Not Very Magical Express

JoeMikeB

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
We have used DME for years, but this last trip it was not very magical.

It started with receiving our DMS confirmation letter without any luggage tags. We called and after an extended conversation in which we had to carefully explain to the cast member on the phone what a luggage tag is and what it is used for, we were eventually told to save our airline luggage receipts and turn them in to the DME counter when we reached Orlando. They were very nice at the DME counter and were able to locate our bags via computer and said they would take care of them from there. One DME employee commented, "We have seen a lot of that recently." Our flight arrived at 3:15 and our bags eventually appeared at our room seven hours later as we were preparing for bed.

On a very positive note my wife left a small item in the seat back on the airplane and when she got off the bus to go find it, a DME employee took responsibility for the situation and stayed with her walking her through the airport bureaucracy until the item was retrieved and my wife was back on the next bus to OKW.

Because there were not enough rooms at OKW to accommodate the entire group one of our party was at Saratoga Springs. On the return trip those in our party staying at OKW received a letter the day before departure to serve as our boarding pass for the bus and a luggage tag for one bag but no information on bus boarding times. When we got to the baggage check in after a couple of miscues and several minutes of discussion they finally were able to come up with the airline boarding passes and the proper luggage tags. Once again a cast member commented, "This is happening a lot lately." It took three people and a couple of phone calls to come up with a boarding time for the bus and then it was questionable if there would be enough seats on the bus for everyone. In fact I had to stand on the ride from OKW to Saratoga Springs because the only available seat was reserved for a wheelchair. (Fortunately no one showed up for the wheelchair seat or I suppose I would nave and to stand all the way to the airport.)

The member of our party at Saratoga Springs received no letter, no luggage tags, and when he went to check his luggage they had never heard of him, nor had any arrangements been made for him to have a seat on the bus to the airport. Finally the Saratoga Springs front desk cast members got on the telephone and made all the arrangements at the last moment almost as the bus was pulling out.

In the end it all worked out thanks to extra effort on the part of several cast members, but their comments indicated our experience was not unique. So don't be surprised if your DME experience is not very magical and be on the alert for errors and miscues.
 
Well...I had a trip to SSR in Oct 2015 and then booked MIL and FIL at OKW for Jan 2016. For my Oct trip we did not get the letter at our room the night before departure (with the info on ME and checking our luggage). I had to go to the desk around 9:30pm the night before and ask about it. Desk lady told me I was supposed to check in at ME desk in the airport upon arrival day to set up our ME departure (even though I had letter they mailed me prior to the trip that showed our ME was set up for departure). This was about the 6th time doing ME and NEVER had we before had to check in at ME desk. She didn't know what she was talking about but she did print us out our ME letter with departure time. We too were crowded on a ME bus with NO extra seats.

Then, MIL and FIL's OKW trip. They also never got ME packet and luggage tags. They told me about 8 days before their trip and when I called MS, I was told that their flight numbers were missing (they could see I had set up the ME but then the flight numbers disappeared). They, luckily, express mailed them because MIL and FIL were super anxious when I told them they could just take luggage claim tickets to desk for them to retrieve their luggage (they did not like the idea of their bags going round and round on the carousel for strangers to grab).

I wish Disney/DVC could get their computer stuff all worked out. Sick of all the IT issues.
 
Being from the UK, this is how DME has operated for us for a number of years now as it was decided that it was becoming too expensive to mail the packs out to foreign addresses.

Although I still pre-book our DME, we just pick up our own luggage from the carousel upon arrival and bring it to the counter before boarding the buses. We also take our own cases off the bus and have the resort CM's deliver them to our room.

We usually do receive a letter with our return pick up details the day or two before departure, but have sometimes just been left a voicemail with our pick-up time and at least on one occasion I've had to call the night before as we haven't received any communication from DME to ensure we're "on the list".
 
We have used DME for years, but this last trip it was not very magical.

It started with receiving our DMS confirmation letter without any luggage tags. We called and after an extended conversation in which we had to carefully explain to the cast member on the phone what a luggage tag is and what it is used for, we were eventually told to save our airline luggage receipts and turn them in to the DME counter when we reached Orlando. They were very nice at the DME counter and were able to locate our bags via computer and said they would take care of them from there. One DME employee commented, "We have seen a lot of that recently." Our flight arrived at 3:15 and our bags eventually appeared at our room seven hours later as we were preparing for bed.

On a very positive note my wife left a small item in the seat back on the airplane and when she got off the bus to go find it, a DME employee took responsibility for the situation and stayed with her walking her through the airport bureaucracy until the item was retrieved and my wife was back on the next bus to OKW.

Because there were not enough rooms at OKW to accommodate the entire group one of our party was at Saratoga Springs. On the return trip those in our party staying at OKW received a letter the day before departure to serve as our boarding pass for the bus and a luggage tag for one bag but no information on bus boarding times. When we got to the baggage check in after a couple of miscues and several minutes of discussion they finally were able to come up with the airline boarding passes and the proper luggage tags. Once again a cast member commented, "This is happening a lot lately." It took three people and a couple of phone calls to come up with a boarding time for the bus and then it was questionable if there would be enough seats on the bus for everyone. In fact I had to stand on the ride from OKW to Saratoga Springs because the only available seat was reserved for a wheelchair. (Fortunately no one showed up for the wheelchair seat or I suppose I would nave and to stand all the way to the airport.)

The member of our party at Saratoga Springs received no letter, no luggage tags, and when he went to check his luggage they had never heard of him, nor had any arrangements been made for him to have a seat on the bus to the airport. Finally the Saratoga Springs front desk cast members got on the telephone and made all the arrangements at the last moment almost as the bus was pulling out.

In the end it all worked out thanks to extra effort on the part of several cast members, but their comments indicated our experience was not unique. So don't be surprised if your DME experience is not very magical and be on the alert for errors and miscues.

During our trip this January, we got no letter the night before our scheduled DME return, and had to go out to the (cold) outdoor DME desk to have something scheduled. They acted surprised that it happened, but given your experience, maybe it's becoming more common. Hope not.

Kudos to the CM for showing the Disney magic while helping your wife. There are more blase CM's than there used to be, but I still encounter some very good ones on each trip.
 


Concierge at the hotels can get you the required letter and also schedule DME if necessary.
 
Interesting...I'm just back from a WDW trip where (as always) I used ME both from and to MCO...no glitches or hassles at all going to OKW from MCO (lately I always do only carry-on so no recent experience w/luggage delivery system)--I did get the usual letter hanging on my door handle the day before departure, which said I had to call to schedule my pick-up. I noticed they had my flight number and departure time correct, but not my airline. So I called and got scheduled and the ME person told me I needed to take the confirmation number to the front desk at OKW to have my boarding document for ME printed out.

I did that (was going anyway to have my boarding pass printed out) and it all went off w/out a hitch. I figured I had messed up when doing my online ME reservation (easy enough to think I clicked on American when in fact I had clicked on Avianca (the airline my original ME doc showed). Now, these reports have me wondering...

Another "interesting" departure from the usual: ME always tells you to arrive for your ME pick-up 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I always do, and never (til this trip) has the ME motor coach arrived anything but within a minute or two (either way) of the scheduled time. This time, tho, the motor coach arrived 13 minutes early (and did not wait for "latecomers," if there were any). So I just "barely made" my bus.

Seems like more changes are coming...I got ME questions on my post-trip survey (along w/a question about whether I'd keep coming to WDW if I could no longer use my (Disney) Visa card (the question was about Visa, not Disney Visa). The new $149 3-hour after-hours MK ticket...all those closed attractions at Hollywood Studios...newish restrictions on pool use...surge pricing on park admissions...new black-out dated APs...makes me more than grateful that this past trip was the most magical one I've experienced in years...it will make absorbing this round of changes a bit more possible?
 

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