Airport Shuttle



if you are NOT staying onsite at Disney owned Hotel excluding Swan Dolphin and Disney Springs Partner Hotels (all not owned by Disney) you have many options. First you need to figure out which zone your hotel is in at is broken down. You can directly book online through Super shuttle which should be the cheapest or Mears both have websites and offer discounts if booked before arriving. The next option is Uber or Lyft. Also Taxi or car service also can be booked through Mears and multiple other sites. Lastly you can rent a car with many having drop offs near many hotels off property to on Disney property. The cheapest will depend on the number of people.
 
After multiple horrible experiences on Magical Express, we consider the $20-$30 Lyft ride (total for the 4 of us) the best deal around.
 
Well, there’s Lynx busses that run from MCO for $2 per person. We’ve ridden them on our budget trips when we’ve stayed offsite (and only had carry ons, I would hate to ride with big suitcases!). We usually stay at resorts around SeaWorld (when we don’t stay onsite) as there’s Lynx busses that go directly from MCO and drop you off right in front of your hotel.
 


After multiple horrible experiences on Magical Express, we consider the $20-$30 Lyft ride (total for the 4 of us) the best deal around.
What went unexpectedly, what went horribly, and what went wrong when you tried Magical Express?
 
On the better trips, after walking a half mile to the busses, we wait 20-30 minutes for others to fill the bus before departing the airport. Busses stop at several different resorts dropping off guests, and it takes a while to unloading luggage at each site, especially when we are on late flights after work (everyone has to retrieve and transport their own luggage after 10 or 11 pm). We do like the video, but it only plays about half the trips. Several times we waited over an hour between arriving at the DME kiosk and departing the airport.

The final trip, my husband's reservation couldn't be found. We had confirmation numbers and paperwork, but thet still wouldn't let him board the bus. Over 45 minutes with two different people at the kiosk insisting the reservation must have been changed (it wasn't) before moving us to the end of the supervisor's line. He found it (name and number were all correct) and let us enter without offering so much as a 'sorry for the delay'. Then, we waited forever for the bus to load and were the 4th drop off. We landed at 10:30pm and reached the hotel to check-in after 1am. 2 1/2 hours! We won't risk beginning our vacation that way again.

Fortunately the typical Magical Express experience is not quite that bad, but Lyft consistently gets us to the hotel 30-60 minutes faster than even our best DME trips.
 
The final trip, my husband's ... (snip) ... for the delay'. ... (snip)
I would say that this one would have been worth bringing to the attention of Guest Relations the next day and asking for an extra perk such as a few additional fastpasses. After that, why the delay happened can be left behind unasked about.

If a shill from the taxi industry is trying to catch/entrap Magical Express accepting a walk up rider (him) contrary to airport rules, his prolonging an argument that he has a reservation should constitute proof of reservation thus quelling/quashing his other argument that DME was taking a walk up rider.
 
Last edited:
When we stay onsite, we now Uber/Lyft too. The last three times it has taken over two hours from the time we get to the ME check in desk to the time we unload at our resort. We stayed at AKV Kidani (which is always the last stop). We would always just put up with it when it cost a fortune to get a taxi to the resort, but now that Uber/Lyft is allowed to pick up at the airport, it’s worth the more affordable price (to us). I know some people love the experience of ME. We are not those people.
 
I know it depends on the people and the resorts they are staying...but is there any "route" that is followed so you can "guesstamate" your arrival?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top