VI don’t get an itinerary email since I book through DVC. But at least that confirms the info is there somewhere, if it’s added.
I know you said you book through a TA. I wonder if TAs book DME via Disney or direct?
I know the vast majority of guests will probably book DME through Disney. I’m just interested if the reason Disney liked people to do that is so that they get that arrival time info.
And I don’t think I’m going to find out for sure either! 
As far as I know, everyone books DME the same way - through DME.
But I do know I have done online check in before I have booked fights and selected a very early arrival knowing I was going to book flights with a very early arrival (I like to get online check in over with early) and then found it overridden with “Disney’s Magical Express” once I have flights booked and submitted. (Had to change the card attached so I needed to go back in there.)
So I am pretty sure that once you have DME booked it automatically goes into MDE.
Yes. We can do it either way. At the time of the booking or separately
Most people book it through Disney. If you call the number given on the Disney site, it’s a Disney number.
Booking direct with DME using the form or direct number goes directly to Mears and is something Disney doesn’t really advertise to guests. Even DVC members are asked to use chat or email to book.
But to clarify, I’m wasn’t doubting that DME is added as the arrival method. What I wasn’t sure about is if Disney gets told the flight info from them. For two reasons:
whenever we have checked in at the front desk, which we have to anyway to collect Magic bands / cards, we are always asked about our return flight time. So I don’t know if that’s to confirm the info, in which case I would have expected a “has your return flight been changed” type question, or to actually take that information.
when our return flight time was changed, on our last trip, we had to speak to the front desk about it. The flight number was the same, just the actual departure time had changed. Maybe DME don’t track the flights though once the times are in the system.
I can definitely vouch that the systems talk to each other.
I added DME to my TA benefit trip after the fact and used the DME direct link to book it once I had my flights. Which was like 2 months after I booked the room. It still shows as “Magical Express Transportation” in the arrival time on MDE.
Thanks, that’s useful because you booked direct with DME,
I was interested in whether they also had your actual flight times, only because my experience is they didn’t in our case.
I am curious why are we beating this dead horse that will be even more dead in just a little more than5 months time?
Yes, they ask to verify the flight because people change their flights and don’t think to tell OR the airline changes the flights and people either don’t think to tell them OR don’t realize that their flight has changed. I’d guess that is why the front desk wanted to talk to you in your number 2 there - to make sure that YOU were aware that the flight had changed.
But you also fly international, which might be a factor.
No, when I checked in to our flight home the flight time had changed. That was 72 hours ahead. So I went to the front desk and told them. They did not have the updated flight time.
Because …… I wondered initially whether or not it really affected getting your room request.
My experience suggested it wouldn’t, because they didn’t seem to have our flight times on the system when we checked in.
You’re right, it doesn’t matter now. But then since when was that a criteria for a TP discussion? 
I booked DME through my DVC dashboard for my last trip I could not change the Magical Express as my arrival time. My second part of my stay I had put in DME for the trip to the resort only- It had Magical Express for that stay too. What really annoyed me is that it defaulted my arrival times as midnight. I knew that because of the text Disney sent me the day before check in for both resorts telling me my arrival time was set as 11:59pm.
My text:
FYI- you cannot edit that field in online check in
It seems that even if they didn’t know your arrival time, they know whether or not they’ve given you a room number, and whether or not you’ve entered the room.
It would seem that if the hotel was fairly filled, they’d hold off on actually giving you your room number, even if you were penciled in for a room. At least until they either knew you were on the DME or were at the front desk.
If they have plenty of availability to move around the complainers, then it would make sense to go ahead and send out the room numbers.
When my AKL CL room got messed up the person the investigated what happened told me that someone that arrived earlier requested to be moved from the room. The room assigner missed the fact that we were three adults being moved into the room. Often my son and I would be given king rooms that would need to be changed (they thought it was a married couple).
Of course the family that got my AKL CL room must have been thrilled.
I have consistently gotten my “room ready or room not ready text” within minutes of checking in to the Magical Express whether it was an early AM flight or an evening flight. Maybe that’s the “magical” part of Disney’s Magical Express.
We’ve not been asked anything about our return flights.
You’re lucky.
I’m about 25%/75% for getting it vs. not with an early morning DME. More often NOT getting it.
For the morning ones, they were usually “your room is not ready” texts but at least I got that. Its like they know I’m there. We had a flight that left at 7PM once and I was hoping I’d get my room text before we took off since it was after check in time but didn’t get it until I had tapped my magic band at the DME desk.
Oh THOSE I’ve gotten. I thought you meant you got your room number every time that early. Sorry I misunderstood!
So what if you registered for DME with a fairly early arrival, like 9am, ask for first availability on online check in but never end up using DME. I’m leaning towards using Lyft from MCO for my young solo trip to get to CSR as soon as possible so I can get started as early as possible. Will not scanning in at DME mess things up?
