Do you think this is possible?

[floridacrazy]

I'm planning a trip to Bonnet Creek for late July or early August. I don't drive - I don't know how to drive so renting a car is definitely out of the question.

It will be for 2 adults and 2 kids. I've already purchased my 5 day Disney tickets and I've been reading about BC's shuttles and the fact that they charge $5.00 per person round-trip.

I've also priced a cab from Epcot to Bonnet Creek and the fare estimator said $7.00. Is that $7.00 per person in the cab? How do the cabs in Florida work?

What I really want to know and it all depends on whether the charge for the cab is for the ride or per person, if I plan on spending the day at Magic Kingdom if I could just get a cab to Epcot from BC for the $7.00 (plus the additional tip) and then take Disney's transportation to Magic Kingdom?

I am trying to find the cheapest and most convenient way without dealing with BC's shuttle service that would cost me $20 a day. The cabs back and forth will cost me $20, but it would be a little more convenient since I could leave when I want and not rely on shuttle times.

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

 

[dmunsil]

It will be for 2 adults and 2 kids. I've already purchased my 5 day Disney tickets and I've been reading about BC's shuttles and the fact that they charge $5.00 per person round-trip.

I've also priced a cab from Epcot to Bonnet Creek and the fare estimator said $7.00. Is that $7.00 per person in the cab? How do the cabs in Florida work?

What I really want to know and it all depends on whether the charge for the cab is for the ride or per person, if I plan on spending the day at Magic Kingdom if I could just get a cab to Epcot from BC for the $7.00 (plus the additional tip) and then take Disney's transportation to Magic Kingdom?

The cab ride is one-way per cab, not per-person. If it was a $7.00 fare, a $1 tip would be reasonable, so budget it at $8. $16 round-trip for your family. Depending on traffic lights and so forth the fare could go up by a dollar or so. Or it might be lower.

Some other convenient locations that are even closer than Epcot and also have access to Disney transportation include Boardwalk Inn, Caribbean Beach, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. I would guess the cab to Boardwalk would be less than $5. As a WDW ticket holder, you are completely within your rights to take Disney transport to and from anywhere it goes within WDW.

So yes, for 4 people a cab is a better deal and probably more convenient. I tend to think if it were me, I'd take the cab direct to DHS and Epcot, and cab to Boardwalk and take a bus to get to MK and AK. To get to the Epcot resorts, I'd cab directly, and to get to the MK resorts, I'd cab to DHS and bus from there.

If you could figure out a way to get through the hedge separating Bonnet Creek from Caribbean Beach, you could just take Disney Transport from there. Something tells me it's much more formidable in person than it looks on the satellite maps.

 

[Alesia]

I'm not sure about the cab fare - that seems a bit low to me. I'm thinking more like $12 to $15, plus tip, each way.

 

[dmunsil]

I'm not sure about the cab fare - that seems a bit low to me. I'm thinking more like $12 to $15, plus tip, each way.

You're right about Epcot. By the most direct route it's just under 5 miles. I think $12-$15 is about right.

But Boardwalk and DHS are only 2 miles, which is more like $7-8.

If you want the absolute shortest cab ride possible, you could cab from Bonnet Creek to Caribbean Beach and take Disney transport from there. It's about 1 mile, or $5.

If they stop you at the gate and ask whether you're checking in, just say, "We just wanted to check out the resort, and then we're going to take the bus from here. Is that OK?" I would think that would be fine. I've driven to pretty much all of the resorts and have told the gate attendant, "I'm just checking out the resort," and have never been told I couldn't. But I was driving and not in a cab; I don't know why that would matter.

I suppose it's barely possible that they don't want people cabbing to resorts and taking the bus from there if they've had problems in the past with too many people doing it (which seems hard to imagine, but who knows). If so, then just go to DHS. They will absolutely not care if you get out of the cab and head straight for the bus stops to get a bus to somewhere else. There are park-to-park shuttle buses that will take you to any other park from DHS, or you can get a resort bus from there.

The DHS to MK bus probably goes to the TTC. It's likely to be faster to take the Contemporary bus and walk from the Contemporary to the MK.

 

[2DisneyIgo]

I'm going to Bonnet Creek at the end of July and won't have a car either. I don't know how to drive. I didn't really want to rely on the Bonnet Creek shuttles, especially when leaving the parks. I was considering doing the same thing. When I read this thread I decided to price cabs from BC to different locations.

I used the Mears cab estimator and found the following:

From Bonnet Creek to Epcot - $7.00
from BC to Boardwalk Inn - $8.00
from BC to Caribbean Beach - $6.00
from BC to Hollywood Studios - $12.00

I think that the cost of taking a cab will come out to be the same as the cost of taking the BC shuttles - depending on how many people are going.

 

[dmunsil]

I used the Mears cab estimator and found the following:

From Bonnet Creek to Epcot - $7.00
from BC to Boardwalk Inn - $8.00
from BC to Caribbean Beach - $6.00
from BC to Hollywood Studios - $12.00

The Mears estimator appears to measure as the crow flies, which is not how a cab actually travels. The distance to Epcot isn't very far, but the route to the taxi stand on the roads is very roundabout and is the longest of the three paths.

I personally measured the road distance between the porte-cochere at Wyndham Bonnet Creek to the taxi stands at Epcot and DHS and to the porte-cocheres at Boardwalk and Caribbean Beach using Google Earth's measuring tool, but if you want a second opinion, you could try this taxi estimator, which actually uses Google Maps directions to calculate the driving distance:

http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Orlando

Unfortunately, its locations for DHS and Epcot are a little off, which makes the distance slightly off. But it's a heck of lot closer to the actual fare than the Mears estimator.

Don

 

[dmunsil]

I'll throw in one other caveat that honestly shouldn't be an issue, but just in case:

If you take a cab to DHS, make sure to specify the north entrance. If the cab takes you to the south entrance (which is the main entrance) it'll be a much longer ride. To get to the north entrance (the Buena Vista Drive entrance), the cab should exit the Bonnet Creek resort area, turn left on Buena Vista Drive, go three lights and turn left into DHS. If he turns right on Buena Vista Drive, he's going the long way around. He might not know any better or he might be trying to pad his fare. Ask him to turn around and go to the north entrance.

Again, I highly doubt this is going to be a problem. How to get from the Epcot resort area to DHS is one of the basic routes any cabbie should know.

 

[Wishes Count]

Just to add my two cents in as a CM. Be sure you get in a Mears Cab and not a "gypsy cab". Mears is a reputable company and have a contract to enter the parking lots. If you get in another cab company there is a good chance they will make you pay the $15 parking fee to get into the lot.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[dmunsil]

Just to add my two cents in as a CM. Be sure you get in a Mears Cab and not a "gypsy cab". Mears is a reputable company and have a contract to enter the parking lots. If you get in another cab company there is a good chance they will make you pay the $15 parking fee to get into the lot.

Ooo, good point. At the Disney hotels, they would only ever put you in a Mears cab, but who knows at Bonnet Creek? You might want to check with the front desk at Bonnet Creek or the bell services folks out front and make sure they only use Mears. If they don't (maybe they have a contract with a different company), then you should call Mears yourself. Note that Mears runs several cab companies: Yellow, Checker, City, and Safety are all Mears cabs.

The number for Yellow cabs (which is really the main Mears number) is (407) 699-9999.

Here's some other good info about taking cabs at Walt Disney World:

http://www.mousesavers.com/transportation-for-disney-vacations/taxis-at-walt-disney-world/