Should I go to the airport to meet my father?

[Jimsig]

I'm going to give this a shot - it would be ideal if I could get some kind of "escort pass" for DME. Worth asking anyway Plus I do have another onsite resort reservation for my final night. So technically, I am entitled to one more round trip on DME that I will not be using.

I believe you are only entitled to the round trip during your stay. So let's say you have one reservation from Mon to Fri and the other from Fri to Tue. You get one round trip to use between Mon to Fri and a second between Fri and Tue. So your best and cheapest bet may be to take the MDE upon arrival, then back to get your dad (using up your first stay R/T), and UBER/towncar etc back to WDW with him. Then you can use DME back to the airport during your second stay. However a call to Disney explaining your situation to see if they could change it for you could not hurt, they can only say no. If you do take DME to get your dad remember DME will get you a bus around 3 hours before a flight. So instead of waiting around at the airport find a flight that will put you at the airport 30 min to an hour before your dad gets there. So if he arrives at 12 noon I'd say find a flight on an airline that arrives between 1 and 1:30p and give that flight number to DME. That way DME would pick you up around 10 or 10:30a.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

If you do take DME to get your dad remember DME will get you a bus around 3 hours before a flight. So instead of waiting around at the airport find a flight that will put you at the airport 30 min to an hour before your dad gets there. So if he arrives at 12 noon I'd say find a flight on an airline that arrives between 1 and 1:30p and give that flight number to DME. That way DME would pick you up around 10 or 10:30a.

If you are calling DME to make these arrangements, don't bother to try to find a phantom flight to give them. Just tell them what time you want to be at the airport and ask them to assign a bus pickup time approximately one hour before that time. I have done this to use DME to return to MCO to pick up a rental car when we were heading to Vero Beach after our WDW stay and rental rates for a WDW pickup and MCO return were significantly more than MCO pickup and return. The MDE person was very accommodating in setting this up.

 

[elaine amj]

Super helpful!!

I told my father we would be happy to cab over to get him. But after he heard that we would have to pay for a cab and that it would take an hour each way, he now insists he will be fine and will likely just take a cab to the resort (I will book him on DME as well and let him decide). I told him that he can change his mind at any time and we will come out to meet him. I have arranged our park plans so we can easily leave early to go to the airport.

Thanks everyone!! (Also good to know ways to hack the DME)

 

[goofy4tink]

Super helpful!!

I told my father we would be happy to cab over to get him. But after he heard that we would have to pay for a cab and that it would take an hour each way, he now insists he will be fine and will likely just take a cab to the resort (I will book him on DME as well and let him decide). I told him that he can change his mind at any time and we will come out to meet him. I have arranged our park plans so we can easily leave early to go to the airport.

Thanks everyone!! (Also good to know ways to hack the DME)

Rather than taking a cab, why not book him a town car service? If he is hesitant about you paying for it, he can take you all out for a nice dinner. Would be nice for him to be met at baggage claim and have help with his bags, and then directly out to a waiting car and off to the resort!

 

[tjmw2727]

Rather than taking a cab, why not book him a town car service? If he is hesitant about you paying for it, he can take you all out for a nice dinner. Would be nice for him to be met at baggage claim and have help with his bags, and then directly out to a waiting car and off to the resort!

Agree 100%
This is what we do for my mother in law (84) when we can't arrange for someone else in the party to arrive around the same time she does. IMHO well worth the price

The town car driver will have a sign and meet him at the bottom of the escalator just prior to the bag carousels, help with bags and drive to your resort.

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks all! My father is now insisting there is no need - he'll just hop in a cab by himself. He said to spend the money on a nice dinner for him instead! (Good thing I have brunch at Cali Grill and dinner at Le Cellier booked).