Limo and ME questions

RedSoxandPatsfan · #1 09-22-2007, 08:34 AM

Hello, I have a few questions regarding Limo service and ME. We have a party of ten ( 5 adults and 5 childern) going down on a Friday evening in mid April '08. We will be staying at POR.

1. How long is a typical wait time to board for ME?

2. How long is average trip time to the resorts? (please list resort w/time)

3. If we decide to go with a limo service can we still use ME to take our luggage to the resort?

4. Can you use limo to resort on the way there and use ME to airport when you leave?

DLR many times
April '04 Pop Century
April '08 POR

mickey&missy · #2 09-22-2007, 10:09 AM

I've never taken magical express so I can't really completely answer your questions.

I did want to give you our experience taking a limo. We used Happy Limo, which is an intercot sponsor

, last trip and I can't say enough about them! Everyone I dealt with there was great, the drivers were great and super helpful! We had our luggage with us, so we were able to change before heading to the parks. That was really nice. It was very chilly leaving our house in NY at 5:30 am. When we arrived at MCO around 10 am it was considerable warmer! We're definitely going to use Happy Limo again next trip!

SodaPopMGK · #3 09-22-2007, 10:47 AM

I have used both ME and Happy Limo, I will always use Happy Limo! ME was fine, my family got checked in which took 10-15 minutes, got loaded on the bus about 5 minutes later and sat on the bus for about 15-20 minutes before we left. The ride back to the airport I found stressful because it seemed to take forever, we barely had time to grab something to eat before the plane and there was a child who kept changing seats and running in the aisle whose parents did nothing and the driver did nothing. Having the luggage picked up at the airport and delivered to your room is convenient, just not worth that much to us. However, having said all that I still recommend ME to anyone on a tight budget better to go to Disney than not. Happy Limo, on the other hand, is waiting for you and will help you with your luggage, they are polite and timely and I feel it is a great start to a relaxing vacation. I also feel better about leaving, there is just something really depressing to me about getting on another bus at the end of a vacation. I don't believe you can use ME for just luggage, you should be able to use a limo one way and ME the other and if I had to choose one way for a limo I would definitely choose the end of the trip. Have fun planning and I'm sure you will enjoy your trip whatever you decide.

vamaggie · #4 09-22-2007, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSoxandPatsfan

Hello, I have a few questions regarding Limo service and ME. We have a party of ten ( 5 adults and 5 childern) going down on a Friday evening in mid April '08. We will be staying at POR.

1. How long is a typical wait time to board for ME?

2. How long is average trip time to the resorts? (please list resort w/time)

3. If we decide to go with a limo service can we still use ME to take our luggage to the resort?

4. Can you use limo to resort on the way there and use ME to airport when you leave?

DLR many times
April '04 Pop Century
April '08 POR

Will try o my b est to answer yoru ?'s:

1) I don't think it takes long to board (just go to the counter, check in and they wil ltell you where to go to board) What seems to take longer is waiting for the bus to depart once you are on. I have heard everything from 5-10 mins to 30-40 mins

2) THe time to the resorts I can't answer since we have never used it from MCO

3) You CANNOT use ME to just transport your luggage if you use a limo. BUT you can have 1 (or 2) person from your party use ME while the rest use a limo and then they will take the luggage.

4) You can use ME only one way but I believe you need to reserve with ME for your return trip at least 24 hours before you depart.

SandmanGStefani24 · #5 09-22-2007, 01:12 PM

ok, never done the limo version, but I did do ME last trip.

It took us 40 minutes to get on the bus and moving. (going to pop, although the nicer resorts seemed to move quicker...) It look another 20 to get to POP, once we left the airport area. Mind you, this was mid-July so I don't think it will take you this long, but it will be a wait, nonetheless.

Gonna be renting a car next time!

CleveRocks · #6 09-22-2007, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSoxandPatsfan

1. How long is a typical wait time to board for ME?

2. How long is average trip time to the resorts? (please list resort w/time)

With DME, the average reported time from exiting the airplane to being dropped off at a resort is 70 minutes. There aren't statistics for individual resorts, because it can be different from hur to hour and day to day. There are no pre-set bus routes, no pre-set absolute groupings of resorts, so there's no way to reliably report the time to get to one specific resort or another.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSoxandPatsfan

3. If we decide to go with a limo service can we still use ME to take our luggage to the resort?

No.

Disney specifically says that you can't use DME as a luggage-only service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSoxandPatsfan

4. Can you use limo to resort on the way there and use ME to airport when you leave?

Yes.

Disney is fine with you using DME one-way, in either direction.

At the risk of further confusing you ....

On the way home, the way back to the airport, if you are flying one of the so-called "participating airlines" then you can use a service called Resort Airline Check-in. RAC is separate from DME. RAC is exactly like curbside check-in, only it's in your WDW resort's lobby. You check in for your flight, get your boarding passes, and check your luggage through to your final destination, exactly like curbide check-in. You can use RAC whether or not you ride a DME bus back to the airport. [Contrast this with arrival day, when Disney says you may not get the luggage transfer without the bus ride.]

RedSoxandPatsfan · #7 09-22-2007, 06:54 PM

Thank you all for our responses. They will be very helpful for our family to make a decision. Either way we go the bigger thing is that we will be together in WDW in April. Thanks again.

scootch713 · #8 09-22-2007, 07:59 PM

We have always stayed at a deluxe and I have never waited more than 10 min for the ME bus. The trip to the resort is about 20-30 min(no matter if you take bus or limo) ditto, question 3 is a no... question 4 is a yes. You might want to go with option 4.... as ME picks you up at the hotel THREE Hours before your flight home... where as a limo will pick you up TWO hours before.... but... a benefit of ME going home is you can check your luggage and get your boarding passes for many airlines right at your hotel... so when you get to the airport, you are bagless.