Transportation to US/IoA

[goofy4tink]

Do you think one day is enough for IOA and US ?

Depends. If it's busy, then you may have an issue doing the bigger attractions. I know that my dd and I did both parks last August. But, we didn't do everything....no Dueling Dragons or Hulk. We did buy the FoTL passes though. And when I was there for two days in Dec, I was more than ready to head back to WDW by noon on our second day. We got to the parks on Wednesday, by 8:30, and stayed in them until around 5ish. Then, headed back again first thing on Thursday morning. I was ready to leave but our Mears ride wasn't coming until 3ish. I really did everything I wanted to on that first day.

 

[doug46]

I think I may be dense, but it seems from reading all of these posts that there is both a Mears taxi service to US and a Mears Shuttle to US. Is that correct? I see that a round trip ticket on the shuttle is $18 per person and one post mentioned that a taxi was about $35 dollars (I think it was the Mear taxi, but am not sure). So for a family of four, it seems a taxi is much cheaper. Is that right and the way to go. We may have five so it may even be a better deal to take the Mears Taxi.

 

[doug46]

Sorry, just went to the Mears site. They have both and the prices listed by others are accurate. Is there a down side to taking the cab? With four or five people seems a much cheaper alternative.

 

[goofy4tink]

That $35 is one way I believe. So, it will be $70 r/t plus tips. It almost makes more sense to hire a towncar service if you are doing this.
I have always said that if you have more than 3 people traveling between WDW and US/IoA, it makes more sense to get a car service, or a cab if you choose.

 

[Ratatosk]

We're trying to decide if we should do mears or take a cab. There are 3 of us and while mears may be the better deal, wondering about the time involved if it might be worth the money to cab it if it's going to take an excessive amount of time to travel back and forth.

 

[disneygma11]

We're trying to decide if we should do mears or take a cab. There are 3 of us and while mears may be the better deal, wondering about the time involved if it might be worth the money to cab it if it's going to take an excessive amount of time to travel back and forth.

I am wondering this too, there are 8 of us, 6 Adults and 2 Children 3 and under. I assume the Children could ride the shuttle free so that would be a total of $108 if we all rode the shuttle, would it be cheaper on our parts to get a Taxi and is the fee for a Taxi per person or per car load? Also are the fees quoted only one way or round trip?

 

[goofy4tink]

Mears charges about $19 r/t per adult. Children 4-12 pay less and kids under 4 ride free. If you use a cab, it's going to run you about $35 each way. A car service will charge you about $70 r/t, but you can fit only 4 in a towncar.

I've used the Mears shuttle several times. You call the day before you want to head to US/IoA. You can either pay via credit card then, or choose to have cash when you get to the bus. You will be given a choice of pickup times that fit your needs. Usually a bus is used in the mornings, and it will make other stops. Plan on it taking about 45 mins to get to US/IoA. We left BW at about 7:15 in Dec and arrived at US/IoA at about 8ish.
Then, you either give them a time you want to head back to WDW or you can call them a few hours before you want to leave and they will tell you what time to be back at the bus stops.

You may be able to get a van taxi to get you all over to US/IoA. Or perhaps a car service will have a van that will transport larger groups.

 

[perkinsrose]

Do you think one day is enough for IOA and US ?

Just back --we took the Mears shuttle with two preteen kids on Wed Jan 26from Port Orleans FrenchQuarter.

When I called for our pick up time, our options were 7:25 or 8:25am. I chose 7:25. We stopped at 1 other Disney resort and one none Disney (Alamo I think?). We only had a total of 10 people in our shuttle --ours was a van.

Because we had to wait about 10 mintues at the Alamo hotel for the pickup guests to showup (slightly annoying) and stop to drop people at Seaworld first, we got to Universal gate at about 8:20 which was fine though. When I was getting our park tickets thru Will call( I asked attendent for help when a ticket was stuck), we realized our tickets had a promotional early entry so we were allowed in with the resort guests and went right in instead of waiting until 9:am opening. Nice surprise--not sure why they didn't alert me by email when I purchased??

One day/two parks was plenty for us. The early entry helped us get the Harry Potter ride in first thing but even by opening time it was only 20 minute wait.

It WAS a rainy/cloudy start to the day though that helped slow the crowds and then cleared to sun which brought in the people later. We don't do HULK or the other big rocket ride though but did pretty much everything else we were interested in. Hit Spiderman, all HarryPotter, Simpsons twice, ET twice, Men in Black twice,... This was a low crowd time of year, nothing like the two hour waits for HP I read about just weeks ago.

The shuttle pick up was there a few minutes early and left a few mintues early for us since he had all of us ( just our party and the another couple). No other stops on the way back.

A good experience. Not sure it was worth the $477 plus food money(!!!) to leave Disney but it had to be done to experience Harry Potter...

 

[jewelmicky]

Sounds about like what I have planned. My DD8 is a huge HP fan....she's halfway through the 4th year book. We almost did the whole week at Universal, but having never been I wasn't sure. So, we will spend just one day at USIoA, and go from there. When I priced it all out, the free dining is what sealed the deal for staying at WDW.

I think we will just do the Taxi thing, for the 3 of us it seems the best way to go. Whould I call ahead or just see what's available at the resort? POR

 

[Ratatosk]

We just got back and we decided to take a cab instead of the shuttle from WL. There were 3 of us and it was about $80 RT. Considered the Mears shuttle; however we were concerned with the possibility of multiple stops at other resorts or having to wait for a shuttle.

 

[alaskanabbott]

Just back and very excited to share this info. I posted here before we left b/c we have 9 in our family and we really wanted to do US/IOA. We had considered taking the bus, but after much research decided that was a bad idea. The day before we wanted to go to US/IOA we called the front desk and asked what the cheapest way for 9 people to go would be. We were told that we should call Mears. I called Mears who said we could do a Taxi, but it would mean 2 taxi's, since each taxi can only hold 7 people. Each taxi would cost $35 each way- for a total of about $140. I know every day we saw 10-15 passenger vans outside. I called the front desk again and they tried to refer me back to Mears. Finally I asked who else besides Mears they recomended. They gave me the number for STAR. I called STAR, and was greeted on the phone with a very pleasant woman who said she had a 10 passenger van she could send. I scheduled the van for 8am the next morning. 7:55 am the van arrived. It was clean, and even had a car seat for my daughter. The driver loaded our backpacks and my son's wheelchair. He was super nice. He asked how much we had been quoted for the ride and we told him $35. When we got to US/IOA he gave us his number and said to call about 45 minutes before we wanted to return, which we did, and again he was there waiting for us when we arrived at the taxi location. Total cost was $70 round trip for 9 of us (we tipped him well though). I have his number still in my phone if anyone is interested.

 

[Minnie824]

Has anyone used Tiffany Town Car to get to/from Universal? I looked into prices and they are $90 round trip for 1-7 people (we have 6). They said you call and hour ahead to be picked up. It actually would be cheaper for us to use this than Mears, but I want to make sure they're reliable. Thanks.

 

[goofy4tink]

I haven't used TT to get to and from US/IoA but I have used them from the airport to WDW. They were just fine..no problems to speak of.

 

[Disneybound!!]

Anyone have any experience with Happy Limo services? They have car services, like Mears, but they are about $20 cheaper. With a discount code from Mousesavers, they are about $30 cheaper. I'll be travelling by myself with my 2 boys (8 and 5), and I want things to be as smooth as possible, and I don't want to feel creeped out by some strange driver either!

 

[goofy4tink]

Anyone have any experience with Happy Limo services? They have car services, like Mears, but they are about $20 cheaper. With a discount code from Mousesavers, they are about $30 cheaper. I'll be travelling by myself with my 2 boys (8 and 5), and I want things to be as smooth as possible, and I don't want to feel creeped out by some strange driver either!

I know that many have used Happy Limo with good results. I checked online, for their rates...I got about $52 one way/$93 round trip. So decided to check other companies to compare...Mears was showing $48 one way and Tiffany was $45 one way/$80 r/t. Just to give you some comparison.

 

[Disneybound!!]

I know that many have used Happy Limo with good results. I checked online, for their rates...I got about $52 one way/$93 round trip. So decided to check other companies to compare...Mears was showing $48 one way and Tiffany was $45 one way/$80 r/t. Just to give you some comparison.

Thanks for that info! I'll definitely check out the others as well.

 

[ShhhQ]

I saw someone ask a similar question, but never saw an answer... so here goes..

My Mother and I are taking our Disney trip this fall, and would like to spend 1 day at US.. we are looking into the tickets and transport offered on Dreams. However, my DM will be using her personal WC and I will be renting an ECV. I was wondering if the transport for this will accomodate WCs and ECVs and if it can accomodate both of us. If anyone has any experience in this area, or may have used this transport and seen it 1st hand, please help us out.

 

[goofy4tink]

I saw someone ask a similar question, but never saw an answer... so here goes..

My Mother and I are taking our Disney trip this fall, and would like to spend 1 day at US.. we are looking into the tickets and transport offered on Dreams. However, my DM will be using her personal WC and I will be renting an ECV. I was wondering if the transport for this will accomodate WCs and ECVs and if it can accomodate both of us. If anyone has any experience in this area, or may have used this transport and seen it 1st hand, please help us out.

Interesting question. I would call Mears directly and ask them. I know I've seen some pretty large strollers waiting for the bus but once I got on, I never noticed what happened to them. Call Mears and check...best thing.

 

[ShhhQ]

Interesting question. I would call Mears directly and ask them. I know I've seen some pretty large strollers waiting for the bus but once I got on, I never noticed what happened to them. Call Mears and check...best thing.

Thanks for the advice, I already asked my Dreams TA and she said she would look into it for me, just haven't heard back from her yet....

I could probably make it around without the ECV (if I had to, at least for 1 day), but Mom could not be without her WC.

 

[rothesaydismom]

I have his number still in my phone if anyone is interested.

Hi, Amber.

Would you mind sending me a PM with his number? I've called Mears about their shuttle to US/IOA and was told they don't offer booster seats for the shuttle. I'd be interested to speak to another company to hear about their policy.

I know age-wise, my kids don't need booster seats, according to FL law (unless that's changed recently)...however, here in NB they do and I'd like to use booster seats on our day-trip to US/IOA without having to bring ours from home.

Thanks in advance!

Andrea