Mears Connect Experience

[Usty]

Has anybody attempted to use a car seat on this service? We'll have a 2 year old when we go in May and my wife is insisting we need one - I see their FAQ says the seats accommodate them but I really didn't want to check a car seat when we're going to have a bunch of other bags/stroller.

 

[Lewisc]

Has anybody attempted to use a car seat on this service? We'll have a 2 year old when we go in May and my wife is insisting we need one - I see their FAQ says the seats accommodate them but I really didn't want to check a car seat when we're going to have a bunch of other bags/stroller.

Are you asking if you're legally required to use one? Are you suggesting your wife is wrong by insisting your 2 year old would be safer in a car seat? Are you using a car seat in the plane? Might as well keep your wife happy and use it on Mears. You said your child is a 2 year old. Lap babies are for kids under 2. Some airlines require a birth certificate.
In other words you should be paying for an airline seat for your 2 year old. You should be bringing a car seat for the flight. Might as well use it on Mears.

 

[Usty]

We paid for a seat for my toddler, I'm not trying to game any system and I certainly know the rules. (practicing masking already and he just turned 2) We are not planning on using a car seat on the plane. (If anything I'd get a CARES harness)

I know car seats are not legally required in Florida in any kind of "chauffered" car service, but I wouldn't put my kid in a town car without one.

I also was not renting a car to specifically avoid a car seat and Disney buses certainly don't let you bring one on their transportation.

I'm asking for anyone who has used the service with a toddler, if they've used a car seat and/or felt it was necessary.

And yes, sometimes my wife's level of comfort with things requires some discussion, so having anecdotal stories from other parents can help in that.

Having 3 carry on bags, 2 checked bags and a rented stroller we're picking up at MCO is already a lot, so I am looking to avoid an unnecessary car seat if we're on a giant bus.

 

[seashoreCM]

(snip) ...I know car seats are not legally required in Florida in any kind of "chauffered" car service, but I wouldn't put my kid in a town car without one. ...(snip)

Aha! So that is how Mears does not have to ask how many infants (age 0-2) when you book Mears Connect. If they substitute a smaller vehicle and you did not bring car seats and neither did they, then they won't leave and leave you standing by the side of the road (outside your resort or the airport).

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are booking Mears for a stay later this month. We are changing resorts, we use two ECV’s, so we are willing to forego the grocery stop. Last minute reservation couldn’t get 4 nights at any one resort.

 

[Disturbia]

We paid for a seat for my toddler, I'm not trying to game any system and I certainly know the rules. (practicing masking already and he just turned 2) We are not planning on using a car seat on the plane. (If anything I'd get a CARES harness)

I know car seats are not legally required in Florida in any kind of "chauffered" car service, but I wouldn't put my kid in a town car without one.

I also was not renting a car to specifically avoid a car seat and Disney buses certainly don't let you bring one on their transportation.

I'm asking for anyone who has used the service with a toddler, if they've used a car seat and/or felt it was necessary.

And yes, sometimes my wife's level of comfort with things requires some discussion, so having anecdotal stories from other parents can help in that.

Having 3 carry on bags, 2 checked bags and a rented stroller we're picking up at MCO is already a lot, so I am looking to avoid an unnecessary car seat if we're on a giant bus.

You don’t need a car seat. You can use a cares harness on flights (we decided against it as our 2 year old (28 lb) will try to wiggle out of it for sure and the chest clip can choke; wish they had a 5 point harness and airlines provided something instead) but some flights restrict its use on particular seats. Some flight attendants will not allow you to use the cares harness all together and rules don’t matter (United has the most cited issues). For uber/Lyft you can request a car with a car seat.

We are going in April and don’t see a car seat as necessary. There are belts on the bus which our kids use. We have 3 kids and someone has to push the stroller, carry on, diaper bag, 3 pieces of luggage. Getting on the flight we use our Colugo carrier so our 2 year old doesn’t run off.

 

[maryj11]

Can you imagine how much money Disney is saving between eliminating fees like that and discontinuing its partnership with Mears and then driving revenue through Genie+, resort parking fees, etc.
The board must have a small alter built behind the conference room for Bob Chapek and Josh D'Amaro.

I agree! It’s ridiculous how prices are going up too, hardly any discounts, no magic express, having to pay for genie+, and only people paying for a deluxe resort get evening extended hours. Which used to be extra magic hours for resort guests. We have had to change to booking a value vs deluxe to afford to go. I know I’m going to miss the free magic express, fastpasses, and good discounts on resorts.
It just seems so greedy

 

[stal]

Hello,
I will be going with my 6 month old and 4 year old so do NOT want to go in a minivan, a motorcoach feels a little safer.
Do you know what the chances are of getting put in a van if we didn’t select the express option?

 

[NickBCV]

We had an awful experience when arriving just after midnight on the morning of 2/19. We were booked at the Swan and there was a dedicated check in line for Swan and Dolphin guests at MCO. We got on the bus almost immediately, but that is when the crazy part starts. Bus by the way was packed.

First stop Old Key West. Next stop Saratoga Springs, next stop Port Orleans Riverside. Next stop Shades of Green. Next stop Riviera. Next stop Widerness Lodge at which point I jump out of the bus as the driver is taking luggage out and ask how many more stops. He says where are you staying and I reply The Swan and he replies you are the last stop. I say fine but how many more stops. He says one more. Next stop Boardwalk. Finally Swan as the 8th stop. We get there at 3AM.

I can deal with 1, 2, 3 maybe 4 stops but 8??? At that time in the morning. Disappointing! If you are going to make that many stops, why segment everyone into lines by location at MCO. Just put us all in the same bus as we arrive until it’s full.

My best guess is Disney paid Mears for trips made from the airport, so if there were 2 people on the bus or 20, Mears got paid. Now they wait to fill the bus and make multiple stops to maximize profits.

Painful.

 

[Lsdolphin]

We had an awful experience when arriving just after midnight on the morning of 2/19. We were booked at the Swan and there was a dedicated check in line for Swan and Dolphin guests at MCO. We got on the bus almost immediately, but that is when the crazy part starts. Bus by the way was packed.

First stop Old Key West. Next stop Saratoga Springs, next stop Port Orleans Riverside. Next stop Shades of Green. Next stop Riviera. Next stop Widerness Lodge at which point I jump out of the bus as the driver is taking luggage out and ask how many more stops. He says where are you staying and I reply The Swan and he replies you are the last stop. I say fine but how many more stops. He says one more. Next stop Boardwalk. Finally Swan as the 8th stop. We get there at 3AM.

I can deal with 1, 2, 3 maybe 4 stops but 8??? At that time in the morning. Disappointing! If you are going to make that many stops, why segment everyone in lines by location at MCO. Just put us all in the same bus as we arrive until it’s full.

My best guess is Disney paid Mears for trips made from the airport, so if there were 2 people in the bus or 20 Mears got paid. Now they wait to fill the bus and make multiple stops to maximize profits.

Painful.

Oh heck NO!!! That is unacceptable! i used Mears on our last trip and it wasn’t bad although it does return to same location that the Disney busses did and then you have to go through to other side of airport to to check in....If I do end up using Mears to go from MCO to resort I will definitely return to airport via Uber so I can be dropped off for curbside checkin. I will definitely ask how many stops before using bus to get to resort!

 

[Disturbia]

Wow. The maximum wait we had (with Magical Express) was going to AKL as it was the last of 3? stops (2 hrs). One of the many reasons we decided to stop staying there.

Did you get on the bus closer to 1 am? Then 3 am makes sense.

 

[NickBCV]

Wow. The maximum wait we had (with Magical Express) was going to AKL as it was the last of 3? stops (2 hrs). One of the many reasons we decided to stop staying there.

Did you get on the bus closer to 1 am? Then 3 am makes sense.

Yes. Our flight landed about 12:20AM. We took about 30 mins to get our luggage and return to Mears check in location. Then we were boarded in under 5 minutes. Looked like we were going to time everything perfectly until the 8 stops fiasco.

To make matters worse, the driver announced three times as he was pulling in, “saved the best for last…. the Swan resort”. I felt like he was just jabbing at me at that point.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

room rates will get discounted as soon as guests stop booking rooms at the current rates.

 

[gerilyne]

We booked the express option for our trip last week and wanted to share our experience. We landed at MCO around 5:30pm and after getting our luggage we went to the Mears check in area (with a gazillion cheerleaders). We were able to scan our boarding pass and only had one family in front of us. We ended up in a Meara taxi since it was just the 2 of us and our luggage which would have been fine except I swear he was speeding the whole way. When we got over to the resorts (we stayed at the Poly) he took a wrong turn and started heading away from the hotel instead of toward it and it took almost 10 minutes for him to turn around and head back the right way.

Our return trip, we were the final pickup on a bus that had only 2 families on it. Our pick up time was 2:20pm and the bus was about 5 min late.

I would definitley not spring for express again. I wanted to give it at least one try but we can get a private car service for the money we spent.

 

[NickBCV]

We booked the express option for our trip last week and wanted to share our experience. We landed at MCO around 5:30pm and after getting our luggage we went to the Mears check in area (with a gazillion cheerleaders). We were able to scan our boarding pass and only had one family in front of us. We ended up in a Meara taxi since it was just the 2 of us and our luggage which would have been fine except I swear he was speeding the whole way. When we got over to the resorts (we stayed at the Poly) he took a wrong turn and started heading away from the hotel instead of toward it and it took almost 10 minutes for him to turn around and head back the right way.

Our return trip, we were the final pickup on a bus that had only 2 families on it. Our pick up time was 2:20pm and the bus was about 5 min late.

I would definitley not spring for express again. I wanted to give it at least one try but we can get a private car service for the money we spent.

We have seen lots of advise to take an Uber XL. There are four of us and we don’t typically pack light so the buses worked well but it is not at all what it used to be. I used to always tell my coworkers that “Disney does it right”, when they asked why we went so often.

We felt like we were at Disney as soon as we got to our local airport and they took our luggage. We loved the return airline check in at the resort. We felt like valued guests and did not mind paying for premium service.

That is not the feeling we get anymore. Will it return to the good old feeling again someday? We hope so.

 

[maryj11]

We just booked our flights with Delta for June. In December I noticed they changed our flights times a couple weeks before. Should I go ahead and book Mears connect knowing they may change our flight times or should I wait?
I have been reading through the thread and did see that Mears Connect picks up in the same area as ME, but haven’t found where they drop you off on our return flight. Is the return drop off area the same as ME?
One more question. I looked for the link to Mears Connect on my resort reservation page on the Disney website and didn’t see any where to book it even though I thought I seen it when I booked our resort. So I’m guessing it will have to be booked on the Mears site?

 

[firstwdw]

We had an awful experience when arriving just after midnight on the morning of 2/19. We were booked at the Swan and there was a dedicated check in line for Swan and Dolphin guests at MCO. We got on the bus almost immediately, but that is when the crazy part starts. Bus by the way was packed.

First stop Old Key West. Next stop Saratoga Springs, next stop Port Orleans Riverside. Next stop Shades of Green. Next stop Riviera. Next stop Widerness Lodge at which point I jump out of the bus as the driver is taking luggage out and ask how many more stops. He says where are you staying and I reply The Swan and he replies you are the last stop. I say fine but how many more stops. He says one more. Next stop Boardwalk. Finally Swan as the 8th stop. We get there at 3AM.

I can deal with 1, 2, 3 maybe 4 stops but 8??? At that time in the morning. Disappointing! If you are going to make that many stops, why segment everyone into lines by location at MCO. Just put us all in the same bus as we arrive until it’s full.

My best guess is Disney paid Mears for trips made from the airport, so if there were 2 people on the bus or 20, Mears got paid. Now they wait to fill the bus and make multiple stops to maximize profits.

Painful.

oh my word. The order of these stops doesn't even make sense. Forget that! We ended up booking a private towncar and I was hesitant with the price but I think it should be less stressful. So sorry you went through that mess! Not a good way to start a vacation! But thank you for sharing your experience !

 

[NickBCV]

oh my word. The order of these stops doesn't even make sense. Forget that! We ended up booking a private towncar and I was hesitant with the price but I think it should be less stressful. So sorry you went through that mess! Not a good way to start a vacation! But thank you for sharing your experience !

Yes that was our thinking too. He was driving up and down the street in a haphazard way that gave us the feeling it was not his normal route and we ended being the catch-all route to get all the late arrivals to their destination. When we left Disney Springs and headed to MK resorts I was thinking is this a joke?

 

[NickBCV]

We just booked our flights with Delta for June. In December I noticed they changed our flights times a couple weeks before. Should I go ahead and book Mears connect knowing they may change our flight times or should I wait?
I have been reading through the thread and did see that Mears Connect picks up in the same area as ME, but haven’t found where they drop you off on our return flight. Is the return drop off area the same as ME?
One more question. I looked for the link to Mears Connect on my resort reservation page on the Disney website and didn’t see any where to book it even though I thought I seen it when I booked our resort. So I’m guessing it will have to be booked on the Mears site?

One good thing here is our flight was delayed an hour and twenty minutes and I called Mears to see if that was a problem and the person answering the phone was great. She said the QR code is good for 48 hours after your scheduled arrival and they needed no notification. She said buses run 24/7 too, so whenever we got there they would have a bus for us.

But keep flight times in mind. Mears does not update flight times automatically like DME used to when they handled luggage at the resort. Our return flight was moved up 45 minutes from when I booked with Mears and I forget to tell them. We scrambled on return trip to get to our flight and just got to our gate as they started boarding.

 

[Mle8308]

Are you asking if you're legally required to use one? Are you suggesting your wife is wrong by insisting your 2 year old would be safer in a car seat? Are you using a car seat in the plane? Might as well keep your wife happy and use it on Mears. You said your child is a 2 year old. Lap babies are for kids under 2. Some airlines require a birth certificate.
In other words you should be paying for an airline seat for your 2 year old. You should be bringing a car seat for the flight. Might as well use it on Mears.