Will DME "Hold" luggage for 1 night

[Horace Horsecollar]

hbsprite,

Everyone who has responded in this thread wants to help you. However, none of us have done what you proposed at the top of the thread.

Have you called Disney's Magical Express (DME) Guest Services (866-599-0951) to ask? If so, what did you learn?

As I wrote earlier in this thread, you might be told, "Sorry, no." Or you might be told that what you want to do is fine and DME has a process that keeps your bags in a secure place overnight.

You won't know until you call.

Traveling with two toddlers, it would be a blessing to travel with only carry-on bags from the time you check in at your home airport until after you get into your WDW room.

 

[hbsprite]

hbsprite,

Everyone who has responded in this thread wants to help you. However, none of us have done what you proposed at the top of the thread.

Have you called Disney's Magical Express (DME) Guest Services (866-599-0951) to ask? If so, what did you learn?

As I wrote earlier in this thread, you might be told, "Sorry, no." Or you might be told that what you want to do is fine and DME has a process that keeps your bags in a secure place overnight.

You won't know until you call.

Traveling with two toddlers, it would be a blessing to travel with only carry-on bags from the time you check in at your home airport until after you get into your WDW room.

Thanks for everyone's input. I agree with what most of you are saying: The only thing more stressful than dealing with 2 toddlers and luggage for 4 is dealing with 2 toddlers and LOST (or missing) luggage for 4. I will call up DME when our trip gets closer and see what they say. I will post back here with any updates.

In the meantime, if anyone tries what I proposed at the top of this thread, please let us know how it went for you!

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for everyone's input. I agree with what most of you are saying: The only thing more stressful than dealing with 2 toddlers and luggage for 4 is dealing with 2 toddlers and LOST (or missing) luggage for 4. I will call up DME when our trip gets closer and see what they say. I will post back here with any updates.

In the meantime, if anyone tries what I proposed at the top of this thread, please let us know how it went for you!

That was my thought - my kids are 2 years apart and we traveled often and as much of a pain as the luggage is it would be much worse without it IMHO.

I am not sure that you can even send your bags prior to your resort reservation (I do know that you can't ride the bus early) so I imagine they would be held at the airport. No matter this is not something I would do, I wouldn't want my bags left at the airport, or at the resort and if the airline misdirects them I would want to know asap.

So in your case I would probably just get my bags and schlep them to the airport hotel and then back to the airport in the am or book a value at WDW and have them transport the bags while you are enjoying an extra day at the parks.

Either way - have a great trip and I hope things go smoothly for you.

 

[Lyndarella]

Could you call your resort directly and tell them that your luggage will arrive Fri night and you will arrive Sat? Then Bell Services would know not to do anything with it Fri night.

 

[kaytieeldr]

She can't. All calls to resorts actually go to a call center.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Thanks for everyone's input. I agree with what most of you are saying: The only thing more stressful than dealing with 2 toddlers and luggage for 4 is dealing with 2 toddlers and LOST (or missing) luggage for 4. I will call up DME when our trip gets closer and see what they say. I will post back here with any updates.

In the meantime, if anyone tries what I proposed at the top of this thread, please let us know how it went for you!

I wouldn't worry about speculation regarding bags being lost. DME has been operating since 2005 and they've delivered millions of bags successfully. DME's system calls for the each yellow tag to be scanned at various points in the secure luggage transfer process. That's how DME knows where each bag is and where it's going.

Normally, DME passengers fly to MCO and check in at a WDW resort on the same calendar day.

You want to fly in a day earlier and live out of carry-ons the first night. Either the DME process is set up to handle this or it isn't.

If you're doing your planning now, may I suggest calling DME now?

 

[leebee]

They must have some kind of policy in place about this. Otherwise, what would happen to the luggage of passengers who take a bump at the gate? I would end up one place and my luggage would end up at MCO, with me possibly not arriving until tomorrow. Of course, I'd also have to call WDW and let them know that I wouldn't be checking in that night so hopefully the resort would "know" to look for and hold the luggage… but maybe that'd only work if you actually had a Disney reservation for that evening.

Call Disney. Let us know what they say.

 

[hbsprite]

Just an update - We flew in on Friday night, arriving in Orlando at 11PM, and stayed at an airport hotel. We packed a small carry on bag for our 1 night in the airport hotel and tagged the rest of our bags with our DME tags when we checked in at our home airport.

We took Magical Express to our resort and checked into Boardwalk Villas at 3PM and our room was ready. We were happy to see our bags that we had tagged waiting for us in our room!

While I wouldn't recommend doing this for more than a quick overnight stay, it definitely worked for us.

Obviously, YMMV and I realize this is against the *OFFICIAL* DME policy.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Just an update - We flew in on Friday night, arriving in Orlando at 11PM, and stayed at an airport hotel. We packed a small carry on bag for our 1 night in the airport hotel and tagged the rest of our bags with our DME tags when we checked in at our home airport.

We took Magical Express to our resort and checked into Boardwalk Villas at 3PM and our room was ready. We were happy to see our bags that we had tagged waiting for us in our room!

While I wouldn't recommend doing this for more than a quick overnight stay, it definitely worked for us.

Obviously, YMMV and I realize this is against the *OFFICIAL* DME policy.

I believe the reason it worked for you is that at 10:00 p.m Disney stops collecting luggage at the airport. All of the bags that arrive after that cut off time of 10:00 p.m. are not collected from the baggage area at the airport till the next morning. Things may have turned out differently had you arrived at the airport prior to 10:00 p.m.

 

[bumbershoot]

I believe the reason it worked for you is that at 10:00 p.m Disney stops collecting luggage at the airport. All of the bags that arrive after that cut off time of 10:00 p.m. are not collected from the baggage area at the airport till the next morning. Things may have turned out differently had you arrived at the airport prior to 10:00 p.m.

Agreed. But this is also neat to know, that the bags did make it to the resort despite tagged and arriving that late. It's been a grey area and no one has really wanted to try it, LOL.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

hbsprite,

I'm glad it all worked out for you, but did you ever call Disney's Magical Express (DME) Guest Services (866-599-0951) to ask? If so, what were you told?

 

[hbsprite]

hbsprite,

I'm glad it all worked out for you, but did you ever call Disney's Magical Express (DME) Guest Services (866-599-0951) to ask? If so, what were you told?

I did. I was told that if my flight arrives after 10PM to claim my own luggage and that it would be placed under the bus and brought to the resort.

 

[sam_gordon]

Here's my guess on what happened...

The bags were sent out to the carousel. When they weren't claimed, they were taken to some back location until the next morning when they were shipped with other DME bags. Basically, the same thing that would happen before 10:00, except with a detour to baggage claim.

Disney's not going to tell people that this will work because now you have the possibility (although remote) of someone stealing the bags from the carousel. Also, what happens if the airline misdirects one bag. That won't be caught until the next morning at the earliest, if not the next afternoon.