Getting Groceries, staying onsite with no car

[NLD]

Hi,

I really don't see the point of spending the money on a towncar if the main concerns are diapers and whole milk. (Whole milk = 3% milk, in the U.S.)

Ship yourself some diapers, and just buy milk at the resort. Even at inflated Disney prices, that will still come out significantly cheaper than paying for a towncar.

 

[RodJohnson]

Just curious, what do you think the cost of a round trip cab be from POR to a Walmart or Publix?

Taxi is $2.00 drop and $2.00 per mile it is 5 miles from POR to Walmart. Therefore it should be no more than $15 each way with traffic light wait times from POR to Walmart and $15 back so your talking maybe $30 roundtrip. If you include a decent tip of say $5 each way your talking $40 round trip.
Get your drivers phone number and have same driver for both legs of journey. You can always negotiate a rate with the driver for round trip and wait time too. Cab drivers in Orlando and WDW are independant contractors and can always negotiate a flat rate for round trip service, just talk with the driver.

You must realize that most who talk town car, limo or shuttle have no idea how transportation industry works in Orlando and WDW area. Limo and taxi drivers rent a car by the day or the week and make as much as they can. METER RATES ARE ONLY REQUIRED IN THE CITY OF ORLANDO! Shuttle drivers work hourly most making minimum wage, and rely heavily on tips to earn a decent living.

 

[pampam]

We use Lynx #56. $2.00 each way. We catch it at the TTC (MK). It drops us of at Publix -Walgreens. It's about a 15 minute ride. Just tell the driver where you are going and he can direct you where to get off. It's just before Old Town.

 

[goofy4tink]

A acb is not nearly as expensive as what was quoted above. And DO NOT let the car service fool you the grcery stop IS NOT FREE. It is included because you rent the car by the hour and it is only a 30 minute drive to WDW, thereby leaving a 30 min window of time to go grocery shopping. This is a huge scam that makes the car service rich because everyone pays for one hour and most only use 30 minutes. In essence all trips that go directly to the resort should cost half of what they do, but becaus eall teh car services are greedy they charge a ONE HOUR MINIMUM. Please do not be fooled by these crooks.

The thing that concerns me here is that you do seem to have a vested interest in taxi service in Orlando. The vast majority of your posts are regarding cabs vs towncars...especially as to how car services are ripping guests off.
I do know that a cab ride from YC to Pop is just under $10, and with tip I just hand over a $10 bill. That is one way, for a 5 min ride...very short with maybe a total of three lights....one of which is a right turn, so you don't always have to stop.

If it were me, I would just buy non-perishables at home and have them shipped to the resort..for delivery on your arrival day. Or, use netgrocer.com. They don't offer (at least they didn't when I used them) perishable things, so it might be cheaper to use them and get your milk and such right at the resort. Diapers are a huge issue due to size. they are so bulky that you really don't want them taking up room in a bag unless you are getting that bag free.

If you don't want to do that, just get a car service from MCO. You get the grocery stop. But, as far as letting DME take your bags, you need to know one thing. IF you don't ride that DME bus (at least one person in your group anyway), DME baggage handlers have no idea how many checked bags they are looking for. If you check 5 bags, but the airline misdirects one of them, and you don't use the bus, DME baggage handlers have no idea that one of your bags is missing. So, you get to your resort, get checked in, and when you return to your room, later in the day, you find that 4 out of 5 bags have been delivered. No one has started a search for that missing bag!!! When you ride the bus,you are asked how many bags you have checked. That number is entered into the system, so that the handlers know that they have the correct number of bags for your reservation.
Can you get a car service but let DME handle those bags? Yes, you can. You just need to be aware of the possible ramifications.

 

[Pumbaa_]

i would do either towncar from airport and do grocery stop on way in (can do one way and use DME to go back to airport) or have groceries delivered.

In addition to the cost of the taxi (and it will be more than $15 each way since within disney it costs that from resort to resort or close to) is the time factor

Decide what you really need and don't want to pay the rsort price and have it delivered or stop on the way in

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[RodJohnson]

The thing that concerns me here is that you do seem to have a vested interest in taxi service in Orlando. The vast majority of your posts are regarding cabs vs towncars...especially as to how car services are ripping guests off.
I do know that a cab ride from YC to Pop is just under $10, and with tip I just hand over a $10 bill. That is one way, for a 5 min ride...very short with maybe a total of three lights....one of which is a right turn, so you don't always have to stop.

I do not have any vested interest. I used to drive a cab in teh Orlando area, I worked as an independant lease operator at Mears in the Osceloa Chacker fleet and the Yellow fleet. I left Orlando in 2009. I just think that everyone deserves a fair shake and often find the things said about cabs, limos, etc are very rarely thruthful. Hence, my information about the "free" grocery stop. Your buying the full hour whether you use it or not. Car services are no deal, the only thing you get out of it that you don't get in a cab is someone to schlep your bags from the baggage claim to the car and for that your paying some $20 more than a cab would cost you plus the hassle of calling and making reservations, plus giving CC info to someone on the phone or on-line. I have seen many horror stories on this forum of people's cards being charged multiple times, drivers not showing and still getting charged, etc. This coual all be avoided if one just walks out the door and gets into a cab. Not to mention the money saved.

There is a reason Disney contracts with a cab company, and not a limo/towncar company, same for Universal and SW, they all contract cabs, not car services.

 

[tjmw2727]

A acb is not nearly as expensive as what was quoted above. And DO NOT let the car service fool you the grcery stop IS NOT FREE. It is included because you rent the car by the hour and it is only a 30 minute drive to WDW, thereby leaving a 30 min window of time to go grocery shopping. This is a huge scam that makes the car service rich because everyone pays for one hour and most only use 30 minutes. In essence all trips that go directly to the resort should cost half of what they do, but becaus eall teh car services are greedy they charge a ONE HOUR MINIMUM. Please do not be fooled by these crooks.

Last time I took a cab it was $57 plus tip one way - and this was about 3 years ago!! Today I can book a towncar round trip for $110 with a 30 minute grocery stop. This gives me a personal ride, a guaranteed price, help with the bags if I need it and plenty of time to get snacks and drinks at a reasonably priced store.

OP -
I have used wegoshop many times and would recomend the service. You can see the fees up front on the website and decide if your shopping list warrants the price. They will shop at the stores that give the best prices based on your list and they will deliver beer and wine. If you need to you could also cal them to clarify Canadian brands vs US brands.

Although if its just milk your concerned about I agree with the PPs - you can just purchase whole milk at the resort and almost all the restaurants so shipping diapers could work just as well.

 

[twinklebug]

Last time I took a cab it was $57 plus tip one way - and this was about 3 years ago!! Today I can book a towncar round trip for $110 with a 30 minute grocery stop. This gives me a personal ride, a guaranteed price, help with the bags if I need it and plenty of time to get snacks and drinks at a reasonably priced store.

OP -
I have used wegoshop many times and would recomend the service. You can see the fees up front on the website and decide if your shopping list warrants the price. They will shop at the stores that give the best prices based on your list and they will deliver beer and wine. If you need to you could also cal them to clarify Canadian brands vs US brands.

Although if its just milk your concerned about I agree with the PPs - you can just purchase whole milk at the resort and almost all the restaurants so shipping diapers could work just as well.

To get from Kidani over to the Poly for breakfast cost $25 including tip just 2 weeks back. I'm reasonably sure taking a taxi is the least economical way to go.

For the future trips where I plan on having the full kitchen to stock I'll either stick to WeGoShop deliveries like we've had in the past or rent a car for a couple days and have a little extra freedom to go venture to places other than Disney Dying to revisit IOA and BCR

 

[greg54n]

Sounds like the best bet is to have non-perishables shipped down and buy the milk onsite.

Do I need to notify the resort that I will have something shipped down? How far in advance should I have it shipped?

I would think that if I made the delivery date a few days in advance of our arrival then if the delivery were late then it would still be there when we check in or a few days later.

Will the resort accept and hold packages for guests? If so are there any restrictions to holding (ie size of packages, length of hold etc)

 

[lawone]

We always pack non-perishable items in a box and FedEx it to the resort! Then you can just buy eggs, etc. at the resort. It does save $!

 

[twinklebug]

Sounds like the best bet is to have non-perishables shipped down and buy the milk onsite.

Do I need to notify the resort that I will have something shipped down? How far in advance should I have it shipped?

I would think that if I made the delivery date a few days in advance of our arrival then if the delivery were late then it would still be there when we check in or a few days later.

Will the resort accept and hold packages for guests? If so are there any restrictions to holding (ie size of packages, length of hold etc)

I have not shipped to the resorts, but many folk have and do all the time. You do not need to notify them of a package on it's way, but you will want online tracking of the package so you're sure it's arrived.

Some notes from what I've learned from those that do ship:

• The resorts with conference centers will charge a service and handling fee. I'm not sure what it is, but it certainly raised hairs here when they added this. This includes the Contemporary\BLT, Boardwalk\BWV and I believe Coronado Springs.

• Ship via UPS or Fedex (which have the best tracking tools anyway).
  Do not ship via the US postal service: Regular mail and packages through them go through a processing center on Disney's site and are delayed.

• When you address the package be sure to put somewhere visible on the box the reservation information: Name & Check in Date. They will hold it for you with bell services for your arrival. We can help you track down the shipping address if you need help, I know I've seen them listed in a sticky somewhere here.