Why do people take luggage with them on ME?

[DebbieB]

This may make some people worry:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2548317

 

[PoohsFan1]

With most airlines charging for baggage, I bet there are quite a few people who bring their luggage as carry on items rather than checking it.

That is exactly what we do. We each have a carryon small size suite case that has each of our clothes for the week in there, then we have one large suite case that holds our vanity items (with liquids), our shoes, pins, anything extra that we won't need until it gets to our room later in the day that we check in at our home airport. We do this because baggage fees have gotten so outrageous, that having one bag per person with a carryon that is free saves us in the long run. Don't get me wrong, we too love the ME service and how we don't have to worry about our bags until we get to our resort, it is just paying for the bags at baggage check-in is what we don't like.

 

[TagsMissy]

we are not from the US and heve to pick up out bags to go through customs

Really??? You don't clear customs in Calgary or Edmonton???? Are you flying some odd charter flight that doesn't pre-clear customs? I've never flown from a Canadian airport and not precleared US customs.

 

[TagsMissy]

Where you clear customs is nowadays not really important any more. Most of us flying into MCO from all corners of the world, will probably not even clear customs on MCO. Some airports offer preclearing, if you have a connecting flight through another US airport, you clear through there. When flying a US carrier, you will get a direct flight to MCO in perhaps 5% of the time, if that much at all since all of the mergers, smoothing schedules etc.
.

No. When you preclear in Canada you do not go through customs again until you return to Canada.... when we preclear customs in Canada we essentially enter US soil and disembark in the US as if disembarking from a flight originating from the US.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

No. When you preclear in Canada you do not go through customs again until you return to Canada.... when we preclear customs in Canada we essentially enter US soil and disembark in the US as if disembarking from a flight originating from the US.

You misunderstood what I was saying. I was trying to explain most of us not from the US will NOT clear customs at MCO and for most of us location of clearing customs is no longer a reason in deciding to let DME handle our luggage or not.

Not sure about Canada, but all of us not from the Northern America continent no longer get the yellow DME-tags sent to us. That "little change" results in many of us no longer wanting DME to handle the luggage but bring it onto the DME bus.

 

[debster812]

I normally let DME transport my bags and agree that it's the best part of the service. I also don't understand people bringing all their luggage on the bus in the middle of the day.
However, I very well may be grabbing my luggage when I fly down in March. My flight isn't scheduled to land until 9pm. I COULD still use luggage service, but that would mean staying up a lot later than I probably want to, to receive my luggage. Not thrilled with that option. And murphy's law says that if I tell them (who is "them" anyway?) to hold my luggage until the next morning, some memo will be missed, and I'll be woken in the middle of the night by my luggage being delivered.

We've arrived on late-ish flights from New England the last 3 or 4 times we've been to WDW, and we always have them hold our bags until morning. We pack what we need in carry ons for the 1st 24-36 hours or so. When we check in at the resort, we ask them to hold our bags until morning. When we get to our room, we call Bell Services/Luggage Assistance, and tell them that we have "X" number of bags coming in on Magical Express, and could they hold them until morning. Then we put the Do Not Disturb card in the lock. We've NEVER been awakened by by a knock in the middle of the night.

In the morning we get up, get ready for the day, and call for the bags to be delivered, usually they are there when we get back to the room after breakfast.

 

[Meliechick]

We take our luggage on ME with us sometimes because they did misplace our luggage one time and then other times we needed items out the suitcase immediately upon arriving in our room. Due to liquid limitations on carry-ons the bag has to be a checked. Since we are already paying for a checked bag we make it worth our while and make it a larger bag with additional items in it.

 

[tinkrebell]

We're just bringing carry-ons - I know ME prevents me from waiting at the carousel, but I like traveling light, and we even have a Continental Onepass credit card that would allow us to check out baggage free - I just don't want to have to bring that much! We're only staying five days, and thanks to Ulta, I found some really good travel-sized shampoos that are going to fit. And for the rest of my toiletries that I need in small amounts, I've found it's far easier to squirt a week's worth of moisturizer or hair serum into either side of a small contact case than to try and justify a piece of checked luggage simply for a larger bottle that lasts me three or four months.

So, yes, I'll be carrying my luggage. But, I'm nice, so hopefully you won't hate me, because I'm also ADD, and I tend to talk a lot to strangers on my meds. They make me want to chat with EVERYBODY, and so maybe after you'll forget the one minute I took to load my carry-on into the bottom of the bus. I'll be tipping the driver at least to make up for it! And I do apologize in advance if it makes you feel late. . .

 

[goofy4tink]

We're just bringing carry-ons - I know ME prevents me from waiting at the carousel, but I like traveling light, and we even have a Continental Onepass credit card that would allow us to check out baggage free - I just don't want to have to bring that much! We're only staying five days, and thanks to Ulta, I found some really good travel-sized shampoos that are going to fit. And for the rest of my toiletries that I need in small amounts, I've found it's far easier to squirt a week's worth of moisturizer or hair serum into either side of a small contact case than to try and justify a piece of checked luggage simply for a larger bottle that lasts me three or four months.

So, yes, I'll be carrying my luggage. But, I'm nice, so hopefully you won't hate me, because I'm also ADD, and I tend to talk a lot to strangers on my meds. They make me want to chat with EVERYBODY, and so maybe after you'll forget the one minute I took to load my carry-on into the bottom of the bus. I'll be tipping the driver at least to make up for it! And I do apologize in advance if it makes you feel late. . .

No one is going to be upset if you bring a carryon bag with you and it gets stowed underneath the bus. That isn't an issue. What IS an issue is when people go to baggage claim, get their 7 checked bags, and bring them to the bus. Then, those huge bags have to be stowed, as well as their carryon bags. If there were only 4 families, with 5 checked bags each, in addition to their 4 carryon bags per family, then you now have 36 addtl bags to be dealt with. And believe me, it takes more than a minute to get them disbursed.

But, it is a 'free' service, and Disney doesn't care if you bring bags to the bus...so, it is what it is. Just want others to understand the situation.

 

[tinkrebell]

No one is going to be upset if you bring a carryon bag with you and it gets stowed underneath the bus. That isn't an issue. What IS an issue is when people go to baggage claim, get their 7 checked bags, and bring them to the bus. Then, those huge bags have to be stowed, as well as their carryon bags. If there were only 4 families, with 5 checked bags each, in addition to their 4 carryon bags per family, then you now have 36 addtl bags to be dealt with. And believe me, it takes more than a minute to get them disbursed.

But, it is a 'free' service, and Disney doesn't care if you bring bags to the bus...so, it is what it is. Just want others to understand the situation.

Good. And thanks! I like being on the happy side of the bus when I'm going to Disney

 

[Missytara]

Over on the resort boards this week, someone suggested that one might want to bring all their luggage with them on the DME bus, so it didn't go to the room when you weren't there, because of the "bed bug" issue. They wanted to make sure that they could inspect the room before they took their luggage into the room.

I posted that I hoped that not everyone took that suggestion; because it would just totally bog down the system for what seems to be a somewhat isolated probability that there were bed bugs in your room, and the fact that they could be anywhere!

 

[Alesia]

Over on the resort boards this week, someone suggested that one might want to bring all their luggage with them on the DME bus, so it didn't go to the room when you weren't there, because of the "bed bug" issue. They wanted to make sure that they could inspect the room before they took their luggage into the room.

I posted that I hoped that not everyone took that suggestion; because it would just totally bog down the system for what seems to be a somewhat isolated probability that there were bed bugs in your room, and the fact that they could be anywhere!

What? Paranoia on the disboards???

I'm shocked!

 

[lilpooh108]

Wow people judge for the smallest things. We don't check bags because we fly Delta from the west coast and Delta charges a hefty fee per bag. So only carry ons for us. I'd DME it if I could, trust me.

 

[Julylady]

OP here. Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I had never considered the international flight situation. Also, we almost always fly in in the morning so the late luggage delivery interfering with sleep is not an issue for me. I posted because I was thinking that the paranoia on the Disboards might be contributing to the fact that so many people were obviously claiming checked baggage and then dragging it with them on the bus.

Like I said before, we have had many, many successful ME trips without even one luggage mishap. I wondered if we were just lucky and that most people have issues and that's why they now take their luggage with them OR if most people do not have issues but take their luggage because they anticipate a problem.

I am the kind of person who always thinks everything will turn out fine until I am proven wrong. From these responses it seems like some people anticipate that things will go wrong and then take steps to ensure that won't happen. Just a difference in style, I guess. No right, no wrong.

From the responses to this thread it does seem like more people ARE taking their luggage with them which I believe is causing everyone's trip to take longer. That is probably just the reality of the situation. Now I have to decide for my family whether I want to continue to take ME knowing that we might have a 3-hour trip to the hotel or just go back to hiring a limo service.

THANKS so all who responded!

 

[AmongMadPeople]

Wow people judge for the smallest things.

I never knew all the things I was being judge for until the Disboards told me

I trust DME to deliver my luggage, but I don't want my airline to lose my luggage and me go about my day not knowing until late at night. DME doesn't know if I put a yellow tag on my bag, so they won't know if the airline didn't deliver it. I will know though when I don't see it come round the carousel.

That's not the biggest reason though. The main reason is (heaven forbid!) I like to unpack before I start my vacation. We've always been lucky to have a room available, so we unpack, buy some groceries, then start our day. When we come back late that night, there is no settling in process.

 

[aubriee]

I trust DME to deliver my luggage, but I don't want my airline to lose my luggage and me go about my day not knowing until late at night. DME doesn't know if I put a yellow tag on my bag, so they won't know if the airline didn't deliver it. I will know though when I don't see it come round the carousel.

As a matter of fact, DME does know if how many bags you checked and if you put the yellow tag on them, because they ask you before you get into the resort line. If a bag is missing, they immediately start looking for it for you.

 

[goofy4tink]

Wow people judge for the smallest things. We don't check bags because we fly Delta from the west coast and Delta charges a hefty fee per bag. So only carry ons for us. I'd DME it if I could, trust me.

Carryon bags are not the issue. It's the guests with 2 checked bags each, in addition to their 2 carryon bags that are the issue.

I never knew all the things I was being judge for until the Disboards told me

I trust DME to deliver my luggage, but I don't want my airline to lose my luggage and me go about my day not knowing until late at night. DME doesn't know if I put a yellow tag on my bag, so they won't know if the airline didn't deliver it. I will know though when I don't see it come round the carousel.

That's not the biggest reason though. The main reason is (heaven forbid!) I like to unpack before I start my vacation. We've always been lucky to have a room available, so we unpack, buy some groceries, then start our day. When we come back late that night, there is no settling in process.

As just noted, DME does in fact know how many bags you checked. You should be asked how many bags you tagged when you get to DME checkin. That number is entered into the system. Each tagged bag is scanned, several times in the process, as it goes through different stages. When the bags are at the resort, it is easy for them to see if all bags have been received or if they need to look for any unaccounted bags.

It is not a case of 'judging' people. We all (hopefully anyway) realize that there are going to be situations where some guests have no choice but to bring their bags to the bus with them. But, I still refuse to recommend that people leave the yellow tags off and then head to baggage claim upon arrival at the airport and retrieve their 10 checked bags and lug them to the DME bus with them. It truly does slow down the process.

 

[kdfogliano]

We always bring our own bags on the bus with us
We have been lucky in the past and have been able to get into our rooms right away and like to have our bags with us upon arrival.

We have also had one bad experience with not getting bags until the next morning! So now with 2 kids I dont want to risk that anymore
So from now on we take our own...

 

[seashoreCM]

This may make some people worry:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2548317

(It's about other people's luggage found in your room.)

If your baggage is to be delivered by DME, you file any needed baggage claims at your resort and it is processed by Disney and looks to you the same way as your airline would handle it regardless of how or when or where the baggage went awry. The airline's "four hour limit from touchdown" does not apply.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We always bring our own bags on the bus with us
We have been lucky in the past and have been able to get into our rooms right away and like to have our bags with us upon arrival.

We have also had one bad experience with not getting bags until the next morning! So now with 2 kids I dont want to risk that anymore
So from now on we take our own.. .

May I ask what contingency plans you have for when the airline misdirects your checked luggage - loses it, sends it to the wrong airport, or just plain neglects to have it leave your home airport the same day you do? And how waiting for your luggage at baggage claim would alleviate that?