Everthing you wanted to know about Uber/Lyft at WDW

[AngiTN]

You still are calling someone ridiculous for their opinion. Please remember no one is calling you ridiculous for yours.

Not calling them ridiculous at all. Calling it ridiculous to think that someone who doesn't speak English is unable to be a good driver. This is a very important distinction. I am not saying PP is a ridiculous person in any way shape or form. If anyone wants to say I'm ridiculous for thinking anyone, no matter how they speak English, is capable of being a good driver than go for it. Won't hurt my feelings at all.

 

[robinb]

not sarcastic, actually asking (and shocked by it)



if you can't speak the language how can you possibly be a good driver???
there are signs that are written in english.

so i guess i won't make my son and daughter in law take uber to universal....

this is a deal breaker for me.... there is no way you can be a decent driver if you can't read all the signs you encounter...

.

Have you ever taken a cab? In my experience most taxi drivers don't speak English, or at least not well. It really doesn't matter. They can get from from point A to point B and their language skills have no impact on their ability to drive. Your old-enough-to-be-married son and daughter-in-law will be fine!

 

[JimMIA]

In any case, you CANNOT tip in the app so I made sure I had a couple of dollars anyway.

...and your rider rating is probably very close to 5.0, as it should be.

Oh for Pete's sake, that's what I remembered off the top of my head. I just looked at my app and I paid exactly $9.55 at 7:36 AM.

Good, that's the regular fare. Uber uses Upfront Pricing in many markets (not sure about Orlando), and that is usually slightly more than the published fare schedule, but many riders like it because you know exactly what you're paying upfront.

 

[disneyholic family]

Not calling them ridiculous at all. Calling it ridiculous to think that someone who doesn't speak English is unable to be a good driver. This is a very important distinction. I am not saying PP is a ridiculous person in any way shape or form. If anyone wants to say I'm ridiculous for thinking anyone, no matter how they speak English, is capable of being a good driver than go for it. Won't hurt my feelings at all.

....unable to be a good driver where the signs are in english.... not unable to drive at all...(although comparing and contrasting driving skills in other countries would be a fun topic...)

similarly, if you don't speak the language where i live, please don't get into a car, as you're most likely going to get into trouble driving from point a to point b.

 

[disneyholic family]

Have you ever taken a cab? In my experience most taxi drivers don't speak English, or at least not well. It really doesn't matter. They can get from from point A to point B and their language skills have no impact on their ability to drive. Your old-enough-to-be-married son and daughter-in-law will be fine!

sure...anyone who's ever visited new york has been in a taxi and been forced to experience the less than stellar driving...

 

[AngiTN]

....unable to be a good driver where the signs are in english.... not unable to drive at all...(although comparing and contrasting driving skills in other countries would be a fun topic...)

similarly, if you don't speak the language where i live, please don't get into a car, as you're most likely going to get into trouble driving from point a to point b.

You are confusing not reading English with not speaking English. They 2 do not always go together.

 

[RideShareRob]

So, my two cents:

UberX has a minimum rating requirement of 4.6 in Orlando. That doesn't mean someone will instantly be booted out, but theyll be on probation, have to take a class, etc.

UberSelect has a minimum rating of 4.7 (and for really really new drivers 4.8) here. If you fall below that, you are removed from Select until it gets back up.

Now, additionally, one of the biggest things that impacts what driver a system sends is rating. I have a 4.9, and I cant tell you how many times Ive been sent ten minutes to pick someone up when there were several much closer drivers. And my sources at uber HQ have confirmed this to be the case.

Now, I do get people from time to time who only order the premium options and they say that the drivers they get are a big part of it.

As a practical matter, you dont survive long here with uber if you dont know where youre going, provide safe rides, etc. People will one star bad experiences ( as they should) and I certainly encourage people to do so.

 

[maryj11]

We need to get to the Swan by 7:40 am from the Polynesian. I have never used Uber. What time should we leave the Poly and how long is the ride there?

 

[OKW Lover]

We need to get to the Swan by 7:40 am from the Polynesian. I have never used Uber. What time should we leave the Poly and how long is the ride there?

The actual ride from the Poly to the Swan is about 20 minutes.

 

[robinb]

The actual ride from the Poly to the Swan is about 20 minutes.

That seems really long to me. I think it's more like 10 minutes door to door.

 

[OKW Lover]

That seems really long to me. I think it's more like 10 minutes door to door.

You could be right. Compromise with 15?

 

[JimMIA]

We need to get to the Swan by 7:40 am from the Polynesian. I have never used Uber. What time should we leave the Poly and how long is the ride there?

The question is not what time should you leave the Poly, but what time should you order the Uber. There may or may not be some drive time for the driver to get to you, and you need to factor that in. I don't want to get into the timing question specifically, because I am not an expert on the Orlando market. Hopefully Rob or Joel can help you with that based on their actual experience.

The big thing I would suggest is to download the app early, get familiar with it, and establish your account. Setting up your account will require a few minutes, including time to enter your credit card information.

Here's a link to a pretty good YouTube video explaining how to use the Uber rider app. It's easy!

When you reach your destination, the driver will close out the ride and the fare will be charged to your credit card. You don't have to do anything further. Tips are not included in the fare. Tips are not required, but they are greatly appreciated.

You will also be given an opportunity to rate your driver. Your rating is very important to the driver, and unfortunately less than 50% of riders rate their drivers. Whenever a rider does not rate a good driver 5 stars, that hurts the driver because it gives more weight to the occasional lower rating. Five stars is an A; 4 stars is an F -- seriously, it is.

Have a great trip.

 

[robinb]

The question is not what time should you leave the Poly, but what time should you order the Uber. There may or may not be some drive time for the driver to get to you, and you need to factor that in. I don't want to get into the timing question specifically, because I am not an expert on the Orlando market. Hopefully Rob or Joel can help you with that based on their actual experience.

That is a very good point. The Poly is all the way into the upper reaches of WDW and it may take a good 10-20 minutes for an Uber/Lyft driver to even get to @maryj11 from somewhere offsite. @maryj11, I would probably "call" my Uber/Lyft at about 7:00-7:10 to give them enough time to get to you. You may get lucky and there will be one nearby so you'll just spend a little more time at the Swan.

 

[maryj11]

The question is not what time should you leave the Poly, but what time should you order the Uber. There may or may not be some drive time for the driver to get to you, and you need to factor that in. I don't want to get into the timing question specifically, because I am not an expert on the Orlando market. Hopefully Rob or Joel can help you with that based on their actual experience.

The big thing I would suggest is to download the app early, get familiar with it, and establish your account. Setting up your account will require a few minutes, including time to enter your credit card information.

Here's a link to a pretty good YouTube video explaining how to use the Uber rider app. It's easy!

When you reach your destination, the driver will close out the ride and the fare will be charged to your credit card. You don't have to do anything further. Tips are not included in the fare. Tips are not required, but they are greatly appreciated.

You will also be given an opportunity to rate your driver. Your rating is very important to the driver, and unfortunately less than 50% of riders rate their drivers. Whenever a rider does not rate a good driver 5 stars, that hurts the driver because it gives more weight to the occasional lower rating. Five stars is an A; 4 stars is an F -- seriously, it is.

Have a great trip.

Thank you for all the info. I do plan to download the app way ahead of time to get it all set up and will definitely take the time to give a 5 rating if all goes well. Hopefully someone can tell me when to order the Uber? Thanks for the link !

 

[maryj11]

That is a very good point. The Poly is all the way into the upper reaches of WDW and it may take a good 10-20 minutes for an Uber/Lyft driver to even get to @maryj11 from somewhere offsite. @maryj11, I would probably "call" my Uber/Lyft at about 7:00-7:10 to give them enough time to get to you. You may get lucky and there will be one nearby so you'll just spend a little more time at the Swan.

Are you sure 7:00 will be enough time in advance? I have been told it takes 20 minutes to get from the Poly to the Swan and we want to be there by 7:40 am.

 

[AngiTN]

That is a very good point. The Poly is all the way into the upper reaches of WDW and it may take a good 10-20 minutes for an Uber/Lyft driver to even get to @maryj11 from somewhere offsite. @maryj11, I would probably "call" my Uber/Lyft at about 7:00-7:10 to give them enough time to get to you. You may get lucky and there will be one nearby so you'll just spend a little more time at the Swan.

Thank you for all the info. I do plan to download the app way ahead of time to get it all set up and will definitely take the time to give a 5 rating if all goes well. Hopefully someone can tell me when to order the Uber?

Are you sure 7:00 will be enough time in advance? I have been told it takes 20 minutes to get from the Poly to the Swan and we want to be there by 7:40 am.

Yes, it will be fine

 

[JimMIA]

Thank you for all the info. I do plan to download the app way ahead of time to get it all set up and will definitely take the time to give a 5 rating if all goes well. Hopefully someone can tell me when to order the Uber?

You'll be able to get a pretty good idea from just looking at the rider app that morning. As Robin said, the nearest driver may be some distance away -- or they could be sitting in the Poly parking lot.

When you turn the rider app on, after a short lag time you will see the eight closest cars to you displayed on the map. They look like little ants. The display is for the class of service, so if you choose X, it will show X vehicles only; choose XL, it will show XL. So that can give you an idea of how distant your driver might be.

In addition, once you place your ride request Uber may change your driver. If a closer driver in the same class of service becomes available, most of the time Uber will cancel the original driver and give the ride to the closer driver. That benefits both the drivers and riders, and is another reason to be fully ready before you order Uber.

I've had situations where just as I drove up to a hotel to drop a rider off, I got another ride request at the same exact spot. I've even had my next passengers open the doors for my current passengers...which is pretty funny and always gets a big laugh! That's happened to me a number of times at large South Beach hotels.

 

[maryj11]

You'll be able to get a pretty good idea from just looking at the rider app that morning. As Robin said, the nearest driver may be some distance away -- or they could be sitting in the Poly parking lot.

When you turn the rider app on, after a short lag time you will see the eight closest cars to you displayed on the map. They look like little ants. The display is for the class of service, so if you choose X, it will show X vehicles only; choose XL, it will show XL. So that can give you an idea of how distant your driver might be.

In addition, once you place your ride request Uber may change your driver. If a closer driver in the same class of service becomes available, most of the time Uber will cancel the original driver and give the ride to the closer driver. That benefits both the drivers and riders, and is another reason to be fully ready before you order Uber.

I've had situations where just as I drove up to a hotel to drop a rider off, I got another ride request at the same exact spot. I've even had my next passengers open the doors for my current passengers...which is pretty funny and always gets a big laugh! That's happened to me a number of times at large South Beach hotels.

Thank you this helps me to understand more. I'm sure I will get the hang of it.

 

[FCDub]

Wow this thread went off the rails. Ultimately you have to make decisions you feel comfortable with, but to equate someone not speaking English to being a bad and unsafe driver is pretty xenophobic and cruel. To each their own.

 

[AngiTN]

In case any missed the announcements today, Delta Skymiles members who use Lyft, link your accounts so you can earn Skymiles when you use Lyft