Mears vs Sunshine Flyer

[JoJoGirl]

So far I’m 3 out of 3 for good experiences with Mears. Used them most recently last week, to and from the Grand Floridian. Arrival took 1 hour and 12 minutes from the check-in podium to the resort on a full-sized bus. Return trip was in a transport van. Van arrived almost 10 minutes early which was fine because I was already outside waiting. Traffic was horrendous but we still arrived in plenty of time, and the driver dropped off at both A and B sides. Not sure if that is standard service, but it was nice.

I’ve read of people having issues with return service, so I was ready to call an Uber if necessary. Luckily, it’s always been a smooth experience for me.

 

[Usty]

We used Sunshine Flyer in May and it was comparable to our past waits with Magical Express. Waited about 15 minutes for a bus, only had about 4 families on it, went to Riviera, Caribbean Beach and then we were last at Poly.

I wanted to try Mears next month since we're flying in to Terminal C but with a nearly 3 year old I can't - seen too many experiences where people have been placed on shuttle vans or smaller vehicles and we don't bring a car seat. A large coach bus is a different story for us.

 

[jennyq87]

We just got back from our trip and we used Sunshine Flyer. I was optimistic, but I have to agree with what others have mentioned here - the pickup experience from MCO is a quite chaotic. I know Magical Express wasn't perfect, but it was your first taste of being in the Disney bubble. SF was NOT that. Everyone just kind of stands around in a herd (outside) waiting for someone to yell out their resort. There's no line - no organization - no set time expectation. And it was muggy and hot outside. People were obviously confused and annoyed with the lack of any real instruction. We all just stood there waiting to be yelled at. The bus we ended up on (Tree Frog) was not your typical bus - it was shorter and apparently WAY narrower - because my husband and I (both average-sized humans) were absolutely crammed in our two seats. I was very uncomfortable and essentially had to sit sideways. There were TVs, but they were not on. There was no music. No announcement about being on our way, where we were stopping, etc. It was just silent and sweaty for 30 minutes until we finally pulled up to the first drop-off. The driver was plenty nice helping us with our bags and everything, but we weren't able to get into the "Disney bubble" feel until we actually got inside out resort and that was disappointing. (The driver also missed the second dropoff spot which was actually great for us because it meant we got to the Contemporary faster -- but then he had to backtrack to the Port Orleans resort and those people were not happy).

Our return experience was much better. On time, larger bus, music/TVs were on, but it was HOT. And this was at 8am. The bus driver said he's been complaining about the thermostat not working and they won't fix it. So he either has to have it totally off, or totally on. So some people would complain about being hot - so he'd ice us all out - and then others would complain about being cold, and we'd start sweating. We were the first pick up, and we probably spent 90 minutes on the bus of fluctuating between sweating and freezing. So it wasn't the WORST experience. But I won't be doing it again. I will probably go private transportation from here on out.

 

[KPeterso]

I went back and forth between SF and Mears for my trip in September and ultimately decided on SF. It was definitely a mixed experience.

When we arrived at MCO, we checked in at the desk and the attendant went running to one of the buses saying 2 more and then ushered us on. We were barely seated and backing out of the spot and on our way. Boardwalk was the 3rd stop of 5. Was very happy with the experience.

Now the return... We got stuck because of Hurricane Ian. We ended up going home on the Friday 9/30 instead of 9/29 (hurricane day). I had to reach out to SF multiple times to try to get some answers. We eventually were rescheduled to the Friday, but never got a QR code for a return trip. From Facebook (and yes seriously FB), I find out Friday morning despite previous communications that they were planning to run that Friday, they were now not going to start airport runs until Saturday. No email, phone call, or text to tell me this information despite supposedly being scheduled to go out that afternoon. We ended up taking an UBER back to the airport that afternoon. Now, I understand that it was not normal circumstances, but the lack of communication was what got me at that moment. I did end up with refund for the return trips.

Now, I have a March trip coming up and I am still not sure what to do. I would seriously just do uber, but since I am solo, it would be cheaper to use one of the other options... So maybe try Mears this time.

 

[Miffy]

Reporting in. I arrived on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Flew in on JetBlue, which is at Terminal C. After waiting an hour to get my checked bag--I recommend doing carry-on only if you're coming in to Terminal C--I went down to the Mears counter. By then it was 11 p.m.

There were no other passengers at Mears. The fellow at their desk was very helpful and called to let them know I was there. About 10 minutes, max, later, a van showed up. I was the only passenger. At 11 p.m. there's no traffic--nice!--and the ride was swift and smooth. Very nice van driver. We chatted the entire trip.

Based on this experience, I'll be using Mears again for my ride to the resort. I prefer to use a rideshare for the ride back to the airport since I don't want to spend any more time than necessary waiting for my plane.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

 

[Miffy]

Moderators: This thread should be combined with the other Mears/SF thread. Thanks.

 

[twinklebug]

Just weighing in that sunshine flyer has been AWFUL for us this week.
Upon arrival there was a mass of people waiting without any communication or direction. They would yell out resorts and then everyone would rush forward.
We watched nearly every resort get called twice before they called Animal Kingdom Lodge. Then they took a family who had just arrived to be loaded ahead of us, after we had been waiting over an hour.
We were then added as the final stop to a full bus only after we asked twice when we would get to go.

Coming home, currently on the bus.
It was 15 minutes late getting us, when I called the lady who answered goes "oh yeah a lot of people are waiting on that one"
Finally gets us, then makes a u-turn to go back for another pickup after getting on the road, then goes to Pop Century. Wouldn't have minded multiple stops if the driver didn't move as slow as molasses!

An hour after our scheduled pickup we are finally on the way to airport.

We haven't done Mears yet, but definitely will not be doing sunshine flyer ever again!

My experience getting to AKV was very much the same. Their MCO to Resort service is a mess.
There was no automation. We waited curbside for about an hour with a very large group of people while inhaling fumes from vehicles (NOT from the Sunshine Flyer buses which were nearly new but the many resort buses which needed service). Everything after boarding the bus went well.

Sunshine Flyer's buses are beautiful, clean and much nicer than Mears, as well they should be as they're all new.

Coming home went very well. Sunshine Flyer was on time, checked our name on a list and off we went. Bus was about 1/2 full and we were the last pickup.

My hope is that as a new company they will see where they are going wrong and address it, the sooner the better. No one should be standing outside the doors to MCO breathing fumes in - not staff or guests. If they could move the waiting area inside and automate their boarding process to something more akin to Disney's LL it would be SO much better. As is I refuse to wait on that curb again. (SF: Fix this! It's killing your repeat business.)

If they need a programmer to automate their systems I'm available

Comparing SF to Mears:

• The bus drivers are about equal - very friendly, good drivers
• The walk to the SF pick up area in MCO is much more convenient than Mears for anyone arriving in the gates by the hotel. Mears is a hike, particularly with young ones. Signage was no help, they were small and the one person inside MCO to help was hiding his sign from view.
• At this moment in time, For check-in and waiting to board, Mears wins by 10 miles.
• Regarding the transportation, Sunshine Flyer wins by a mile as their buses are all brand new.
• Return service to the airport is a tie.

 

[Debbie Jean]

Reporting back on Terminal C departure. Picked up promptly at 7 AM from AKL and proceeded to Art of Animation then Pop. Maybe a total of 15 on what looked like a new full size bus. Was very efficient process. Drop off at Terminal C was first. Now Jet Blue luggage drop off was overwhelmed… needed more stations open… but I was pleased with Mears service back to MCO.

 

[Miffy]

Reporting back on Terminal C departure. Picked up promptly at 7 AM from AKL and proceeded to Art of Animation then Pop. Maybe a total of 15 on what looked like a new full size bus. Was very efficient process. Drop off at Terminal C was first. Now Jet Blue luggage drop off was overwhelmed… needed more stations open… but I was pleased with Mears service back to MCO.

Thanks so much for your report. I'm flying back today (using rideshare for the trip to the airport) and I'm going to try to fit everything in my carry-on. Wish me luck!

Hope you had a good trip.

 

[cdobert]

I posted a few days ago about the expected wait for a SF bus. The wait was actually 10 minutes and after boarding us and one other family we were off.

Now on the way home. Picked up on time, clean bus and friendly driver. I agree with the previous poster, SF needs a better process at MCO. I will use them again now that I understand their process.

 

[Lost boy]

We used SF on our trip, 12/1-12/15, we waited for the bus at MCO for about 40mins, as mentioned chaotic pile of people wondering what's the plan here. We landed at 4:30pm at terminal C, waited 30mins for luggage to arrive and then the slog to terminal B. Traffic that night was horrendous, we went to Disney mostly via back roads and side streets, didn't get dropped off at OKW until 7:30. The pickup back to MCO was better but still with traffic, 25mins on the ramp to get to the terminal, it was a 90min ride. Granted, traffic is not SF fault, but if you're flying in on Jet Blue you have to consider the back and forth to terminal C which is a pain in the butt, especially with children. I was told Mears connect had a pickup spot at terminal C, that's my choice on my next trip if flying Jet Blue again.

 

[Debbie Jean]

We used SF on our trip, 12/1-12/15, we waited for the bus at MCO for about 40mins, as mentioned chaotic pile of people wondering what's the plan here. We landed at 4:30pm at terminal C, waited 30mins for luggage to arrive and then the slog to terminal B. Traffic that night was horrendous, we went to Disney mostly via back roads and side streets, didn't get dropped off at OKW until 7:30. The pickup back to MCO was better but still with traffic, 25mins on the ramp to get to the terminal, it was a 90min ride. Granted, traffic is not SF fault, but if you're flying in on Jet Blue you have to consider the back and forth to terminal C which is a pain in the butt, especially with children. I was told Mears connect had a pickup spot at terminal C, that's my choice on my next trip if flying Jet Blue again.

See my Mears Connect reviews for Terminal C above. Jet Blue 12/7 -12/16.

You are right, traffic is something SF can’t control but pickup/drop off, they can. As long as they provide no service to Terminal C, they are off my list of alternatives.

 

[WEDWDW]

Just was going to book The Sunshine Flyer for Saturday to see how things with them are in Terminal B now that they have the indoor counter,but they are now $39.50 RT so went with Mears which was still $32.00 RT with what they were calling their "Introductory Rate".

 

[Goldelpack]

On my most recent trip (returned Jan 2, 2023) I used Sunshine Flyer for my return from All-Star Sports to MCO. In the past (well after the end of DME) last year - I've used both Mears & SF - and favored Mears due to their website - at that time SF didn't have web booking working and that Mears was easier to find at MCO. Both of those have changed and are now completely equal. This trip I based it on having a % off - albeit a very small savings. On this trip and on Jan 2nd, Florida's air traffic control was having major issues and almost all flights were delayed- sometimes for hours. Fairly early in the day I got a text from SF saying that my pickup time was being moved to later - instead of 4pm - 5:20 pm - which was awesome for me. If I didn't want that time I could contact them - but I would have even preferred later.

If the outside of the vehicle you're riding in makes a difference - then many SF busses look like trains. Mears looks like nice vacation busses. The drivers are friendly, capable and professional - (IME) so at this point it's going to be mostly a matter of what company is offerning deals.

As an aside- I used LYFT from the Kissimmee Amtrak station to All Star Sports - a car arrived within 10 minutes or less of my requesting it and got me there fairly fast in moderate to heavy traffic. Would use any and all again without 2nd thought

 

[sj3mark]

I posted this in the Sunshine Flyer thread yesterday, but since my review involves both companies, I figured I'd post here too.

We used Sunshine Flyer for our trip in December. We flew in about 8 PM on 12/26 and waited about 10 mins for a bus. The trip to Disney wasn't too bad. The driver was great and it took us about an hour from checking in to arriving at our resort (we were at CBR, with previous stops at AoA and POP). I was able to get this trip on their Black Friday sale, so $25 for two adults was well worth the money.

The return trip on 1/2 was a completely different story. We changed resorts in mid-December, so unfortunately we had to cancel out discounted return tickets and rebook at full price (it was still $16 per adult at that point, so not a huge difference). The real issue came when I got our pickup time a couple days before our departure and the pickup time for a mid-afternoon flight was 4 hours and 20 mins before our domestic departure time. I called and tried to get moved to a later bus as we have pre-check and didn't need to be at the airport 3.5 hours before our flight. After some looking, the "conductor" on the line told me that all the later buses were full and there wasn't any room for us (which I find hard to believe, as I've yet to be on a bus that was more than 25% full). SF blamed this on the SWA meltdown, but since this is the second time we've experienced this with them (we were picked up 3hr 40 min early from our Sept trip), I believe that this is more of a normal practice than an anomaly. Ultimately, we ended up cancelling and booking with Mears who picked us up slightly over 3 hours before as promised on their website.

Bottom line, I want to like Sunshine Flyer, but there are still too many inconsistencies in their service and the new pricing ($19.50 per person) is a total dealbreaker for us. I'm not sure what we'll be using for our next trip, but I can for sure say that we will not be using SF for our return to MCO.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

I booked Mears for next Tuesday (Dec 6). I'll leave a review of my experience. I'm getting in quite late, so I didn't even consider Sunshine Flyer. Also, Mears apparently picks up from Terminal C, which is where I'll be arriving.

How did Mears go?

 

[HfxDisney]

I ended up using Sunshine Flyer on Nov 28. Took about an hour and 10 minutes from arriving at their podium and getting to our resort (All Star Movies). Bus was great, driver was great, and overall experience was great. Would definitely use again!

We did not use them on the way back so I have no experience that way.

 

[Miffy]

How did Mears go?

Mears was great. I used it this Sunday as well, even though I'd intended to take a rideshare from MCO, but the price was so steep ($55 or $65 before tip)--and it was after midnight!--that I went down to the Mears desk and booked right there. Waited 5 minutes for the jitney-style bus.

In December, I was the only person on the jitney! And at midnight, there's no traffic. This past Sunday, there were a few other passengers with me, but I got lucky and POFQ was the first stop. Again, after midnight and no traffic.

One nice thing about Mears is that if you haven't booked your ride in advance, you can just do it right there are the airport. Same price. Easy to do.

I will take a rideshare back to the airport, though, since I don't like leaving earlier than I have to, and since I have Precheck, I don't have to wait in a long line at MCO.