Mears Transportation

[Mouse Maineac]

Our family stayed at the Swan for the first time and therefore had to use transportation other than the ME. We were used to happily hopping on the ME, watching the movie roll and being at our resort in about 30 minutes. Instead, with the MEARS bus ride it took 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to the Swan. Part of that time was spent parked in a parking lot at one of the hotels while the bus driver went to the bathroom for a period of time. I was horrified to say the least!

Has anyone else had such an experience? I understand that MEARS opperates the ME, so I was very surprised.

 

[NancyIL]

Mears is fine for going from the Swan/Dolphin to the airport, because you have a definite pick-up time. I don't like taking it from the airport to the Swan, and I would rather rent a car and drive there myself. If you have several people traveling, a one-way car rental may save you money. Another option is a towncar service.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I used the Mears shuttle from MCO to the Swan a year or so ago. When I got to the counter, I printed out my 'ticket', then went over to the outside desk to get my bus. There was a shuttle van there but the Mears person gave me a 'blinkie call' thing that would alert me when it was time for my bus. I sat there, not so happily, since I figured it would take awhile to get moving. But, my call thingie started blinking after about 5 mins. I was put on the same van..evidently they had to see how much room they had with passengers and luggage. But I was one person, with one piece of luggage, so there was room.
We made about 3 stops before getting to the Swan. The driver was terrific...had lots of great local info...who knew about Old Town???? Very cool. I got to the Swan in about 80 mins...from plane to Swan. Not too bad.
I would assume the bus driver in question may have had an 'emergency'. But 2 1/2 hrs isn't the norm with the Mears shuttle. It used to be, before DME came along...that bus would make several stops outside WDW before heading to the WDW area, and then make a few stops as well. It was horrific.

 

[CleveRocks]

I understand that MEARS opperates the ME, so I was very surprised.

They don't operate DME ... they supply the drivers and buses. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I'm not. It's a HUGE difference.

Disney operates DME. They set the policies and procedures. They oversee the logistics. The way I like to describe it is that Mears is the muscle and Disney is the brains.

But with regular old Mears Transportation, Mears runs it any way they like. They use their own policies and procedures, which aren't as customer-friendly as Disney's.