Minnie Van / Accessible / Lyft Brief Update

[ParrotBill]

I used Minnie Van and Lyft during the last two weeks at WDW.

Minnie Vans are WDW owned and operated, driven by Disney Cast Members. The Lyft App is used to request rides.

You must install Lyft and get it enabled for Minnie Van service so it appears as a class of vehicle. A front desk/concierge person can send the code to your phone once Lyft is set up on your phone. Also, in MDE you may get a pop up asking if you want to try it. Go ahead if Lyft is already set up. It wasn't for me so I had to go to the concierge. Once enabled, when you select Minnie Van your map shows all the Minnie Vans instead of Lyft vehicles.

Cost: All on property rides are $25. This is about 2 to 2.5 times the cost if using a simple Lyft ride in a smaller car. Lyft charges by size of vehicle and can vary by time of day or other demand.

I got a Lyft ride from CR to BW for $11 one afternoon at 5pm. I paid for that using Apple Pay as configured in my Lyft app.

Disney doubled their Minnie Van fleet recently due to demand (despite the premium price!) Source: my driver.

Accessible: There are 2 large vans with ECV/Wheelchair lifts. They must be requested by calling a phone number you can get from your concierge. We needed a ride for breakfast and I was told to call 45 minutes before, so I started calling when they opened, at 6:30. Or supposed to open. At 7:00 they picked up and I was sure we'd be late as I needed a pickup by 7:30. They confirmed and said they'd be there in 15 minutes. It went great and our driver was quite pleasant. We paid by Magicband to our room account.

 

[JimMIA]

Cost: All on property rides are $25. This is about 2 to 2.5 times the cost if using a simple Lyft ride in a smaller car. Lyft charges by size of vehicle and can vary by time of day or other demand

This is correct as far as it goes, but it's not an apples to apples comparison.

The appropriate comparison (if you don't need carseats for kids) would be MinnieVan to Lyft Plus, which is the same size vehicle holding up to six passengers. According to Ride Guru, the ride you quoted -- CR to BW -- would be about $17 on Lyft Plus vs. the $25 for MinnieVan.

If you need car seats, your choices are Uber with one car seat, or Minnie Van with two. Lyft does not have any vehicles with car seats.

The rest of your post is an excellent description of the product and setup procedure.

New account holders should also know that both Lyft and Uber typically offer decent new-user promotions, and those Lyft promotions ARE usable on MinnieVan rides processed and paid for through the Lyft app.

 

[ParrotBill]

Agree, if you need a vehicle holding 6 people. If you are 2-3 people like we were, a small Lyft was sufficient. There are no small Minnie Vans.

 

[cuteinnocent]

How many people does the large van hold? There are 10 of us, ugh.

 

[AngiTN]

How many people does the large van hold? There are 10 of us, ugh.

The ECV enabled van? Not many. Fewer than 6

 

[AngiTN]

To add something to OP's post, Minnie Vans drivers were recently moved to a job classification that can receive tips. When the service first started they were in a job classification that could not receive tips. They can now. So you can use the Lyft app to tip them, or give them cash.

More info to OP's post, for those curious.
All Minnie Vans (non ECV) are Chevy Traverse
All have 2 identical Graco car seats, forward/rear 5, point
All drivers have received training from certified car seat Techs on how to property install and fit the seats.

 

[ParrotBill]

The ECV Van can seat only 4 people - a bench for 3 and the front passenger seat. 10 is a challenging group size for any method - you will be in 2 vehicles for any choice!

 

[mousestruck]

This is correct as far as it goes, but it's not an apples to apples comparison.

The appropriate comparison (if you don't need carseats for kids) would be MinnieVan to Lyft Plus, which is the same size vehicle holding up to six passengers. According to Ride Guru, the ride you quoted -- CR to BW -- would be about $17 on Lyft Plus vs. the $25 for MinnieVan.

If you need car seats, your choices are Uber with one car seat, or Minnie Van with two. Lyft does not have any vehicles with car seats.

The rest of your post is an excellent description of the product and setup procedure.

New account holders should also know that both Lyft and Uber typically offer decent new-user promotions, and those Lyft promotions ARE usable on MinnieVan rides processed and paid for through the Lyft app.

Very helpful. I’ve never used Lyft. How do I find out about new user promotions? Our trip is end of June. Should I start looking now and install app in advance, or wait until we arrive?

 

[JimMIA]

Very helpful. I’ve never used Lyft. How do I find out about new user promotions? Our trip is end of June. Should I start looking now and install app in advance, or wait until we arrive?

I would do some research before downloading and installing the apps. I would start with sites like Groupon, etc, because promotions are often offered there. I would also check with family and friends to see who uses Lyft and what kind of referral promotions are available.

In particular, check the details of promotional offers to see if they are market-limited. My first and only Lyft ride was in Chicago and I got a $20 promotion, usable $5 at a time. But, only using it once, my promotion was over as soon as we got on the plane headed home. Promotions are also sometimes time-limited...like 30 days. So be sure you understand what the promotion is, and is not.

I would also strongly suggest that you put both Uber and Lyft on your phones. Prices sometimes vary between the companies, as does availability of cars. Uber has a lot more riders and drivers, so often Uber pickups are very quick and Lyft pickups can be quite a wait. (I don't think you'll have wait problems in Orlando, though -- it's a very over-saturated market.)

If you are going to be using rideshare either frequently or separately, I would have both apps on each adult's phone. It will be more convenient, and all new accounts are eligible for promotions, so you can benefit from more than one set of promotions.

 

[mousestruck]

I would do some research before downloading and installing the apps. I would start with sites like Groupon, etc, because promotions are often offered there. I would also check with family and friends to see who uses Lyft and what kind of referral promotions are available.

In particular, check the details of promotional offers to see if they are market-limited. My first and only Lyft ride was in Chicago and I got a $20 promotion, usable $5 at a time. But, only using it once, my promotion was over as soon as we got on the plane headed home. Promotions are also sometimes time-limited...like 30 days. So be sure you understand what the promotion is, and is not.

I would also strongly suggest that you put both Uber and Lyft on your phones. Prices sometimes vary between the companies, as does availability of cars. Uber has a lot more riders and drivers, so often Uber pickups are very quick and Lyft pickups can be quite a wait. (I don't think you'll have wait problems in Orlando, though -- it's a very over-saturated market.)

If you are going to be using rideshare either frequently or separately, I would have both apps on each adult's phone. It will be more convenient, and all new accounts are eligible for promotions, so you can benefit from more than one set of promotions.

Thanks so much! We generally use the busses, but sometimes it’s so inconvenient - like after eating dinner at one resort and having to travel to another (when exhausted). Uber or Lyft would be perfect on those occasions.

 

[AngiTN]

Resort to resort travel is the best time to use Uber