Baggage Help and Magical Express

Last year my daughter and I took a week long trip to WDW using the Magical Express. We stayed at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Riverside</st1:place></st1:City> and our bags were brought to our room for us and everything was great. However, on the day we had to leave we had a big problem getting our luggage back over to the Magical Express check in by ourselves. She was only 6 and unable to carry much and I couldn’t handle our entire luggage. SO I was basically losing it trying to drag everything, yelling at my daughter for not helping enough and acting like a maniac:dizzy: because I was upset. My daughter was crying because I was acting like a raging idiot and finally a stranger helped us. I fell so badly about how it all went down; it was an awful end to a great trip. I didn’t even think about getting the luggage to the magical express check in until that day and hadn’t planned ahead. I still feel bad about this episode.
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So that brings me to this year, we are going again on Friday for 10 days and using the Magical Express and are staying at POP Century. I know that our bags will be brought to our room by Magical Express, however what should we do when we leave? I don’t think that Pop Century offers help with baggage or do they? Is there a way to request help in advance? If so how do I go about requesting help? Thanks, Jennifer

Pop Century and the other Value resorts have something called Luggage Assistance. You have to make a reservation for it. Just do it the day before you check-out (make the reservation, that is). Your luggage will be picked up from your room. If you are flying on a "participating airline" and plan to use Resort Airline Check-in, keep in mind that they can't accept luggage any later than 3 hours prior to your flight time, but they CAN accept it up to 12 hurs in advance. If you are using RAC, I advise you to dispose of your checked luggage ASAP so you don't encounter any delays, and then just use your carry-on for anything else you need that day. If you aren't using RAC, you can have Pop store your luggage for you -- just get it back before your DME bus arrives.

POR and the rest of the Moderate resorts (as well as the Deluxe resorts) have something called Bell Services. At those resorts, you just call them and they come to handle your luggage for you.

do the value resorts offer that too if drive.. last year they packed them up.. but didnt have someone to help pack down but it wasnt a big deal because their was a 11us and 4 big men to pack it all...LOL

but this year its just hubby me and my 2 year old.. so will they pack it down for us

I don't know about now but 3 years ago when we were at Pop Century I went down and got a luggage cart. I gave them my driver's license, went up and got my luggage and brought it all back down. If I remember correctly, they asked how long I needed it. I told them the luggage was ready to go. I just needed to load it up and bring it down. If it helps I understand your frustration with the luggage. Our trip 3 years ago was my first single mom trip and toting the luggage through the airport was the only issue we had and really stressed me out. This was before Magical Express.

We used magical express in March for the first time and it was great. We didn't have RAC so we did have to drag our own bags down to the bus stop. The bell services or luggage assistance will help with most things you need help with, just appreciate the effort with a tip and if they are very helpful give them a little extra. Am I the only one that tipped the bus driver on magical express on the way back to the airport?

Good posts!

I was set to use DME last Dec. for Mousefest but had to cancel my trip literally at the last minute :no: I am all set to use DME for Memorial Day weekend to see F&G Show. I'm staying at CBR and land at MCO at 12:40 p.m. I need more than a carryon because I want to have room to pack and bring home everything I want to purchase that weekend.

Can you help relieve my fears that my DME will not get my bags to my room before the next morning? I plan to bring a carryon with clothes for the next morning just in case but I know there are some personal grooming items that I cannot take on the plane.

Just 6 days to go and I'm wondering if I should stick with DME or go with Quicksilver Town Car since it is such a quick trip. I'll be meeting up with a friend Saturday morning who will give me a ride back to MCO on Monday night.

What would you do?

Thanks in advance for your response.

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Originally Posted by Love That Duck

Good posts!

I was set to use DME last Dec. for Mousefest but had to cancel my trip literally at the last minute :no: I am all set to use DME for Memorial Day weekend to see F&G Show. I'm staying at CBR and land at MCO at 12:40 p.m. I need more than a carryon because I want to have room to pack and bring home everything I want to purchase that weekend.

Can you help relieve my fears that my DME will not get my bags to my room before the next morning? I plan to bring a carryon with clothes for the next morning just in case but I know there are some personal grooming items that I cannot take on the plane.

Just 6 days to go and I'm wondering if I should stick with DME or go with Quicksilver Town Car since it is such a quick trip. I'll be meeting up with a friend Saturday morning who will give me a ride back to MCO on Monday night.

What would you do?

Thanks in advance for your response.

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I don't even know what you're afraid of.

You want reassurance that your bags will be in your room before you go to bed? Seriously, where have you read that it's taking bags 12 hours to get to rooms??? You're worrying about things that aren't happening.

DME has been around for over 2 years now. At least 4 MILLION people have used it. If there were massive problems with it, you'd be reading and hearing thousands of horror stories. Instead, we read mostly posts like yours, people expressing fear of using it. It's become something like an urban legend that DME can't be trusted, and that's about as accurate as other urban legends.

DME launched May 5, 2005 to coincide with the beginning of the Happiest Celebration on Earth. It was supposed to end when that Celebration ended, in the Fall of 2006. However, DME was so wildly popular with guests AND with Disney suits that in April of 2006 it was officially extended through the end of 2011. If it weren't so efficient and successful and popular, they wouldn't have kept it around for another 5 years!!!

You are worrying about nothing. And if you continue to worry, you can decide to delay yourself and claim your own bags at baggage claim and then bring them to the DME bus.

Car services are a good option if you don't mind paying extra money and if you desire personalized, private service. But if you're just looking for efficient transportation and don't care about having a "private" ride, then why spend the money??? Disney knows how to run things well and how to keep their guests happy. They've been doing it in Central Florida since 1971 and they've done it agan with DME.

I forgot to add my own two very positve DME experiences.

The first time was back when DME was only 4 days old, in May of 2005. From airplane to CBR in 63 minutes (I began timing when I stepped off the airplane, so that 63 minutes includes walking through the airport, etc.). I timed it because I was the first person from another message board to use DME, so I took careful notes to report back on every detail. Our bags arrived in our room somewhere about 3 or 4 hours after we arrived at CBR. We don't know exactly when because we weren't in our room ... we were in the pool with our kids, enjoying the start of our vacation. We packed our immediate needs in our carry-ons, so it's not like we needed to wait for our luggage to explore the resort, have lunch, and then have a swim.

The next time was November of 2006. We arrived late on a Saturday night. From airplane to POFQ in 56 minutes; landed around 10 p.m., at POFQ by about 11 p.m. I had planned to ask at POFQ to have our DME luggage held 'til the next morning so we didn't get woken up in the middle of the night. BUT, I forgot to make that request. At 1:16 a.m., our phone rang ... it was Bell Services asking if we wanted our luggage right now or in the morning. We had them hold it for us. I have that image of the alarm clock reading "1:16 a.m." seared into my brain. The good news is that I don't recall seeing it read 1:17, so I guess I fell right back asleep. Anyway, the point is that our luggage was ready for us about 2.25 hours after we arrived at our resort, which is ahead of the 3 hours that Disney says to expect.

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Originally Posted by CleveRocks

I forgot to add my own two very positve DME experiences.

The first time was back when DME was only 4 days old, in May of 2005. From airplane to CBR in 63 minutes (I began timing when I stepped off the airplane, so that 63 minutes includes walking through the airport, etc.). I timed it because I was the first person from another message board to use DME, so I took careful notes to report back on every detail. Our bags arrived in our room somewhere about 3 or 4 hours after we arrived at CBR. We don't know exactly when because we weren't in our room ... we were in the pool with our kids, enjoying the start of our vacation. We packed our immediate needs in our carry-ons, so it's not like we needed to wait for our luggage to explore the resort, have lunch, and then have a swim.

The next time was November of 2006. We arrived late on a Saturday night. From airplane to POFQ in 56 minutes; landed around 10 p.m., at POFQ by about 11 p.m. I had planned to ask at POFQ to have our DME luggage held 'til the next morning so we didn't get woken up in the middle of the night. BUT, I forgot to make that request. At 1:16 a.m., our phone rang ... it was Bell Services asking if we wanted our luggage right now or in the morning. We had them hold it for us. I have that image of the alarm clock reading "1:16 a.m." seared into my brain. The good news is that I don't recall seeing it read 1:17, so I guess I fell right back asleep. Anyway, the point is that our luggage was ready for us about 2.25 hours after we arrived at our resort, which is ahead of the 3 hours that Disney says to expect.

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CleveRocks, thanks so much for both of your posts! They did the trick! I have truly lost all apprehension and I'm ready to go DME! I have read a lot about long delayed baggage delivery but definitely not on this forum. I'm actually looking forward to the "no need to stop at baggage claim" perk with DME so I'm getting off my plane and heading straight to DME:hurray: .

Thanks again, CleveRocks!

6 days to F&G Show!:mickeykid

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Originally Posted by Love That Duck

CleveRocks, thanks so much for both of your posts! They did the trick! I have truly lost all apprehension and I'm ready to go DME! I have read a lot about long delayed baggage delivery but definitely not on this forum. I'm actually looking forward to the "no need to stop at baggage claim" perk with DME so I'm getting off my plane and heading straight to DME:hurray: .

Thanks again, CleveRocks!

6 days to F&G Show!:mickeykid

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Very happy to help!

One of the reasons you've read a lot of "delay" stories has to do with the nature of message boards and of human beings in general. Think about TV news. There are never stories about how things went normally, only stories about fires and crimes and accidents, with maybe a feel-good human interest story thrown in after the weather and sports.

Message boards are the same way. Think about it ... you never see threads with titles like:

• Mousekeeping cleaned my room to my satisfaction every day.

• Space Mountain didn't break down today.

• The sign said the stand-by wait was 40 minutes, and we waited in line for about 40 minutes.

• We ate at a lot of WDW restaurants and never once got food poisoning.

No one thinks to start threads about things going according to plan, because it is expected that things go according to plan, and thus it's not newsworthy. I read a lot of threads about dissatisfaction with Mousekeeping, for example, but I know that those are just a few complaints among the literally millions of guests who had adequately cleaned rooms, so I don't let those few stories scare me. Same with DME stories. None of us thinks to start threads about how GOOD it is, because that's the normal state ... it's only when there are problems that we think to write about it, and then it's only AFTER that that people like me come out and share our normal positive experiences.

I'm happy to save you money and bother. I'll be expecting my 10% commission in the mail any time now ....:scratchin

CleveRocks, you make a very valid and most overlooked point. Oh, how many negative reports have I read about CBR but I love CBR, have stayed there 6 times since 2001, and I'm going back in 6 days for F&G and 10 nights for MouseFest!

Hmmm, not sure I can swing the 10%:scratchin but tell you what, I'll definitely post my POSITIVE report about DME when I return! :yahoo:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Love That Duck

CleveRocks, you make a very valid and most overlooked point. Oh, how many negative reports have I read about CBR but I love CBR, have stayed there 6 times since 2001, and I'm going back in 6 days for F&G and 10 nights for MouseFest!

Hmmm, not sure I can swing the 10%:scratchin but tell you what, I'll definitely post my POSITIVE report about DME when I return! :yahoo:

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You drive a hard bargain ... okay, DEAL!

I'll add my two cents. DME is great. If your airline participates, even better when departing your resort. I've never had a problem. Southwest still does not partake in DME yet, but I've found the CM's at the resort are more than willing to help you if you're bogged down with luggage. I have a carry on that goes down almost empty but goes home full of souvenirs. I just stayed at CS for the second time. Large resort. They have big golf carts always running through the resort. They always ask if you need a ride. Remember when luggage didn't have wheels?