Late arrival - Will bell services hold DME bags?

[CaptainAmerica]

I posted this in a different DME thread but it got buried and I'm still looking for an answer.

Our flight gets into Orlando around 8:00 PM. That's obviously early enough where DME will pick up our checked bags and deliver them to the room. However, our plan is to go straight to bed and get an early start the next morning and I'd be very upset if the bags are delivered at midnight (or later) because that will definitely wake my one year old. Is there a way I can ask bell services to hold the bags until the next morning rather than have them brought straight to the room that night? I'm not sure if there's an "intercept" point where bell services takes the bags from the DME people, or if the DME people are just going to come straight to the room and never get my request.

To complicate matters, we're doing a split stay and will only be at POR for one night. Even if they deliver our bags, they're going right back to bell services first thing in the morning to be sent over to Saratoga Springs for the main leg of our trip.

Paging @Rob562 . He's usually the one to answer questions like this.

 

[Rob562]

LOL. I recall seeing the question but didn't have any first-hand experience with asking Bell Services to hold the luggage like that.

I've read of people who have asked Bell Services to hold their luggage delivery until the next day (which I seem to recall was more of a thing back before they instituted the 10pm cutoff time for luggage). I also seem to recall reading of at least one or two instances where they were asked not to deliver and the bags were brought to the room anyway.

I'd say it wouldn't hurt to talk to Bell Services when you check in, I'm sure they'll try their best to make sure you're not disturbed.

-Rob

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'd say it wouldn't hurt to talk to Bell Services when you check in, I'm sure they'll try their best to make sure you're not disturbed.

Yeah we're hoping to have an answer before check-in because if they say there's nothing they can do, we'll just leave the yellow tags off and get our own bags. If the baby has a poor night's sleep on the first night, we'll be setting ourselves up for a loooong trip.

What happens if I put the Privacy placard on the door and just go to bed?

 

[MinnieM123]

I posted this in a different DME thread but it got buried and I'm still looking for an answer.

Our flight gets into Orlando around 8:00 PM. That's obviously early enough where DME will pick up our checked bags and deliver them to the room. However, our plan is to go straight to bed and get an early start the next morning and I'd be very upset if the bags are delivered at midnight (or later) because that will definitely wake my one year old. Is there a way I can ask bell services to hold the bags until the next morning rather than have them brought straight to the room that night? I'm not sure if there's an "intercept" point where bell services takes the bags from the DME people, or if the DME people are just going to come straight to the room and never get my request.

To complicate matters, we're doing a split stay and will only be at POR for one night. Even if they deliver our bags, they're going right back to bell services first thing in the morning to be sent over to Saratoga Springs for the main leg of our trip.

Paging @Rob562 . He's usually the one to answer questions like this.

As you mentioned, you could try contacting Bell Services at your hotel. However, I'm wondering if it might be easier to just pick up your luggage at the airport, and bring it with you to the Magic Express bus queue. Your luggage would ride with you on the bus. You could then retrieve it when you arrived at your hotel, and bypass the extra step of contacting Bell Services, and hoping that they don't deliver it late in the evening.

I hope everything goes well for your family, regardless of what method you decide upon. I can understand your concern about getting enough sleep, when you're travelling with a one-year-old child. Hope you have an enjoyable trip.

 

[Weather_Lady]

As you mentioned, you could try contacting Bell Services at your hotel. However, I'm wondering if it might be easier to just pick up your luggage at the airport, and bring it with you to the Magic Express bus queue. Your luggage would ride with you on the bus. You could then retrieve it when you arrived at your hotel, and bypass the extra step of contacting Bell Services, and hoping that they don't deliver it late in the evening..

I concur with this advice! If I were you Cap (may I call you Cap?), even if I had made arrangements to have Bell Services hold my bags, I'd be going to bed nervous that the bags would get misplaced somehow, or that there would be an errant knock on the door at midnight. The fear that we'd all be awakened would.... well, it would keep me awake! I think it will be better for your peace of mind (and your own convenience, should you find you need something from your bags), to get your bags at the airport yourself (or better yet, to travel carryon-only and skip baggage claim altogether) and keep them with you.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Another vote here for getting your bags yourself from baggage claim.

Also, be sure you have a backpack or day bag for when you are between resorts - your bags may not get to SSR until very late afternoon.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I concur with this advice! If I were you Cap (may I call you Cap?), even if I had made arrangements to have Bell Services hold my bags, I'd be going to bed nervous that the bags would get misplaced somehow, or that there would be an errant knock on the door at midnight. The fear that we'd all be awakened would.... well, it would keep me awake! I think it will be better for your peace of mind (and your own convenience, should you find you need something from your bags), to get your bags at the airport yourself (or better yet, to travel carryon-only and skip baggage claim altogether) and keep them with you.

Another vote here for getting your bags yourself from baggage claim.

Also, be sure you have a backpack or day bag for when you are between resorts - your bags may not get to SSR until very late afternoon.

Thanks, I think that's what we'll have to do. It's just such a pain to go down to the Southwest carousels on the "A" side and then go back up, over, and down on the "B" side.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Maybe if you get the bags yourself and bring them to POR you can leave them with Bell Services upon check-in and have them transferred over to Saratoga so they are there when you arrive in the morning?

Or maybe you can have your magical express tags printed with Saratoga as the destination? Can they do that?

 

[Rob562]

Maybe if you get the bags yourself and bring them to POR you can leave them with Bell Services upon check-in and have them transferred over to Saratoga so they are there when you arrive in the morning?

Or maybe you can have your magical express tags printed with Saratoga as the destination? Can they do that?

Well...the OP will probably get tags for Saratoga Springs as well, but they should *not* use them, since the date doesn't match the date they're actually arriving in Orlando. (That's a sure-fire way to get your bags stuck somewhere in limbo)

But, the idea of giving the bags directly to Bell Services for the transfer the evening they arrive is actually a good one. There are typically only one or two pickup times for luggage transfers, and those would've already happened by the time they arrive that evening. So the bags can just sit and wait for the first transfer pickup the next morning.

-Rob

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Well...the OP will probably get tags for Saratoga Springs as well, but they should *not* use them, since the date doesn't match the date they're actually arriving in Orlando. (That's a sure-fire way to get your bags stuck somewhere in limbo)

I don't think I'll get a second set of tags. I have one night at Riverside with inbound DME, then seven nights at Saratoga with no DME, then one night at French Quarter with outbound DME.