Missing Minni Van

[Music gym]

Does anyone else miss the Miini Van's? It was the fastest way to go resort to resort without busted the bubble. It was great having a cast member drive you to your destination. No smoky cars, foul music, and clean car.

 

[SteveH]

In all my travels all over the US in the past several years using Uber/Lyft I've never run into any ride share vehicles as you described. While I like the looks and concept of the Minnie Vans I thought the pricing was out of line with the competition. Hopefully they will come back at some point though.

 

[bumbershoot]

In all my travels all over the US in the past several years using Uber/Lyft I've never run into any ride share vehicles as you described.

Same.

Music? Ask them to turn it off. Smoke? That can happen because of the clothing of the guests. If you start to get into a vehicle and smell smoke, don't get in the vehicle. I've had pristine cars ONLY with Lyft. And I've never been in a gross taxi, not even in the early 80s in San Francisco. If a car were gross I wouldn't get into it.

Minnie Vans were out of my price range and unnecessary for me b/c I don't have a kid in a carseat and usually have my own car anyway.

 

[JimMIA]

When the MinnieVans first started I thought they were a great idea, but an unrealistic business plan because of the initial low fares ($20 flat rate, later raised to $25 flat rate). I knew they couldn't make it work at those rates.

But then they went through the roof with their prices, and now can't begin to compete with rideshare.

Rideshare uses the driver's personal car, the driver pays for gas and all maintenance, and they pay the driver only a small fraction of the fare. No way MV could compete when they own or lease the vehicles, hire employees to drive, and pay all the operating costs. The numbers just don't work.

 

[DVCKev]

I definitely miss it, we used it to get to HDDR from Saratoga so we didn't need to take busses and miss our reservation. A very nice option to help out in a pinch that is missed.

 

[tobikaye]

I have had no issues with the Lyfts I have used on property, but I do miss the Minnie Vans for MK access. Being dropped off right there was great, especially on Easter Sunday when it would have been 2 or 3 buses before making it on transportation.

 

[TiffFromTX]

YES! I miss it so much. I use a scooter so we paid for the scooter accessible MV everywhere and I'd pay more for it if they'd just bring it back. I would much rather that than use the bus.

 

[SteveH]

YES! I miss it so much. I use a scooter so we paid for the scooter accessible MV everywhere and I'd pay more for it if they'd just bring it back. I would much rather that than use the bus.

To be honest I'm really surprised that they didn't bring that back. It was such a great accommodation. We used it for our Keys to the Kingdom tour so we were assured we'd be there on time.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Same.

Music? Ask them to turn it off. Smoke? That can happen because of the clothing of the guests. If you start to get into a vehicle and smell smoke, don't get in the vehicle. I've had pristine cars ONLY with Lyft. And I've never been in a gross taxi, not even in the early 80s in San Francisco. If a car were gross I wouldn't get into it.

Minnie Vans were out of my price range and unnecessary for me b/c I don't have a kid in a carseat and usually have my own car anyway.

“Ask them to turn it off” ?.....and they will magically and politely turn it off? Really? I only took one Lyft ride ever. At Disney World. The driver had an iPad taped to his dashboard and he was playing a loud music video of burning crosses . I asked him to please turn it off, and he said “No, I like it!”. Yup, never again. One and done for me for Lyft/Uber. I’d much rather pay more for a Minnie Van. I don’t think that would happen in a Minnie Van.

 

[JimMIA]

YES! I miss it so much. I use a scooter so we paid for the scooter accessible MV everywhere and I'd pay more for it if they'd just bring it back. I would much rather that than use the bus.

There are two groups I think Disney would be wise to bring MV back for, even if they lose money -- because I think it's marketing money well spent. One group is the accessible transportation folks, and there are a LOT of them.

The other group is the families who need two child seats. If there is any demographic Disney should try to lock in for the future, it has to be families with small kids.

But I think the new CEO is all about profit, profit, profit -- in the short term.

 

[JimMIA]

I only took one Lyft ride ever. ... One and done for me for Lyft/Uber.

You lost me right there.

I had a bumpy flight one time.

 

[Narcoossee11]

From a CM staffing , it is a problem. Minnie vans are VERY busy for3-4 hours in morning ,then dead, mild at 5:00ish , then gets wild about 9:00.
No CM wants to only work part time or a split shift.

 

[joelkfla]

From a CM staffing , it is a problem. Minnie vans are VERY busy for3-4 hours in morning ,then dead, mild at 5:00ish , then gets wild about 9:00.
No CM wants to only work part time or a split shift.

Lots of cm's want to work part time, especially if they can have a fixed schedule. Split shift is another matter.

 

[jasonplusliz]

“Ask them to turn it off” ?.....and they will magically and politely turn it off? Really? I only took one Lyft ride ever. At Disney World. The driver had an iPad taped to his dashboard and he was playing a loud music video of burning crosses . I asked him to please turn it off, and he said “No, I like it!”. Yup, never again. One and done for me for Lyft/Uber. I’d much rather pay more for a Minnie Van. I don’t think that would happen in a Minnie Van.

You should give it another chance. I’ve taken about 100 Lyft and Uber rides across the world. I have had way more pleasant rides than not. The rides here in Orlando have been top notch - granted we always book an XL because we are a large family. Most of the rides were in brand new suburbans or minivans.

As for my anecdote, I hired a car service to take us to the airport at home. I am nervous about relying on a Lyft at 6am, so figured hiring a pro would be better. Turns out, nope. I call as soon as the time comes and there’s no car. Claims “mechanical trouble”. Yeah right. Went ahead and booked a Lyft immediately and made it to the flight. So you can get bad experiences no matter what you do…