Everthing you wanted to know about Uber/Lyft at WDW

[psac]

Hi all. For two adults with two full size check bags and two carry-on, is a regular UberX fine? The cars will be big enough for the luggage? Are the fare estimates on the Uber MCO website page fairly accurate? Thanks!!!

 

[joelkfla]

Hi all. For two adults with two full size check bags and two carry-on, is a regular UberX fine? The cars will be big enough for the luggage? Are the fare estimates on the Uber MCO website page fairly accurate? Thanks!!!

The only requirements for an UberX vehicle are 4 doors and 5 seats. So the question is: Can the smallest 4-door 5-seat car on the market handle 3 adults + 2 large suitcases + carry-ons? I don't know enough different cars to answer that.

You probably won't get the smallest car on the market, but that's the possibility.

 

[shrinkintexas]

I've never used Uber or Lyft, so a little nervous. I am coming to PC on a cruise for the day. Arrive at 7am. I would like to take Uber from the port to Hollywood Studios first thing. Any advice? I will park hop and end at Epcot. From there, I will Uber back to the ship. I'd love some pointers as I've never done it before and nervous. Been to Disney lots of times, but always use their transportation.

 

[JimMIA]

Hi all. For two adults with two full size check bags and two carry-on, is a regular UberX fine? The cars will be big enough for the luggage?

As Joel said, it depends on what kind of car you get. If you get a real small car, maybe not. With two passengers, if the driver will let one ride in front, and will allow luggage on the back seat (I do not because I don't want my leather seats damaged), you might be fine. However, you could also order X and get an XL vehicle and have abundant room. There aren't many XL rides, so most XL drivers also accept X rides.

I think the best advice would be to order X, and see what kind of car you get. If it looks like it might be too small, either call the driver and ask if they have room, or cancel immediately and reorder.

Are the fare estimates on the Uber MCO website page fairly accurate? Thanks!!!

I think they are fairly accurate, but fares do vary a bit depending on demand. You can also check rideguru.com, which will give you not only Uber, but Lyft and taxi pricing. Again, all estimates are just that -- estimates.

However, when you actually prepare to order your ride, you will be shown the actual price you will pay.

 

[joelkfla]

I've never used Uber or Lyft, so a little nervous. I am coming to PC on a cruise for the day. Arrive at 7am. I would like to take Uber from the port to Hollywood Studios first thing. Any advice? I will park hop and end at Epcot. From there, I will Uber back to the ship. I'd love some pointers as I've never done it before and nervous. Been to Disney lots of times, but always use their transportation.

I suggest you research this on the disney-cruise-line-forum. Type "uber" in the Search box and check the box to search titles.

 

[JimMIA]

I've never used Uber or Lyft, so a little nervous. I am coming to PC on a cruise for the day. Arrive at 7am. I would like to take Uber from the port to Hollywood Studios first thing. Any advice? I will park hop and end at Epcot. From there, I will Uber back to the ship. I'd love some pointers as I've never done it before and nervous. Been to Disney lots of times, but always use their transportation.

I can just see so many potential problems with that plan that my advice would be to research other options. Here are the potential issues I see:

• The ship may dock at 7 AM (probably before), but that doesn't mean you will be able to get off at 7 AM. You could easily lose an hour there.
• You could have problems getting a ride from PC to WDW, because the driver will almost certainly have to return about 65 miles empty.
• If, by park hop, you mean go to both DHS and Epcot, that's doable. If you plan on trying to hit more than those two parks, I'm not sure that's doable.
• You could have the same empty ride back issue at WDW and may have difficulty getting the Uber back.
• What time does the ship shut off re-boarding? It's not their anticipated sailing time -- it's well before.
• Just drive time alone back and forth will be significant. It's about an hour drive each way, but the morning trip is going to be during rush hour if this falls on a weekday.

I would closely check the actual debarking time, and the cutoff time after which they don't allow any further boarding. That's your maximum window, but I'd subtract 3-3 1/2 hours for drive time from that. You may find that you really won't have much time in WDW.

If the timing looks doable, I'd research a one-day car rental. The one-way X fare is going to be $55-$60 according to RideGuru Double that is $120, and a driver coming back empty will certainly expect a handsome tip to take the ride. Car rental + one parking charge may be your best bet.

 

[psac]

As Joel said, it depends on what kind of car you get. If you get a real small car, maybe not. With two passengers, if the driver will let one ride in front, and will allow luggage on the back seat (I do not because I don't want my leather seats damaged), you might be fine. However, you could also order X and get an XL vehicle and have abundant room. There aren't many XL rides, so most XL drivers also accept X rides.

I think the best advice would be to order X, and see what kind of car you get. If it looks like it might be too small, either call the driver and ask if they have room, or cancel immediately and reorder.I think they are fairly accurate, but fares do vary a bit depending on demand. You can also check rideguru.com, which will give you not only Uber, but Lyft and taxi pricing. Again, all estimates are just that -- estimates.

However, when you actually prepare to order your ride, you will be shown the actual price you will pay.

Thanks! Helpful info and link.

 

[shrinkintexas]

What does empty ride back mean?

 

[Best Aunt]

What does empty ride back mean?

I assume it means that if the driver takes someone from Disney World to a distant location, the driver will not have a paying passenger on the ride back (because nobody will be requesting a ride from the distant location to the Disney World area at that time). So while the driver will make money on the first part of the trip, the driver will not make money when he/she drives back to the Disney World area.

 

[JimMIA]

I assume it means that if the driver takes someone from Disney World to a distant location, the driver will not have a paying passenger on the ride back (because nobody will be requesting a ride from the distant location to the Disney World area at that time). So while the driver will make money on the first part of the trip, the driver will not make money when he/she drives back to the Disney World area.

That's correct.

The driver doesn't get that whole $55-$60 fare, of course. In the $55 estimate, RideGuru estimated the driver pay at about $41. So if they come back empty, they drive two hours and 120 miles for $41. It's pretty hard to make that math work without a big tip. I wouldn't take that ride.

 

[shrinkintexas]

Now I'm worried about getting stranded there. Any suggestions?
Also, how are you getting $55 estimate? On the uber estimate it is around $100 each way.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Now I'm worried about getting stranded there. Any suggestions?
Also, how are you getting $55 estimate? On the uber estimate it is around $100 each way.

Taxi. Cruise line transportation. Rent a car.

In the $55 estimate, RideGuru estimated

rideguru.com

 

[joelkfla]

Now I'm worried about getting stranded there. Any suggestions?
Also, how are you getting $55 estimate? On the uber estimate it is around $100 each way.

Yes, the estimate on Uber's site is about double what Ride.Guru has. Uber shows a rate of $1.21 per mile. Ride.Guru doesn't show the rate; I suspect they're incorrectly using the Orlando rate. The rate you are charged is based on the trip start location.

I just put the trips into the Uber rider app on my phone. At this time, the Port to DHS is $100. The trip from DHS to the Port is $62 (which even at that is higher than Ride.Guru, but shows how poorly Uber drivers are paid in Orlando.) Looks like Ride.Guru is just plain wrong.

I don't know how accurate Ride.Guru is on taxi fares, but their estimated taxi fare would be way less than Uber coming from the Port. I wouldn't be surprised if they're wrong on that, too.

 

[JimMIA]

Now I'm worried about getting stranded there. Any suggestions?
Also, how are you getting $55 estimate? On the uber estimate it is around $100 each way.

My bad, sorry. I made the mistake of doubling the one-way fare instead of checking both ways.

The Uber rates for Brevard County, where Port Canaveral is located, are MUCH higher that the Orlando rates, so the westbound trip will be considerably more than the eastbound trip. I checked Orlando-PC and got about $55; when I check it on Uber, I get $56-$73. But the fare in the other direction is $84-$112 on Uber and about the same on RideGuru.

Also, as I said above, prices do wary with demand -- and I'm NOT talking about surge -- so the only way to get really accurate pricing is to check the price when you are ready to order your ride.

Personally, with the time constraints you have, I would not rely on either Uber or taxi. If there is an issue, you literally miss the boat!

 

[shrinkintexas]

I've never done Uber before........can I make arrangements with the Uber driver who takes me to Disney to pick me up in the afternoon?

 

[FCDub]

I've never done Uber before........can I make arrangements with the Uber driver who takes me to Disney to pick me up in the afternoon?

No, not without getting into a situation you wouldn't want to be in.

 

[Best Aunt]

I've never done Uber before........can I make arrangements with the Uber driver who takes me to Disney to pick me up in the afternoon?

You don't need to - when you are ready to leave, use the app on your phone, and a driver will be assigned to come get you.

 

[JimMIA]

I've never done Uber before........can I make arrangements with the Uber driver who takes me to Disney to pick me up in the afternoon?

There is no reason to do that unless you're doing some kind of a special trip. If you're leaving a theme park, there will be numerous Ubers very close by. You won't have any trouble getting a ride.

There are a couple of ways to schedule a ride with a specific driver, but it's sometimes difficult to actually pull off unless it's at the beginning of the driver's shift. Drivers never know where their next ride will take them, so they could be far away when the time comes to pick you up.

The key thing with setting a ride up with a specific driver is to be sure that the ride is conducted ON the Uber app -- NOT just between you and the driver for cash.

First of all, Uber/Lyft drivers doing rides off-app is illegal in Florida, and you don't want to be doing business with someone illegally.

But the main reason is that if you do a ride off-app, you are NOT covered by Uber's one million dollar insurance policy, and the driver's regular car insurance will not cover any accident they're involved in if they are driving for pay. So, you're completely uninsured.

 

[Best Aunt]

I just looked at the Lyft app, because it was updated, and where it shows the types of cars available (Lyft, Plus, etc.) it shows Car Seat. I never noticed that before. Is that new? I thought only Uber had car seats, and I thought those were being phased out.

Note that my phone thinks I'm in Manhattan because that is where I last used the app, and I turned off Location Services on my phone when I got home.

 

[AngiTN]

I just looked at the Lyft app, because it was updated, and where it shows the types of cars available (Lyft, Plus, etc.) it shows Car Seat. I never noticed that before. Is that new? I thought only Uber had car seats, and I thought those were being phased out.

Note that my phone thinks I'm in Manhattan because that is where I last used the app, and I turned off Location Services on my phone when I got home.

I don't have that option so it must be location by location. Uber's is too, we don't have Uber Car Seat option here either. And yes, I do have the latest update from a day or so ago.

ETA - I put myself at Disney and no car seat option came up there either. Minnie Van does, no car seats for any of the Lyft cars though