Mears experience May 13, 2025

[Miffy]

I just got back from WDW yesterday and booked Mears for the return trip from POFQ to MCO, Terminal C.

The bus was supposed to pick me up at 4:40 pm for an 8:15 pm flight, but by 4:50 pm the bus hadn't arrived and two other buses had dropped off passengers at POFQ in the meantime.

I decided to give them another 5 minutes, but after still no bus I called them a little before 5 pm. I waited a bit on hold ("high call volume") but finally got a helpful customer service person. She confirmed that there was some difficulty with the bus (what? I have no idea) and she arranged for a Mears taxi to pick me up at no extra charge. I asked her why Mears didn't contact me--instead of my having to call them--and she implied that they eventually would have sent a taxi for me, but of course I have no proof of this.

Fortunately the Mears telephone number was at the bottom of their boarding pass, so at least I didn't have to look up their number, and the taxi arrived pretty quickly. Also, there was plenty of time before my flight so that wasn't really an issue. There was another couple waiting at POFQ for their Mears bus, which was scheduled to arrive 20 minutes after mine, and they wanted to take the taxi with me, but the driver had been authorized to take only me. I hope they were able to get satisfaction from Mears.

I will continue to take Mears, as they are usually fine, and since I'm by myself it's more economical than taking a taxi or rideshare.

But I wanted to warn people: If your Mears bus is late, call Mears: (407) 423-5566. Do not wait for them to contact you.

 

[Leigh L]

We had a very similar issue in April - but at Universal! (Their Super Shuttle is run by Mears)

Since we had to check out of our room at 11, we had lunch and then sat in the lobby until our 1:15 pickup time. Saw buses coming and going for that hour. In hindsight, we should have just tried to get on one, but sitting in the lobby was kind of nice.

Fortunately, I'd received a text either the night before or that morning that if our bus was more than 15 minutes late to call and had been given a number. So we did...and like you, sat on hold. It was clear the person who answered was desperately trying to figure out a solution.

She finally came back and we were given a bus number stating it would arrive in about 8 minutes. It didn't.

Another bus came maybe 15-20 minutes later, but now it's an hour after our scheduled pick up time. He asked us what time our scheduled pickup was and took our bags. He then radioed that he had the other buses' passengers.

We then had to circle to 2-3 other resorts before heading to the airport. All I can say is thank goodness for pre-check!

We use Mears a lot for both WDW and Universal and this was the first time there was an issue. Based on several good experiences, I also will use them again. But now know to call for sure.

 

[toesmom]

I just got back from WDW yesterday and booked Mears for the return trip from POFQ to MCO, Terminal C.

The bus was supposed to pick me up at 4:40 pm for an 8:15 pm flight, but by 4:50 pm the bus hadn't arrived and two other buses had dropped off passengers at POFQ in the meantime.

I decided to give them another 5 minutes, but after still no bus I called them a little before 5 pm. I waited a bit on hold ("high call volume") but finally got a helpful customer service person. She confirmed that there was some difficulty with the bus (what? I have no idea) and she arranged for a Mears taxi to pick me up at no extra charge. I asked her why Mears didn't contact me--instead of my having to call them--and she implied that they eventually would have sent a taxi for me, but of course I have no proof of this.

Fortunately the Mears telephone number was at the bottom of their boarding pass, so at least I didn't have to look up their number, and the taxi arrived pretty quickly. Also, there was plenty of time before my flight so that wasn't really an issue. There was another couple waiting at POFQ for their Mears bus, which was scheduled to arrive 20 minutes after mine, and they wanted to take the taxi with me, but the driver had been authorized to take only me. I hope they were able to get satisfaction from Mears.

I will continue to take Mears, as they are usually fine, and since I'm by myself it's more economical than taking a taxi or rideshare.

But I wanted to warn people: If your Mears bus is late, call Mears: (407) 423-5566. Do not wait for them to contact you.

Thank you for this. Glad you made your flight. My daughter used mears in December to boardwalk villas and took almost two hours. Such a long time to get to resort. Not sure I would suggest using them again after that happened.

 

[DeeBee3]

We used them in January from airport to resort and it was awful. We hadn't used them since the demise of Magical Express. It took a very long time (hour?) for a bus to arrive and when they walked us out, it was FULL. We had to separate with one of our kids. She's a "tween" so it wasn't terrible but not preferred.

It took FOREVER to get to our resort as we were the last stop, and I know that's never a guarantee. With such a long wait to even get on the bus, it added hours onto our arrival and the kids were pooped when we got to the resort (it was night).

A one and done for us. Uber has always been fine and we just wanted to give this a try.

I will say they sent me a review request and they did give us a partial refund.

 

[Miffy]

We used them in January from airport to resort and it was awful. We hadn't used them since the demise of Magical Express. It took a very long time (hour?) for a bus to arrive and when they walked us out, it was FULL. We had to separate with one of our kids. She's a "tween" so it wasn't terrible but not preferred.

It took FOREVER to get to our resort as we were the last stop, and I know that's never a guarantee. With such a long wait to even get on the bus, it added hours onto our arrival and the kids were pooped when we got to the resort (it was night).

A one and done for us. Uber has always been fine and we just wanted to give this a try.

I will say they sent me a review request and they did give us a partial refund.

I've never had a problem going from the airport to the resort, but I often stay at POFQ, so there're usually no more than 2 stops before it. And this is the first time I had a problem going back to the airport. If this keeps occurring, though, I would stop using them. I'm alone, so the difference in price between Mears Connect and a rideshare or taxi or car service is huge.

 

[elvispursley]

I have anxiety, especially with travel. The above experiences would have sent me through the roof! I’m sure Mears, on the whole, is fine and provides options that ride share and car services can’t always provide. But I don’t need the added tress if wondering if/when my bus is going to show up. For me, not worth the savings.

 

[Miffy]

I have anxiety, especially with travel. The above experiences would have sent me through the roof! I’m sure Mears, on the whole, is fine and provides options that ride share and car services can’t always provide. But I don’t need the added tress if wondering if/when my bus is going to show up. For me, not worth the savings.

I'd like to point out that one can have a problem with any service--taxi, rideshare, car service, whatever.

A couple of trips ago my sister took an Uber back to the airport, which is what she always does. But that time, the Uber driver had a flat tire. Fortunately, he was friends with another Uber driver, who was nearby and was able to pick up my sister. But if he hadn't been? Who knows what would've happened?

I've had rideshare drivers get lost on the way to the airport. That's not fun either.

And I've had car service drivers show up unexpectedly quite early when I wasn't prepared to leave WDW and have also waited way too long at MCO to be picked up by a car service driver.

There's no perfect solution other than driving one's own car to WDW and using it while there. Even renting a car can lead to problems. I think that there're posts here about people's problems with Mears, but they transport a lot of people and the people who have a good experience don't post. This week was the first not-great experience I had with them and they rectified the situation.

 

[TinkHappy]

Thank you for this information and also for including their phone number. I am scheduled to use them in July and have added their phone number in my phone...just in case.

 

[_19disnA]

Perhaps Mears is overbooking their available capacity and then when there is any sort of mechanical failure, they have no other busses to substitute? Clearly they don't just randomly drive around the Disney property but are assigned to pickup certain people who have reservations. I would find it unacceptable to know a bus can't pick you up at the assigned time and not have them call you.

 

[Miffy]

Perhaps Mears is overbooking their available capacity and then when there is any sort of mechanical failure, they have no other busses to substitute? Clearly they don't just randomly drive around the Disney property but are assigned to pickup certain people who have reservations. I would find it unacceptable to know a bus can't pick you up at the assigned time and not have them call you.

I was very surprised they didn't contact me--it seemed un-Mears-like.

 

[DebbieB]

I was very surprised they didn't contact me--it seemed un-Mears-like.

It will take time to notify a bus full of people plus they could have more than 1 with issues. I haven’t used Mears since before Covid. Lyft is easier, especially since I fly Southwest (opposite side of the airport).

 

[_19disnA]

It will take time to notify a bus full of people plus they could have more than 1 with issues.

The whole point of making a reservation is you expect them to provide the service you requested. If they can't do that for whatever reason, that is their responsibility to let you know. The people waiting for the bus are depending on the service to be provided to get them to the airport.

 

[DebbieB]

The whole point of making a reservation is you expect them to provide the service you requested. If they can't do that for whatever reason, that is their responsibility to let you know. The people waiting for the bus are depending on the service to be provided to get them to the airport.

Yes, they should notify you but I wouldn’t count on it.

 

[_19disnA]

Great way to lose any future business if they operate that way. The times a flight I was scheduled to take was cancelled, the airline always contacted me. Simple process to gather email addresses when making reservations and clearly there are more people on an airplane than a bus.

 

[Miffy]

Yes, they should notify you but I wouldn’t count on it.

OP here. I used Mears a lot, this is the first negative experience I've had with them and they rectified it. Also, note that I called them when the bus was only 15 minutes late. It's not impossible that they would've either contacted me at some point while I still had enough time to get to the airport--my bus was scheduled to pick me up 3 hours before departure--or the bus might've shown up late but still in time for people's flights. I was proactive, so I didn't find out.

I didn't post my experience in order to disparage Mears. I just wanted to report what happened. And I fully intend to take Mears on my next trip. If something similar happens, then I'll rethink things. I mean, I had a JetBlue flight delayed for 8 hours a couple years ago but I didn't stop flying JetBlue. Things happen. Nothing is always perfect, although I wish it were!