Getting to Disney - Transportation Information

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Sean&Karen

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Whether you plan to go on your Disney vacation by plane, train or automobile, it can be challenging to find the most economical way to get to your destination -- and then you need to figure out how you're going to get around while you are there! (At both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, transportation from the airport to your hotel is something you'll have to arrange for yourself, unless you purchase a package that includes transfers.) several options available to you which include: Private Town Car, Rental Car, Taxi, Mears Shuttle, Happy Limo, and Disney's Magical Express.

Disney's Magical Express

As of May 5, 2005, guests of Disney hotels began using Disney's Magical Express service can check their bags at their hometown airport, bypass baggage claim at Orlando International Airport (OIA) and board motor coaches to the Walt Disney World Resort - as their bags "magically" appear in their room upon check in. The round-trip service is complimentary during Disney's Happiest Celebration on Earth event.

How Disney's Magical Express service works:

* Disney's Magical Express must be booked at least 10 days prior to arrival through disneyworld.com, Disney Reservation Center by calling 407-W-DISNEY or a travel agent beginning Jan. 2, 2005. The service began May 5, 2005.

* Guests check their specially-tagged luggage at their departure airport.

* Upon arrival in Orlando, guests bypass airport baggage claim and go directly to the Disney Airport Welcome Center. When you fly *in* to Orlando, it doesn't matter which airline you're on.

* Guests board state-of-the-art motor coaches that take them to their Disney hotel.

* A team of Disney representatives at the airport will pick up guests' luggage and transport it to their hotel room.
This is not personalized service. You will be boarding a bus with other Disney Resort Guests.

If you are flying out with any *participating* airline you can avoid airport check-in lines on domestic flights by checking your luggage and receive a boarding pass before ever departing your Disney hotel. Airlines are: American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Song, United Airlines or Ted. Pickup from your Disney hotel returning to the airport will be made 3.5 hours prior to your flight time.
This service is available for Disney Vacation Club Members.
Disney's Magical Express service is not be available to guests of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels, Shades of Green, or the seven hotels near Hotel Plaza Boulevard.

Taxi
Outside the baggage handling area is also the Taxi service. Cabs/vans arrive and take guests as they come in...so no telling what "company" you will get. Groups of 4 or more may get a taxi van. The price was the same for 2 adults as it was for 4; approximately $45 one way for the ride (plus gratuity) to a Disney Property Hotel.

Mears Shuttle
$29/adult/roundtrip and $21/Child Ages 4-11. The vehicle is either a van or bus and will take passengers to the WDW resort hotels. Your Mears transportation vehicle will in all probability contains guests headed for different "Disney" hotels - so be prepared for a non-direct journey. You will, however, be taken to the hotel you are staying at. You will need to make reservations for your return trip. Again, because the van/bus may go to several hotels, you will need to allow sufficient time to get to the airport. You can visit their website at https://secure.mearstransportation.com/

Mears Shuttle Booth Locations:
Baggage Claim Level *A*Terminal - Exit through the doors in front of baggage claim carousel #6
Baggage Claim Level *B* Terminal - Exit through the doors in front of baggage claim carousel #6 OR baggage claim carousel #12.
They do take credit cards. The Mears phone number is: (407) 423-5566. Be sure to make your return reservations at least 24 hours in advance!

Rental Car ;

Rental cars are another viable option for ground transportation in Orlando. At the Orlando International airport you will find companies both oniste and off site (shuttle ride required). At the airport itself you will find Naional, Alamo, Dollar, Avis, Budget and L&M. For all others hop on the shuttle.

At WDW you will find 2 locations for National/Alamo - one at the Car Care Center near the Magic Kingdom. The other off the main lobby in the Dolphin hotel.

Getting Around: Luxury Sedan, limo and Van
For Walt Disney World vacations, if you have a party of 4 or more, private luxury sedan or limo service is often a better deal than taking a shuttle -- and much faster and more comfortable! Generally speaking the driver meets you at baggage claim, assists you with your luggage, and takes you straight to your hotel. It really gets your vacation off to a great start.

• Luxury sedan service (Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DeVille with a capacity of 4 adults) from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Disney World area hotels will cost you about $95-$100 round trip, plus any applicable fees*

• A private van, which can carry up to 10 adults, costs around $110-$120 round trip, plus any applicable fees*

• A stretch limo, which can handle up to 8 adults, will run you about $175-$180, plus gratuity and any applicable fees*

There are a lot of limo companies in the Orlando area. I've checked out a number of them, and I personally recommend Happy Limo. Its reservations center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so you won't have problems reaching someone, and I have found the nice folks at Happy Limo to be very responsive to e-mail inquiries. You can even book your limo or van online through a secure server
If you request it in advance, Happy Limo will make a free 15 minute stop at a grocery store on the way to your hotel so you can pick up a few things. They will even give you a number to fax the supermarket in advance with your list, so that you can just pop in and pick it up. (A grocery stop will not be offered if your flight is 30 minutes late or early.)

Happy Limo also offers some specialty vehicles:

• They now offer large SUVs (capacity 7 adults) at about $135-$145 roundtrip from MCO to the Walt Disney World resorts, plus gratuity and any applicable fees*

• They also have the longest stretch H-2 Hummer limousine in Orlando! The exotic Hummerzine offers 2 flat screen TVs, 2 sub-woofers, dance floor, DVD, 3 a/c units, 2 lasers, strobe lights & much more. Wild! Rates for the Hummerzine from MCO to the Walt Disney World resorts start at $275 one-way or $550 roundtrip (plus gratuity and any applicable fees), but this vehicle can transport up to 20 passengers comfortably. If you have a big group, the per-person rate isn't bad at all... and hey, you can say you've ridden a Hummerzine!

• They also have 14 passenger SUV Excursion stretch limos. A transfer in this vehicle from MCO to the Walt Disney World resorts costs about $320.00-$340.00 roundtrip plus gratuity and any applicable fees*

• The newest addition to the Happy Limo fleet is the one and only 14 passenger Navigator stretch limousine, which from MCO to the Walt Disney World resorts will cost you about $360.00-$380.00 roundtrip plus gratuity and any applicable fees*
 
Disney's Magical Express....

Contrary to what's published about this feature, there are signs all over Orlando Airport explaining that for security reasons, all passengers MUST claim their own baggage and then hand it over to the Magical Express folks. ; From other reviews, they're also not always that great at making your baggage re-appear (one experience I read was a family of 4 with two young children who had been travelling for the better part of a day... their baggage didn't show up in their room until 1:30 a.m.!!! ; And yes, they were woken up to take delivery of it at that time)

Having had the MEars bus experience on our last trip, this time around we paid a little extra and got a private town car (through Star, I think)... it was arranged by Disney and I think if we do another trip and stay on-site, we'll probably do the same again. ; We were met in the final baggage claim area (you have to claim your baggage twice... I'll explain that in a minute) by our driver, who assisted in getting our bags... we walked across one little road and within 2 minutes of grabbing our bags off the carousel, we were on the road direct to our hotel. ; Going home we had the concierge call them the day before (at $0.75 per local call, it made more sense to have the concierge do it and not have to pay that much for a 30 second phone call) and we were given a pick-up time. ; 20 minutes before that time, our driver was at the hotel and we were most of the way to the airport before we were even 'supposed' to be picked up (definitely nothing like our MEars experience).



Arrival in Orlando... at least for flights from Canada, and I imagine for all flights....

when you land and get off the plan, you go through customs... we arrived early in the morning and there were about 7 desks open... it's a pain, but things moved pretty quickly. ; Once you get your customs card stamped and coded, you proceed to baggage claim and pick up your cases. ; From there you proceed through stage 2 customs where they check the code on your card.

From there you proceed through one small door into another area with three conveyer belts and you're told to surrender your bags again. ; Yup... you get to claim them, and then give them up again 100 feet away. ; Once you surrender your bags you go around the corner and up an escalator... and at that point, you'd better hope you were close to the first people to get your bags. ; Why? ; Because right at the top of the escalator, there's a 3 snake line up for another security check (in case you managed to create a gun, explosives, or other forbidden items once you passed security in your origin airport, I guess). ; This second security check is very close to the top of the escalator (maybe half a plane-load of people can fit in the line... and people get to the line a lot faster than they can clear it, so we actually had people walking backwards on the escalator to stay in place and not run into the people ahead of them)... and it's in one big glass room... be prepared to get a bit toasty. ; All jackets must be removed, all laptops and camcorders must be removed from their bags, and you should put all metal objects into your carry-on. ; Also be prepared for the possibility that you may have to remove belts and/or shoes and put them on the conveyor to go through the x-ray machine while you walk through the metal detector (they don't use hand-held wands there). ; Then it's on to the shuttle to take you to the main terminal.

One good thing about this new process... the shuttles aren't as crowded since there's some amount of crowd control with the security check and there's no luggage on the shuttles ;)

Once you get to the main terminal, you get to go past the check-in security (sometimes it can get a bit tricky... there is a point where the two lines of incoming and outgoing passengers cross) and down to the main baggage claim area.

As long as you're prepared and realize that crazy as it might seem, this is just the way it is now, it's not so bad. ; We were through the second security check in about 10 minutes (we were within the first 50 or so bags off the plane, I think).

Just be prepared for it :) ; We saw one potentially tense situation ahead of us with a guy who was told he'd have to remove his belt and send it through the x-ray... he wasn't pleased... when he threw it into the machine the security guard stepped into the metal detector arch and put her hand on her side-arm while she encouraged him to calm down... luckily, he got the message and things kept moving.

That said... we didn't have to remove our belts or shoes (not enough metal 'cuz we're cheap, I guess *laugh*)... and the only thing that caused a momentary hiccup was the fact that one of our carry on bags had a digital camera, a film SLR, 3 lenses and a whole lot of film cannisters... that got a double-take and a hand-search, but it took literally seconds.
 
That's interesting how you had to claim your bags and what not......when we were there in March, we got off the plane.....headed to baggage claim and then we left. We didn't have to go through security or customs or anything........we did all that in Toronto before we left......
 
Yeah... we did the security checks in T.O. before we left, too... and were a little surprised that we didn't have to clear U.S. customs at Pearson... it was a pain in the butt to have to go through customs AND a second round of security checks... AND claim our baggage twice... but we just chalked it up to living in a post-9/11 world. ; Really, as long as you go in knowing that there may be additional hoops you have to jump through that may not make a whole lot of sense, it'll go pretty smoothly. ; Most of the 'problems' we saw were people who got bent out of shape and didn't want to play by the rules of the country they were trying to get into ; ::)
 
I've never had a problem with DME - I've had problems going through Pearson airport with AC, but generally all other airlines have been great (last trip with Delta through Atlanta - smooth as glass).

I find it amusing though with US airline having to take off my shoes. ; I don't argue. ; I know they're doing their jobs. ; I know it's a post - 9/11 world. ; But nutcases like Richard Reid aside, I don't really feel safer having to do this. ; I certainly didn't feel safer when I've had diaper cream taken from me, or they wouldn't let me take my baby's bottle of milk on board (eased up a little now). ; Grannies couldn't take knitting needles on board, but we could all wear earrings and Nov.11 poppies. ; Obviously, anything could be construed to be a weapon if someone is MacGyver enough - and I know that we are still in the pedulum-swing back (to some sanity) where the mindset is it's better to be over-the-top sure to catch that 1/1 million person who might do x. But, the airline industry has spent an awful lot of money on extra security since 9/11 - I just don't feel any safer.
 
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