DVC'ers who daytrip to Universal

[TravelMommy]

How do you get back and forth to Universal? We have a party of six and I wasn't sure if we should car service, taxi or, I figured a rental car with the parking would be most costly??? Any thoughts from those of you who have done this without a car on-site??? TIA

 

[bcvlover]

Call Mears.. they have a van pickup at front of the resorts.

cost is something like $18 per person.

 

[RSWA2]

Call Mears.. they have a van pickup at front of the resorts.

cost is something like $18 per person.

I've read this on other threads too...but I don't see it on the Mears website, is it only through a phone call?

 

[medievaldave]

we took a mears bus to Universal and SeaWorld

 

[heynowirv]

We're renting a car in Dec.For 4 nights and 5 days the total is 95.00.what we love about that is we don't have to wait for DME,just land and pick up the car.Parking is free anywhere we go in WDW,and we can stay @ Universal as long as we want without relying on another service. To me that's a win-win.

 

[Pirate Granny]

I took a cab coming and going...it was Mears,which I booked the day before , if you book round trip it's cheaper, but I didn't want to commit to a pick up time, so we took a regular yellow cab back to Disney. It was $35 each way.

 

[DisK]

When you call Mears - ALWAYS specify shuttle. Otherwise they will send the Taxi. The taxi costs almost double than the shuttle does.

 

[Face Like Fizz]

We're a family of 5. Four years ago while staying at the Poly we pre booked a town car to take us to Universal. We wouldn't do it again - it was expensive ($108 per day, and doubtless much more now) and we didn't like having to decide in advance what time we wanted collected. The first day at Islands of Adventure the children tired earlier than we expected but we had to hang around for over an hour waiting for the car. The second day the driver didn't park where we'd been told to expect him and waited nearly an hour till we found him.

I was listening to a WDW Today podcast episode recently and they suggested for groups of 5 or more it was cheaper to get a taxi/taxis from the resort than the Mears bus. I don't know how easy it is to get a taxi back from Universal. Presumably you can just pick one up there?

We don't like driving in Orlando (we're from the UK) so hiring a car isn't an option for us.

Our next visit will be October 2015 and the children are keen to go back to Universal to see Diagon Alley. At the moment we're thinking a taxi is the easiest and cheapest option.

Rachel

 

[DreamerWDW]

I take a taxi when going to/from Universal. Convenient and easy.

 

[keishashadow]

How do you get back and forth to Universal? We have a party of six and I wasn't sure if we should car service, taxi or, I figured a rental car with the parking would be most costly??? Any thoughts from those of you who have done this without a car on-site??? TIA

six people basically necessitates a van, whether rental or taxi.

Normal taxi is approx. $35 each way, no idea of the taxi vans.

I always suggest that people consider a split trip, book one night onsite @ any of the loews deluxe resorts and you will receive the FOTL perc for two days. It's a great way to end a trip, relaxing. Again, since you have a party of six, that would be an issue as to a single room occupancy level.

what DVC are you booked? SSR is near several in DTD. Otherwise price out Alamo at the car care center or Dolphin for a 24 hr rental of mini van. It would give you more flexibility vs a towncar reservation.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't know how easy it is to get a taxi back from Universal. Presumably you can just pick one up there?

Yes. I believe that you'll want to leave the park and citywalk, going over to the parking structure where you were dropped off that morning. There should be cabs there just waiting!


Alas, I'm not a daytripper. We love Universal too much to only give it a day if longer is possible. I'm sitting here with my AP renewal letter, getting ready to pay for a 3rd year of APs, and we ALWAYS stay onsite for Universal. The perks are just too good!

 

[Face Like Fizz]

...we ALWAYS stay onsite for Universal. The perks are just too good!

We looked into staying onsite for a couple of nights as the Universal Express and early entry to Harry Potter is very tempting. It would be an extra $650 though...

 

[n2mm]

We always rent a car. We renew our universal ap every year. The cost of the renewal last year was $159 + tax. It covers 3 one day visits a year for us. We seldom go more than that, though we have been know to go to city walk to visit margaritaville. Plus our ap covers parking and gives us dining discounts. We have the premium ap.

 

[Meriweather]

We've always taken a Mears shuttle .............for years.
Convenient for us.
However in Dec. there will be 5 of us going, so not sure yet what we are doing.
It might still be shuttle because we might split up on coming back times.

 

[Face Like Fizz]

We've always taken a Mears shuttle .............for years.
Convenient for us.
However in Dec. there will be 5 of us going, so not sure yet what we are doing.
It might still be shuttle because we might split up on coming back times.

How does it work for getting back to WDW? Do shuttles just wait, or do you have to pre-book a time?

 

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

I thought I would save some time and gas and not drive my car but....

I just call Mears and asked how much it was for 2 Adults Round trip from AKV to US/IOA . The lady stated $20 per Adult .
Sorry for $40.00+ tip, I'll take my car and pay for parking.

 

[RSWA2]

How does it work for getting back to WDW? Do shuttles just wait, or do you have to pre-book a time?

I called them since I couldn't find an answer and the lady said they do pickups at Universal starting from 3:15pm until 3:15am. When you board in the morning, you just get a return ticket for the trip back from the driver. No pre-book.