Has anyone done this?

[TheMartellFamily]

Question here for posters. I was wondering if I was to fly in at a later date than the rest of my family that drove, can I still use ME to get to hotel and bring my luggage. Or do I need to bring my luggage with me and not but on the ME tags and use a taxi instead of the bus? I may have to work a few days and miss the first couple when the rest of my family has driven down to WDW. That means I will have to fly later in the week. We are just trying to figure it out. Thanks for your help.

[Piglet822]

You should not have a problem using DME even though you are arriving at a later date. You will need your voucher to board the bus at the airport but if you forget it you should be able to get one from the DME counter when you check in.
I'm not entirely sure about the luggage situation - whether you can use the yellow tags that are sent with the rest of the family's or if you'll get separate ones. If nothing else, you can just describe your luggage to the Disney rep, give them your claim ticket, and have them take care of it for you.

[TammiMcMan]

You can definitely work with DME, they make that process pretty easy. If you're booking a package though, that may be more of a challenge. If you aren't staying the same number of days, then you'd be considered a room only reservation. Not sure if that part of the plan will impact your vacation.

[Figaro0826]

I heard because of Security reasons, you have to be with your baggage.

[CleveRocks]

I heard because of Security reasons, you have to be with your baggage.
You heard a very uninformed rumor that defies the reality of the situation. DME was designed for the DME luggage to go on delivery trucks, not in the buses that people go on. The way DME is designed, once you check your luggage at your home airport, you don't see it again until it's inside your resort room. Therefore, there can't possibly be a security risk in someone's luggage being transported to the resort without them ... it's SUPPOSED TO BE transported to the resort without the person!

Let me guarantee the OP that you can 100% use DME the way you want, bus and luggage delivery and everything.

DME does not have to be a group affair. As a named guest on the resort reservation, each person is entitled to a ride from MCO to his/her resort (AND the automatic luggage delivery) on or after the check-in date, and each person is entitled to a ride from his/her resort to MCO on or before the check-out date. It doesn't have to be done by the entire party all at the same time.

In other words, you could have a party of 4, one of whom drives in on Sunday, one of whom flies in from Cleveland on Sunday, one of whom flies in from Chicago on Tuesday and one of whom flies in from Seattle on Wednesday. Each guest is entitled to the full DME treatment (of course, the one who drove in wouldn't need it). The reservation process for this gets a little complicated, but it's totally normal ... trust me, they deal with this every day.

This is fact, not my opinion. I am 100% certain of this.

Go ahead and make your DME reservation.

Because this is a somewhat complicated situation, I strongly advise you to deal with DME directly and not with the Disney Reservation Center. DME CMs will understand, but the central reservations CMs probably will not understand.

However, DME won't even have access to your reservation info until 60 days prior to your trip. Wait 'til that 60 day mark, and then call DME directly at 866-599-0951.

I promise you, this will work out exactly as you hoped. :thumbsup:

[Fangorn]

Just to add something to what CleveRocks said.

Last September we decided to rent a car and so we didn't use DME. Four days into the trip, I got a call from my office that I needed to go to Baltimore the next day. Rather than have my wife take me to MCO at 4am, I called the DME number and explained the situation. The DME CM was very helpful, found nothing unique about my request and set me up to be picked up the next morning at 3:55am, and to be brought back to my hotel the next evening.

They didn't care when, or even in which order, I used my trips to and from the airport, as long as I was a resort guest and the trips were within the resort stay. The DME CM was great.

The only real problem was with the resort. The DME CM told me to go to the concierge desk at the hotel and get a voucher for the DME trip to the airport. The resort CM had a seriously hard time understanding what I was asking for and why. Several resort CMs got involved and no one could figure out what was going on. Finally, a manager was called and said that if DME said to do it, just give me the voucher.

(To be fair to the resort CMs, the have to account for every voucher they issue, and they have to log the details. This request was strange to them and they didn't really know how to log it.)

I had no problem getting back to the hotel the next night. I just checked in at the airport and got on the bus.

So, moral of the story: DME is very flexible and will work with you to get everybody where they're supposed to be. BUT - as CleveRocks said, you need to talk to DME directly if you have something a bit out of the norm.

Steve

[Piglet822]

The only real problem was with the resort. The DME CM told me to go to the concierge desk at the hotel and get a voucher for the DME trip to the airport. The resort CM had a seriously hard time understanding what I was asking for and why. Several resort CMs got involved and no one could figure out what was going on. Finally, a manager was called and said that if DME said to do it, just give me the voucher.

As a former DME bus driver I have heard this more times than I care to remember. I find it hard to believe that Disney still doesn't have the full facts about DME.
If this happens to anyone else and you need a replacement voucher, they can usually be gotten at the bellstand right outside the hotel (or luggage room for some resorts). The drivers are also supposed to carry them as well.