Taking a Town Car

[fey_spirit]

I was thinking about surprising my DW with a town car ride to MK from POR (Boatwright's to be exact) and then from the Contemporary back to POFQ that night after the park closed.

I have a couple of questions about this:

1.) How late can you get a town car?
2.) About how much does it cost to make each of the trips above?
3.) About how long does it take to make each of the trips above?
4.) For those of you who have done this kind of thing before, who do you trust - and who would you run screaming in the other direction from?

 

[kaytieeldr]

1} Most likely, 24 hours a day - but not on-call, you'd need to reserve it in advance
2} You'd need to check each site's rates, but probably $40 or $50 round trip plus tax
3} Maybe 20 minutes each way, tops
4} Never done it before, but there are many reputable livery services - starting with this board's sponsor, FL Tours; also Tiffany, Cartier, Sunray, Murray Hill...

5} You didn't ask, but there's a flaw in your plan. Only Disney vehicles can drive directly to the Magic Kingdom. Everybody else has to drive to the Ticket & Transportation Center and get to MK from there - and there's a surcharge when the town car enters the Magic Kingdom area, because they have to pay to park even though they're not staying.
- you could take the town car to the Polynesian or Grand Floridian and use Disney transport from there, either boat or monorail
- you could take the town car to the Contemporary and walk to the Magic Kingdom from there.

 

[Edd]

The car service companies do not have to pay to get to the Magic Kingdom Handicapped area, including the Contempory, Poly or Grand Floridian. Experienced drivers know the way to not go through the Magic Kingdom gates.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thanks Edd. I've heard - but not experienced - that the customer IS sometimes-to-often charged extra because the car has to go through the Magic Kingdom Entrance Plaza (something I could never figure out, because I never had to pay even if I was just going to one of the hotels to shop).
Anyway, do you have any suggestions for dealing with this fee either in advance (other than not booking with an agency that charges extra) or when the car comes to pick you up? Thanks!

Oh, but even when the driver does get up to the HP parking area, there's still the problem of not actually being AT the Magic Kingdom. I mean, I'd think there's even a drop-off spot right at the TTC, but I still don't think the OP can do what he describes.

 

[Edd]

Ronda,

If a driver tries to go through the Magic Kingdom gates to get to the three hotels back there he can get through free if the guest either has a key or a reservation at one of the hotels. Also close to the the Magic Kingdom closing time the gates are abandoned and you can go through them without paying anything. An empty vehicle going through the gates will usually pay the $10.00 fee during the daytime up to about 1800.

Most drivers would rather not pay it because they do not want to ask the customer for the extra money. Many times I just paid the $6.00 myself until I found the back way over to the MK resorts. Most of the experienced drivers know that way and it does not allow you to get to the parking easy, so you end up dropping at the handicapped area at the MK, by the way you can also pick up at that area. It is called Handicapped but holds the taxis and the drivers who have pre paid customers in the MK.

I personally think that the drivers who charged to get into the parks do not know the other way. Let's face it the driver isn't making any money on the charge, He is just passing on to the passenger. At the other theme parks when I drop off I tell the attendants at the gate I am dropping off. I don't do that type of transportation much but happen to have a charter from England. Both times we went to MGM and when I told the attendant I was dropping off they didn't charge me the $10.00 because I said I was dropping off. I had the $10.00 out to pay it.

I have been told by other drivers that I was lucky, but I think there is a Disney policy, no charge to the driver, if he is dropping off. Maybe Tyler can find out more on that.

I would question a driver who said they paid $10.00 to pick them up. Another would be take the Mears transportation provided or call Mears for a Limo or car service. I will guarantee you they don't pay that fee. The pick up area for the MK is the HP area. It is not that far from the ticket windows.

Mears transportation would be my answer to "is there anyway of getting around paying the extra $10.00". First alternative: A driver cannot legally collect money that was spent before you got into the vehicle, so I would just refuse to pay it. Pay the contracted amount or just tip the driver if it was pre paid.