I'm not familiar with Uber. I've seen it mentioned here several times. So, you say it's cheaper than Mears Taxis? That would be nice. Some of the fare estimates are over $20 from a park back to POR. That seems a little steep. Thanks for the advice
It is a "ride sharing" app. You have to have a smartphone to use it and download an app (you can check price quotes etc on a desktop). If you ask anyone who is an uber member, we all have referral codes so you can get $20 off your first ride (and the referrer also gets $20).
There's usually uber drivers hanging around the property. You plug in your destination on the app and it will give you a fare estimate (a range from lowest to highest). If you are fine with it, you request a driver. Drivers can see it on their phones and the one who accepts it will start driving to your location. through the app, they have your cell number and will sometimes text/call you to confirm pick up point. On your end, you can see their name, model of their car, and license plate number. Because their cars are not always marked, I just walk up and confirm who they are by name.
I have had all good experiences with uber drivers. All cars have been clean. All have been friendly and open to chatting if we initiate it (only one didn't talk much - but his English was very bad). Prices are decent, slightly cheaper than Mears I think. I quoted Epcot to POR and got the following fare estimates:
uberX: $5-8 (the value option)
uberXL: $11-14 (vans/SUVs to fit more than 4 ppl)
UberSELECT: $13-17 (luxury cars). You may have to wait, depending on where the cars are and how bad the traffic is. Usually I wait 2-3 minutes, sometimes up to 10 minutes. You can watch your driver's progress on the app (my kids LOVE this!). If you don't like any of the options or the wait is too long, you just walk off and look for a regular taxi (you can't lose).
Like I said, my two experiences with Mears cabs in WDW (called using the Mears app) were awful. In one, the driver did not like where I wanted to go (the outlet mall) and threw a fit the entire 20 min journey, grumbling loudly to us (and then to his friend on his cell). It was dreadful. The second round, the driver came and refused to take us where we wanted to go (a very short ride to Epcot). We gave up and never used Mears again. We have used the town cars at our resort and they were great, but super expensive.
. Ooops.
