Transportation To Universal

[Yodasnuggs]

Hi all, I apologize in advance, I'm sure that this question is asked quite a bit, but I searched and can't seem to find a recent answer. I'm usually a Disney hotel only guest, but for this trip we are starting with two nights at Cabana Bay. Can someone please recommend a way for us (four adults) to get from the airport to the resort? We will likely just end up renting a car, but I want to keep our options open.

Thanks!

 

[DisneyJoe]

There are now Mears or SuperShuttle transfers that you can book from the airport to Universal, call Universal and ask

 

[Master Yoda]

Touring plans has a breakdown, but like you would expect your options pretty much consist of the various taxi or taxi like services (eg taxi,town-car Uber, etc) a Mears shuttle and a rental car.

http://touringplans.com/universal-orlando/transportation

It is also worth noting the Cabana Bay charges you $12/day to park a car there so you will want to figure that into your calculations when you compare the other services to renting a car.

 

[JoeCamel]

Super Shuttle is $75 for the 4 of you

Mears is less (could get a town car) for $58.60

 

[Gaston's gal]

You could take a Uber. If you rent a car, you won't need it once you get there. The bus system at Cabana is great. Enjoy your trip!

 

[EngineJoe]

Hi all, I apologize in advance, I'm sure that this question is asked quite a bit, but I searched and can't seem to find a recent answer. I'm usually a Disney hotel only guest, but for this trip we are starting with two nights at Cabana Bay. Can someone please recommend a way for us (four adults) to get from the airport to the resort? We will likely just end up renting a car, but I want to keep our options open.

Thanks!

The cheapest option is the Lynx bus. Airport to Florida mall then bus transfer to the bus that takes you to universal city walk. That costs 2 dollars total per person. So would be 8 dollars total for your party.

From the universal city walk terminus I Assume you can take the cabana bus to the hotel.

 

[EngineJoe]

Not really. Uber can't pick up from the airport- so you have to go to a nearby hotel and then have them pick you up there. It's a nuisance and inconvenient. @EngineJoe mentioned the cheapest way. But that's inconvenient too if you have small kids and lots of luggage.
I'd do what @JoeCamel suggested. They pick you up and drop you off and handle it all in a town car. I think it's actually $45 also ($50 - $5 discount I believe). Then take the towncar to Disney. Then take MDE back to the airport. That beats $24 to park and a rent car cost. $90 and it's the most convenient by a mile. Also- if any of your kids are in car seats, they include that for free.

Yeah there's some kind of law in Orlando that makes the uber price from the airport the same as a taxi. So there's zero savings with uber from the airport

 

[Master Yoda]

The cheapest option is the Lynx bus. Airport to Florida mall then bus transfer to the bus that takes you to universal city walk. That costs 2 dollars total per person. So would be 8 dollars total for your party.

From the universal city walk terminus I Assume you can take the cabana bus to the hotel.

While Lynx is the cheapest way by a large margin, it is also the slowest by a near equal margin.

The Lynx rout planner puts the trip at 1 hour and 14 minutes. That time does not include hauling your luggage from the closest stop to your resort either via resort transportation or walking.

The drive time for a shuttle or Taxi is 21 minutes and they drop you off at the door to your resort.

 

[Yodasnuggs]

Wow, thanks for the bus tip, I am going to keep that in mind for the future. We decided to just rent a car, though not the cheapest option it seemed to make the most sense since we would need additional transport from Universal over to Disney a few days later. Plus with four people's worth of luggage it seems easiest.

Thanks everyone!

 

[EngineJoe]

Wow, thanks for the bus tip, I am going to keep that in mind for the future. We decided to just rent a car, though not the cheapest option it seemed to make the most sense since we would need additional transport from Universal over to Disney a few days later. Plus with four people's worth of luggage it seems easiest.

Thanks everyone!

If you have a car you might want to check out gatorland too. If you can get the groupon for gatorland/zip line combo for 30 dollars the zipline itself is totally worth it. 5 ziplines plus a bridge that take two hours.

I didn't really care for the gators or rest of the park but the zip line is really fun.

 

[sandam1]

I did an almost identical trip to yours last week. Through my travel agent at Kingdom Konsultants, I was able to book transportation from the airport to Universal and then Universal to Disney with Quick Transportation. From Disney, we took the Magical Express back to the airport.

I kept going back and forth between the shuttle and a car, finally settling on the shuttle. I was incredibly impressed with how easy and super convenient it was. The driver met us at the baggage claim, took us and our luggage directly to a van parked nearby, and we were off. Same with the Universal to Disney trip. No hassle, no waiting in any lines. The cost was $39 per person or $78 total for the two of us (tip not included). In fact, after spending over an hour + on a not-so-Magical Express ride with a loud child nearby, I really wish I had paid for the return trip to the airport as well.

For the Universal part of our trip, the rental car would have been a complete waste of money. The buses from our hotel (Cabana Bay) to the parks were super quick, even in the evening as the parks were closing. The same could not to be said for Disney, where a rental car would have been a huge benefit. But you live and learn...