Take a taxi at Disney - wow what a great alternative!

[bexareaglecheryl]

I have to post this once again, because I don't think a lot of folks who will eb using Disney Transportation almost exclusively really think about as a choice. But we took some great advice a couple of weeks ago and utilized taxi's to get around a little more quickly and when I wasn't feeling up to waiting for the bus or when we needed to get to another resort for a PS.

Ask the front desk or the valet/luggage stand to call a taxi cab for you. Yellow is what they'll send. Don't use anything other than what Disney calls for you, you never know what you'll get***. Yellow cabs are reliable and won't rip you off as others might although we did experience some variations in rates within a dollar or two. We probably spent about $100 all told for our multiple trips, but it was well worth it. We did an Illuminations Cruise our first night there and timing was tight with airline arrivals but it was so nice to have that taxi pick us up at the hotel. We had a large group and utilized the larger taxi vans which were the same price.

Taxi's are a really great alternative to even that great WDW transportation. The only time the taxi is a hassle is if you are a MK. You have to transfer over to the TTC and take that walk across that huge empty open area to find the cabs.
Hope this helps you even a little bit.
Cheryl

***One evening late while I was getting some change at the front desk a woman ran in screaming to help her stop the taxi that had just dropped her off - she had left something of value in the cab, was obviously from out of the country and was hysterical. The front desk had trouble helping her because she had not used a Yellow Cab (although she had Fulton's Crab House at DD get one for her and it was not a Yellow.) The front desk was at a loss as what to do since it wasn't a Yellow, she didn't remember what kind of cab, the color, the phone #, etc. They did a round about investigation by calling Fulton's, but they said that multiple cabs are available at DD and they didn't really remember specifically. I don't know what eventually happened, but I was glad I had stuck to the advice given to me about Yellow and asking the front desk/valet/luggage stand to call for me.
___________

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

The front desk may also get you a cab from Checker Cab. (Checker Cab and Yellow Cab in the Orlando area are both operated by Mears). However, read the sign of the cab carefully ... I've also seen cabs that say "Check In Cab" or "Check Here Cab", all painted in the same color (bright yellow) as the real Checker cabs.

(Checker cabs are yellow, yellow cabs are Orange, what is this world coming to? )

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Mears operates Yellow Cab, Safety Cab, City Cab, and Checker Cab. Of the four, only Checker Cab is licensed to solicit for business at Disney. Also, because of the contract with Mears, Checker Cab (the ones painted yellow) will be the one that all front desks and valets call for guests.

Independant cab companies are only allowed to pick up if they have a prior reservation, or there are no Checker Cabs around. As Eric mentioned, you sometimes have to be careful, there are a lot of phonys out there, "Check-her" "Check-in" "Check-it" and the like can be found. You do have to be careful with some of the independant cab companies. Inaccurate meters, no permit, no insurance, and some don't even have a license to drive. (Scary, but true...)

The worst part of it though, is that there are many independant cabs out there that ARE legit, and are just out to make an honest living, but they get categorized with the above, because it is those who have ruined it for them all.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you want to get a cab from the MK, you can also just walk to the CR, which may be a bit quicker than waiting for transit to the TTC.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

can you give a few examples price wise of what one can expect when using a cab?

I am confused as to why anyone would spend $100 for a cab and then transportation to and from airport when you could rent a car for about $125 bucks a week.

Did the $100 cover many trips or a couple of weeks at Disney?

thanks or the info

 

[NotUrsula]

The OP was not speaking of transit to or from MCO, she was speaking of using cabs to get around quickly within the Disney complex. Disney transport, while excellent for moving between the resorts and theme parks, is sometimes quite time-consuming if you are wanting to do something like go from one resort to another. Lots of people who do not wish to rent cars for their entire stay will sometimes use cabs when they want to get somewhere quickly within the WDW complex. I think spending $100 on cabs for internal transit is a bit unusual; most people will only resort to a cab once or twice in a stay.

Lots of folks use cabs as a convenience when they are returning to their resorts after closing out a night at a popular park event, especially after Spectro/Wishes at MK. The wait for busses there can sometimes be very long and very crowded, and people sometimes just prefer not to wait or to deal with carrying sleeping children on crowded busses. If you are going back to one of the moderates or values, the cab can take you as close as possible to your building, as opposed to having a long walk to your room from the bus stop.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

The OP was not speaking of transit to or from MCO, she was speaking of using cabs to get around quickly within the Disney complex. Disney transport, while excellent for moving between the resorts and theme parks, is sometimes quite time-consuming if you are wanting to do something like go from one resort to another. Lots of people who do not wish to rent cars for their entire stay will sometimes use cabs when they want to get somewhere quickly within the WDW complex. I think spending $100 on cabs for internal transit is a bit unusual; most people will only resort to a cab once or twice in a stay.

Lots of folks use cabs as a convenience when they are returning to their resorts after closing out a night at a popular park event, especially after Spectro/Wishes at MK. The wait for busses there can sometimes be very long and very crowded, and people sometimes just prefer not to wait or to deal with carrying sleeping children on crowded busses. If you are going back to one of the moderates or values, the cab can take you as close as possible to your building, as opposed to having a long walk to your room from the bus stop.

thanks, but I think you completely misunderstood everything I said.

i never said the OP was using cabs back and forth from the airport, I was stating that the use of cabs while at WDW in addition to the trip back and forth to the airport, seems to be not worth while money wise.

Also I completely understand when one would use a cab, they use it in many of the same instances one would use their own car or rental.

my question is: how much is it to get around by cab, because i am trying to compare going that route vs renting a car?

Do they chrge falt rates per trip or per person?

because if it costs even $20 per trip and you use a cab even only twice I cant see that being a better deal than a rental.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sorry, I did misunderstand what you were asking. I don't take cabs often at WDW, only in situations where we have left our car behind and there seems to be a problem with whatever WDW route we are trying to take at the moment. It's probably been 2 yrs. since we have had occasion to use a cab on-property, but I don't remember it ever being more than $12 for the 3 of us to get from place to place. (Not including tip.)

The cost would depend on distance and traffic, as cabs are normally metered. Probably the longest route we have taken a cab for is from the CR to the Swan.

Intercot quotes the following in a discussion of transit to other areas of Orlando: "Comparable taxi rates, as 2004 are as follows: $3.25 for the first mile, $1.75 for each additional mile. You will also be charged a fee for idle time on the road (.38/minute idle time). Rates may vary slightly per company."

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Sorry, I did misunderstand what you were asking. I don't take cabs often at WDW, only in situations where we have left our car behind and there seems to be a problem with whatever WDW route we are trying to take at the moment. It's probably been 2 yrs. since we have had occasion to use a cab on-property, but I don't remember it ever being more than $12 for the 3 of us to get from place to place. (Not including tip.)

The cost would depend on distance and traffic, as cabs are normally metered. Probably the longest route we have taken a cab for is from the CR to the Swan.

Intercot quotes the following in a discussion of transit to other areas of Orlando: "Comparable taxi rates, as 2004 are as follows: $3.25 for the first mile, $1.75 for each additional mile. You will also be charged a fee for idle time on the road (.38/minute idle time). Rates may vary slightly per company."

thanks for that info i appreciate it. It helps make our decision. I guess this is just another example of many different possibilities to suite evryones needs that WDW has to offer.

 

[helenk]

I like to take a taxi for a PS at another resort, it really is easier than getting a bus from the resort to a park and then getting another bus to go to the resort where you will be eating.
We took a cab from the POFQ to the WL and it was $9.00, and we tipped the driver $2 or $3 it was well worth it. We were at WL in no time.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't see why anyone would use anything other than Disney transportation. It's always been very fast and easy for us. The secret: don't leave parks at closing time along with 10,000 of your closest friends. The only time we've ever had any difficulty has been with busses to early entry parks, and even then we've never waited more than perhaps 10 minutes. I'd spend 10 minutes getting lost if I were driving myself.

 

[skiwee1]

I don't see why anyone would use anything other than Disney transportation. It's always been very fast and easy for us. The secret: don't leave parks at closing time along with 10,000 of your closest friends. The only time we've ever had any difficulty has been with busses to early entry parks, and even then we've never waited more than perhaps 10 minutes. I'd spend 10 minutes getting lost if I were driving myself.

We don't use cabs for going from resort to park as the Disney transportation is fine for that. We do use cabs to get to other resorts as there is no direct Disney transportation to those. We also use cabs to get to Downtown Disney as that is one long ride on Disney buses and I refuse to do it. It is great to have the valet call for a cab for you, have it waiting, and take you directly to your destination. We used cabs 8 or so times on the last trip. We even used a cab once to get from Epcot to the Poly as the lines to the monorail were horrible. We got back to the Poly in minutes instead of waiting with a tired kid while 3-4 monorails filled up. Well worth the money.

 

[philaround]

(Checker cabs are yellow, yellow cabs are Orange, what is this world coming to? )

The name "Checker Cab" comes from the vehicle that they used to use. The car was manufactured by the "Checker" company. I believe the last real "Checker" cab came off the production line well over 10 years ago. They built a really solid and dependable vehicle and was the vehicle of choice for many large taxi fleets.

P.S. Do you usually call them cabs or taxis? or use both terms interchangably?
Just found this site. Last Checker Cab was made in 1982.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_Cab

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip).....P.S. Do you usually call them cabs or taxis? or use both terms interchangably?.......

I use them interchangably and as far as I know, so do most others.

Best wishes -

 

[DayOwlVT]

I am confused as to why anyone would spend $100 for a cab and then transportation to and from airport when you could rent a car for about $125 bucks a week.

If cost is your sole consideration, then you are correct. However, many people (myself included) do not enjoy the stress that comes from driving in strange cities, so renting a car while on vacation is not an appealing prospect.
Personally, I'd rather spend a little extra money and have someone familiar with the area drive me around.

 

[denecarter]

The only time we used a cab was to LaNouba... dinner ran longer than we expected at Beaches & Cream PLUS the taxi let us off a lot closer to LaNouba than the bus would have (bus stop is on the opposite end of DD West End). It was well worth it.

 

[bexareaglecheryl]

can you give a few examples price wise of what one can expect when using a cab?

I am confused as to why anyone would spend $100 for a cab and then transportation to and from airport when you could rent a car for about $125 bucks a week.

Did the $100 cover many trips or a couple of weeks at Disney?

thanks or the info

Unfortunately, during the time we were there was a very busy holiday week and there were no rental cars to be had for under about $250 for the entire time we were there(8days). The $100 probably covered at numerous trips to and from areas on WDW property(the ones I can remember off hand were: to and from Yacht Club for Illum. Cruise, to and from DD, to and from Wilderness Lodge, MK to hotel, and the rest has already escaped my memory. ) We also tipped well because we were using a van most times and the drivers were very helpful/patient with my small neices and nephew and if we had cut the time a little close the drivers were very accomodating, if you know what I mean.)Sometimes the cost was about $8-9 total for the 4 of us one way, other times it was around $12-20 for the 11 of us.

We are by no means wealthy and I cut corners elsewhere to be able to use the service without guilt, but the taxi's really were an additional help this time for our family! I have a painful disease which leaves me in pain and so tired I can hardly walk and the prospect of having to ride a crowded bus, while never bothered me on previous trips, was a real hardship on me. In order to have a vacation where I wasn't bedridden part of the time, I actually needed those taxis. Also, my DH would have ended up doing all the driving had we rented a car and he was really in need of a true vacation at that point. It is so much more relaxing to me to be able to rely on a cab picking you up and dashing you over to your next destination, be it a PS or just dragging buns back to the hotel after a long day at the parks(although we did that only once and relyed solely on WDW transportation for the vast majority of the trip). During a few times, we were cutting it a bit close on some of our PS and door to door service was just easier for us. In fact other members of our party left over an hour to make it from the GF to the WL for a PS on Thanksgiving Day and they were running to make it on time while we held the table, so that was the only time WDW transportation was not what we expected, although we may have just not known better in that case!)


This is the first trip we have ever really had to use any taxi service because we had so much booked.

By the time you added the towncar service to and from MCO and the taxi service, it was cheaper than a rental car would have been due to the holiday rates (without the hassles of getting a rental car.) I have a debilitating disease and when we got off that plane upon arrival, I was never so glad to have that towncar sitting there waiting for us. It was just what right for our family at that time. May not be right for others. It's just another idea, that's all.

 

[vhoffman]

I usually use the disney transportation, however, like the OP, there are times I prefer to spend the money for a taxi for convenience and comfort I think the OP was just trying to make people aware that an alternative exists (I used to think those taxis in front of the resorts were just for transportation to airports, etc). Its worth the money to arrive not in pain and able to enjoy oneself.

 

[JennsBabySky]

I haven't taken a cab since my pre kid days, but now I'm intrigued. It sounds like you can take a cab with your kids. Since I'm imagining that you aren't hauling your carseats around, does this mean that Disney has a contract with a cab company that supplies carseats upon request?? Please say this is true because it would make transportation so much easier.

With fingers crossed,
Jennifer

 

[skiwee1]

I haven't taken a cab since my pre kid days, but now I'm intrigued. It sounds like you can take a cab with your kids. Since I'm imagining that you aren't hauling your carseats around, does this mean that Disney has a contract with a cab company that supplies carseats upon request?? Please say this is true because it would make transportation so much easier.

With fingers crossed,
Jennifer

You don't need a carseat when hiring a car. A taxi is not required to make the passenger use a carseat. All cars for hire are exempt.