Mears Connect Experience

[matt and beth]

Our pickup was 2-3 minutes early. Was super polite. Loaded everything up told us to get inside the bus and out of the rain. Was a great guy today. Not one complaint on pick up and drop off from Mears. Honest assessment. Tipped more than usual

 

[808blessing]

My flight is out at 7am but Mears picks up at 3:45 am. Figured out that Sunshine Flyer appears to only operate when the sun is shining. No times available before 7 but maybe bc I typed in 7am?

 

[jmparry]

Our pickup was 2-3 minutes early. Was super polite. Loaded everything up told us to get inside the bus and out of the rain. Was a great guy today. Not one complaint on pick up and drop off from Mears. Honest assessment. Tipped more than usual

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Sharing our return service today 1/11... Flight at 12:30 pm. Mears communicated a 9:10 am pickup time. They arrived at 9:20 am. AKL Jambo and Kidani were the only stops. We arrived at MCO before 10 am. There were about 6 passengers on the bus.

 

[Princess2R]

Thought I'd add my experience.
Took Mears Connect - Standard today (1/4).

Timeline:
2:05 pm - Checked in at Mears
2:07 pm - Got on Mears bus
2:37 pm - Bus leaves Airport (about 20 passengers)
3:25 pm - Bus arrived at AKL Jambo (4th stop after Coronado and 2 All Stars)

Not great, but not terrible. I had similar experiences with Magical Express.

Thanks for sharing
With magical Express last year, I was the last stop of 4 At an all star. Coronado first, 2 animal kingdom stops. Then us

 

[Princess2R]

Don't be so quick to "correct" or "criticize" a 4 hour in advance pickup to return to the airport for a domestic flight. There might be temporary pecularities on specific days that Mears knows about but you don't know about yet that might impact travel times. Also if the sweet spot bus fills up when they are assigning guests, you may get an earlier bus time.

Also, one time my magical Express bus broke down for about an hour.
I was sweating bullets, arrived at the airport with a 45 minute wait through security, and made it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare.

 

[cindyfan]

Also curious how Mears Connect is doing.
Typical Magical Express timing for us was about 90 minutes to 2 hours from landing.
It takes 30-40 minutes from landing to check in station of ME.... this included restroom stop and grabbing luggage.
Then usually 0-15 minutes to check in, then 5-20 minute wait in line for bus. Then 25-40 minutes bus ride depending on if our stop was first or last. We've almost always had flights that landed in Orlando between 10:30am and noon.
So I am hoping it to be similar. Also hoping any kinks for return trips to MCO are worked out before our February 14th trip!!

 

[brockash]

Also, one time my magical Express bus broke down for about an hour.
I was sweating bullets, arrived at the airport with a 45 minute wait through security, and made it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare.

I think this is a good example of why some feel the 3 plus hrs. ahead of time is overkill...even with a bus break down, delay of an hour and 45 mins to get through security you still made your flight. The chances if those things happening are so slim and even so you made it, so with a typical trip ppl. feel they are hanging at the airport for an extended amount of time.

I think at the end of the day it just depends on personal preference. If you know you're going to be anxious and drive yourself crazy without a longer window, then you're not going to enjoy your extra time anyways so you'd be better off just going tonthe airport, but for others 2- 3 hrs is plenty of time.

 

[jon185]

Little late but I’ll share my experience. Just got back from our vacation.

We used them on Jan 1st at around 7am. So we were some of the first groups on the buses. Almost exactly the same layout of magical express. No movies on the way.

Our experience was a little different I’m sure. They were SUPER happy to see us. I’m sure it was because there were some executives in suits around since it was the first day. There was some confusion on the buses. We were supposed to be on a springs area bus. But they ended up adding us to a MK resort bus. So it took a little longer to get to our resort (Saratoga). We also took a loop around the Grand Floridian but never stopped. I contributed it to first day hiccups.

I’d probably use a Uber or something like that in the future. No waiting for your resort to drop off and probably the same price or cheaper.

 

[Princess2R]

We have used ME for years. Been there 5 times since Covid and never got picked up earlier than 3 hours. as a matter of fact, usually they were later and made stops.
Never been late.
Having said that, Mears website specifically says 3 hours in advance of flight time for domestic travel and 4 hours for International travel. That is why I booked with them. I have no desire to be in MCO any longer than necessary.

Which resort?

I'm noticing that certain resorts pickup earlier due to being 1st of multiple hotels

 

[Princess2R]

Also curious how Mears Connect is doing.
Typical Magical Express timing for us was about 90 minutes to 2 hours from landing.
It takes 30-40 minutes from landing to check in station of ME.... this included restroom stop and grabbing luggage.
Then usually 0-15 minutes to check in, then 5-20 minute wait in line for bus. Then 25-40 minutes bus ride depending on if our stop was first or last. We've almost always had flights that landed in Orlando between 10:30am and noon.
So I am hoping it to be similar. Also hoping any kinks for return trips to MCO are worked out before our February 14th trip!!

Your timeline is similar to what all my magical Express experiences have been like. always get to my resort 2 hours after landing

 

[Princess2R]

Has anyone had a shuttle van or small car ( as stated on the website) for the standard service airport pickup or drop off?

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Has anyone used Mears to go to the Contemporary? Have a trip next month and I'm wondering what the trip will look like as far as how long it took to get to the resort and how many stops it makes

 

[Splashboat]

Which resort?

I'm noticing that certain resorts pickup earlier due to being 1st of multiple hotels

It was Sports. I finally got through and they moved my time an hour earlier. They were about 5 minutes late but arrived with plenty of time to spare. There weren't other people from other resorts on the bus and we got to the airport quickly.

 

[PCFriar80]

Has anyone had a shuttle van or small car ( as stated on the website) for the standard service airport pickup or drop off?

We actually had a luxury van for our trip from MCO to BCVs on 1/5. Off the plane at 10:15 AM. Had our luggage by 10:30 AM. We arrived at the check-in around 10:35 AM and were first in line [line 8] for the Epcot resorts which also include Swan, Dolphin and Reserve. One couple got behind us around 10:40 and a group of 3 were behind them shortly thereafter. Around 10:50 they loaded the 3 groups on to the van and we were off! 3 groups and 3 stops; Swan, YC, and BC. We were checking in by 11:30. So, just under 90 minutes from deplaning to resort.

Our trip back to the airport was right on time and went off without any issues. We were picked up at 7:35AM, one stop at BW and at the airport by 8:30.

 

[Yahweh]

I wonder if the Mears-connect service will be able to stick around. It pretty obvious that in order to replicate magical express wait times, they need to go much emptier busses. That was always my concern. At some point, you have to wonder if it will be worth it for them.

 

[Disneyhanna]

My recent experience going from MCO to Pop:

1/13 Got my checked bag from the baggage claim just before 10pm and headed to the Mears Connect check-in, it was very quiet with maybe 2-3 other families in the entire area. I waited a minute or two in the corrals and was assigned to a small shuttle van with maybe 4 rows, the only other passengers were a mom and son going to Boardwalk. We left the airport about 10 minutes after I picked up my bag if that tells you how quick it was! BW was first drop off, then Pop around 10:45pm. Perhaps I lucked out with being the only Pop drop off around that time as I saw plenty of regular Mears busses. Overall around 45 minutes from check in to drop off.

1/14 My friend traveling separately landed around midnight and was at Mears check-in around 12:35. Very quiet there again but she was not the only person in line for Pop. Her bus didn’t arrive until 12:54 and had at least 4-5 resort drop offs, AKL was first and I think Pop was 2nd. She arrived at Pop around 1:35am. So overall around an hour for check in to drop off.

We did not take the Mears Connect from the resort to the airport as it was not much more for us to Uber and we saved a lot of time by not having to go back so early. Overall I think very comparable to the DME where it’s a bit of a hit or miss in terms of how long it takes for the airport to resort drop off. Not sure how rare it is to get a small shuttle van like I did. We were arriving quite late so I’m not sure if it will always be this quiet, though I imagine it will never be as busy as the DME since it is no longer free for resort guests.

 

[Lewisc]

I wonder if the Mears-connect service will be able to stick around. It pretty obvious that in order to replicate magical express wait times, they need to go much emptier busses. That was always my concern. At some point, you have to wonder if it will be worth it for them.

Mears will have to use smaller buses, make guests wait longer before dispatching the bus or have the bus make more stops. Free produced volume which avoided compromises.

Everyone's luggage under the bus slows loading and unloading

 

[yellowfish78]

1/14 Friday night we landed at 11:30pm. Got luggage and was on Mears Connect by 12:10am. Didn't leave until about 12:25am. Driver informed us there were six stops in this order - Gaylord Palms, Art of Animation, Pop Century (our stop), COR (?), Caribbean Beach and Boardwalk. We arrived at 1:25am.

Return was 1/19. Flight left at 3:08pm. When I initially booked, based on my flight time I was given three options to pick from for pickup times - I chose 12:05pm. We were the last pickup stop at 12:08pm and arrived to the airport just before 1pm.

It does take a while to get everyone off the bus - the driver waits until everyone is off the bus to unload luggage.

Your initial email from Mears Connect has a link to follow the bus an hour before pickup, but not the email that shows your QR code. You also receive a text message when your stop is next on the list to be picked up, and that provides you with a link to see where your driver is.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

Took Mears Connect - Standard today (1/3). I always have taken Magical Express for all of my previous trips.

Timeline:
1:11am - Checked in at Mears (same location as old Magical Express)
1:13am - Got on Mears bus (same layout as magical express busses/all luggage went underneath per usual)
1:30am - Bus leaves Airport (about 10-15 passengers)
2:01am - Bus arrived at Pop Century (second stop after AoA)

Overall, pretty much same experience as Magical Express (without the fun Disney videos). Wait time is on par with what I’ve experienced with Magical Express though keep in mind, I tend to arrive late night hours so the crowds/frequency of busses are different. The number of hotels per queue seems to infer that on a busy day, a bus would stop at ~5 different resorts for one bus. My flight arrived 3 hours after the expected time and I had no problem checking into Mears. While checking in, it showed my return bus pickup time from my resort to the airport would be 3 hours prior to the flight (about the same as Magical Express).

Nice. Thanks for posting.
Before the MAGICAL EXPRESS - we always did Mears before without a problem. We always knew the price and simply factored in to our overall vacation costs.