Mears Connect Experience

[katiec786]

Sorry if I have missed this in a previous message, but we are booked with Mears tomorrow (first time using as we haven’t been in the parks since the loss of the magical express!) MCO to POFQ. We’re coming from London and at the moment our flight is already showing as potentially an hour delayed. What happens if your flight is delayed, will they just put you on another bus going in the right direction?

 

[Ross Kratter]

Sorry if I have missed this in a previous message, but we are booked with Mears tomorrow (first time using as we haven’t been in the parks since the loss of the magical express!) MCO to POFQ. We’re coming from London and at the moment our flight is already showing as potentially an hour delayed. What happens if your flight is delayed, will they just put you on another bus going in the right direction?

Exactly. They run buses frequently enough leaving the airport that you’ve nothing to worry about.

 

[katiec786]

Oh good, thank you! When I checked in this morning our flight was showing as 45 min delayed, and now it’s gone up to 1hr 5

 

[Debbie Jean]

Oh good, thank you! When I checked in this morning our flight was showing as 45 min delayed, and now it’s gone up to 1hr 5

Oh, dear, not what you want to see! Good news is whatever time you do arrive, there will be a Mears bus to bring you to the resort.

Just an FYI, the return to the airport is different. You will receive an assigned pick up time at your resort and you need to be there when the bus arrives since the driver has a list of passengers. Not that they can’t still get you to the airport but they do not run buses continually in that direction so it is much more complicated.

Safe travels!

 

[HollyMD]

Any recent experiences?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Any recent experiences?

Most recent was end of May/ start of June. Booked before we left, arrived at MCO around 10:00 am and finished our check-in at the front desk of BW by 11:15.
Very drama-less coming and going.

 

[HollyMD]

Thanks!

 

[LoveToDisney]

I think a lot depends on the resort. We noticed the less expensive resorts got loaded onto buses more frequently because they could get a full bus quickly due to the volume of families taking the bus. While we waited in a long line for a deluxe, those arriving at Mears Connect that were headed to the All Stars were basically arriving in line and being put on a bus right away. We were there Sat afternoon in mid March. Hope the feedback helps. If you can get to your resort within an hour upon arrival it’s great. Not our experience when waiting for Saratoga Springs.

 

[preemiemama]

We were there at the end of June. Our flight was about 2 hours late arriving (putting us at an 11 pm arrival. We were put right on a bus, but waited about 30 minutes for 4 other families. We were the last ones dropped off- the order for us was ASM, Boardwalk, Coronado Tower, then AKL. It was a long night for us!

The return trip to the airport was similar- we were picked up first with another family leaving AKL. Then to ASM, Boardwalk and another resort on the way that was not Disney-owned. I specifically emailed when I made the reservation to ask for an earlier pickup- we had issues last year with checking bags and getting through security on the schedule they gave us because of the multiple stops. They suggested about 30 minutes earlier, I went for an hour prior to that (to be extra safe) and made a reservation for security through MCO Reserve. We had about a 30 minute wait at the airport before we could check our bags (apparently SW has a 3 hour prior to flight limit?) and then another 30 minutes prior to our Reserve time. Then we had about 2 hours at the gate- which was fine with us as we wanted to get food and a bathroom break. We figured we'd either be sitting in the hotel lobby or the airport, so the extra hour wasn't a big deal to us.

My advice would be to ask for the pickup to be an hour prior to their usual time if you have to check bags or don't have TSA Pre-check and need to wait in regular security or make it to a Reserve time. The additional stops eat up more time than you think! Other than the timing, it was a good ride. Neither bus was packed- DH, DS and I all had our own set of seats to spread out in and both drivers were very nice and the ride was smooth.

 

[HollyMD]

Thank you all for your experiences! As a solo traveler , I’ve been juggling whether it was “worth it” to pay more for Lyft/Uber, but I don’t want to wait around forever, either. Staying at CSR, so based on the exact experience one of you spoke about, I’m leaning towards Lyft.

 

[LRdismom]

We landed on July 4th around 9:30am. All of the lines were pretty much empty....only a few families waiting. We waited for about 30 mins and then a girl in line asked how much longer it would be. They scrambled a bit, informed us that we were "only waiting for 22 mins," and then told us that a van would come soon and pick us up. About 10-15 later a van came, loaded 9 people, and dropped off at 4 resorts. I was not happy with the wait as I'm sure they would have made us wait longer for a bus if that young lady hadn't spoken up. I'm considering getting an Uber next time.

 

[HollyMD]

I know they can be very hit or miss, but since I will have limited time on my solo trip as is, I am definitely leaning toward Uber or Lyft

 

[gottalovepluto]

I know they can be very hit or miss, but since I will have limited time on my solo trip as is, I am definitely leaning toward Uber or Lyft

I tried it once on a solo trip MCO to WDW, never again. The extra almost 2 hours it took over a rideshare was not worth the $20 I saved.

 

[Disneyhanna]

I've found it takes about an hour on the bus to be dropped off at your resort from MCO, on average. If you're one of the first stops (which I swear is always All Stars or Pop) then you're off earlier. Last stops, maybe a bit later. Usually I am on a bus within 15-20 minutes of getting to the Mears area, but sometimes you can sit on a bus for 15-30 minutes waiting for it to fill up.

So optimistically, my fastest travel time to WDW is about 75 minutes via Mears. Average, probably closer to 90 minutes. Bad timing, two hours.

With a ride share, figure about 15 minutes to order and get picked up, and then a 30 minute drive. So all in all maybe 45 minutes.

If I am headed to the parks I will do ride share, as it will save a lot of time. But if it's arrival day and I don't have any park time planned or ADRs to get to, I will tend to do Mears to WDW. There's something nostalgic about the pick up spot and bus ride!

I always take a rideshare back to the airport so I am in control of how early I get to the airport (about an hour before boarding, thanks to precheck and skycaps).

 

[HollyMD]

Since my flight doesn’t land until 2:05, and I’d like to get to the room and then get to Epcot to have some time there, I’m going to go with ride share. @gottalovepluto definitely has my not concerned about the $20 savings any more!

 

[dunkindonut]

I just started renting a car, usually it's like $50 a day but being able to drive virtually anywhere I want is a huge perk. The ability to just drive to Polynesian and spend time there or other resorts is so much more convenient than dealing with Disney transportation sometimes. I've had mixed problems with normal lyfts unfortunately and on one hand, $40 for a minnie van quickly gets steep especially if you don't want to be traveling for upwards to an hour or more just to get back to your resort.

 

[Dug720]

The ability to just drive to Polynesian and spend time there or other resorts

If you have an ADR. And even with that the parking at Poly is so limited you may well be directed to the TTC anyway.

 

[Miffy]

I tried it once on a solo trip MCO to WDW, never again. The extra almost 2 hours it took over a rideshare was not worth the $20 I saved.

$20 difference? Are there several people in your party?
Mears is $17 MCO to WDW and the cheapest rideshare I've ever taken from MCO was $50 + tip. And it's only gone up from there. I always check the rideshare prices before I decide on Mears and lately the rideshare has been significantly more expensive than Mears Connect for one person.

Some things I will say in Mears's favor:
(1) The driver speaks fluent English. I've been in rideshares with a driver who spoke only Spanish.

(2) They do not get lost. I've been in rideshares that got lost on the way back to the airport and, worse, I've now been in two separate Ubers on two separate trips where the driver was supposed to be taking me to AKL but instead took me to the DAK parking lot and then I had to convince them that DAK was NOT AKL and then tell them how to get to the lodge, sit forward in the seat, watch all the road signs, etc., etc., etc. Very annoying.

(3) If something happens to the bus/van--this has never happened to me--I assume Mears would come take care of it. If your Uber/Lyft driver has a flat, then good luck. This happened to my sister last year and fortunately the Uber driver knew another Uber driver who happened to be in the vicinity and they picked up my sister.

 

[Debbie Jean]

$20 difference? Are there several people in your party?
Mears is $17 MCO to WDW and the cheapest rideshare I've ever taken from MCO was $50 + tip. And it's only gone up from there. I always check the rideshare prices before I decide on Mears and lately the rideshare has been significantly more expensive than Mears Connect for one person.

Some things I will say in Mears's favor:
(1) The driver speaks fluent English. I've been in rideshares with a driver who spoke only Spanish.

(2) They do not get lost. I've been in rideshares that got lost on the way back to the airport and, worse, I've now been in two separate Ubers on two separate trips where the driver was supposed to be taking me to AKL but instead took me to the DAK parking lot and then I had to convince them that DAK was NOT AKL and then tell them how to get to the lodge, sit forward in the seat, watch all the road signs, etc., etc., etc. Very annoying.

(3) If something happens to the bus/van--this has never happened to me--I assume Mears would come take care of it. If your Uber/Lyft driver has a flat, then good luck. This happened to my sister last year and fortunately the Uber driver knew another Uber driver who happened to be in the vicinity and they picked up my sister.

I can speak to a breakdown of a Mears bus. Died as it was pulling into POP… driver was able to get it to the platform. Everyone off with luggage. Replacement bus arrived less than 30
minutes later. I was impressed with the smoothness with which the driver handled the situation and how quickly Mears was able to respond.

We were not by the side of the road, though I assume their process would be the same… might take longer but they are prepared for the emergency.

 

[ParrotBill]

The reality is Mears and Rideshares each serve their purpose. Any group of 3 or larger is at risk of luggage not fitting a rideshare, so Mears is the better option. Reports of waiting 30-60 minutes for Mears are common, plus multiple drop offs means you have to expect somewhere between 1 and 2 hours to arrival.

Glitches happen on both. Once you have experienced a glitch you are wary. I was on a Mears bus when passengers had to tell the driver how to find a resort and he had skipped right by my stop so he was surprised after 2 stops to find us still on his bus. So one bad experience, and about half have delays boarding or we are last to drop off making it 2 hours. But it's cheap.

I have rideshares frequently take my ride then drop it 10 minutes later when they are frustrated by lines to get into the garage pick up area. Or I watch them drive around a while strangely wasting 10 or 15 minutes.