ME vs. Taxi vs. Mears vs. Shuttle, etc

[katt789]

Hi there!
I'm in the midst of planning a trip down, and have spent quite a bit of time on the boards, and reading books, etc, and have heard such a variety of reviews on how to get from the airport to the resorts.
-I've heard that the Magical Express sometimes waits for all its seats to be filled before it leaves, but have also heard that it will take off with just your family aboard.
What are your opinions? What would you say is the best way to do it?
We'll be staying at one of the All-Star Resorts, and flying into Orlando mid day.
Thanks!

 

[cglaura]

I've been using ME the past 3 trips. We've never had to wait for a full bus. In fact, we were the only family arriving this trip. It was great, very convenient. It took exactly 56 minutes from getting out of my airplane seat to stepping off to ASMu. Our bags were in our room when we got back from Downtown Disney. Now, we were in off season and arrived at 10am, so timing is always an issue. If you are going peak time and arriving at their "check in" time it may be more crowded = more wait.

We've used Mears before, they have been adequate, on time and nice, but for free you get the same from ME.

We've also used a Towncar once. By far the worst. He was late and then I had to remove my own bags from the belts and carried them the car (not that I minded, I'm capable, not spoiled, but it was supposed to be part of the service, so that on top of being over 40 minutes late...). I'm sure this may have been an isolated incident, but I'd rather wait for free

I've not used a taxi, but I imagine it would be the fastest, except you have to wait for your luggage.

 

[goofy4tink]

To date, I have used DME about 10 times, the Mears shuttle twice (once in '99 and once a year ago), various towncar services.
With DME, it has taken me anywhere from 55 mins to 90 mins. Usually right around 70 min average...that 90 min time was a one time thing.
With car services it has taken me just about an hour. When checking bags it is an hour, with carryon only it is closer to 45 mins.
Using Mears was actually not so bad. I was headed to the Dolphin, and it took about 70 mins.
These times are from gate to resort.
With DME, it all depends on timing. If you are one of the last to board the bus, then it will take much less time. But, if you are among the first to board the bus, then you can add some time. The buses generally do not wait until it is full before leaving. I have been on buses that had few seats open as well as on buses that had over 50% of the seats open.

 

[Alesia]

When we were there last spring break, we waited until the bus filled up - that's because it was extremely busy. We only waited on the bus about 10 minutes.

Our total time, including a stop in a very busy airport bathroom, from the second we stepped on the plane until we walked in the doors at Pop, was 72 minutes.

 

[katt789]

Awesome, it sounds like ME is the best way to go.
Now, one more question, we'll be doing 1 day that we're taking off to Universal's Islands of Adventures.

What would the best way to get there from a Disney All-Star Resort?

 

[a1tinkfans]

Hi there!
I'm in the midst of planning a trip down, and have spent quite a bit of time on the boards, and reading books, etc, and have heard such a variety of reviews on how to get from the airport to the resorts.
-I've heard that the Magical Express sometimes waits for all its seats to be filled before it leaves, but have also heard that it will take off with just your family aboard.
What are your opinions? What would you say is the best way to do it?
We'll be staying at one of the All-Star Resorts, and flying into Orlando mid day.
Thanks!

Take the ME, you will likely not be disappointed. Its FREE, its convenient, its comfortable and its prob Faster than doing all the other options...
We now use it exclusively rather than Mears which we used for several years and then went to private car service, which is Lovely, no doubt, but always set us back 150 so, for us, ME is a no brainer!
Have a great trip whatever you choose! I am thinking mid day you'll fill up pretty fast anyway!

 

[cg1200]

Awesome, it sounds like ME is the best way to go.
Now, one more question, we'll be doing 1 day that we're taking off to Universal's Islands of Adventures.

What would the best way to get there from a Disney All-Star Resort?

DME is fine for most trips however when we head down in Nov over thanksgiving I will likely spring for a private car to avoid crowds.]

To get to any non-Disney park from your hotel you'll need to call a cab. Shouldn't cost more than $40. You won't need to arrange one on the way back as the cab stands are normally well stocked with cabs.

 

[TheWog]

When are you arriving? That can play into it. We arrived very late, had to pick up our own luggage and then go, so we opted for the car service. Later at night they may or may not wait longer for other families. There is no luggage service after 10:00 p.m. either and that is the best part of it. Driver was waiting with a sign, grabbed our bags and took us on our way. No waiting at all.

 

[simzac]

It all boils down to one thing for our family. ME is free. Every other form of transportation from MCO to WDW cost quite a bit of money. In these economic times, I'll take free with a small wait versus all the others. JMO

 

[seashoreCM]

What ... is the best way to do it?
We'll be staying at one of the All-Star Resorts, and flying into Orlando mid day.)

Magical Express.

Ph.D. in economics needed. You can sketch a graph where the horizontal axis represents cost and the vertical axis represents convenience. Since the convenience may vary randomly from trip to trip, put several points (stacked vertically) for each mode of transportation and then the graph instead of being a line will be a ribbon perhaps of varying width. If the graph has a hump in the middle, then the choice corresponding to the hump is best. If the graph line starts high and drops as you go to the right, then the leftmost choice is best. But if the graph is more or less rising all the way from left to right or is a quite wide ribbon, then heated arguments, often in a high ceilinged Victorian styled library over tea, result.

 

[Dowellfam]

The two previous times I've taken ME, we've waited on the bus from 30-60 minutes. That may not sound like a long time to wait- but we fly in from Seattle, so we've been at an airport since 4AM Pacific time, and on a plane for 7 hours, 30-60 minutes seems hours to us! lol We arrive at 4:05 PM and we're not counting on getting to our hotel until 7 PM using ME. It's really a personal choice as to what kind of time you want to waste sitting around. You also have to factor in which hotels ME services. We had to stop at 3 hotels before arriving at ours the 2nd trip, it can be quite exhausting! Good luck!

 

[seashoreCM]

The two previous times I've taken ME, we've waited on the bus from 30-60 minutes.ck!

One time you sat on the bus for 30 minutes. The other time you sat on the bus for 60 minutes. The 30 seems to me like normal operating tolerances but 60 minutes just sitting there is an aberration. Unless there is a schedule that is adhered to so you can decide when to come out to the welcoming area, perhaps getting something to eat in the meantime.