Tiffany Town Car or FL tours?

[Edd]

Fla. Tours is considered an average and adequate car service company and certainly not better than anything else, but nothing that compares with some of the outstanding companies that actually work out of Orlando International.

There are many families that prefer to use the car service system. The car service provides faster times to/from Disney, baby seats and boosters for your children, intermediate stops whether for groceries, brew or other needs, private transportation for familes, no waiting around to load into a bus, and a driver who is willing to fill you in on any matters you might still have in question. Car service passengers can also use the Disney luggage transfer system. The approximately $100.00, round trip, you would pay for this type of service is well worth the price.

Epecially if you could see yourself and kids at CBR (or any other resort), outside 10 - 25 minutes, on a hot afternoon and waiting for your bus, along with 20 - 40 other passengers to get there and load you back to the airport, while watching a car service vehicle stop, load and head out with their passengers who hired them prior to landing Orlando.

Car service provides you with a 25 minute ride to the airport compared to the bus experience of 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour experience depending on the hotel you are staying at. Car service passengers can also utilized the luggage return service to the airport.

Car service is also a hedge against the waiting you run into during the busy times, late night and the times no busses are available at Orlando International, or are slow getting back to the airport to pick up passengers.

 

[mgilmer]

Fla. Tours is considered an average and adequate car service company and certainly not better than anything else, but nothing that compares with some of the outstanding companies that actually work out of Orlando International.

Could you list some of those?

 

[Edd]

The boards list many others I would consider above average in customer satisfaction and service. It would be inappropriate for me to list any of the companies.

 

[goofy4tink]

FL tours are certainly better than anything else. i have tried it out myself and have enjoyed lavishly in its tour. You should also check it out.

It's always good to have all types of experiences listed. While I wouldn't call Fl Tours better than anything else, it is fine. I have used them in the past, with less than 100% satisfaction.

 

[goofy4tink]

Fla. Tours is considered an average and adequate car service company and certainly not better than anything else, but nothing that compares with some of the outstanding companies that actually work out of Orlando International.

There are many families that prefer to use the car service system. The car service provides faster times to/from Disney, baby seats and boosters for your children, intermediate stops whether for groceries, brew or other needs, private transportation for familes, no waiting around to load into a bus, and a driver who is willing to fill you in on any matters you might still have in question. Car service passengers can also use the Disney luggage transfer system. The approximately $100.00, round trip, you would pay for this type of service is well worth the price.

Epecially if you could see yourself and kids at CBR (or any other resort), outside 10 - 25 minutes, on a hot afternoon and waiting for your bus, along with 20 - 40 other passengers to get there and load you back to the airport, while watching a car service vehicle stop, load and head out with their passengers who hired them prior to landing Orlando.

Car service provides you with a 25 minute ride to the airport compared to the bus experience of 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour experience depending on the hotel you are staying at. Car service passengers can also utilized the luggage return service to the airport.
Car service is also a hedge against the waiting you run into during the busy times, late night and the times no busses are available at Orlando International, or are slow getting back to the airport to pick up passengers.

And here I will take exception Edd. You compare a 25 min ride from MCO to resort with an hour to hour and a half experience with DME. It truly isn't just a '25 min ride' vs that 60-90 min DME experience. You have to add in the walk to the car driver, which can be anywhere from 10-20 mins depending on stops along the way..usually takes me less than 10 mins though. Then, 5 mns to the car and 5 mins to load it. Yes, been there, done that. So, what you say is 25 mins, is now closer to 45 mins. In many uses of DME, my average has been 70 mins...most of the 6 times I've used DME (that I can remember off the top of my head, there may very well be others) have been in the 55-60 mins range. Only one time did it take me almost 90 mins from plane to resort...just one time. And that was the only time there was a humungous amount of luggage to be stowed, and then unstowed at each resort, taken on the bus. Not sure why all those people felt the need to do that, but that was the situation. And it slowed the process down in a big way.

And yes, it is possible to utilize baggage delivery without riding the bus. Disney will tell you that you aren't allowed to do that, but we all know that in real life, many guests do exactly that, with no problems. But, if you call Disney and ask them, they will tell you that you have to ride the bus in order to have in room luggage delivery of your checked bags. I do not want to get into that whole airport contract thing....just saying what Disney will tell you if you ask them.

I have used almost every type service for getting to WDW from MCO..the only one I haven't used is a cab. I have used DME (many times), towncar services (again, many times), Mears (both the old and the new), a rental car, and having a family member pick me up. There are good and bad about all those modes of transportation.
If I have to buy groceries, I have to weigh the cost of either a car service with free grocery stop against a grocery delivery service. If I want to get to WDW a bit faster, with little to no hassle, again, I have to weigh free vs fee. It is going to differ each time.
I have used the Mears shuttle van to the S/D and also used a car service...simply because DME doesn't go there. I am sure I will use a car service again in the future. It all depends on my needs at that time.

 

[Edd]

Di,

I compared the 25 min ride from the resort to MCO, not MCO to the resort with an hour to an hour and a half ride back to the airport, depending on the order the busses stop at the resorts to pick up. You are correct in the MCO to resort time. I did not include the time you walk from your room to the front as that time is the same as the ME time.

Car service to MCO from the resort is truly 25 minutes after a 5 minute loading time, which is the reason most car services pick you up 2 hours before flight departure, not three like DME.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Happy Limo wants us to take a Chevy Suburban to take the four of us and our 4 pieces of 26-27" luggage to Port Canaveral from CBR. This seems a bit excessive. How can 4 pieces of luggage and hand luggage that will sit in our lap not fit in a mini van?? We're driving to our local airport in our own mini van and we'll have lots of room to fit our luggage into it. Are the minivans in Orlando shrunken or something? This just feels like they're trying to fleece us and I'm beginning to think that I should just take a taxi to the Doubletree in the Downtown Disney area and rent a car from Budget. I don't want to do that because I want to relax and not have to drive but my first taste of limos is being soured here.

 

[Edd]

They are not trying to fleece you. The SUV, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Denali and Ford SUV's, is replacing the town car as the vehicle-for-hire car of choice. It is much roomier than the town car and can haul huge amounts of luggage which is necessary for many families tat cruise. Most companies charge for the SUV at the same rate that the town car is. Town cars are no longer being produced, even though many town car drivers will dispute the fact.

Do not think an SUV is a Limo and if they are charging you limo prices than you are being fleeced. Limos are Limos and although outrageously priced there are some people who like to use them. An SUV gets you there just as fast and sometimes even faster because of the pick-up and drop-off points vary for the limo and the SUV. The SUV rate runs somewhere between $180.00 and $220.00 round trip from MCO to the port and return. Anything above that is Limo rates. Car service does not use mini-vans in transferring passengers. That mini-van is to small for commercial purposes.

There are many companies that will pick you up at Disney and get you to the port and back to MCO. That price starts at around $240.00 round trip.

 

[pxlbarrel]

They are not trying to fleece you. The SUV, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Denali and Ford SUV's, is replacing the town car as the vehicle-for-hire car of choice. It is much roomier than the town car and can haul huge amounts of luggage which is necessary for many families tat cruise. Most companies charge for the SUV at the same rate that the town car is. Town cars are no longer being produced, even though many town car drivers will dispute the fact.

Do not think an SUV is a Limo and if they are charging you limo prices than you are being fleeced. Limos are Limos and although outrageously priced there are some people who like to use them. An SUV gets you there just as fast and sometimes even faster because of the pick-up and drop-off points vary for the limo and the SUV. The SUV rate runs somewhere between $180.00 and $220.00 round trip from MCO to the port and return. Anything above that is Limo rates. Car service does not use mini-vans in transferring passengers. That mini-van is to small for commercial purposes.

There are many companies that will pick you up at Disney and get you to the port and back to MCO. That price starts at around $240.00 round trip.

Ummmm....Happy DOES have a mini van that they can provide for us but they tell us it can only take 3 large pieces of luggage and 4 carry ons so if we have 4 larges pieces of luggage, we have to take Suburban for $160 ONE WAY. I did NOT think they were fleecing us because of "limo" rates....it's because it seems incredulous to me that a mini van can't handle our 4 pieces of luggage. I can fit more than 4 pieces of luggage and carry on into my mini van. And no, it's not a cargo van. Seems a tad on the expensive side.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I'm going to add that my travel agent is exploring other limo companies. She's never had people use Happy before but she's going to ask the companies she usually uses to see what their rates are. We'll know then if there are other services that can accomodate our luggage, which to me doesn't seem to be a lot of luggage (1 bag per person?).

I don't wanna drive if I don't have to.

And yeah, I'd love to drive up in a stretch limo but my economic sensibilities tell me I can't do that until I win the lottery.... or when I don't have my parents in my car tut tutting at how much i've spent.

 

[Edd]

$160.00 from WDW to the port is a normal price. Prices are not fixed because of the type car you use. They are usually based on mileage and time. The port is a good 90 miles and an hour and thirty minutes from WDW and so the price seems normal.

Car service companies do like for passengers to stow luggage inside the passenger cabin because it is a big hazard should there be an accident.

 

[Edd]

doubled. Sorry.

 

[pxlbarrel]

$160.00 one way from WDW to the Port is a good price. Rates are not determined by the type of car. The port is a good 70 miles from WDW and one and a half hours drive. They would probably charge you aprroximately the same for the mini-van.

Car service companies do not allow passengers to stow luggage in the passenger cabin. In case of an accident flying luggage presents a hazard.

No, they don't. Approximately $125 for a town car, $135 for a mini van and $160 for a Suburban. it definitely depends on the type of car. These are all prices for Disney resort to Port Canaveral.

As for allowing luggage to be stowed in a passenger cabin....I can put all of the luggage we plan on taking with us in the back of our mini van...and that includes all of the carry on stuff which consists of 1 knapsack or tote per person.

 

[Edd]

Well, I would press the point because Happy Limo, subs out rides, they probably don't even own a mini-van, and there are not many who will transfer from Disney to the port for those prices. So good luck in your quest. This could be another gimmick, advertising on the inbternet lower prices to get passengers and than bumping up the price.

 

[goofy4tink]

You know....we have had 4 passengers in the past, with a large bag each, or in one case, one person had two large bags, and we all fit, with our luggage, just fine in a regular towncar. I don't understand the big deal about large cars. Minivans traditionally hold less luggage than a 'regular' car. As does a traditional stretch limo...no trunk space, so no room for luggage. We got a stretch limo once and had to keep a lot of the luggage with us, in the car itself.
I don't think that over $300, to get four people to port, is a great deal. I would certainly hope that the tip was included in that price.

 

[pxlbarrel]

The $160 does not include gratuity. And I don't understand the trunk situation either. Unless your car is a hybrid, the car trunks these days are massive. We arrived home one time from an overseas trip with massive luggage and we hadn't arranged for a ride home (I don't know what we were thinking.) and the town car limo guy at the airport that just happened to be there waiting to pick people up...put all 4 pieces of large luggage (probably 2 of them were the max 30") into his trunk as we stared in amazement.

So... the question of size of vehicle on this trip is really beginning to confuse me.

edit: should have added that at this price, we were better off with the Disney transfer

 

[Edd]

You need to get yourself a rental car and than won't have to be so confused.

 

[goofy4tink]

Actually Edd...that's not a bad idea. The drive to port is very easy. If I can do it, anyone can. You can either park at the ship, or return the car at an office in the area and get a shuttle back to the ship and then shuttle back to the rental office when you get back. It's really easy.
And it will be much cheaper than hiring a car service.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Actually Edd...that's not a bad idea. The drive to port is very easy. If I can do it, anyone can. You can either park at the ship, or return the car at an office in the area and get a shuttle back to the ship and then shuttle back to the rental office when you get back. It's really easy.
And it will be much cheaper than hiring a car service.

Well, it's a consideration since I'm renting one after the cruise but I was hoping to not have to get to go get a car the morning of the cruise. I wanted to relax before getting on the ship, not run around getting a car and then having to drive everybody to the pier. For once, I just wanted to be driven around . LOL

I'll wait to see what my TA comes up with in terms of car hires.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, it's a consideration since I'm renting one after the cruise but I was hoping to not have to get to go get a car the morning of the cruise. I wanted to relax before getting on the ship, not run around getting a car and then having to drive everybody to the pier. For once, I just wanted to be driven around . LOL

I'll wait to see what my TA comes up with in terms of car hires.

I hear ya. But, if you can get to DTD and the Doubletree you can rent from Budget. They have a shuttle that can actually pick you up at your resort..and then return you when you return the car. Then, when you get to the port, they have a frequent shuttle there as well. Maybe you could pick it up the night before you drive to port. Then, head to port about 9:30 in the morning, drop everyone off and drive yourself to the rental office and shuttle back. Shouldn't be too big an issue. But I understand how you feel...sometimes it's just nice to be taken care of rather than be the one taking care of everyone else!!!