Tell me your MEARS stories!!!

[figmentgirl]

I am thinking of using them to get to the Dolphin for our October trip. Tell me

How much you paid?

How many stops there were between MCO and your hotel?

How long did you wait at the airport before getting underway?

Worth it?

THANKS!

 

[clkelley]

I used Mears FROM the Dolphin to the airport. (Actually about this time last year). The van arrived on time. It had already been to the Swan, and we stopped at one more off property resort then headed to the airport.

Really easy. Oh, it was $20 one way.

 

[figmentgirl]

Thanks you

Has anyone used Mears from the airport to their resort?

 

[Ed J]

Add another 1/2 to 2/3's the price and take a cab. My experiences were good in the yellow vans, but the additional cost is worth no wait or extra stops. I find this is the case in most places when my destination is 20 miles or less.

 

[figmentgirl]

Well a cab, with tip is 60 bucks. Roundtrip is 120. Mears is 66 roundtrip so we're talking paying nearly twice as much. We do not have a bunch of money on this trip so I'm willing to go the saving route but I do not want to sit at the airport for 2 hours and then make 10 stops. Can anyone share a personal experience with coming in from the airport? What can I expect?

 

[goofy4tink]

Just so I could say I had done it, I used Mears to get me to the Dolphin a few years ago. I had been offered a ride with a friend, but in the name of getting info for this board, I threw myself 'under the Mears bus' so to speak.
I got to the Mears counter, and printed out my voucher pretty quickly. I headed outside to be assigned a ride. There was a van sitting there, with people boarding it. I was given a 'beeper' and told it would be about 25 mins. I wasn't a happy camper. But, about 4 mins later the beeper went off and I was put in the van. The van had about 7 or so of us....kind of nice being with a smaller group vs a big bus full. The driver was a font of knowledge. He was nicely chatty about the area as well as the stops we made. I think we stopped at maybe 2 or 3 resorts before we got to the S/D. It took about 80 mins total time for me...that's about 15-20 mins longer than using DME and about 10-15 mins longer than a car service.
I would do it again if need be. It did cost me about $18 but that was one way. For r/t it would have been about $35 or so. A car service or a cab will run you about $100 r/t.

 

[figmentgirl]

THANK YOU!!!

All I can say is that I appreciate you going through all that so I could make an informed decision about what to do. I think this sounds like a good service and we are trying to cut corners (more money left over for food and wine festival

 

[Julylady]

Thanks, OP. We are in the same situation as you. Staying at the Dolphin for F/W festival and needing tranportation to and from the airport. The price for MEARs is good, but I, too, don't want a 3 hour trip from the airport to the hotel via a tour of Orlando resort parking lots. Does anyone know how far in advance of your flight they schedule your pickup for return to the airport?

 

[figmentgirl]

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks, OP. We are in the same situation as you. Staying at the Dolphin for F/W festival and needing tranportation to and from the airport. The price for MEARs is good, but I, too, don't want a 3 hour trip from the airport to the hotel via a tour of Orlando resort parking lots. Does anyone know how far in advance of your flight they schedule your pickup for return to the airport?

I would plan on leaving the S/D about 3-2.5 hrs before flight time. Let Mears know what time your flight is and have them give you a time. Because they do tend to make a few more stops along the way, you may really need those 3 hrs. before flight departure time. You need to be at the airport at about 2 hrs before flight time...so, if you have to make a few stops along the way, you'll need that addtl half hour or so. But, you certainly won't spend 3 hrs driving around Orlando on a Mears bus, before getting to MCO.

 

[NancyIL]

I don't mind taking Mears from the Swan to the airport, but it can be pretty slow from the airport to the resort. However, because I am cheap, I will probably pay $33 for a roundtrip Mears ticket when I stay at the Swan in October, rather than pay $40 for a one-way Alamo rental to the Dolphin plus $20 for a one-way Mears shuttle to MCO.

 

[AlexDurrani]

Mears is a hit or miss IMHO. Three years ago my family and I waited nearly an hour at the airport to get a van to a I-drive convention hotel. I've also taken the shuttle straight to Epcot while the family went to the hotel.