Any new Minnie Van rumors?

[Lewisc]

That's all true, but Disney was also charging prices way in excess of what Uber and Lyft were. I have a hard time seeing how they would have been losing money. It could be possible that the Minnie Vans weren't making enough money for Disney to justify keeping them around.

My memory is the prices weren't way in excess when compared to Uber XL rates. High Minnie Van rates, compared with basic Uber fares, suggest the demand for Minnie Vans should be low.

Uber and Lyft are losing money. Uber and Lyft don't have any of the expenses in running a car service; vehcicle cost, gas, insurance and labor. operate. Uber and Lyft drivers aren't being paid anything close to what's needed to operate.

Rates charged by a money losing company with lower expenses gives us no information as to how much Disney needs to charge for Minnie Van servce. A better, starting point, of price comparison is what does Mears charge for towncar taxis offered at the Swan Dolphin.

Everything I've read suggests demand spikes, dramatically around park opening.

 

[Eric Smith]

My memory is the prices weren't way in excess when compared to Uber XL rates. High Minnie Van rates, compared with basic Uber fares, suggest the demand for Minnie Vans should be low.

Uber and Lyft are losing money. Uber and Lyft don't have any of the expenses in running a car service; vehcicle cost, gas, insurance and labor. operate. Uber and Lyft drivers aren't being paid anything close to what's needed to operate.

Rates charged by a money losing company with lower expenses gives us no information as to how much Disney needs to charge for Minnie Van servce. A better, starting point, of price comparison is what does Mears charge for towncar taxis offered at the Swan Dolphin.

Everything I've read suggests demand spikes, dramatically around park opening.

Minnie vans cost $155 one way to/from the airport and on property it was $15 plus a rate of $2.75 per mile. Both of those are way above what uber/lyft cost at the same point in time.

 

[Krandor]

My memory is the prices weren't way in excess when compared to Uber XL rates. High Minnie Van rates, compared with basic Uber fares, suggest the demand for Minnie Vans should be low.

Uber and Lyft are losing money. Uber and Lyft don't have any of the expenses in running a car service; vehcicle cost, gas, insurance and labor. operate. Uber and Lyft drivers aren't being paid anything close to what's needed to operate.

Rates charged by a money losing company with lower expenses gives us no information as to how much Disney needs to charge for Minnie Van servce. A better, starting point, of price comparison is what does Mears charge for towncar taxis offered at the Swan Dolphin.

Everything I've read suggests demand spikes, dramatically around park opening.

Uber and Lyft are only losing money because they want to lose money. They make money on every ride. However they are taking all of their "profits" and putting it back into the business in order to grow the business as quickly as possible and by showing no profits there is almost no tax. If they stopped re-investing all the money they would be making a product.

Their loses are due to money reinvestment not because the business model is unprofitable.

 

[Lewisc]

Minnie vans cost $155 one way to/from the airport and on property it was $15 plus a rate of $2.75 per mile. Both of those are way above what uber/lyft cost at the same point in time.

Minnie Van was a premium service. Corporate owned and maintained vehicles. Drivers were Disney CM. Car seats available. Booking the service on the lyft app gave some people the idea it was service similar to lyft, but run by Disney. The reasonable, loss leader, initial pricing contributed to that.

Mears luxury van from MCO to WL for 6 pax is $130. Mears luxury vehicle from DHS to Wl is $29 vs $31.50 for Minnie Vans.

Disney was never, long term, going to price Minnie Van to compete with drivers using their personal car to pick up a few fares moonlighting with Uber. Minnie Van airport is probably priced assuming the vehicle is going to be empty one way.

I suspect the demand for Minnie Van is too great at rope drop and too weak the rest of the day to be workable. Makes the most sense for guests who need car seats. A couple of adults could save $$$ with a regular ride share or save a few dollars and use a regular taxi.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

There are still a bunch parked at Epcot.

 

[Pucks104]

On our September 2019 trip, DH and I used Minnie Vans most days from the YC to the parks and back. We found them clean with drivers that were pleasant and knowledgeable about Disney.

 

[OSUZorba]

I only ever tried the mini-vans once. On an insanely rainy day, for reasons that don't really matter, we were at MK with our 3 year-old and our car was at the Fort Wilderness parking lot. We'd been rained on all day, soaking wet, the park was the most empty I had ever seen it. We had done the train tour that morning, so we'd gotten there like at 7:15 am, it was now 9 pm. We decided we didn't want to boat to the camp ground, then walk to the bus stop. Ordered a MV, supposed to be there in 5 minutes, we waited and waited and waited. Finally gave up and took the transportation.

I know everyone loves them on here, but I was like "man, if you can't even get one on a completely dead night an hour before closing, how do you ever get them when they are busy."

 

[DebbieB]

Minnie vans cost $155 one way to/from the airport and on property it was $15 plus a rate of $2.75 per mile. Both of those are way above what uber/lyft cost at the same point in time.

One thought I had is when DME ends, maybe they will restart the airport service.

 

[Blondie58]

I love facts and hate rumors because too many rumors get passed along as facts.

 

[MinnieMSue]

Saw a post that they moved the ride shares and taxi drop off at studios to the furthest away bus stops. They also relocated Minnie van signs there too. Doesn’t mean anything except I suppose getting an Uber to Studios is gonna be a long long walk now

 

[Runnsally]

I’m predicting a single, big WDW “we’re back!” news drop that includes a new fastpass plan, AP sales, Epcot Forever and Minnie Vans. Will happen this upcoming week. Book it.

 

[mmounsey]

I know we used it at least once, in 2017, and we loved it. Flew that trip and had to get from Poly to Yacht Club quickish for dinner. I would definitely use it again.

We had my dad driven in with Tiffany before and he really liked it. We've also used Mears which was ok, and of course are in love with DME too.

We usually drive down, so it isn't really too much of an issue, but I do like having the cute, Disney option. Hope we hear something soon.

 

[rubyeskimo]

I did see a picture on IG this morning from another disney fan website showing that there are new Minnie Van pick up/ drop off signs that have been installed at Hollywood Studios. So looks like they might be coming back sooner rather than later.

 

[Dbktmc]

I know that this has been discussed before on Disboards but I am still hoping Minnie Vans return. I did a google search for Minnie Vans and several websites showed pictures of new Minnie Van pickup sites with the Minnie Van sign clearly pictured in their photos. I didn’t link the sites as I’m unsure what I am allowed to link but they can easily be found by doing a google search and including 2021 in the search bar. So, any idea if th bloggers are reputable? (I will add that one of the pictures were reported on blogmickey)…. I hope I am allowed to say that.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I know that this has been discussed before on Disboards but I am still hoping Minnie Vans return. I did a google search for Minnie Vans and several websites showed pictures of new Minnie Van pickup sites with the Minnie Van sign clearly pictured in their photos. I didn’t link the sites as I’m unsure what I am allowed to link but they can easily be found by doing a google search and including 2021 in the search bar. So, any idea if th bloggers are reputable? (I will add that one of the pictures were reported on blogmickey)…. I hope I am allowed to say that.

I know the rumors about selling the vehicles off were incorrect, but I thought it was confirmed the fleet was retuned to Chevrolet. Having said that, the Minnie Vans were a pet project of Bob C.... now that he's the big boss, who knows?

Don't get me wrong... if they came back I would be one of the first in line to use them.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I think it would have to be restarted from the ground up. So may be sometime if it does come back. We really enjoyed the service. The extra cost was worth it to us because it did feel like it had a magical touch over your run of the mill Lyft/Uber experience. Sad to see it unavailable right now.

The Minnie Van airport service was SUPER nice. Like your own private Disney limo.

Mid COVID-19 pandemic, they were unable to continue operating and were rumored to be retired back in July before the theme parks reopened. It was finally confirmed in October 2020 that Minnie Van service had ended permanently. Minnie Van Cast Members were laid off and the fleet was returned to Chevrolet.

 

[Pyxie]

I know the rumors about selling the vehicles off were incorrect, but I thought it was confirmed the fleet was retuned to Chevrolet. Having said that, the Minnie Vans were a pet project of Bob C.... now that he's the big boss, who knows?

Don't get me wrong... if they came back I would be one of the first in line to use them.

Pretty sure that unless something has changed recently, there is still a fleet of them sitting in a parking lot near Epcot.

 

[unbanshee]

I think it would have to restarted from the ground up. So may be soemtime of it does come back.

Mid COVID-19 pandemic, they were unable to continue operating and were rumored to be retired back in July before the theme parks reopened. It was finally confirmed in October 2020 that Minnie Van service had ended permanently. Minnie Van Cast Members were laid off and the fleet was returned to Chevrolet.

Most of that is wrong

 

[Brett Wyman]

Most of that is wrong

Im not sure if we have confirmation what is true. All rumors on both sides.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Pretty sure that unless something has changed recently, there is still a fleet of them sitting in a parking lot near Epcot.

Maybe they only returned some of them? Bringing back the CM's is easy. The vehicles had to be retained in some fashion; we would know if they had ordered a new fleet. I am not sure HOW we know the fleet was returned to chevy or how reliable the source of information was. Like I mentioned, the rumors about the cars being for sale was incorrect. So if it was the same source, big grain of salt...