Transportation to US/IoA

goofy4tink

No tags...not needed! Transportation moderator
Moderator
Joined
May 2, 2002
"Now that you've decided to check out Universal Studios/IOA, how do you get there if you are staying on-site at Disney? Don't worry, you have a few options:


1. Rent a car
If you are staying at a Disney resort, the easiest option is to rent a car from the Walt Disney World Car Care Center, which is operated by Alamo and National. The Car Care Center offers a shuttle that will pick you up from any Disney hotel and take you to the Center to pick up your car. The shuttle will also drop you off at your Disney hotel after you return your car. If you wish, call the Car Care Center up to 24 hours in advance and arrange for them to send a shuttle for you. Alternatively, go to the front desk of your Disney resort about 30 minutes before your pickup time and ask them to call the Car Care Center shuttle. The phone number of the Car Care Center is (407) 824-3470.

Another location is at the Dolphin Hotel. From any of the theme parks or Downtown Disney, take a Disney bus to the Dolphin. The Alamo/National office at the Dolphin keeps short hours, but you can drop off your car to the hotel's valets after hours. The phone number of Dolphin's Alamo/National desk is (407) 934-4930.

Yet another location is Buena Vista Palace near Downtown Disney. Take a Disney bus from any of the Disney resorts to Downtown Disney. Get off at the Marketplace stop, then walk across the street to Buena Vista Palace. The phone number of Buena Vista Palace's Alamo/National desk is (407) 827-6363.

Avis, Dollar and Budget also have locations near Downtown Disney.

Remember...if you are renting a car you will also have to pay for parking at Universal - currently the charge per car is $14.00.


2. Book a ride with Mears shuttle
Mears runs shuttles from the Disney hotels to Universal and back. You will need to make arrangements 24 hours prior though. Prices are $18 each person RT.

Does the $18 per person include children no matter what their age?
When you book a shuttle, children under 3 are free and children 4-11 pay a child's rate. Anyone over 12 pays the adult rate of $18/pp.

Can I book my attraction transportation online?
No, you will need to call them 24 hours in advance at (407) 423-5566, that is unless you are already using them for transportation to and from the airport then you can book the attraction portion online at the same time.
Check out this link for more info on the combined transportation/ticket package...
http://universal.wdwinfo.com/universal-information/discounts/


3. Taxi Cab
Taxis/cabs are usually available outside most resort entrances, or you can have the front desk or valet parking staff at your hotel call a taxi for you. To get a general idea of what it will cost for a taxi, you can use the Taxi Fare Estimator offered by Mears Transportation.

Where can I catch a cab/taxi at Universal to return to my hotel?
There are taxis waiting at Universal - Universal does have a taxi lane, so you can easily catch a taxi right outside of Universal Studios to get back to your resort.

If there are more than 4 people then the cab option is a no go right?
Mears taxis have a capacity of 5 people, if more than 5 people in your group, they have vans available for up to 7 people.


4. Public Transportation - Lynx Bus
It's strongly suggested that you not take public transit. Yes it's cheap but it takes about two hours to get from Disney to Universal using Lynx. So...if you care how much time you spend in the parks, I would suggest Mears or a cab.

5. Uber/Lyft-These are both great options. You do need to have their app on your phone. The cost is usually in the $15 range (in early ‘19). You can have them drop you at the main cab/bus area. Or you can get dropped at Royal Pacific Resort or Hard Rock. Hard Rock is the shortest walk.


Happy Travels!!"


This post seems to say it all. It has some good info...so decided to make it a sticky here..on Transportation.
This thread is open for any and all concerns, questions regarding how to get to US/IoA from WDW.

Thanks to Cnd Friends of Pooh for posting such great info!!!
Have at it people!!!
 
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Just a note on the Mears transportation. The Mears drivers take CASH ONLY.

If you want to purchase with a credit or debit card, then purchase your Mears transfer voucher at MCO before leaving the airport.

You still have to call Mears the day before to actually arrange your pickup time, but then don't have to fool with having the cash on hand.
 
anyone used the mears shuttle before?

how good is it? are the return times flexible? for example what if i wanna stay in citywalk or something for a couple of hours

how long does the shuttle take? and would it get me there for the park opening?

thanks
 


anyone used the mears shuttle before?

how good is it? are the return times flexible? for example what if i wanna stay in citywalk or something for a couple of hours

how long does the shuttle take? and would it get me there for the park opening?

thanks
Used the Mears shuttle deal last week. I called the day before we wanted to head over to US. They asked what time was good for us...gave me 7:15, 8:15 and 9:15. I took the 8:15. Got to US about 9ish..but we made several stops on WDW property before leaving. We had about 30+ guests onboard...used a full sized Mears bus.
For the return, I opted to call Mears a few hours before we wanted to head out. I called them at 4ish, they gave me a pickup time of 5:15. Said they leave every hour on the hour until very late at night.....just for the reason of Citywalk.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again...very easy.
 


We are at KV and want to go to IOA and then return to yacht club is that possible? Thanks for the info about cash.
 
Hey Goofy4tink,

when you say you used the mears shuttle deal, was that the one through dreamsunlimited?
 
Hey Goofy4tink,

when you say you used the mears shuttle deal, was that the one through dreamsunlimited?
Yes...it worked very well. I was sent a voucher to print out. When the driver got off the bus, his first words were..'Anyone using a voucher? Please step up now.' So, we were able to board first.

As for going to a place other than where you were picked up....not 100% sure. I know that we had a couple who were scheduled to return to SoG, but they asked if they could go to DTD instead. There were only 6 of us in the van, so the driver said he could go to DTD first. I would imagine that it is up to the driver based on that particular situation.

adamandkate...you do have to make a reservation with Mears. You can call them the day or so before you want to go to US/IoA. They should give you a confirmation number which you would take with you. You can even pay with a credit card when you call. Then all you have to do is worry about tip money. I did see a bunch of people just 'show up'...the driver made them wait until everyone else was on board and then called Mears to see if he should allow the non-reserved guests on the bus. One group didn't even have cash with them..wanted to use a credit card. Another group said they had called the night before, but had no conf number..nor had they paid. They said they thought it was 'complimentary'.
 
Just to make sure I've got this clear is it $18 return or $18 each way for the shuttle bus? Either way that is good value, the thought of a cost of taxi was putting me off going to Universal and this is making it look a lot more straight foward :)
 
Just to make sure I've got this clear is it $18 return or $18 each way for the shuttle bus? Either way that is good value, the thought of a cost of taxi was putting me off going to Universal and this is making it look a lot more straight foward :)

$18 Round Trip.
 
Can you specify a pick-up/drop-off point for the Mears shuttle at DTD? DH and I don't want to wake up early on vacation, so we're trying to hit WWoHP later in the day (leaving around 12 or so) so we can ride everything once the lines die down near closing time - so we think we'd like to hang out that morning at DTD, and we already have dinner booked at Raglan Road for that night. Will Mears pick us up there, even if it's not our "hotel"? We're staying at AKL, so trying to go back and forth in the morning OR night isn't really an option. Thanks!
 
Can you specify a pick-up/drop-off point for the Mears shuttle at DTD? DH and I don't want to wake up early on vacation, so we're trying to hit WWoHP later in the day (leaving around 12 or so) so we can ride everything once the lines die down near closing time - so we think we'd like to hang out that morning at DTD, and we already have dinner booked at Raglan Road for that night. Will Mears pick us up there, even if it's not our "hotel"? We're staying at AKL, so trying to go back and forth in the morning OR night isn't really an option. Thanks!
I don't know. You could ask when you call to book. They may want to pick you up at SSR. But you do have to call them to book...at least 24 hrs beforehand.
 
Thanks! I was already planning on programming their number into my cell before we left, and was definitely aware of the 24 hour rule - at least it shouldn't be too hard to walk over if they can't do DTD!
 
We've bought the 1-Day/2-Park pass with transportation by Mears. Does anyone know how late Mears will pick up? We're thinking about going to City Walk for dinner when the park closes at 6:00

Thank you!
 
Just a note on the Mears transportation. The Mears drivers take CASH ONLY.

If you want to purchase with a credit or debit card, then purchase your Mears transfer voucher at MCO before leaving the airport.

You still have to call Mears the day before to actually arrange your pickup time, but then don't have to fool with having the cash on hand.

Is this for the shuttle? I was looking on the Mears website at the taxi cab option, and it says that all of their cabs are equipped to take credit cards. We will probably do this option, because we are going to Universal first. We'll need to go from the airport to Universal and then two days later, from Universal to our Disney resort. Their cab fare estimator shows $34 each way, which isn't bad for the 4 of us, even if it's a little off.
 
Does anyone know if the roundtrip be on different days and would we be able to take an overnight bag (we would like to stay at Universal for 1 or 2 nights in the middle of our WDW trip)? Thanks!
 
Does anyone know if the roundtrip be on different days and would we be able to take an overnight bag (we would like to stay at Universal for 1 or 2 nights in the middle of our WDW trip)? Thanks!
Can't say for sure. The Mears shuttle isn't intended to be used this way, so I'm just not sure if they'll allow you to ride on two different days. I would try to book two different rides. I did see some larger sized bags being brought with people when I took the bus.
Have you considered taking a towncar or a cab?? Might be cheaper depending on how many in your party.
 

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