Too Late To Sign Up For DME?

[andypooh]

We had a poor experience using DME in 2002 and have not used it since. It seems the overwhelming majority of people here think it is now a very good service.

We are leaving in 7 days. We are staying at the BWV. We rented points through a DVC member.

My questions are is it too late to request DME service at this point and if not then would we have to do it through the person we rented from or could I do it for our party?

Thanks.

:mickey:

[teambricker04]

No, its not too late! We did it last year and we booked everything the day before. The only thing... we had to pick up our own bags, but it wan't that big of a deal. Just call DME and ask the details.

We LOVE DME... and have not had a bad experience with it!!

[kakn7294]

You can definately still book DME but you probably won't get a packet or luggage tags at this point unless you are lucky enough to get a CM who will overnight the packet to you. I'm not sure what happens when you don't get the tags. I've heard some say that you have to pick up your bags yourself (like the poster above) but when my parents didn't get their tags, they were told that they could just present their baggage claim tickets at the DME counter and DME personal would still pick up the bags. We didn't have to find out though because they had their package overnighted and it arrived in plenty of time. We've also had positive experiences with DME twice. Good luck to you! Have a great trip!

[teambricker04]

You can definately still book DME but you probably won't get a packet or luggage tags at this point unless you are lucky enough to get a CM who will overnight the packet to you. I'm not sure what happens when you don't get the tags. I've heard some say that you have to pick up your bags yourself (like the poster above) but when my parents didn't get their tags, they were told that they could just present their baggage claim tickets at the DME counter and DME personal would still pick up the bags. We didn't have to find out though because they had their package overnighted and it arrived in plenty of time. We've also had positive experiences with DME twice. Good luck to you! Have a great trip!


Some one else said this in another post about using your baggage claim, but did they reserve it in more than 10 days? We were told to pick them up ourselves.

[LibertyTreeGal]

Call immediately and find out :)

[Ian]

Just FYI, you can use DME without ever making a reservation.

I showed up at the airport last year with DD and I thinking we'd just grab a taxi from the airport to our hotel.

But I just stopped on a whim to ask the DME people if, since I was staying at POFQ, could I take DME?

They said sure ... hop on board! Now, of course, we had to deal with our own bags, but they let us on the bus with no hassle at all.

[teambricker04]

Just FYI, you can use DME without ever making a reservation.

I showed up at the airport last year with DD and I thinking we'd just grab a taxi from the airport to our hotel.

But I just stopped on a whim to ask the DME people if, since I was staying at POFQ, could I take DME?

They said sure ... hop on board! Now, of course, we had to deal with our own bags, but they let us on the bus with no hassle at all.
Oooh. Good to know!

[garymacd]

Wish I had known that last May. My beloved and I arrived on separate flights on separate days and took a taxi from MCO to WL. I didn't want to use DME beacuse of the different arrival times. Guess I should have tried that.

[Piglet822]

We had a poor experience using DME in 2002

DME was not operational in 2002 - it did not start until May 5, 2005. I think your bad experience might have been with the Mears shuttle.

I think Ian got lucky not having a ressie - You do need a ressie to board DME at the airport. You may still be able to ride the DME bus but you will be charged the regular Mears fare. According to the contract that Disney has with MCO they cannot take walkups - this is due to the many towncar companies and taxis that complained how DME was taking business away from them.

Here's a form I found on the Disney website and here's their toll free number: (866) 599-0951
DME Reservation Form (https://secure.disney.go.com/dwm/dma/dmeform)

[CleveRocks]

We had a poor experience using DME in 2002 and have not used it since. It seems the overwhelming majority of people here think it is now a very good service.
Since DME launched on May 5, 2005, you couldn't possibly have used DME back then. You may have had a bad experience, but it wasn't with DME.

Before that, if you took a bus to WDW it was probably a Mears bus. Mears is currently the subcontractor that provides the drivers and buses for DME, but Disney makes all the decisions, Disney sets all the policies and procedures.

Think of DME this way: Mears is the muscle but Disney is the brains.

EDITED TO ADD: Oops, now I see that Piglet beat me to it. Sorry to pile on.

[CleveRocks]

Just FYI, you can use DME without ever making a reservation.

I showed up at the airport last year with DD and I thinking we'd just grab a taxi from the airport to our hotel.

But I just stopped on a whim to ask the DME people if, since I was staying at POFQ, could I take DME?

They said sure ... hop on board! Now, of course, we had to deal with our own bags, but they let us on the bus with no hassle at all.There was big controversy about that kind of stuff. In April 2006, it was solidified in the renewed contract with GOAA (the airport authority) that DME walk-ups are strictly prohibited. This was done at the insistence of the existing ground transportation industry, who believed that it was unfair competition for Disney to solicit business (away from the car services) on the airport site itself. In other words, the car service industry successfully argued that it was unfair to make someone, at the airport with no plans, decide between paying for a ride or taking a free ride.

So if you were able to do a DME walk-up at any time after April 2006, the CMs who helped you do it were in violation of Disney's contract with GOAA, which runs through the end of 2011. They and Disney would be in big trouble if they were caught doing this after that time.

With this information in mind, I want to make sure everybody knows that you DO, in fact, need advance reservations to use DME from the airport to your WDW resort. I'd hate for someone to read that they can just walk up without a reservation, be denied a ride, and then be angry with Intercot.