Disney Sedan Service - Anything "Magical"

[loveshak22]

I was thinking of getting a cab or sedan pick up from MCO to WDW for our next trip. I was looking at cost and I've found some roundtrip sedan services for $130-$140, plus tip. If I remember correctly the cabs were about $100 - $120, plus tip.

When I booked my reservation through the WDW reservation line the woman offered me the ME (which we may still choose) and I told her we weren't sure yet what we wanted to do - ME, rental, or airport pick-up from a local company. She said WDW has an option for sedan pick-up at $200. I'm curious as to if anyone has ever used this service through Disney and if there's anything tailored to Disney versus just any other car service that I can get for $60-$70 cheaper??

TIA!

 

[wdwrich]

Never heard of a Disney sedan service. Would be interested in hearing more about it.

 

[loveshak22]

When the MVMCP tickets are released I'm going to call to purchase the tickets and will ask more about the sedan service and see if there's anything 'special' involved - for lack of a better word LOL!

Hopefully someone comments on this thread with some personal experience though!!

 

[schoen]

Depending on how many people you have, you can often rent a car for around that same price, or less. I have paid as little as $100 for ten days in a full size. I love the freedom of having a car on site! We use it to make runs to the grocery store, pharmacy, etc. Having a car also allows us to check out area restaurants that don't rely and rest on on the "captive audience" phenomenon, so we are able to get better dining experiences in ORlando, Celebration, Winter Garden, etc.

I also love the privacy of having my own car. I don't have to wait in line for buses. I never get annoyed by the people on the bus behaving badly. I just get in my car, where I always have a seat, listen to music I like, control the temperature myself, and drive wherever I like, without dropping others off first. Pure luxury!

Some folks hate driving on vacation, but if you are looking at options outside of ME, we love to rent cars! I don't mind driving on vacation!

 

[loveshak22]

We used a rental car on our last trip when we stayed at AKL but only used it to drive to HS and then to a couple of resorts for dinner. And I realized I didn't like having the car at dinner because then I could only have like one glass of wine because I was driving - LOL! But my DH and I are staying at GF this trip and I've planned all our dinners near where we are so I don't think the car will get any use except to and from WDW from the airport. We're only there 5 days so we won't have much time to go offsite.

But...for cost I'm still not 100% decided!!

 

[goofy4tink]

What would you consider 'magical'? For $200, plus tip, I would want something pretty spectacular! To the best of my knowledge, Disney uses Mears towncars. They may add something special (and for that price, they should!!) but I have no idea. I would think that we would have heard about something really special happening.
I've used a car service, many times.. I especially like them for the ride back to the airport.
But, I generally use DME. It's a great way to start my trip. It's great to not have to worry about driving...let Disney get you around. You can spend $200 on a very nice meal instea!!

 

[loveshak22]

What would you consider 'magical'? For $200, plus tip, I would want something pretty spectacular! To the best of my knowledge, Disney uses Mears towncars. They may add something special (and for that price, they should!!) but I have no idea. I would think that we would have heard about something really special happening.
I've used a car service, many times.. I especially like them for the ride back to the airport.
But, I generally use DME. It's a great way to start my trip. It's great to not have to worry about driving...let Disney get you around. You can spend $200 on a very nice meal instea!!

Well I guess 'magical' for the difference between a non-Disney service ($140) and Disney service ($200)...so would there be anything special for the extra $60? LOL - I do agree there's probably nothing too special about a round trip ride from MCO to WDW for either cost.

I thought maybe the Disney service might include something Disney focused (like ME and the luggage tags and cute videos) or maybe some trinket or something?

We may do ME but last time we used them we had to wait 45 minute in line at MCO and then were like third for hotel drop off and so it took probably almost 2 hours for something that could have been 30 minutes. And even that wasn't too bad but pick up time to get back to the airport seemed like maybe 4 hours prior to my flight if I remember correctly? But, don't get me wrong....for a free service it is great and they make it easy handling your luggage and everything from airport to room and vice versa!! Plus I love the video they play on the bus and I still have the luggage tags on my suitcase!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Actually, it's 3 hrs (15 mins either way) prior to flight time. It's 4 hrs for international flights.
I've had rimes as short as 55 mins from gate to resort with DME...and one time it was 85! If all the planets align improperly, you could have a 15 minute walk from the gate to DME. Then you could wait in the bus line for 30 mins, and then on the bus for 30 mins. Then you could be the last of three stops, having you on the bus for 45 mins. Bit that doesn't happen very often.
As I said, I like to take DME to my resort and then book a car service for the trip back. I can leave when I want....usually about 2 hours and 15 mins before my flight.

 

[loveshak22]

Maybe the last trip when I used ME I was just unlucky. It was 2011 and we went in September because we heard of the amazingly low crowds...which was not the case when we were there - LOL! I was really shocked. The wait queues for ME were full to the brim and my dad is partially disabled from a stroke so we had to find a chair for him while we stood in line. In 2007 when we used the service we basically walked right on the bus - but my DH and I didn't get in until midnight so that's probably why!!

I did see last night that two of my rewards credit cards offer a sedan service as an option to redeem my points so then it'd be free, if I determine that's a good use of my points!