[jimbo]

Originally Posted by CleveRocks

There are 2 different types of tags ... and they are VERY different in every way. What you received are decorative, souvenir luggage tags that are a small perk of booking a package (people who book a room-only reservation don't receive these). As you know, they are hard plastic and come with a small card that can be removed so you can write info on there.

DME luggage tags are paper. Can you picture the luggage tag that gets put on your checked bags at the airport, the one with the 3-letter airline code? A DME tag is sort of like that, only a little thinner and bright yellow. A DME tag is pre-printed with all kinds of info about you and your trip: name, resort, reservation number, barcodes, and some other stuff.

When luggage is unloaded from airplanes at MCO (Orland Int'l Airport) and goes through the bowels of the airport, a combination of airline/airport employees and Disney cast members are constantly on the lookout for any pieces of checked luggage that have a DME tag on them. These bags are pulled from the rest of the luggage ... they never make it to the baggage claim carousel. Instead, they are brought to Disney's luggage sorting facility on the grounds of the airport. There, they are sorted by resort and loaded into locked cages. The cages are loaded onto luggage delivery trucks. The trucks drop off the cages at the proper resorts, and then the resort staff deliver bags to the inside of guests' rooms. Along this entire process, the barcode of each label is scanned 5 separate times (the 5th scan occurs when the CM places your bags into your room). In addition, the delivery trucks are tracked by GPS. What all of this means to you and me is that Disney knows where your luggage is at all times.

You have to make a separate reservation to use DME ... it's free but it's not automatic. I'd advise you to call DME directly at 866-599-0951 to make sure that you have a DME reservation, because by their contract with the airport they are not permitted to accept walk-ups (you need a reservation).

After you get your DME tags, you put one on each bag that you will check with your airline. No one at your home airport and no one at your airline knows anything about these DME tags, and they don't have to. The tags are just a signal to people IN ORLANDO to pull your bags and route them to your room. But they have nothing to do with anything that happens before Orlando, and they'll be ignored before then. These tags DO NOT replace the regular airline tags that get put on each bag.

If you have any more DME questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them!

WOW that is interesting.
I might just need some more info on DME before we go next year, we have had DME twice in 2006 from the UK but the UK tour operators managed to mess it up both times.