International Drive to Disney Lynx Service and advice

[matandsam]

Hi there,

We are new to the forum and just pulling things together ready for our holiday to Florida September 17th with three children (8yr old, 2yr old and 8 month old.. I know, we must be mad!).

We are not having a hire car as neither of us drive so its sadly not an option.

We are looking at transport for Disney and its likely we will split between Taxis (which I understand are around $50 and bus services to cut costs (perhaps bus in the morning and a taxi back)

I just wondered whether anyone has used the Lynx service. We are staying at the Quality In 7600 International Drive and the Lynx 80 stop is right outside our hotel. It seems we can use that to get to Seaworld then catch the Lynx 50 to the Disney Transport Centre. It looks to be around 70-90 minutes. I would be very interested to hear anyones experience with the service, good or bad.

Thank you in advance for any information or assistance.

 

[NotUrsula]

Honestly, you are much more likely to get responses from those who have used this route on the UK planning board, or on the DIBB. Quite frankly, most Americans wouldn't do it, especially not with 3 young kids. We would either drive a car or stay on-property where a car is not needed.

I'm sure that you have booked a holiday package and are stuck with a location on I-Drive, but if there is any way to change the package to use a hotel with a WDW shuttle service for mornings, I would do it. The savings on taxis will probably make up for any add'l hotel cost.

Public transit in a city like Orlando is nothing like what you are used to in the UK (and I'm guessing London if you don't drive at all?). Lynx is a decent system for a car-centric city like Orlando, but the service is slow and the routes are quite convoluted, with very frequent stops. The system really isn't set up to transport tourists: it exists to get minimum-wage hospitality workers to their jobs at restaurants and hotels, so it runs most efficiently at the hours that they are commuting to work.

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago, so you might want to look over that: http://xn--www-6o0a.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3088869&highlight=best+i-drive

PS: Please note that in the linked thread the party consisted only of two adults, which I think made public transport a more viable option. It is a much different scenario with three young children in tow.

 

[Kimberle]

Welcome to the Dis!

Boy, is there anyway you could change your hotel? You are going to be spending so much time and money on transportation. Your family can fit into a value resort room. (They sleep 4 plus a baby under 3.) The value rooms are priced pretty reasonably. I just can't imagine going on a Lynx bus with 3 young children. Will you also bring a stroller every day? They are very expensive to rent at WDW. I think they are around $30 per day.

If you're looking to save money, you can have a grocery order delivered to your hotel. I haven't used it, but lots of people like gardengrocer.com. You can have breakfast food (like cereal), snacks, beverages, even diapers and wipes delivered. WDW is perfectly fine with people bringing their own food into the parks. I believe the value resorts now have fridge's in each room, so you can keep milk, etc. cold. You are also welcome to use the microwave and toaster in the food court.

Another consideration to using taxi's are the car seats you'll need for young children. I'm not familiar with the current law as I don't have a young child. Depending on your 8yo's size, s/he probably won't need one. Your 2yo and baby will. Even if the law didn't require car seats, you really don't want to drive in Orlando traffic without the seats.

Have a wonderful trip and good luck with your plans.

 

[purple figment]

to the dis!

As the PP said, almost all Americans who stay off site would have a car so answers you get here would probably be from locals familiar with the bus routes. You might get more responses about actual experiences if you post your question on the UK planning board. Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=47&order=desc&daysprune=60