Car sharing / Transport from WDW to Universal

[koppite_rob]

Hi fellow WDWMagic members just 6 days to go till the big family holiday to WDW.
Problem is the family has one 12 seater coach to get the mob from our rental villa in Davenport to WDW,but me & the girlfriend have also got tickets for the more grown up Universal Studios.
Ive now realised that despite Orlando being very tourist friendly its not travel friendly and Im getting stuck working out how the two of us can get to Universal safely & cheaply.Considering we'll only be travelling to Universal perhaps 3 days out of the 3 weeks a second car is stupid.Bus travel seems to be non existent or likely to take 3 weeks to get there!Taxis seem to cost more per day than renting a car for a week,and I've heard nothing but bad stories about these shuttle companies like Mears.
Does anyone have any ideas or previous experience.I'd be happy to contribute parking/toll charges if there are any other couples out there at the same time as us,as this would be the most environmentally friendly solution or does anyone know of another cost effective and safe alternative?
6 days to go!!!

 

[elisatonks]

I would consider renting a car for a couple of days, think it will be cheapest for you, there is no bus system at the moment that serves Davenport to anywhere. (not even disney, and you think there would be with a large majority of peeps working at wdw living in Davenport and neighbouring Haines City, but sadly no.)

The only other way is to get a taxi from DTD to premium outlet malls then use thje I Trolley, but you will still have a bit of walking to do to get to US.

 

[Mukta]

I take a taxi every year. I get a one day 2 park ticket. I get there at 8 am and leave when it closes. It is $35 each way. It is not always the cheapest option, but it is reliable.

 

[KC82271]

We have used Mears several times to get to Sea World - and I have nothing bad to say about them. You do have to give an "approximate" time for return - and then call them about 2 hours in advance of your pick-up to make sure someone is there - but that is it.

It picked us up right outside Pop Century and returned us to the same.

Worth looking into.

 

[djwaverboy]

My Group

We are going in september and offerd to take anyone to HHn on 25/26 and we have not gotten anyone yet we can prob take an addital two or three people.

 

[Rob562]

The two options I'd recommend have already been mentioned here:

1) A rental car for a few days. Probably your best bet if you're OK with grouping your visits to Universal into consecutive days. Although I will admit that I don't know what kind of extra insurance/fees might be required for non-U.S. residents. There's a desk for both Alamo and National located at the Car Care Center near the Magic Kingdom parking lot so you don't have to drive all the way back to the airport to rent the car. There's also an Alamo/National desk at the Dolphin resort.
Other major companies have desks at hotels along Hotel Plaza Blvd near Downtown Disney.

2) You could book Mears for a shared-van ride to Universal. The problem is that they most likely would NOT pick you up at your condo. To get around this you'd do best to figure out a convenient hotel where someone from your group can drop you off first thing in the morning and pick you up in the evening. (Perhaps a Disney hotel close to the park where your group will be spending the day) Then make the arrangements with Mears to do a pickup/dropoff at that hotel.
Mears is about $18 round-trip per person. So three roundtrips for two people would be $108. Would that be less than the price for a rental car for you for a few days? (Or if the rental car is more expensive, is the price difference worth it for the convenience?)

Something else to remember, if you get a rental car, you'll have to pay for parking at Universal, which would add about $12 a day to the overall price. Using a shuttle service avoids that parking fee.



**A third option might be to arrange a towncar service. Mears does this, but there are also many other services in the Orlando area. They'd be on-par with the price of a taxi, and would pick you up right from your condo.


-Rob