6AM flight and DME?

kclark9830

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
If I'll be flying out of MCO at the end of our trip on a 6AM flight, what time will DME leave? Will they even take guests that early? Any thoughts? Thank you!
 
DME operates 24 hours a day. They should leave your departure information on your door the day prior.
 
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I flew out in December and you will need to be at the front of the hotel 3 hours prior to flight. Since the luggage desk is not open at that time I believe we had to take our checked luggage with us. This was several years ago though.
 


Pick up will be 3am and you will bring your luggage with you. The driver will load it into the bottom luggage compartment.
 


And you still need to be at the bus stop, ready to go, 15 minutes before the time they give you. Even at that time of the morning buses do come early, and they won't wait.
 
You might consider the Hyatt at MCO for your last night. Somehow, paying for a Disney room you only get to use until 2:30am seems a bit of a waste, especially since you are schlepping your own bags. At the Hyatt you can stumble down the elevator at 4am and be there in plenty of time for checking bags and security. ME can take you to the airport late when you are done with your last Disney day.
 
You might consider the Hyatt at MCO for your last night. Somehow, paying for a Disney room you only get to use until 2:30am seems a bit of a waste, especially since you are schlepping your own bags. At the Hyatt you can stumble down the elevator at 4am and be there in plenty of time for checking bags and security. ME can take you to the airport late when you are done with your last Disney day.

I am seconding this, that way you don't have to get up super early at 2am to get your 6am flight, you'll already be at the aiport.
 
I flew out in December and you will need to be at the front of the hotel 3 hours prior to flight. Since the luggage desk is not open at that time I believe we had to take our checked luggage with us. This was several years ago though.

Yep this has been my experience (I'm a fan of early flights). I will say that if you do make the window for RAC with your luggage (I think it's 4 or 5 AM I can't remember) make sure you line up early. I did not anticipate that there would be quite so many other early morning fans and with the usual first start of the computer glitches the line was long and slow.
 
You might consider the Hyatt at MCO for your last night. Somehow, paying for a Disney room you only get to use until 2:30am seems a bit of a waste, especially since you are schlepping your own bags. At the Hyatt you can stumble down the elevator at 4am and be there in plenty of time for checking bags and security. ME can take you to the airport late when you are done with your last Disney day.

But keep in mind that if you do this you will be room-less at WDW past 11 am. So it works best if you have a hit the parks hard kind of day.
 
6AM flight, what time will DME leave?

1) Your DME bus/van will pick you up 3-3½ hrs before your flight time . . . 24/7.
2) DME pickup times (leave the resort times) are twice per hour, 30-minutes apart (example: 2:35am and 3:05am)
. . . each resort has a different loading time
. . . so, your time is for your particular resort and your flight time
. . . the pickup schedule is not changed for you, but is thes ame every day, so you are slotted into the schedule
3) You need to be outside the resort at the DME bus stop 15-minutes prior to your scheduled time, so there is time to load you and your luggage
4) At a Deluxe Resort and some DVC, you can cal Bell Services for luggage, otherwise you need t move the luggage yourself.
. . . arrange for luggage pickup at least 24-hrs in advance from Bell Services
. . . the Bellmen are scheduled for each room, so you might miss your time if you wait until the last minute
. . . I can remember being called 3-4 hours before a DME pickup and telling the guest that there is not enough manpower and they need t carry their own bags
. . . when I worked the Front Desk, I had to disappoint lots of folks who waited, but there was not enough time at 3:00am-4:00am to service everyone
. . . some got angry, but I could not break into another person's luggage reservation time slot
5) If you miss your bus/van, you might not get another bus FOR HOURS, and miss your flight.
. . . DME does not call your room or wait for you.
. . . DME does not check your name off any list for scheduled riders
. . . DME only picks up if someone is scheduled, so if no one is scheduled for the next ½-hr, they will not stop at that resort
. . . I have personally seen people miss their flights because they didn't make the DME time, and the next DME/van bus wasn't due for 2-3 hours
 
I am seconding this, that way you don't have to get up super early at 2am to get your 6am flight, you'll already be at the aiport.

Perfect timing for this info! We booked our vacation package before getting our flights, so we will be staying at the Hyatt on the night of 4/22/18 and flying out at 6:35 am on the 23rd. After checking out on the 22nd at 11:00, we plan a full day of rest and recovery from the weekend by hanging out at the resort pool and going to Disney Springs. We will also have Dining Plan reservations for later in the afternoon. Can we request a time to take the DME to MCO on the 22nd?
 
Can we request a time to take the DME to MCO on the 22nd?

1) Your DME pick-up time is 3-3½ hrs prior to your flight time.
2) Off course, you can always request a time on the 22nd, but Disney does not like you to stay at non-Disney hotels.
3) I have personally seen such requests denied.
4) But asking, like chicken soup, couldn't hurt.
 
Perfect timing for this info! We booked our vacation package before getting our flights, so we will be staying at the Hyatt on the night of 4/22/18 and flying out at 6:35 am on the 23rd. After checking out on the 22nd at 11:00, we plan a full day of rest and recovery from the weekend by hanging out at the resort pool and going to Disney Springs. We will also have Dining Plan reservations for later in the afternoon. Can we request a time to take the DME to MCO on the 22nd?

Just find a flight that leaves 3 hours after you’d like to leave the Disney area and put that in as your flight. Voila, they will assign you a ME for the time you want to get to the airport hotel.
 
Perfect timing for this info! We booked our vacation package before getting our flights, so we will be staying at the Hyatt on the night of 4/22/18 and flying out at 6:35 am on the 23rd. After checking out on the 22nd at 11:00, we plan a full day of rest and recovery from the weekend by hanging out at the resort pool and going to Disney Springs. We will also have Dining Plan reservations for later in the afternoon. Can we request a time to take the DME to MCO on the 22nd?
You’ll need to find a flight to match your preferred pickup time. It appears the last flight out of MCO is at 10PM, so the latest pickup time is likely 7PM. If you have dining reservations that conflict with that time, you likely need to make your own way to the Hyatt.
 
Perfect timing for this info! We booked our vacation package before getting our flights, so we will be staying at the Hyatt on the night of 4/22/18 and flying out at 6:35 am on the 23rd. After checking out on the 22nd at 11:00, we plan a full day of rest and recovery from the weekend by hanging out at the resort pool and going to Disney Springs. We will also have Dining Plan reservations for later in the afternoon. Can we request a time to take the DME to MCO on the 22nd?

Yes - you can use DME anytime during your stay doesn't have to be check in or check out day. Either call and tell the CM when you want to leave and they will assign you a bus. If you would rather do this online that is when you have to pick a "dummy flight" going anywhere that departs 3 hours after you want to leave. You can even wait until you check in and then ask a CM to set up your return.

Bell services will hold your bags for you until you depart but you will obviously have to bring them with you on the DME bus.
 
2) Off course, you can always request a time on the 22nd, but Disney does not like you to stay at non-Disney hotels.

They're checking out of their Disney hotel on the 22nd (CSR, according to her signature), and then taking DME to MCO and staying at the Hyatt there for their flight home the next morning - Disney isn't going to know or care what they do once they get to the airport.
 
Just a comment on the early morning/middle of the night DME... A few years back we had a 6am flight with a 3am pick up. We were sitting in the front row of the bus and DH noticed our driver was nodding off. He jumped up and started talking to him to keep him awake. When we got to the airport we notified someone with DME.

Very scary situation for us! Now we avoid those very early bus pickups where possible, and sit very close to the front and keep an eye on our driver.
 

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