ME- 4 Hours Before Departure Pickup!!!! Private Car Service?

[nicky89]

Does anyone know if it's five hours now for international flights? Can't find it on Disney's site.

Checked with Disney and was told it is now 4hrs regardless if it is domestic or international. Thankfully, because 5hrs would be ridiculous in my opinion.

 

[AngiTN]

DME is a complimentary service. It offers shuttle bus service to/from MCO as well as luggage transfers.

Nothing has really changed with DME. Disney allows an hour to pick up passengers and drive to MCO. Figure 20-25 minutes to pickup at up to 4 resorts and 30-40 minutes to drive to MCO.

Airport wanted passengers to arrive 2 hours before flight time, Disney picked up 3 hours before your flight. Airport wants passengers to arrive 3 hours before your flight Disney pickups 4 hours before. MCO website suggests using your airlines guidelines if they're different. Southwest still suggests 2 hours. I wonder what DMEs response would be if a guest flying on Southwest requested a pickup time consistent with your airline, which is what MCO is suggesting you go by.

My daughter wasn't able to board a DME bus at POP. Driver accommodated passenger who wanted to leave early which resulted in a full bus at the last stop. Disney gave her a taxi voucher. People are looking to leave early.

Disney has to follow airport "guidelines". There are alternatives for people who don't like Disney's scheduling. Looks like the change may be only until the end of the year.

Car services use (or used to use) a guideline of picking up 2 hours before your flight, getting to MCO 90 minutes before your flight. That's probably not enough time.

Even when we didn't have PreCheck and TSA lines were at some of the worse I've ever seen 90 min was enough. Though it would also depend on what else you need to do at the airport, going to the ticket counter, bag check, etc would play in to your timing for certain. Straight to security and then to gate 90 min should be enough (baring an exploding battery and then, 3 hours isn't enough evidently)

 

[Eastern]

DME is a complimentary service. It offers shuttle bus service to/from MCO as well as luggage transfers.

Nothing has really changed with DME. Disney allows an hour to pick up passengers and drive to MCO. Figure 20-25 minutes to pickup at up to 4 resorts and 30-40 minutes to drive to MCO.

It's 'complimentary', fair enough, but if I rent a car you better believe I am eating a few meals offsite and Disney is losing a lot of $. It's free for a reason. Disney is not just being nice.

That being said, there is no way 4 resort pickups = 20-25 minutes. Are you kidding me? One resort pickup =20 minutes. Not everyone is there. Driver is explaining things. He's loading luggage. People are collecting multiple kids and unloading strollers. It takes time, and it seems like it is taking longer than ever, so when you add in 'airport security delays', it becomes problematic.

Maybe they need to add more buses/do fewer pickups in the interest of their customers who are choosing to forgo car rentals in order to spend all of their dollars at Disney.

 

[Lewisc]

It's 'complimentary', fair enough, but if I rent a car you better believe I am eating a few meals offsite and Disney is losing a lot of $. It's free for a reason. Disney is not just being nice.

That being said, there is no way 4 resort pickups = 20-25 minutes. Are you kidding me? One resort pickup =20 minutes. Not everyone is there. Driver is explaining things. He's loading luggage. People are collecting multiple kids and unloading strollers. It takes time, and it seems like it is taking longer than ever, so when you add in 'airport security delays', it becomes problematic.

Maybe they need to add more buses/do fewer pickups in the interest of their customers who are choosing to forgo car rentals in order to spend all of their dollars at Disney.

I didn't explain my point very well. Disney has to schedule the buses so passengers should arrive as per airport guidelines, currently 3 hours before departure. The "unexpected" delays in loading you're referring to means passengers won't arrive at the time requested by the airport. We all think the 2, and now 3, hour suggested arrival times are somewhat inflated. Not a big deal if the bus is delayed 15 or even 30 minutes.

Follow the logic of your suggestion. Non-stop bus service. Allow 20-25 minutes to load the bus. Add 30 -25 minutes to drive to MCO. You'll still get your pickup 4 hours before your departure. Does it matter if you waste around 15 minutes sitting on a bus vs wasting the same 15 minutes in the airport? Disney does have a gift shop in the airport. No reason to fly home with spare change, or unused credit.


I agree with PP. There should be a way to cut 30 minutes off the pick up time if the guest has precheck and isn't checking luggage at the airport.

The drivers may need to be more assertive in not waiting for delayed passengers and not allowing passengers without a reservation on that to board.

 

[johnnyr]

Sounds to me like they are gearing up for another paid transportation service. So you want to get there later? "Minivan Express" back to the airport.

 

[Lewisc]

Even when we didn't have PreCheck and TSA lines were at some of the worse I've ever seen 90 min was enough. Though it would also depend on what else you need to do at the airport, going to the ticket counter, bag check, etc would play in to your timing for certain. Straight to security and then to gate 90 min should be enough (baring an exploding battery and then, 3 hours isn't enough evidently)

That's kind of irrelevant. The 3 hour number comes from the airport. Disney can't go with a lower number. They already "fudge" by not building in realistic loading times.

Another way of looking at it. A single passenger will have enough time if they arrive 90 minutes prior to departure. The system might not work if a significant number of passengers, those arriving on DME buses, arrive with less time then requested.

For years we've had these same discussions regarding a 3 hour pickup. People who want to squeeze another 30-60 minutes of Disney time should skip DME. The new 4 hour policy doesn't change anything. Pay for your own transportation and you can get an extra hour of Disney time.

Disney could improve guest experience if they offered DME pickup at the parks. It would save the hour many people allow for transportation back to their resort.

Johnnyr--Disney would still comply with MCO's 3 hour request. That suggests a 3.5 hour pickup instead of 4.

You want an out of the box suggestion. RAC luggage is screened in a cargo terminal, not in the main terminal. Have the DME buses drop passengers off in a separate screening facility on airport property. Passengers would then be bused directly to the appropriate air side section. That would solve possible space constraints in MCO. It wouldn't solve possible TSA staffing issues.

 

[Rachel GB]

Just to update everyone based on my original post, I have reserved a private car service for airport transport. Since we don't have TSA Pre-Check, we are requesting pick-up on our departure day for 2 1/2 hours prior to our flight. Considering someone on a popular Disney blog posted that her ME came today 4 1/2 hours prior to her scheduled flight, I'm pretty happy with that!!!
I was also told that IF the airport/ baggage check-in desk at the resort isn't too busy with ME guests, they would print out our boarding passes AND check our luggage at the resort, even though we aren't taking ME (of course, only for participating airlines, but ours does participate).

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just to update everyone based on my original post, I have reserved a private car service for airport transport. Since we don't have TSA Pre-Check, we are requesting pick-up on our departure day for 2 1/2 hours prior to our flight. Considering someone on a popular Disney blog posted that her ME came today 4 1/2 hours prior to her scheduled flight, I'm pretty happy with that!!!
I was also told that IF the airport/ baggage check-in desk at the resort isn't too busy with ME guests, they would print out our boarding passes AND check our luggage at the resort, even though we aren't taking ME (of course, only for participating airlines, but ours does participate).

Just FYI, I'm suspicious about what you were told on that last part. Resort Airline Check-In (RAC) is available to anyone, doesn't matter if you're taking DME or not. RAC and DME are not 'connected' entities. RAC is effectively airport curb-side check-in, just the curb is at your resort.

So yeah, even if you're taking a car service but don't feel like messing with your bags at the airport, it's a great option. You can read up on it here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/resort-airline-check-in/

 

[Eastern]

I agree with PP. There should be a way to cut 30 minutes off the pick up time if the guest has precheck and isn't checking luggage at the airport.

The drivers may need to be more assertive in not waiting for delayed passengers and not allowing passengers without a reservation on that to board.

Agreed.

 

[Rachel GB]

Just FYI, I'm suspicious about what you were told on that last part. Resort Airline Check-In (RAC) is available to anyone, doesn't matter if you're taking DME or not. RAC and DME are not 'connected' entities. RAC is effectively airport curb-side check-in, just the curb is at your resort.

So yeah, even if you're taking a car service but don't feel like messing with your bags at the airport, it's a great option. You can read up on it here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/resort-airline-check-in/

@GADisneyDad14 , thank you! This is great! Yes, my TA was apparently incorrect here. This may be a silly question, but how are bags I check through RAC transported to the airport/ our plane if I’m not taking ME?

 

[Shanti]

We've had good experiences with Happy Limo.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

@GADisneyDad14 , thank you! This is great! Yes, my TA was apparently incorrect here. This may be a silly question, but how are bags I check through RAC transported to the airport/ our plane if I’m not taking ME?

Not a silly question. RAC is run by a company called Bags, Inc. - they collect all the bags and make periodic trips to MCO throughout the day in their own vehicles.

 

[Lewisc]

Employees who handle outgoing luggage have to go through the same background checks as employees working in the airport. Luggage is put in locked cages, trucked to a cargo terminal where they are screened then transported to the main terminal to your airline. It's not uncommon for your luggage to wind up on an earlier flight.

You can't have "bad people" putting "bad stuff" in checked bags after you drop them off at the RAC desk but before they are sent to the airport.

 

[arminnie]

I generally get pre-check automatically - mostly because of my age and because I've literally flown hundreds of thousands of miles on the main carriers. But because I now travel with an ECV it takes me at least 20 minutes to get thru security.

I get up to the front in minutes - but I then usually have to wait quite a while for someone to manually check out my ECV. There's usually one or two others in the manual check queue ahead of me. Plus they often have to track down someone to do the check.

But we generally drive now as we can make it in about 10 hours. It would take us almost that long door to door to fly.

 

[OKW Lover]

ME is now picking you up at your resort FOUR HOURS prior to your departure time, given the higher crowds/ security waits at MCO. I'm sure there's a good reason for this, but it really makes me want to consider using a private car service instead!

Doubting the private car service would help much. The airport didn't get any further away. The bus doesn't go any slower. DME made the change so that passengers would have enough time at MCO to clear security before their flights.

 

[Kaytie]

But maybe DME should not make 4 pickup stops, and should arrive at the first pickup stop on time. It takes an hour just to do the pickups.

DME is a shared-ride service. It's optional, not mandatory. it's not flexible in any manner suggested here. The operator, not the customer, determines timing, routing, etc.

Southwest still suggests 2 hours. I wonder what DMEs response would be if a guest flying on Southwest requested a pickup time consistent with your airline, which is what MCO is suggesting you go by.

DME isn't going to be flexible and provide any sort of customized service.

Sounds to me like they are gearing up for another paid transportation service. So you want to get there later? "Minivan Express" back to the airport.

Not at all. The pickup scheduling change resulted from airport recommendations/requirements. It's (still, at this point) temporary, in response to increased security procedures at the airport, as well as increased airport traffic this holiday season.

Minnie Vans aren't even abundant enough to be able to service all resorts, and won't be for quite a while.

 

[tjmw2727]

Doubting the private car service would help much. The airport didn't get any further away. The bus doesn't go any slower. DME made the change so that passengers would have enough time at MCO to clear security before their flights.

I switched to a car service for my next trip - my pickup is scheduled 2 1/2 hours prior to flight departure so yes this hour and a half "helps" quite a bit.

It may not make sense for everyone; or even for us on every trip! This time since we are picking up our own bags anyway combined with the ability to grocery stop on the inbound and a few other factors make it cost effective for us this time. On the outbound we can use RAC and we all have pre check so I am comfortable with the timing.

In future trips I can see us using DME on the inbound if we arrive in time to have our bags delivered and then using uber/lyft or maybe a car service for the outbound.

 

[Towncrier]

If I have an 11:25am flight, can I find a later flight on another airline and just tell Disney that I am on that later flight? Or has Disney figured out that ploy? Seems like having TSA-pre is a waste if DME is going to force me onto a bus at 7:25am so that I can sit around MCO for three hours waiting for my flight.

 

[OKW Lover]

If I have an 11:25am flight, can I find a later flight on another airline and just tell Disney that I am on that later flight?

Disney really doesn't care if you're on a flight at all. Giving them the flight info is only used to determine your DME pickup time. Nobody follows you around inside the airport to make sure you get on the flight you gave them.

 

[maxiesmom]

Doubting the private car service would help much. The airport didn't get any further away. The bus doesn't go any slower. DME made the change so that passengers would have enough time at MCO to clear security before their flights.

And to get to the airport. The construction on the roads all over Orlando is no joke.