Uber vs rental car

[underminer]

We are staying offsite (about 8 miles away) and will be coming to the parks in about 10 days. We are DL veterans and haven’t been to WDW in about 15 years. I had planned to rent a car as I have never ever Ubered (I know...shocking. Reading these boards and talking to friends has made me reconsider renting a car and going the Uber route instead. It makes me nervous to give up control of our transportation for the whole trip! Anybody out there have any advice on this decision? Thanks!!

 

[nherbert]

until our last trip wdw in jan this year I had never Uber/Lyft before either, and had always rented a car. But we just needed to get from Disney to universal and back, and decided to try Lyft. Absolutely no issues at all. Car got there both times very quickly, both times we asked for big car as we had lots of bags, all good. Driver was great both times. So much cheaper for us than renting a car and leaving it sitting in a car park (and paying for parking) most days.

 

[DisneyOma]

I'd only get an Uber if it was nice enough out to have the windows down. You never know if the driver is exposing you to COVID-19 in an enclosed vehicle.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I've never had any issues with Uber or Lyft. Super easy to use. And once you factor in parking costs, ride share is often cheaper, depending on how far offsite you are of course.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

We had always hired a car but for recent trips switched to Lyft and Uber and I can’t imagine ever going back to a rental car. The apps are simple to use, the cars arrive within minutes and are always clean. Given the cost of renting a car, purchasing insurance, parking etc., most people would save money by using Lyft and Uber. Also, you can enjoy a glass of wine or two.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

All highly personal decisions of course and we all have our individual situational tolerances when it comes to COVID, but for us, being in an enclosed car for a period of time with a stranger is not high on our list of things to do. And I say that as an avid rideshare user pre-COVID. We have used a few rideshares around property since reopening and I don't have a problem doing so, but given the choice we've been leaning more towards using our personal vehicle/rental car than rideshare just for total control of the environment.

I guess that sounds a bit extreme/non-sensical seeing that I'm also making the decision to go to a theme park, but I see travel as a series of controllable and uncontrollable environments... and generally speaking we've been opting more for controllable environments when one is available.

 

[Monykalyn]

I guess that sounds a bit extreme/non-sensical seeing that I'm also making the decision to go to a theme park, but I see travel as a series of controllable and uncontrollable environments... and generally speaking we've been opting more for controllable environments when one is available.

Actually this is one of the MOST sensible things I have read. And completely agree.
We've used rideshares/rental/personal car or any combo of those. Rideshare IS super easy, but generally we prefer to have our own transportation. We don't stay onsite for most of our trips and no way would I stay offsite and NOT have my own wheels. We like to explore restaurants not disney owned, shop etc.-but that really is a personal preference. I know lots of people on these boards have stayed offsite and strictly rideshared with no issues. One factor for us though, in the past we have had annual passes so we don't pay for parking-which adds up pretty quick.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Actually this is one of the MOST sensible things I have read. And completely agree.
We've used rideshares/rental/personal car or any combo of those. Rideshare IS super easy, but generally we prefer to have our own transportation. We don't stay onsite for most of our trips and no way would I stay offsite and NOT have my own wheels. We like to explore restaurants not disney owned, shop etc.-but that really is a personal preference. I know lots of people on these boards have stayed offsite and strictly rideshared with no issues. One factor for us though, in the past we have had annual passes so we don't pay for parking-which adds up pretty quick.

I think cost wise Uber/Lyft wins hands down, particularly if staying on site. Sanitation/COVID... it’s a risk balancing exercise. I was in Greece last week and hired a car for a few days to tour and then used Beat, their equivalent of Uber/Lyft whilst in Athens. Personally, I had more concerns about the sanitation of the rental car than I did of Beat. In most of Europe, Uber drivers and passengers have to wear masks, can only carry two passengers per ride, have to have the car windows open and not use air con. Is it the same in Orlando?

 

[nkereina]

We used Lyft at least 10 times last week, and we were staying on-site. In all of our experiences, the Lyft was there in 7 minutes or less. All of the drivers wore masks, and about half of the vehicles we were in had plastic barriers separating us from the driver. Most of the vehicles with the plastic were vans or SUVs where it seems to be easier to do this. If you have concerns about being in close proximity with the driver, I would suggest ordering an Uber or Lyft XL where you will get a van or SUV that is more inclined to have the plastic barrier. But, there is no guarantee and an XL will cost more.

We felt safe, but we do have a high risk tolerance when it comes to Covid. We wore masks, made sure the driver was wearing his, sanitized our hands immediately upon exiting. We found all of the vehicles to be clean and noticed sanitizer and wipes in the front seat in some of the cars, presumably available upon request. From the pick up/drop off aspect, it could not have been faster or easier and saved us from excruciatingly long bus waits at park opening.

 

[underminer]

Thank you for all of your great advice! Covid is not as much of a concern for me with ride sharing but cost and what gets us to the park most efficiently for rope drop does. I’m not sure how to time Uber with the current unpredictable rope drop situation at the parks. Any advice? Thanks again!

 

[nkereina]

Thank you for all of your great advice! Covid is not as much of a concern for me with ride sharing but cost and what gets us to the park most efficiently for rope drop does. I’m not sure how to time Uber with the current unpredictable rope drop situation at the parks. Any advice? Thanks again!

For AK, DHS, and Epcot, the ride share drop off area is within the parking lot so the parking lot needs to be open to get dropped off there. We were told that the parking lot generally opens about 45-60 minutes before the posted park opening time. We also had an Uber driver tell us he declines rides to the parks when we knows the parking lot is not open yet, because otherwise they have to wait in the traffic with all the cars waiting to park. For MK, there is a separate ride share drop off area at TTC that doesn't require the cars to wait for the lots to open.

We used the Skyliner for DHS and Epcot so I can't speak to those, but we called an Uber around 8am for MK and were in the park by 8:40. For AK, we called the Uber around 8:15 and the lot was open when we arrived. We were in by 8:50. In both cases, the park was open when we arrived but it worked out well for us.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thank you for all of your great advice! Covid is not as much of a concern for me with ride sharing but cost and what gets us to the park most efficiently for rope drop does. I’m not sure how to time Uber with the current unpredictable rope drop situation at the parks. Any advice? Thanks again!

That’s a problem. Since you don’t when they gates open it could lead to some very awkward Uber/Lyft situations of “yeah, just stay here in this line for a mystery amount of time”. I don’t think the driver would kick you out or anything but that just sounds so, so awkward. I’d be much happier in my own car where I can eat a snack or sip my coffee while I wait.

My orlando rideshares have been a very mixed bag (I’m no stranger to this, I’ve Ubered many places including abroad). Orlando was home to my three worst rideshares. Incident 3 led me to way cutting back on my rideshares in Orlando.

1) maniac driver from DS-BC, car smelled smoke too
2) 35-40 mph to MCO. Whole way. Yep. I was pissed cause that was unsafe + goosed his fare above the estimate.
3) driver stayed in the fast lane despite the map and me saying that’s the exit for DHS and then did it again at the next exit and I yelled “you need to get off and turn around now!” and he smiled and u-turned (I was solo for that one)

Rideshares are still good things in my book. Still plan to use them when I start traveling again, but they are not without their issues. And Orlando is like cursed for me

 

[underminer]

Yeah those are the kind of stories that make me want to rent a car. I’m thinking if we mobile order at Contempo cafe and Boardwalk Bakery we can avoid the awkward waits at 3 out of the 4 parks at least.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

We used ride share on our last trip (pre-covid) and it was very efficient. Had no issues getting to the parks before rope drop (although we were usually targeting around 15 minutes before rope drop).

Also, getting dropped at the Contemporary instead of TTC for MK gets you to the park faster.

 

[nkereina]

We used Lyft over 10 times last week and had no issues or weird experiences, luckily. Its just tricky with the timing right now because "rope drop" is not necessarily the posted park opening time - its generally 30-45 minutes earlier. And the parking lots don't have a stated opening time, its generally 45-60 minutes before the posted park opening time. And as has been mentioned, some Uber drivers will be none too pleased if they have to wait in traffic to get into the parking lot because its not open.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We had great experience using uber, cars were always on time clean drivers were super nice.
We did the math and we saved money.. mostly on not paying parking at hotel and parks.

 

[Spunky946]

If I were staying offsite I’d want my own car so I could do things offsite as well as onsite and have more flexabity. I’d rather spend more money then have to depend on others and getting a car.

 

[Rococoyourboat]

We always use Uber/lyft when getting around the greater WDW area not only is it generally cheaper than renting a car once parking costs are factored in, they can generally drop you much much closer to the parks than you can actually park. In all my experience using ride share at disney I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a car to arrive. As others have stated I'd ride with the windows down n slather on the hand sanitizer for extra covid precaution but for us ride share is the only way to get around disney.

 

[mistyinca]

For Magic Kingdom, is the Lyft drop off at TTC or will they drop you off by the bus stop at MK?

If only TTC, what methods are available right now to get to MK? Is the ferry open? The monorail?

 

[Ross Kratter]

For Magic Kingdom, is the Lyft drop off at TTC or will they drop you off by the bus stop at MK?

If only TTC, what methods are available right now to get to MK? Is the ferry open? The monorail?

Technically they should drop you at the TTC, but some people have been successful being dropped off at the Contemporary; it all depends on the guard who's working at the gate.