40 minutes . We waited for bus to load then went to All star music , Coronado Springs , and then Pop.


Since the OP is coming in at 10pm , at what time will you get your suitcases if you take DME .....time wise might equal out between the two , but not waiting for bags to get to your room by taking a TC might be worth it to you.

 

[dogsmom]

Just checked our airline and now our flight is scheduled to arrive at 10:10 PM. I had thought of getting our luggage first and then going to DME. I know, I know, everybody says we should just pack carryon bags for the night and have our luggage arrive in the AM. But, I don't usually take a lot of stuff on the plane with me and I like having my luggage in the room the same time as I am. I think getting my luggage and then using DME is going to be my plan. Since we are later in the evening maybe there won't be as many people going to the different resorts (it's also a Thursday night).

Salmoneous: Great map!!