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Magical Express Bag Check?
- Thread starter BMP
- Start date
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
That's fine but I'm not sure why they'd want to. Much easier to just rent from Alamo or National and return to the Disney car care center.
NelleBelle
Well-Known Member
This is what we did this summer. When I made the reservations for ME, I only gave them the names of my mom, sons, and MIL. I requested extra luggage tags with their names on them and tagged all our luggage with them. Then DH and I rented the car and drove to the resort (we didn't want to store all our luggage in the minivan since we flew in on an early redeye and would be hanging out at the waterpark most of the day). On the way back, we took advantage of the resort airline check-in for our bags and then drove to MCO, avoiding that ridiculous 3+hr pick-up schedule (which still could have you miss your flight, depending).
DisneyJill
Well-Known Member
the bags won’t have checked airline tags on them, that’s how they’ll know they didn’t fly. that said, they should be fine to take DME to and from MCO. each disney guest is entitled to a round trip on DME. they’ll take their own bags to the DME counter just like anyone who claims their own bags would.
a heads up call to DME would never hurt.
NelleBelle
Well-Known Member
I thought you contacted DME when you "reserved" the service and gave them the names of everyone in your party who would be using the service? Or would it just be to say you aren't flying and are "self-checking" your bags?
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
He hadn't booked the plane tickets. I found out when I called to verify with him the flight numbers that we were taking, so he is not out of any money. They already made the decision to drive both ways. I don't agree with the decision, but he ultimately makes the decision for his family. I am just glad he did not cancel the trip altogether as it will be my nieces' and nephews' first visit.
Shouldigo12
Well-Known Member
Ah, my bad. For some reason I assumed that he was driving there and then planning to fly back. It's great he didn't cancel though! It should be fun for you to see the reactions of your niece and nephew.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
The luggage service and the bus service are totally separate. If you put the tags on the bags once they go through the airport they will be routed to the hotel regardless of wether you take the bus or not. Disney wouldn't even really know if you took the bus or not. As far as if this is breaking rules you have to remember the purpose of DME, it is to keep people in the resorts and discourage guests from obtaining their own transportation (rental car etc.). So yes they're not going to publicly tell people they can use their free luggage service without the bus service because they don't want people utilizing that and then picking up rental cars. That's the whole point of DME. This is a rule in the same sense as only resort guests are allowed on Disney transportation. They don't enforce that, it's just supposed to be a benefit to resort guests and they want to protect that to some degree, same kind of thing here. So in that sense you're not really breaking that spirit of the rule since you're just trying to make a reservation work. In fact you could simply decide to cancel the reservation and eat at the airport and Disney certainly wouldn't want that. I used to work in the resorts and actually used to work for the company that handles the luggage, I feel pretty confident that if you asked any CM or manager they would tell you to go ahead and do this if you want. I'm personally a big rule follower myself and would have no reservations about taking alternate transportation and using the luggage service.
DisneyJill
Well-Known Member
nickys
Premium Member
No you don’t have to be flying in. An onsite stay entitles you to use DME.
They just need to either book by calling, and give them approximate MCO arrival times on their check-in and check-out days. Or book online and put down flight numbers that arrive and depart at the same kind of time.
Shouldigo12
Well-Known Member
I mean, I suppose you could do that and they probably wouldn't have a way of verifying you didn't fly in. But it's not meant to be transportation for anyone who wants a ride to DW. It's meant specifically for people flying into the MCO airport.
nickys
Premium Member
Not according to this page on the WDW website. It’s a perk of staying onsite at a WDW owned and run resort.
I mean, if I was doing a cruise from Canaveral, I could get a taxi back to MCO and then pick up DME to get to my resort.
Shouldigo12
Well-Known Member
There's a reason they ask for flight information. I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible to use it, but it is not meant for guests who aren't flying in.Not according to this page on the WDW website. It’s a perk of staying onsite at a WDW owned and run resort.
I mean, if I was doing a cruise from Canaveral, I could get a taxi back to MCO and then pick up DME to get to my resort.
nickys
Premium Member
I agree, obviously they run DME from the airport for a reason. But if you have a reservation you can book DME straight away, without even having flight details yet. I often do, coming from the U.K. we book our DVC stay and DME together, then add the flight info later. Once I forgot to do it and no one chased me. They only need the flight info for the return flight; the front desk asked me for that when we arrived.
Nowhere does it say it is only for guests flying in. And if you phone and ask they don’t say that either. They will book it for you even if you flat out tell them you aren’t flying in. “No problem, when will you arrive at the airport?”. Just the same as if you fly in the day before and spend the night at a hotel near the airport.
On our first onsite stay, we took DME back to MCO, and then hired a car there to drive down to Miami. Had we realised we could have hired a car onsite we would have, but we already booked it at MCO. There was no problem when we told them we weren’t flying out, they just asked when we wanted to be picked up.
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. When he booked and thought he was flying, he put the same flight information as me. So, he is all ready signed up for ME and hasn't cancelled it when his plans changed. The rental was cheaper to rent to/from an airport than somewhere else. My flight is non-refundable, so that is why he is meeting me at the airport when we arrive and leaving WDW the same time as us. He told me he is catching ME anyways regardless what some may think as he paid to stay at a Disney resort like the other patrons who are riding it and his departure/destination is MCO as required.
So you’re saying that rather than invoicing Disney based on either the number of bags scanned using the Disney supplied tags or the number of confirmation numbers processed that are associated with groups of bags handled; they just do it based on the magic band ding of one guest? The travel agent who booked the reservation is named on the luggage tag as well. There are two tags made for each guest. If only one person can sign in for the whole group then they make the same amount of money if a family comes with one backpack shared for everyone or 22bags for a family of 10 it looks to me like the company handling the bags would rather have their compensation based on the amount of luggage they process.I don't care what your family/friends do. They're breaking the rules.
we signed up for the magical express upon arr... | planDisney
One important thing to keep in mind about Disney's Magical Express service is that the complimentary luggage delivery is part of the overall transportation...disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com
"One important thing to keep in mind about Disney's Magical Express service is that the complimentary luggage delivery is part of the overall transportation service. In order to take advantage of the complimentary luggage delivery, you'll need to ride the Disney's Magical Express to your Walt Disney World Resort hotel."
Walt Disney World Airport Transportation Options | Walt Disney World
Magical Express, the "free" bus transportation between Walt Disney World Resort Hotels and Orlando International Airport (MCO), was discontinued attouringplans.com
"In order to accept luggage for delivery, Disney requires that at least one person staying at WDW ride Magical Express. It does not require that everyone in the room ride ME. This means, for example, if you're a party of five (all in one room), you could have one person ride ME to their WDW hotel, with Disney moving the luggage of all five people, and the other four party members taking a cab/Uber/rental to WDW."
Now, if your family and friends were given different information by a cast member, then they didn't know any better and therefore there's nothing wrong with what they did. But the cast member gave them bad information.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
It all averages out. If the average passenger has 1.5 bags, it doesn't make a difference if you're paid $4 per bag or $6 per passenger. They know the averages when they negotiate rates.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Following up on this, just so everyone is clear. This restriction only applies to your arrival in Orlando. You're allowed to use Resort Airline Check-in regardless of whether you're using Magical Express or not.