Flying in late - DME

[azdisneymom]

DD and I are landing at MCO somewhere around 11:30 pm. We have never used DME and I have a few questions:

Do we have to make special, late arrive arrangements?

Will there be many stops before we get to our hotel that time of night? (Staying at AKL)

About how long will the entire process take from DME check in to hotel arrival?

I think we will stop by baggage claim first so we don't have to wait hours for luggage once we arrive at the hotel. Any other advice from those who have been in this situation would be greatly appreciated.

[Strmchsr]

No special arrangements need to be made. DME operates around the clock.

As for how many stops to AKL...don't know. It depends on how many others are with you going to other resorts on that bus's route.

Length of time...well, if you don't get your own luggage I've heard anywhere from 75-120 min from landing to check in. That includes your walk to the DME desk from your terminal.

That late at night I would strongly recommend you pack your overnight stuff in a carry on and not worry about going to baggage claim. It's going to be late and you're going to want to get to bed ASAP to hit the parks the next day. The last thing you need is potentially waiting 30-45 min at baggage claim for your bags when you could be on the bus on the way to your resort. You can let the desk know when you check in to not deliver your luggage until the morning so that you're not disturbed. Then you're set the next day!

[MickeyMomof2]

I would also strongly suggest getting your own bags. We had to wait several hours for ours, and you don't want to do that with a late arrival.

[disneymom15]

Yes, I agree, do a carry on with your necessities for the night.

[CanadianWDWFan]

We arrived at the same time you are and had no problems with DME what so ever. We were at the resort (POFQ) check in an hour from the time we stepped off the plane. We had DME transport our bags since we didn't want to get them late at night and the fact we we carrying a stroller and stuff for one of our sons.

When we checked in we asked that our bags be held until the morning.

[CleveRocks]

The later the arrival, the stronger I recommend NOT getting your own bags. Let DME handle your luggage.

WHY?

You'll be tired. You've had a long day. Why voluntarily delay yourself by having to wait around baggage claim???

The person who complained about "waiting hours" for their luggage ... if they read the materials, they'd see that Disney tells them not to expect the luggage until about 3 hours AFTER arriving at the resort.

In the case of late night arrivals, I suggest that you pack your carry-ons for your bedtime and morning needs. When you get to your resort, ask at the front desk AND with Bell Services to have your DME luggage held 'til morning, so you don't get a knock on your door at 3:00 a.m.

The average time from walking off the airplane to walking off the bus at your resort is 70 minutes.

In about 2 hours from the time I'm posting this, it will be DME's 3rd birthday. They've been doing it for 3 years now. They're very good at it.

[rnin02]

When we went on our honeymoon, we arrived at MCO at about that same time, maybe even a little later. DME already knew our arrival time (you give them that info when you sign up) so we didn't have to make any special arrangements. We did go to baggage claim first, really, by the time you get over to baggage claim, you only have to wait a few mins before the luggage is spitting out. And totally worth it to have all your stuff from the minute you hit your room that late at night, no need to worry about carry on restrictions when packing and such. We were the only ones on the bus to AKL, left very quickly, and I think we were there within an hour or so of our plane landing. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure of how long it took, but its always been very fast, even when we are on a crowded bus during the day, and I know this time it was super fast. And checking in at AKL was a breeze, they had things pretty much ready for us, I don't know if its because our reservation said "honeymoon" on it or if they were just getting kind of bored sitting at a desk at midnight. Have fun!

[MickeyMomof2]

I wasn't trying to "complain about 'waiting hours'"; I was just sharing our experience. I thoroughly read the ME information, and we made the choice, based on our arrival time, that we would be fine waiting for our bags (and we did wait more than three hours). However, if we had been arriving at 11:30 PM, we would have chosen to pick up our own bags.

I think the Magical Express is wonderful, and we plan to use it a lot. I just wanted to be helpful and suggest that if you are arriving late and want your bags without a wait, it might be good to pick them up yourself.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Everyone has their reasons for getting their luggage or not that work for them. What we really liked about the whole DME experience was the fact that we didn't have to go and get our bags and drag them around the airport. We had a complete change of clothes for the next day in our carryon as well as what we needed for the first night.

If anyone is concerened about carry on rules, all you have to do is spread all the liquids and gels among everyone in your party.

Next time we do DME, we will definitely get them to transport our bags regardless of what time we arrive at. Just by having one less thing to carry and worry about sure made the whole airport experience better.