Everthing you wanted to know about Uber/Lyft at WDW

[Lewisc]

I'll walk to walgreens and uber back.
I didn't know if $10 cash tip is enough $$ to compensate the driver for 10 minutes. Does the driver net 10 on an average fare?

I don't want to hang around waiting for Amazon. PBH charges a per pound fee to accept packages.

 

[FCDub]

Walking is a better idea than asking your driver to wait for 10 minutes.

 

[serendipityaey]

Yes they will. We experienced this when staying there.

Similarly, when we stayed at Caribbean Beach, they came right to our building.

Be sure to stay where you order the ride so they can find you easily. And expect them within 5 minutes usually!

Has anyone done this more recently? Mother in law is there now and we arrive in a couple days. I mentioned how nice it was we could get a Lyft right outside our building (near the East Depot) and she said at the desk they had jus told her Lyft drivers are only allowed to pick up at the front lobby. But on the Lyft app you can request our building as a pick up and confirm it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Bumping because it was a few pages in...

 

[bookbabe626]

Now that the lobby has moved to the tower and all of the construction is finished, is it still the case that you cannot be picked up at your building at Coronado Springs, that you have to meet at the main lobby?

 

[JimMIA]

Now that the lobby has moved to the tower and all of the construction is finished, is it still the case that you cannot be picked up at your building at Coronado Springs, that you have to meet at the main lobby?

I'm not familiar enough with the resort to give you a definitive answer, but generally Uber/Lyft drivers can go anywhere general traffic can go.

Possibly @joelkfla can answer your question

 

[joelkfla]

Now that the lobby has moved to the tower and all of the construction is finished, is it still the case that you cannot be picked up at your building at Coronado Springs, that you have to meet at the main lobby?

I'm not familiar enough with the resort to give you a definitive answer, but generally Uber/Lyft drivers can go anywhere general traffic can go.

Possibly @joelkfla can answer your question

I'm no longer driving rideshare, so no 1st hand experience.

The problem at CSR was that there were unattended gates on the roads between the lobby area and the lodgings. I don't know whether those gates are still in place and active.

I suggest posting the question on the Disney Resorts forum.

 

[Best Aunt]

Was helping a friend request an uber on their phone. A message popped up saying something like, “you don’t have enough cash in your account to pay for this ride.” Why did they get that message? We checked and they did have a credit card listed in their uber account.

Also, it said something like “your ride is almost here” but never said the vehicle had arrived. We almost didn’t realize it until it had been there several minutes. The driver went to the wrong side of the street and we couldn’t see the license plate number in the dark from a distance. I finally walked over and realized it was the Uber.

Any ideas as to what was going on? I have never had either of these things happen on my phone.

 

[RaySharpton]

Hello Everyone!

I had the pleasure of driving some wonderful DisBoards members on property recently and I wanted to take a moment to answer some questions and provide information on how Uber at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL works with some FAQ:

1)Are drivers allowed in the parks and resorts for pickup or dropoff?
YES YES YES! For resorts, we can pickup simply by stating we are there for pick up and we get right in. Please wait in front of the lobby entrance. If your resort is not listed below, we may also be able to pick up by your building. Please send a txt because we always assume lobby.

Exceptions:

Coronado: We can pick you up, however you must be waiting at the main lobby entrance upon our arrival. If youre not there, we will be sent to checkin parking and you have to walk over to us. This is the only place we are allowed, however if the gates are open during the day we might be able to get closer to your room.

Caribbean Beach: We can now get in easily. Please wait in front of your building by the loop. Do not wait in the bus stop and be sure your pickup location is accurate since this is a very large resort.At CB, we assume your location is what you pinned on the map ( Barbados, Trinidad, Old Port Royale,etc)

OKW/Saratoga: Assumption is pickup is at the location entered, which may be your building. Do not wait in the bus stop itself.


Dropping guests at resorts is also easy, but you still must be staying there or have a dining reservation.



For Parks, we do not have to pay for drop off or pickup. Again, we simply state we are droping off, or picking up, and we get let right through. Generally speaking, here are the pickup/drop locations for the parks and Disney Springs:

MK: Ticket/Transportation Center, in the parking spaces after the taxi queue. Also: you may choose to walk to the Contemporary and get picked up from there. Drop off at CR does not seem to be any faster but some people do choose to do so.

Epcot: I recommend that you walk to the Boardwalk Inn, and call for a ride from there. (This is a great option if ending your evening by the International Gateway between England and France) We usually sit at the gas station across the street and can have you picked up in a minute or less.

The pickup and drop off area is now located near where the Mears cab pickups are. The area appears to be well signed and barriers put up. Look for the green umbrella. Also, please note that there is now a castmember assigned to this area and your car cannot wait for more than a couple minutes before being asked to leave. Therefore, please wait until you are already in this area before requesting a ride.

Hollywood Studios: We are in the main parking lot, right next to the taxi queue. There will be a white sandwichboard sign for pickup/dropoff.

Animal Kingdom: Walk to the left as you exit, towards handicapped parking and the main parking lot. Where the sidewalk meets pavement is where we will be. Youll see the taxi queue on your right about 100 feet up. To your left about a 100 feet will be a white tent, and directly in front of you will be traffic barriers and the first row of handicapped parking.

DTD/Disney Springs:

Westside: Strawberry lot, next to the taxis.

Marketplace: The old bus loop.

Water parks: theres a drop/pickup spot near the entrance so no problems.

Port Canaveral: No problems. However, the rates coming back will be higher than going out. Generally, a family of four or more will find this a savings over the shuttle services. At the port, there are approximately 60 permitted uber drivers so getting a ride back to Orlando(or wherever) is super easy.

Additional Note: We do not pick up or drop off from bus loops, taxi stands, the side of the road/active travel lanes, or other potentially unsafe locations.


2)Are larger vehicles available for my family?
Yes. As of 8/31/15 when I wrote this, UberXL can carry up to 6 passengers. Expect a minivan or large SUV (I drive a white Buick Enclave..if you get me, say you saw this post!). We are also cheaper than taxis on property. Please do NOT try to put more people in the car than are allowed (4 for uber X, 6 for XL). Carrying more passengers than allowed will void the insurance, you could lose you rider account, and the driver could be deactivated.

3)Can uber take me to/from the airport?
Yes.

4)Who drives for uber at WDW? Will I get a CastMember?
Odds are pretty good that you will get a castmember, or former castmember. I also happen to know a guy personally who works at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek and drives UberX. Having said that, Disney is an obvious place for new drivers to go since it's big and there's always alot of traffic so you'll get some of these and it'll be obvious. If you get a driver you really like, go ahead and ask for our number for future rides. If we can accommodate you, we will.

5a)Can I go a long distance such as Cocoa, Tampa,etc?
Yes. Although we ask that you do it earlier in the day/evening, and contact your driver to make sure it's ok. I once had a run to Sarasota from the Yacht Club which picked up at 7pm. It was an hour and a half out, plus an hour and a half for me to get back. So if it had been too much later at night, I would've had to decline.

5b)Can I schedule a longer ride in advance?

Yes, you can. For long rides, Uber seems to be calling drivers to set that up in advance.

6) Are car seats available?
UberX and UberXL now have options including one car seat.

If you have any specific questions about using Uber at WDW, please feel free to reply to this thread and I'll try to keep it updated. I do want to keep this informational, however questions about how the app works, your account, pricing,etc is offtopic and this is not the venue for that.

Have a Magical Day!
Rob

Hi, Rob.

Great info!

I own a 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair and I travel solo.

I have been told to choose an XL size car.

I can usually use my two arms to lift my 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair with a towel as bumper protection into the rear of the SUV. I've never tried using a car trunk.

My wrist is sprained and I am hesitant to ask the driver to help me.

I don't think that I can safely lift it with one hand/arm.

I just won't travel if I still have a severely sprained wrist.

What are your suggestions for me traveling solo using own a 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair?

Ray

.

 

[kaytieeldr]

@Ray Sharpton, just fyi, your photos at not displaying. At least not on my Fire.

 

[RaySharpton]

@Ray Sharpton, just fyi, your photos at not displaying. At least not on my Fire.

Thanks. I put them in again.

 

[JimMIA]

Was helping a friend request an uber on their phone. A message popped up saying something like, “you don’t have enough cash in your account to pay for this ride.” Why did they get that message? We checked and they did have a credit card listed in their uber account.

Uber accepts gift cards, PayPal, Venmo, etc, so if their balance was low, you may have gotten that message, and then later it reverted to the credit card on file. That's a guess!

It could also have been a glitch.

Also, it said something like “your ride is almost here” but never said the vehicle had arrived. We almost didn’t realize it until it had been there several minutes. The driver went to the wrong side of the street and we couldn’t see the license plate number in the dark from a distance. I finally walked over and realized it was the Uber.

Well, GPS locations are always pretty approximate.

I got a ride request one time and when I accepted it, the pin was in the middle of Government Cut (the channel for Port Miami) and the address was "North Atlantic Ocean!" Turns out, the rider ordered the ride from the deck of a cruise ship. I was on the causeway across from the ship, so I got the ride instead of dozens of closer drivers due to the GPS error. I called the rider and it all worked out fine, but it was a bit of a crazy start.

There is a also time lag in receiving the car's location and sending it to you. It's not unusual for us to pull up and your app to say we are 2 minutes away.

Also when you are requesting a ride using just your GPS location, the address the driver gets is often messed up. For example, you might be at 123 A Street and the GPS might give the driver an address of 122 A Street (which would usually be across the street). Usually things work pretty smoothly, but every once in a while there's a minor glitch.

 

[JimMIA]

Hi, Rob.

Great info!

I own a 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair and I travel solo.

I have been told to choose an XL size car.

I can usually use my two arms to lift my 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair with a towel as bumper protection into the rear of the SUV. I've never tried using a car trunk.

My wrist is sprained and I am hesitant to ask the driver to help me.

I don't think that I can safely lift it with one hand/arm.

I just won't travel if I still have a severely sprained wrist.

What are your suggestions for me traveling solo using own a 55-lb. foldable electric wheelchair?

Ray

I would order XL.

If you order X, you might get an XL vehicle, but you might also get a vehicle that is much too small. And even if you got a full-sized sedan, getting the wheelchair into and out of the trunk will be a very different and much more difficult animal than putting it into an SUV or minivan.

In Orlando, Uber's XL rates are cheap -- only about 50% more than X. (Here in Miami, XL is about 2.3x the regular X fare.)

Most important -- as soon as the driver accepts the ride, call them and advise them of the situation. Many drivers either will not or cannot (because of some physical limitation) lift heavy items like your wheelchair. If you cancel within two minutes of the driver's acceptance, you will not be charged a cancellation fee --so call immediately and cancel if they can't/won't do the lifting. .

 

[RaySharpton]

I would order XL.

If you order X, you might get an XL vehicle, but you might also get a vehicle that is much too small. And even if you got a full-sized sedan, getting the wheelchair into and out of the trunk will be a very different and much more difficult animal than putting it into an SUV or minivan.

In Orlando, Uber's XL rates are cheap -- only about 50% more than X. (Here in Miami, XL is about 2.3x the regular X fare.)

Most important -- as soon as the driver accepts the ride, call them and advise them of the situation. Many drivers either will not or cannot (because of some physical limitation) lift heavy items like your wheelchair. If you cancel within two minutes of the driver's acceptance, you will not be charged a cancellation fee --so call immediately and cancel if they can't/won't do the lifting. .

Thank you, Jim. Great advice!

Ray

 

[mckennarose]

We again used Uber this week with zero issues. However, we had family members staying with us they said they used Uber but on their ride the driver got lost (not sure how because it was to the Contemporary and they use gps) and because the drive took twice as long due to driver error, their ride cost double and they swore off Uber the rest of the trip. Can this be true? Or did they possibly mess us and tried to save face by blaming the driver?

From when we used Uber or Lyft the ride is priced when you order it and you track yourself via gps on the app. One time we had a driver make a wrong turn due to the road closure behind magic kingdom at night for the fireworks but we weren’t charged anything over our fee stated when I initially ordered the ride. That time was Lyft.

I’m just confused if this can actually happen. ???

 

[JimMIA]

We again used Uber this week with zero issues. However, we had family members staying with us they said they used Uber but on their ride the driver got lost (not sure how because it was to the Contemporary and they use gps) and because the drive took twice as long due to driver error, their ride cost double and they swore off Uber the rest of the trip. Can this be true? Or did they possibly mess us and tried to save face by blaming the driver?

I’m just confused if this can actually happen. ???

Yes, it can happen -- drivers get lost occasionally, even the best ones. And if you've ever driven at WDW, you know that a little mistake can lead to a BIG out of the way detour to get back to where you want to be!

But they should not pay for the driver getting lost. That's on the driver.

Tell them to contact Uber...as follows:

• In their Uber Rider app, tap the 3 menu bars in the upper left corner
• Tap HELP
• Their last ride will pop up, and there will be two options -- Edit rating, or Something Else
• Tap Something Else
• Scroll down and tap Review My Fare or Fees
• The top selection on the list will be "My driver took a poor route"
• Explain that the driver got lost and drove them all over Central Florida and the fare ended up being much more than their upfront pricing quote.

They have to submit that fare review request within 30 days. After that, it's too late. It only will take them 2 minutes; DO IT NOW.

Uber will refund the difference quickly and without issue. Uber is very customer-friendly.

 

[mckennarose]

Thanks for the quick reply! We left Florida this morning but they’re still there so I’m texting them this information.
Thanks for your help!

 

[DLo]

This happened to me last trip. - re driver getting lost . I asked for just the difference in the quote when I ordered the ride and my final cost but was refunded the whole amount . I would have been fine with the difference but appreciated the full refund. .

 

[JimMIA]

This happened to me last trip. - re driver getting lost . I asked for just the difference in the quote when I ordered the ride and my final cost but was refunded the whole amount . I would have been fine with the difference but appreciated the full refund. .

Yep, that's not unusual on this type of fare review. Uber can see the exact route taken, so it's easy to determine what happened. And they are very customer-oriented. They'd rather refund a few bucks and keep you as a customer.

 

[Turksmom]

Is it possible to order an XL for 7 passengers?