Towncar veterans switching to ME?

[Little MerGirl]

I've read lots of reports from people who usually rent a car or take Mears happy with the ME option.

This will be our 8th trip and on all previous vacations we have taken a towncar from the airport to our resort.

I'm having a difficult time convincing DH (and myself, really) that we will be happy with ME.

Any towncar veterans out there that have used ME and are glad they did?

 

[mom_rules]

A good question-anyone help?

 

[ep4244]

We did not use ME because I enjoy the personal attention we get from a towncar. We use Happy Limo and like the service and drivers. They have always been waiting for us by the time we have picked up our luggage, no waiting for other flights to arrive or passengers, no stopping at multiple resorts, and your luggage is with you the whole way. My concern is if luggage is lost how do you know who lost it the airline or Disney. (I know you can pick up your own luggage and take it on ME)

edited to add: Can't forget the grocery stop of course

Just my personal opinion.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We're giving DME a try -- next week. If all goes well, we will no longer use a towncar service. We've never taken advantage of the grocery stop, so the only thing we'll be giving up is being able to walk right out of the airport to the car (which doesn't always happen anyway).

 

[snels]

Hi,
We haven't used ME, and I don't think we will. We have used Tiffany for quite a few years. The drivers have always been on time and very polite. As long as we get great service, we will stay with the towncar option.

Sandy

 

[quicksilver]

We're giving DME a try -- next week. If all goes well, we will no longer use a towncar service. We've never taken advantage of the grocery stop, so the only thing we'll be giving up is being able to walk right out of the airport to the car (which doesn't always happen anyway).

Hi,

When you say you will no longer use a towncar service, do you mean even after ME is no longer free and they will charge about $30.00 to $40.00 (wild guess...) per person ???

 

[Ilovestitch]

I'd rather pay for the towncar than use ME. When I'm on vacation, time is important to me- I was personalized service, and I want to go straight to and from my resort. I don't want to stress about my luggage getting lost either.

We've used Quicksilver several times and they are awesome! I wouldn't use anyone else! -Stephanie

 

[mom_rules]

I really think it would depend on the service and the $. If all things were the same I'd prefer the towncar service.

 

[kirbsam]

I think many of us who have used towncars in the past, have become creatures of habit. we used towncars to get away from the mears mentallity, and i am not convinced that ME has done that. Maybe it has but for me the jury is still out on that one. so we will use a towncar again, now which one, that is the big question.

 

[dznyntnh]

Right now I have a Town Car rez and a ME rez. I'm leaning towards the car, cuz I like the service, I like to get to the hotel and get my vacation started. I really don't care about grocery stops, or any of that stuff. I just like the personal service, having 'my' car and getting to my destination as quickly as possible.

While ME is free, I don't see it as much different than Mear's (fewer stops maybe, but it's still a bus). I have the ME rez mainly because I was curious when I made my original hotel rez last winter. I thought they hadn't even taken it down, unitl a CM double checked it all (at his insistence) and it was all correct.

I'm just curious to see if I actually get all of the information I'm supposed to get or if I fall through the cracks.

 

[beccasmom]

We've used Tiffany towncar the last several years and have been happy with them. However, we used ME in June and probably will use it again on our December trip. We had an excellent experience with ME; I would guess that in the earlier stages, many folks were much less impressed. We may have lucked out and arrived at a "slower" time, but everything was fine.

 

[goofy4tink]

We have used the 'old' Mears shuttle back in '99. We have used Tiffany and FL Tours, and we have used DME. I loved ME!!! I normallly spend about $150 for a towncar service. Twice, when using towncar services I had asked for a grocery stop...both times I didn't get one!! Various reasons...flight was late, so we can stop at a 7/11 type store...I would have been just as well off shopping at the resort price-wise!! And the next time I was told 'nothing open, it's Thanksgiving you know." But I did see several stores open as we drove by on our way to WDW!!! Twice with towncars we have had to go looking for our driver...two different services.

So, we booked DME for our trip on 6/18. We arrived at MCO at 11:50, on the bus at 12:15 and in the check-in line at BCV at 1:00, at the pool at 1:30. We used Wegoshop.com for our groceries. They were delivered at 4:30, our luggage was in our room at 2:45...15 minutes after we got into our room. Sorry, but I don't think that's giving up too much time.

Will I use DME when they start charging? Probably. I would imagine they might charge $20-25 pp. That's a little less than the Mears shuttle if I remember correctly. For us, a family of 3, that's still cheaper than a towncar service. We fly Song so we love getting rid of our luggage at the resort and picking it up at home airport. Nope, it's not as 'nice' as a towncar but it sure was okay with us. In fact, dh was quite pleasantly surprised and he is a real towncar type person!!!

 

[mom_rules]

They are pretty nice buses right? I mean with seats that recline a bit, restroom (read closet) and tv screens?

 

[quicksilver]

Will I use DME when they start charging? Probably. I would imagine they might charge $20-25 pp. That's a little less than the Mears shuttle if I remember correctly. For us, a family of 3, that's still cheaper than a towncar service. We fly Song so we love getting rid of our luggage at the resort and picking it up at home airport. Nope, it's not as 'nice' as a towncar but it sure was okay with us. In fact, dh was quite pleasantly surprised and he is a real towncar type person!!!

Disney is paying Mears $25.00 per person today, so most probably when they start charging clients directly it will be much more. Remember, the Shuttle was already $29.00 (round trip) without the "luggage to your room part", and with regular vans. Now with the whole ME service it will for sure be more than what they use to charge...

 

[aubriee]

I've used Prestige towncars and they are great! However I was one of the early ones that used DME back in May and had an exellent experience with them. Lots of CMs were at the airport to direct people to the DME counter where check-in took just a few minutes. They then directed me to the correct line for my resort. A bus arrived just as I got in the line, so I was loaded in just a few minutes, and then the bus left in just a few minutes and it wasn't even half full. POP was the first stop, so I was out of the airport and at my hotel faster than if I had used a towncar. Because they knew we were coming POP had LOTS of CMs on duty to check us in, so check-in was quick. When I returned from the parks that evening my bags were waiting in the room for me.

The return trip was just as painless. I dropped my bags at the DME counter that morning, got my boarding pass, then went off to the parks, returning about 3:00pm, just in time to hop on the DME bus to the airport. Again the bus was not even half full, but it went directly to the airport, not stopping at any other resorts. Because on the return trip I had checked my carry on bag, I was able to just walk straight through security to my gate. Breezing through the airport with no luggage to deal with was wonderful. Even though I hadn't seen them since early that morning, my bags were waiting for me when I got home to Dallas that night.

I'm going back in Sept, again in Dec, and again in the spring. With the tip and counting my trip this past May that's well over 500.00 I'm saving, by not using a towncar. When they start charging for it, what I do will depend on how expensive DME is compared to a towncar. But right now DME is quick, free, and I don't have to deal with luggage, so it's a no brainer. The buses are also nice, air conditioned, with lots of TVs and very nice drivers. If it gets to be too expensive, then I'll go back to Prestige.

 

[Little MerGirl]

Thanks everybody for all the advice and opinions.

We ended up booking a towncar today for our upcoming trip. We realized that our time - and the personal service and grocery stop - were too important to us to give up.

I still think that the ME sounds like a great program and I'm glad it's worked so well for many of you.