ME - which airlines?

[linanglab]

Okay....Bethany (DD7) and I will be hopefully flying to WDW in July. (May have to drive, depending on cost). I am interested in ME. Which airlines participate? This will help me decide whether I will fly or not. I am not going to rent a vehicle because I am not very direction savvy. I have never used any sort of WDW transportation, so this is VERY new to me. We have always rented vehicles (DH insists). I was reading Hedy's TR and it got me starting to think about this aspect of our trip. She also mentioned that ME was a bit difficult to find.

[bs4free]

No matter what airline you fly you can use Disneys ME to get from the Airport to your disney resort and will have your bags deliverd to your room, now only At this time, remote check-in service is only available for guests flying domestically on the following airlines: American, Continental, jetBlue, Delta, Alaska, Northwest, and United (including Ted), that means you can check in for your return filght and have your bags checked as well, if not then you can carry your bags on ME and check in at the airport you have more then enough time... Hope this has helped, btw I really really like Disney Magic Express

[Mom2aPrincess]

We used ME when we went in 2006 and we're using it when we leave Tuesday! I didn't think it was that difficult to find the ME desks at the airport at all. I just stopped and asked directions as soon as we got off the plane and found it with no problem.

As far as arriving, you can fly on ANY airline and ride the ME to your airport. We are flying in Southwest.

You can also take ME back to your airport at the end of your trip no matter what airline you use. The "participating airlines" refers to being able to check in from the disney hotels and they'll take your luggage and get it to the airport for you. If you do not use one of the "participating airlines" you will be responsible for taking your luggage on the bus, unloading it, and then checking it yourself at the airport.

Participating Airlines are: AirTran, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta/Song, JetBlue, Northwest, United/Ted and USAirways

We went in 2006 and it was just me and my dd(then5), and we're going this week with just me and DDs 7 and 16. I think ME is great personally. It's not perfect, but it makes life so much less stressful!

[Hedy]

If booking on a participating airline isn't a huge cost deal, I'd do it. Checking in, then enjoying your day is sooo great!
The DME desk isn't hard to find, I just found it further than it was in 06.

[bs4free]

But a word of advice get to the airline check in desk as soon as you can depending on what resort your at i know in september we were at movies and it took almost an hour to get through the line and we were the luck ones as the desk closed 15 minutes latter and all the rest in line were very upset... but we were flying out on a busy saturday, but just wanted to share...

[linanglab]

Thanks guys. I get a bit nervous, knowing that I am the ONLY adult in our little group. I don't want to get lost or get flustered for not finding ME, etc. I stress about things like that, especially since I have not used it before. I feel a little better knowing that I can use any airline, however, I like the fact that if I choose a participating airline, I won't have to worry about my luggage as much!

[Mom2aPrincess]

Thanks guys. I get a bit nervous, knowing that I am the ONLY adult in our little group. I don't want to get lost or get flustered for not finding ME, etc. I stress about things like that, especially since I have not used it before. I feel a little better knowing that I can use any airline, however, I like the fact that if I choose a participating airline, I won't have to worry about my luggage as much!

It really wasn't that difficult. I found everyone really helpful too. I was really nervous about being the adult too, but found that I was much more comfortable using ME than trying to rent a car and get myself around! That would really stress me out, I think.

I love using the participating airline too. I paid an extra $30 for our return flights tickets ($10 each) to have the participating airline. Not having to handle the luggage is SO worth that to me. It was really nice to just get off the bus and head to the plane without worrying about luggage!

[Debbie Jean]

If booking on a participating airline isn't a huge cost deal, I'd do it. Checking in, then enjoying your day is sooo great!
The DME desk isn't hard to find, I just found it further than it was in 06.

I totally agree with this! I soooooo love checking my luggage in at Newark and not having to worry about it the rest of the trip.

My cases have always shown up in my room within 2 hours of my arrival at the resort. You should, however, pack anything you need immediate access to in a carry on bag... just in case!

If you book ME you will get directions in your packet to the location of the check in desk at MCO. Honestly at that point, all roads lead to Disney and anyone in the building can give you directions.

[wilsonfamily4]

I will use it again and I did find it hard to find.
It was so easy. Put your tags on your luggage before you leave. Then when you get to the airport you go to the check in for ME. I found it hard because they said it is where the rental cars are. Well I have never been to the airport so after we found that it was a long walk down that hall and no one said that. You start to wonder if you have missed it or something. Plus we had two cranky children with our carryons and strollers after being on a plane for 8 hours, it was just one of those things. But really that was the only thing. Once we were in line we were on a bus in minutes and then our bus left within 10 minutes. So easy. Our bags came later to our resort, but in a nice timely manner.

When we left we were on a participating airline, meaning we could check our luggage at the hotel and not see it again until we were back at our home airport! So nice. I would check into the hotels airline place early. I was in line for 2 hours!!!!! no kidding. I was getting nervous about getting our luggage checked in on time. They said there was a lot of people checking out that day and a lot of people were having major problems taking a lot of time up. Next time I will go as soon as they open. But again it was farily easy. Then we got on our ME bus and took off to the airport with just our carry ons. So nice. ME is great.

[JillyFish]

I have an ME question too! If you are not flying on a "participating airline" will your resort hold your luggage for you after you check out until your ME bus leaves? (Does that makes sense?)