Shuttle from WDW to Universal Studios

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Color me confused.
I thought Mears shuttles were available for hire from WDW to Universal Studios? I searched the DIS and found some valuable information about Mears from 3/3 of 2005, but when calling Mears about pick up times I was told that Mears doesn't offer service from WDW.

I was merely asking for shuttle pick up times to see if they had changed since the post I'd found is more than two years old. Will Mears simply not tell me over the phone that they provide service to/from WDW to other parts of Orlando? There was a note about dialing "0" from WDW phones and asking for Mears - is this a better approach? The shuttle for three of us is much more affordable than a taxi or rental car (unless I rent for each of two days separately, instead of as a four day ressie).

 

[helenk]

Mears still provides transportation from WDW to Universal or Sea World, I had just called this past May, but then opted to rent a car for the day. The cost was 16.00 per person round trip to Universal or Sea World. I was told that I would just have to call a few days before our trip to make the reservations.
I would call back and just indicate that you want shuttle transportation to attrations only not airport transportation.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I called back this evening and reserved the shuttle van for both trips to Universal and Islands of Adventure. Their webiste fares are out of date. It' $16 per person, roundtrip.

Pickup at CBR is 8:35am on 8/29 (earliest time), 7:35am on 9/1 (one at 6:35a too?)
Pickup at Universal's City Walk is 3:15pm both days (the earliest available)

The shuttle is saving me at least $50 on the rental car for 4 days, plus the cost of parking two days and refilling the gas tank. DH is on vacation from driving for a week!

 

[bradk]

i dunno where you're seeing rates on their site, but their 2007 rates PDF does say $16 per person for attractions from disney world hotels which are in 'zone 4'

they require about 24 hour notice to arrange pickup (in my case, they sent me a cab) and then you're supposed to call at least 2 hours ahead of time to schedule the return trip, but they come hourly at the cab/bus location and they don't really seem to know anything about reservations there. it seemed like you could actually just ask them to take you without reservations and pay cash.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Ah, yes it does say $16 on the page I printed. I looked in the column for trips from zone 4 to WDW parks. My mistake.

My call to them today was to verify that they in fact had shuttle transportation between WDW resorts and Universal Studios, since I was told Sunday night that they don't have such service. I think the rep on the Mears end misunderstood my question. So I followed Helenk's advice and called again, asking the right question about shuttles provided to Universal Studios from WDW resorts, not from the airport. They seem insistant on letting you know that they do not provide service from the airport to/from WDW and don't want to get beyond it when they hear WDW in a sentence.

I was not expecting to reserve today, I just wanted to know if they could tell me what times they pickup so I could plan my days accordingly. She couldn't tell me times without dates and we proceeded with reserving my pickup times from there. We're all set there and back and we can pay the driver with cash.

 

[bradk]

they're very particular about that. attraction shuttles are only available from hotels, not other attractions or the airports. they have alternative services (usually more expensive) for hotel to hotel or airport. so you can't try to cheat the system if you were transferring to RPR for example. there's no luggage allowed on the attractions shuttle.

 

[helenk]

Pickup at CBR is 8:35am on 8/29 (earliest time), 7:35am on 9/1 (one at 6:35a too?)


Just make sure you know where they will pick you up at the CBR, they most likely will not come to your building but rather to the Custom House. Make sure you give yourself time to use the internal shuttle.

 

[bradk]

actually, at CBR, it is (or was) OPR.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Pickup at CBR is 8:35am on 8/29 (earliest time), 7:35am on 9/1 (one at 6:35a too?)


Just make sure you know where they will pick you up at the CBR, they most likely will not come to your building but rather to the Custom House. Make sure you give yourself time to use the internal shuttle.

I figured as much. I will call to verify times at least by the day before we're scheduled and confirm the point of pickup.

 

[goofy4tink]

Have you considered using a towncar service? It's a bit more than the Mears shuttle, but it comes and goes on your time schedule. We opted for a towncar to Universal last Oct and for 4 people it was only $10 more because we had to give a tip. For you it might be a total of $30 or so more, but it might be a nice alternative.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

The SOG website shows they have r/t transportation to U.S. for $10...I wonder if you can catch it there instead. I have no idea whether SOG has to reserve it for you and collects payment, or if you just give it to the driver.