Uber/Lyft availability

[deli8788]

What are the odds that I will be able to find an Uber/Lyft at 4:30am at a resort? Pretty good? Our flight is at 6:45am.

 

[Callsdodisney]

Hard to tell. When we were there in March, we had 20-30 min waits at 7:00 PM. If a car is available I'm sure you'll get it, but it seemed like may cars were't driving.

 

[JimMIA]

The best way to get a halfway reasonable idea would be to check the ride on your own Uber app at the time (and day of week) you want to take it (in this case, at 4:30 AM Orlando time).

Open your app, tap "Where To" and enter the name of your hotel as the starting point and MCO as the destination. The options shown will show your ARRIVAL time at MCO.

Just remember not to actually ORDER the ride!

 

[Moneypenny]

During spring break we were trying to find an uber/lyft around 6 am because the DME bus was very late (finally showed up 45 minutes late). When I first checked shortly before 6, it was a 30 minute wait. By 6:30 a.m. it became a 55 minute wait. I think at 4:30 you won't have a lot of other customers to deal with, but I don't think there are a lot of Uber/Lyft drivers just hanging around nearby at that time, either.

 

[holyrita]

I like to use the Uber app to schedule rides in advance to the airport, especially when they're early in the morning

 

[Callsdodisney]

Read carefully about scheduling. I was going to use that to get us from Orlando to Tampa one early evening. When I read up about it, it said the ride would be canceled if the ride wasn’t accepted by 10 minutes after my preferred pick up time.

I had hoped it would mean someone was counting on that fare and locked in for me, but when I realized it was all up in the air until 10 minutes past my scheduled departure, I went with a car service. I felt much more confident someone would show up.

I feel like I sound like such an Uber downer in these boards- I swear I am not!! We’ve used Uber successfully on other Disney trips and in many other cities. But our trip in March was expensive and exhausting. I was constantly worried about missing a reservation/transfer because we could not get an Uber or Lyft, even at crazy prices!

 

[FCDub]

View attachment 569910

I like to use the Uber app to schedule rides in advance to the airport, especially when they're early in the morning

This is generally not a good idea, because it doesn't actually schedule anything. All it does it make your request like 15 minutes before the time you want. If there are no cars, you're SOL.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I hate to pile on, but we, too, had a much different experience with Uber/Lyft on our last trip in early March. We have relied on ride sharing for about 4-5 years, and we pretty much use it exclusively to get around the parks. Our longest wait in the old days was about 10 minutes, but most were in the 5 minute range. This time, our shortest wait was about 8 minutes. Most were in the 15-20 range, and one or two longer. It was also noticeably more expensive. I posted about it on another thread in this forum when we got back. I was so surprised. Since that trip, I've heard it's the same in many areas. When we were in Maui a few weeks later, we actually couldn't find cars at all. It was crazy.

 

[kitkat4622]

I was going to use uber/lyft to go to and from MCO and opted to just spend more money and order a car service that is already scheduled and pre paid

 

[decheez]

Another alternative to a car service would be a shuttle. It's a bit more expensive but you get a confirmation so you don't have to worry about the vehicle not being there. I believe it's about $25-$30 a person so it would be more expensive than Uber but depending on how many people you have it would be less expensive than a car service. If you have 3+ people look at a car service, the cost is surprisingly low. Lots of competition in Orlando. We've reserved an SUV for later this year, $80 (+tip) from a Disney resort to MCO. A sedan would be a bit less.

 

[holyrita]

Oh my! Definitely wasn't trying to provide bad advice. I haven't personally had an issue scheduling this way but I will always have some level of doubt now

 

[dthogue]

Can you tell me more about the shuttle? I thought Mears offered a shuttle but all I can find is car service from them