How do Mears Connect and Sunshine Flyer compare lately ??

[DizneyLizzy]

I used Mears last April, and while we boarded the bus almost immediately, we were the 4th of 5 stops in which the order made zero sense (Art of Animation, Riviera, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk, Saratoga). The bus was comfortable, and since we didn't spend any time waiting in the airport holding queue, I was willing to give Mears another try since it was an inexpensive way for a party of one or two to get to the resorts.

Fast forward to last month. YIKES. We had a pretty rough experience with Mears in August. We waited in the airport holding area for 58 minutes (I timed it) without boarding a bus. After nearly an hour of standing around, we were put in a van with one other family. My daughter is 5 and really shouldn't have been riding in a car-type vehicle without a booster seat, but we were relatively stuck at that point. I didn't even ask if we had the option to wait for a bus. Our last few trips on DME during its final year of operation weren't exactly stellar, but since that service was complimentary, it was easier to overlook small inconveniences.

I'm traveling solo next month, and it's hard to beat the savings of SF/Mears over Uber/Lyft. At this point, I have to decide if I want to take a chance on the Sunshine Flyer, only paying $16 one way for my ride, or if I want to roll the ride share dice where I could pay $30-40 best case, but over $100 one-way worst case.

 

[hulagirl87]

I just used Sunshine Flyer this week so here are my thoughts. The area at the airport that they have set up is really odd. It's like a dark corner, with no lines or guidance whatsoever. I flew in on Sunday and it was a little busy and we were all just standing around. I saw that there was a very small check in podium so I went up there to check in and then just hovered around as there were no real lines. Someone would call out the resorts that a bus was going to and then people would board. I waited about 20 minutes for them to call my resort. I was on the bus for an hour and a half. I was staying at All Star Sports and we stopped at 4 resorts before getting to mine. It was Coronado, Swan, Art of Animation, and I don't remember which other. I really wish they had made an announcement when you got on the bus what the stops were, or how many stops there would be, or something. My pick up back to the airport was scheduled at 1:00pm for a 4:15 flight. The bus showed up at 12:59pm, so very prompt. No other stops after mine and we got to the airport at 1:35.

 

[tjmw2727]

I am 2 for 2 great experiences with Mears Connect so I haven't tried Sunshine yet. May r/t to POFQ and September r/t to AOA. Both times we were boarded immediately and left after a short wait and both times we were the 2nd stop. Return was exactly on time both trips, directly to the airport from POFQ and one stop at POP on the way back from AOA.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Mears Experience:

Our trip was from 9/10/22-9/21/22. We landed around 12:15 PM and after getting our luggage headed straight to Mears. There was hardly anyone waiting when we got down there but by the time we got on the bus, there was a decent crowd of people in the waiting area. We waited maybe 10 minutes to go out to the bus. Then once on the bus, it was maybe another 5-7 minutes before we took off. We were staying at POP and they went to Riviera, CBR, and AOA before they dropped us off. We had an excellent driver that made the announcement when we went under the WDW sign. He even did some singing. He was great!

Return trip our pick-up time was 2:35 AM (5:50 AM flight). One of their vans picked us up and they were early arriving at 2:25. We waited for two other people to arrive that were also staying at POP and then we were off to pick one other person up at Riviera before heading to the airport.

I was concerned with the early morning pick-up if we would have any issues and it all went smoothly. Great drivers both ways. We will be using them again in the future.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

We booked Mears for our trip Sept. 19-23, 2022. Excellent service and would not hesitate to book again. We scanned in at the airport on arrival and were on the bus within minutes. We waited with another maybe 6-8 people for around 15 minutes while our driver chatted with another driver outside. Maybe he was waiting for more people, however, nobody else had boarded by the time we left. We stayed at Sports and our stop was the first one. On return we received our code via e-mail the day prior to departure and our time of 7:05 a.m was confirmed. The bus actually ended up coming to pick us up at 7:10 a.m so 5 minutes late. The driver kept apologising and explained that a customer had spilled a drink on the stairs and she had to take time to clean it. Really no big deal as we were at the airport before 8:00 a.m even with a stop at the new terminal C to drop someone off.
The bus was very clean.

 

[CarolynFH]

even with a stop at the new terminal C to drop someone off

Hooray - this was a passenger, right? This is the first mention I’ve seen (could have missed some) of Mears Connect serving Terminal C, which I expected they’d do.

Anyone know if they’re picking up at C yet? I can’t imagine they’d want passengers dragging luggage, strollers, etc. on the train to Terminal B and then to the Mears pickup area.

 

[babesboo99]

Hooray - this was a passenger, right? This is the first mention I’ve seen (could have missed some) of Mears Connect serving Terminal C, which I expected they’d do.

Anyone know if they’re picking up at C yet? I can’t imagine they’d want passengers dragging luggage, strollers, etc. on the train to Terminal B and then to the Mears pickup area.

I am wondering the samething. We arrive Oct 25th at 930pm and was wondering where to go

 

[nluvwithdisney]

Our experience with Sunshine Flyer was on September 17th. I agree with the confusion / chaos at the Podium area. It was around 1pm. They need to figure out a way to do things inside the way Magic Express had done previously. No clear lines. Very loud outside with engines running and people talking. I waited a little longer than I wanted to for the our bus to Riviera (about an hour). We had a very large bus but only had 7 people on it. There were only 2 stops and we were the first one. Although we all didn't mind the space, it seemed like a waste of trips and gas. Since we only had dinner plans for the evening, the wait was not an huge inconvenience. I would use them again based on the price.

The bus was very nice and clean and our driver was fantastic!

 

[MommyMouse143]

Anyone know what number stop the Grand Floridian would be?

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Anyone know what number stop the Grand Floridian would be?

There is literally no way to predict, but if I were a betting person, I would bet on the Grand being the last drop off every time just due to its location on property. That's how all of my experiences with Disney's Magical Express went anyway. We stayed at the Grand last summer and after a looooooong wait at MCO, we were eventually put in a van with another family. They were dropped off at the Wilderness Lodge, and we were next at the GF.

 

[Lewisc]

There is literally no way to predict, but if I were a betting person, I would bet on the Grand being the last drop off every time just due to its location on property. That's how all of my experiences with Disney's Magical Express went anyway. We stayed at the Grand last summer and after a looooooong wait at MCO, we were eventually put in a van with another family. They were dropped off at the Wilderness Lodge, and we were next at the GF.

ITA In the early days of DME GF was, at least on paper, required to be the first drop off resort, with an exception if the bus also had POLY pax.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

ITA In the early days of DME GF was, at least on paper, required to be the first drop off resort, with an exception if the bus also had POLY pax.

Interesting! My last ride on DME was to the Contemporary and that was the 4th out of 5 stops and the 5th was the Grand. That was one long bus ride

 

[enzy65]

Great experience on the mears bus, easy. Had 5 stops. AOA, POP, then 3 deluxe resorts which I can’t remember. This was on Tuesday before things shut down. Going back to airport the driver asked if anyone was going to terminal C, because he just went to A. The driver we had this time even told jokes. Miss the old days.

 

[Sparkly]

Hooray - this was a passenger, right? This is the first mention I’ve seen (could have missed some) of Mears Connect serving Terminal C, which I expected they’d do.

Anyone know if they’re picking up at C yet? I can’t imagine they’d want passengers dragging luggage, strollers, etc. on the train to Terminal B and then to the Mears pickup area.

Yes they do, got Mears Connect from Terminal C in September. Waited a while, but a van came at 6pm and dropped a few groups off- I think half of us were delayed by a issue with the baggage belts so missed our scheduled pick up times. Van went to 2 other resorts before mine. I arrived at POFQ at around 7pm in the end.

Being picked up from POFQ was easy as anything, driver was prompt, arriving right at 1:15PM for a 6:45pm flight (flew internationally) and picked up from two other resorts before heading to Terminal A and then to C.

I would use them again, people forget that a lot of the issues Mears have were also problems Magical Express had all the time- long waits for buses, several different resorts before yours, the occasional issue with being picked up.

 

[Meriweather]

We've never had a major problem with Mears....used them before Magical Express.
We tried Sunshine Flyer this trip and I was quite impressed.
We only waited about 10 minutes at the airport. There were quite a few people.
Coming back yesterday, it arrived 5 minutes early, loaded us right. 2 more stops.
We will use them again in December.

 

[futurefloridian]

We will be going in Feb 2023 - is it better to book early or wait for a possible promotion? Or are the promotions for them pretty much done?

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We just got back today and used Mears car service from MCO to Portofino Bay on 10-8 and back to the airport today. They were on time both times and it was a private direct ride. If you don't want to wait around it's worth the price. $216 round trip in a Suburban one way, Transit the other.

 

[babesboo99]

Do they announce what resort they are going to next? I never used mears and I am using them in a week. I was wondering since our flight arrives at 935 at terminal C

 

[Debbie Jean]

Do they announce what resort they are going to next? I never used mears and I am using them in a week. I was wondering since our flight arrives at 935 at terminal C

I have found they do announcer the order of the resorts as they are leaving the airport… mine is usually last LOL Then as folks are dropped off the driver reminds the remaining passengers what resort is next.

 

[babesboo99]

I have found they do announcer the order of the resorts as they are leaving the airport… mine is usually last LOL Then as folks are dropped off the driver reminds the remaining passengers what resort is next.

Thank you