Private Transportation Between Resorts??

[Disneymagicarrie]

Hey there! We (me, husband, son, grandma, grandpa, and aunt) are heading to Disney January 2024 and will be staying at AKL.

My husband turns 40 on the trip, so the plan is to surprise him with an in-room chef and then go on a private fireworks cruise, leaving from the yacht club marina.

We want to avoid driving and taking Disney transport just to keep it seamless, so I was looking at a private Sprinter van or something that could fit all of us without it being too cramped. This would be just to get from AKL to the yacht club around 7 pm and then back around 9:45.

The only thing I saw outside of paying for a limo type service for that entire time period was Mears. Their site says they’ll pick up in a “standard van” and drop us off, then come back later and repeat.

Does anyone have any experience with this or any other suggestions? It’s so hard to find reviews on Mears when it isn’t Mears Connect.

Also, do you know if the van is comfortable for older folks (the grandparents)? We just wanted to do something special so we’d be willing to pay for the limo sprinter if necessary, but if this van would do the job, then that’s wonderful.

Sorry for the rambling! I’m on the 10th day of obsessing over this and sincerely appreciate any insights!!

 

[Anthony1971]

Mears is fine it is basically a very large scale taxi service as well as the shuttle service. you could also use a mini van. However Mears you can likely schedule and they should be there on time the mini van you may need to wait a few minutes. If you want someone there period then it is best to pay for the driver for X hours to wait. There is no shortage of taxi, Uber, lift and mini vans to go between resorts or to parks etc there is really no reason to have to plan for it unless as above you want service like a limo or sprinter that is there waiting.

 

[Disneymagicarrie]

Thanks for your reply! I suppose my hangup is that I do want them there waiting and for all of us to fit together, but then I’m getting cheap on the increased cost since this is all already more than we’d usually spend on a vacation and birthday dinner.

I figured your response may be the reality, but was secretly hoping there’d be some amazing low cost version of what we are looking for A girl can dream, right??

Anyway, thanks again!

 

[_19disnA]

If you don't want to do your own driving and also not use Disney transportation, you will be rather limited in either where you go (or how often) particularly since AKL isn't really near anything except AK. Can't tell from your post if you also plan to go to other parks like Epcot or MK. If some of you are the type who go all day at a park, there is also the consideration if some of your relatives may not be able to do that. Disney parks can involve MILES of walking.

Sounds like you are looking for some sort of 'on demand' transportation that would be sitting there waiting for you. I don't know if Mears (or other similar companies) offer the option for their driver to drop you off somewhere and sit there waiting until you are ready to return to your hotel. You could use one of those online taxi services (Lyft or Uber) but you only request them when you are ready to go somewhere. Can also be pricey since you would need to use them everytime you want to go somewhere since you indicated not wanting to use Disney transportation. I don't know the max # of people they can transport in one vehicle, so you might check some older threads on that topic. You might need two vehicles for the size of your party.

 

[Disneymagicarrie]

Oh I think I may have miscommunicated in my post! We are just looking for specialized transport for the one night of the celebration. We’ve all got rental cars for all of the other days because we definitely will all be at different paces, like you say.

 

[_19disnA]

Yes, somewhat different situation, your initial remark made it sound like you were looking for a solution relating to your entire stay not just one evening. I think you would have to contact those transportation service providers and see if they might offer what you are looking for given the size of your party and how much it might cost.

 

[Disneymagicarrie]

Ok, thank you!

 

[Best Aunt]

You want to get from AKL to Yacht Club, and from Yacht Club back to AKL, without driving and without using Disney transportation.

I would probably due two Ubers/Lyfts to get there and two to get back.

I think Disney resorts still have taxis out front; if there aren't taxis out front, I think the valet parking person out front can call them over for you. You could use two taxis to get there and two to get back.

You can get 6 people in a Minnie Van, but you would have to request it when you wanted it, and it might take awhile to get to you.

You could contact the towncar services (Tiffany Towncar, FL Tours, Happy Limo, etc.) to see if they would do this, but you would be paying for them to wait around. Everybody has a different sense of how much they are comfortable paying to do different things. I, personally, would not be comfortable paying for a car service to do this, but maybe it would be worth it to you. I think the sticking point for me is that you are travelling between two locations that are safe, that aren't that far apart, and that always have Uber/Lyft (and I think taxi) available.