Transportation from MCO to Universal Hotels

[jennifer333]

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice I've gotten reading these boards over the years. It has been a couple of years since we have gone to Universal and we are super excited for our upcoming trip at the end of this week. In the past with our vacations for WDW and the couple of times we have gone to Universal we've always used Mears shuttles. I have never had a horrible experience with them, but have frequently been frustrated by the amount of time we spent waiting at the airport until we actually get a shuttle. (I also dislike how early we have sometimes had to leave the hotel to get our shuttle at the end of our trip). This time I want to get to my hotel (the Royal Pacific Resort) as soon as possible. This trip is just me and my husband, but we are thinking of springing for a car service/towncar. Can anyone give suggestions for a reliabl car service. I was thinking of using Mears towncars or perhaps Tiffany Towncars... Any advice would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks very much.

 

[Prince Eric1]

We have used Happylimo a few times and they are good, the only problem being that you must call them from the terminal and it takes them a few minutes to pick you up in the waiting area. Their prices have been good and the service reliable. The towncars and limos were very clean.

 

[patster734]

I've used Happy Limo in the past and will probably use them again for our upcoming October trip. They'll even make a 30 minute grocery stop for free when requested in the reservation. There are several other towncar services that others have used to their satisfaction.

 

[dlbbwu]

Last year we used Tiffany and did not have ANY problems what so ever. We requested a non smoker (car also) and our request was granted. We did not need the grocery stop that they offered due to being on the club level.
This year, my wife got a hair up her (you know what) and at the last minute decided to rent a car to "tennis shop". So I must have called them all and found Enterprise had one and I used my coporate discount. Actually it was kinda nice to drive around Florida on my time, and NO, I did not pay for parking (Portofino).
Like someone else replied there are many and I bet they all have their perks and problems. So good luck in chosing the "right" one for you!

 

[jennifer333]

Thanks for all the info. I am thinking of emailing/calling Tiffany Towncars today. Thanks for the tip about the non-smoking car. That is an important thing to me and I never thought of asking. BTW, how much did you tip each driver--did you give one of them a larger tip or split it totally equally. I was thinking of giving about 18% to 20% of the total price and just spliting that amount between the two drivers.

 

[dlbbwu]

Somehow I knew you were going to ask me that, and if I remember correctly, I tipped each driver separately. The second driver, if you will, was more pleasant than the first, so I tipped him more. I believe I tipped the first one 15% and the second one about 10%. Yes, that was a large amount, but the second one helped us load and unload our luggage, whereas the first just stood there while I loaded and unloaded the car.
Hope this helps.

 

[jennifer333]

Thanks for the info, Dave. I figure I can play the tips by ear as you did and see if one driver is much better than the other. If I split it equally say 10-12 each driver, I just wanted to make sure that the each driver would sort of understand that I was splitting it b/c I pay for the roundtrip upfront.

Has anyone ever had problems with Tiffany not showing up or being really late?

Also, I want to ask them to pick me up for the return trip 2 hours before my flight, as opposed to their automatic 2 and 1/2 hours. Has anyone ever done that?

 

[grittyreid]

we stayed at royal pacific last year and paid upfront when we were dropped at hotel. i called the day before we were to leave and the guy confirmed that they were scheduled to pick us up the next day at 3:00. we waited and at 3:15 called tiffany and they said they couldn't find our reservation and then said they were scheduled to pick us up on that date in 2008 (the next year)it is quite possible i put the wrong year in especially if they had a pop up with the date, but they shouldn't have confirmed it. there was a taxi right there so we went to the airport by taxi. tiffany said they would have someone there in 1/2 an hour. we said we were not waiting and she started getting belligerant. we were shocked at how nasty she was. my husband demanded to speak to manager for a refund for that portion of trip and she refused. this went on for several days until my sister, the lawyer called and they said they would send a check. 2 weeks later, we got a check for $40.00. we had paid $110 so they were short $20. we didn't care by that point. good luck