Cab, town car or Mears? Best choice for return to MCO from Dolphin?

[Mickdeb]

Good afternoon! We are looking for the best economical transport back to MCO from The Dolphin. We are doing a split stay, so we will have Magical Express for MCO to WL for the first half of our trip. Second half of the trip we will be at the Dolphin. What are the prices for cab to MCO vs. town car. There will be 3 of us traveling.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Debbie

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

I really could not guess at the price for a taxi to MCO. Depending on the time of day there could be a lot of traffic. This will increase your cost as the meter will continue running.
One way towncar would be around $50-$60. There are numerous companies that you read about here on the DIS that get good ratings. We used Prestige Town Cars last June and they were great. Their prices were lower than most and they had a $5.00 coupon for booking online (but this was for round trip). They since merged with Tiffany Town Cars so I don't know if they still operate as two companies.
I don't believe Mears services WDW any longer since they run the Magical Express service from MCO to WDW under contract with Disney..
This will bump you to the top for more responses.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would think that since DME doesn't serve the Dolphin and Swan, that Mears does.

 

[goofy4tink]

Mears does, in fact service S/D. In fact, there have been reports of people booking Mears to get to the S/D and being put on the DME buses!!! When we stayed at BCV last year, we made a stop at the Dolphin for one family.
I would check on different sites to see what is the cheapest mode of transport. I don't like to use the taxi's but that's just me. Most of the towncar services will run in the $50-60 range. And I believe Mears may be in the $30 r/t, and about $18 one way, but that's for a shared ride on a shuttle as opposed to a limo/towncar through them.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm a big fan of Disney's Magical Express when going to a Disney resort. But that's for the whole program, including the price of "complimentary" and the inbound luggage transfers which allow you to bypass baggage claim — but you don't get either of those with a paid ride through Mears (because you're not staying at a Disney-operated resort), even if you end up on a DME motorcoach.

My vote is for a towncar service.

With three people, a towncar is very comfortable. You have to wait at baggage claim regardless whether you use Mears or a towncar. And you have to pay in either case. I'm not sure what Mears in charging these days, but for three people it may approach the price of a towncar. A private ride direct to your resort is much nicer.

The cab rate is similar to the towncar rate, but a cab is less predictable because you pay if you're stuck in traffic. And a cab doesn't provide a 20-30 minutes grocery stop.