Minnie Vans now charging flat fee plus mileage.

[Dan Murphy]

it may take them months to update the website.

Or maybe never. Disney IT leaves much to be desired.

 

[AngiTN]

Or maybe never. Disney IT leaves much to be desired.

LOL.. yeah, I was trying to be optimistic

 

[JimMIA]

FYI - meant to address this the other day. They won't be too surprised since when you request the trip, you see the route right on the app. So yeah, they may not know the property ahead of time but they have no excuse when they are ready to use the service (and before actually requesting a ride) since the route is shown right there on their screen.

As well as a fare estimate, I assume...

 

[AngiTN]

As well as a fare estimate, I assume...

Yeah, that is there too.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

People let’s get real. It will be costing you more than $25 with this new pricing . Disney is doing this to bring in more revenue. So I would assume the average Ravel now be closer to $30


Those of you thinking Disney is going to be cheaper than the competition, remember the fantasyland only exists inside the Magic Kingdom


And your assumption that the drivers are making more money working for Disney is actually pretty entertaining. And possibly not valid

 

[joelkfla]

And your assumption that the drivers are making more money working for Disney is actually pretty entertaining. And possibly not valid

1. Uber & Lyft rates paid to drivers in the Orlando market are the lowest in the USA (some markets receive twice as much), and are no longer connected to the fares paid by riders.
2. The WDW market is seriously oversaturated with drivers; during the afternoon, I've waited well over an hour without getting a call.
3. Uber and Lyft drivers pay for their own cars, maintenance, fuel, etc. (Granted, drivers can take the std. mileage deduction on their taxes.)

I would say it's highly unlikely that the typical Uber or Lyft driver working WDW is making and keeping more than a Minnie Van driver who's getting an hourly wage. I don't know what the pay rate is for MV drivers, but it has to be at least $10 an hour, and will be at least $15 an hour in a few years.

 

[SL6827]

People let’s get real. It will be costing you more than $25 with this new pricing . Disney is doing this to bring in more revenue. So I would assume the average Ravel now be closer to $30


Those of you thinking Disney is going to be cheaper than the competition, remember the fantasyland only exists inside the Magic Kingdom


And your assumption that the drivers are making more money working for Disney is actually pretty entertaining. And possibly not valid

I think that this will pretty much some it up. Now there is no way I am paying for a Minnie Van when Uber or Lyft is cheaper, (don't need car seats here) so I am doubting that this service will ever be utilized by us unless there is some rare exception like wanting to use it to be dropped off at the Magic Kingdom. But for others out there who it works well for then that is great for them.

 

[AngiTN]

People let’s get real. It will be costing you more than $25 with this new pricing . Disney is doing this to bring in more revenue. So I would assume the average Ravel now be closer to $30


Those of you thinking Disney is going to be cheaper than the competition, remember the fantasyland only exists inside the Magic Kingdom


And your assumption that the drivers are making more money working for Disney is actually pretty entertaining. And possibly not valid

And your assumptions are colored by your anti-Disney bias. You may want to research Drivers pay category/position before you comment

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We have used it 9 times so far since our arrival on the 6th and plan to on using it till we leave on the 16th. We monorail to Epcot and walk to MK but using minnie vans to AK, HS and DS has been great! We only took one bus back from HS in our first night and will not go through that hassle again. We haven’t seen any increase and it has cost us $22 each trip. We linked our Disney Chase card and get some kind of discount.

 

[AngiTN]

We have used it 9 times so far since our arrival on the 6th and plan to on using it till we leave. We monorail to Epcot and walk to MK but using minnie vans to AK, HS and DS has been great! We only took one bus back from HS in our first night and will not go through that hassle again. We haven’t seen any increase and it has cost us $22 each trip. We linked our Disney Chase card and get some kind of discount.

The price change from $15 + mileage did not start today, for the record. Not sure when it will begin.
Let us know though if you do see a change. It will be obvious when you go through the request

 

[momof2halls]

We have used it 9 times so far since our arrival on the 6th and plan to on using it till we leave on the 16th. We monorail to Epcot and walk to MK but using minnie vans to AK, HS and DS has been great! We only took one bus back from HS in our first night and will not go through that hassle again. We haven’t seen any increase and it has cost us $22 each trip. We linked our Disney Chase card and get some kind of discount.

We used them 4 times last month and LOVED them! We also got a discount through Amex.
Cant wait to use them again in December.

 

[JimMIA]

1. Uber & Lyft rates paid to drivers in the Orlando market are the lowest in the USA (some markets receive twice as much), and are no longer connected to the fares paid by riders.
2. The WDW market is seriously oversaturated with drivers; during the afternoon, I've waited well over an hour without getting a call.
3. Uber and Lyft drivers pay for their own cars, maintenance, fuel, etc. (Granted, drivers can take the std. mileage deduction on their taxes.)

I would say it's highly unlikely that the typical Uber or Lyft driver working WDW is making and keeping more than a Minnie Van driver who's getting an hourly wage. I don't know what the pay rate is for MV drivers, but it has to be at least $10 an hour, and will be at least $15 an hour in a few years.

Joel is exactly correct -- and in fact, he is understating his case.

Orlando Uber/Lyft drivers get paid less per mile than the Internal Revenue Service says it costs to operate a vehicle for business purposes! And not a little bit less...they get paid about 13% less.

They receive zero benefits, and pay ALL of the costs of providing rideshare services to the public -- car payment, insurance, gas and oil, repairs, maintenance, etc, etc, etc.

In all honesty, I can't believe Orlando drivers even bother. I certainly would NOT drive for those outrageously low pay rates.

 

[KrazeeK120]

People let’s get real. It will be costing you more than $25 with this new pricing . Disney is doing this to bring in more revenue. So I would assume the average Ravel now be closer to $30


Those of you thinking Disney is going to be cheaper than the competition, remember the fantasyland only exists inside the Magic Kingdom


And your assumption that the drivers are making more money working for Disney is actually pretty entertaining. And possibly not valid

I haven’t seen that the new pricing has been announced. So there’s no way to know what it will cost. I expect the cost for very short trips to go down and for longer trips to go up. It does make sense to pay more for a longer trip.

It’s already been proven that the costs (under the current pricing structure) are similar to the competition, when comparing apples to apples.

For us, it’s the best option to get to early EMH at Epcot. We plan to take advantage of the Food & Wine festival and don’t want to worry about driving back. Otherwise, we would drive ourselves.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Here's my theory. I always tip my Uber driver in CASH. I know a lot of my friends do too.

Unless they are unlike most of the US the "cash" does not get recorded on their income statements etc... So at least in some markets they are doing well (I have a friend who drives for Uber in ATL. He's friendly, reliable and raking in a lot of cash in tips. Of course my last driver in St. Paul got tipped $0. He was rude, had a filthy car and *****ed constantly about everything all the way to the airport

(And I am not "anti-Disney", I own DVC, I have an AP,I go a lot. I am anti "pay more to receive less" LOL! And these cars are just hysterical. Disney puts a cute paint job on them and "oh gee, it's so much better than anything else" when in fact they are actually hurting the "small business" guys who were making money driving for Uber/Lyft, but that's not "bad" because "Disney can only do good" right? )

I do think that the new pricing will be higher then Uber/Lyft because in Disney's Fantasyland (which is supported by lots of posters) anything they do is worth twice what it would cost anyplace else. So if it's true that the UberXL with a car seat is comparably priced to Disney expect that to change. Disney knows that it's fans will blindly pay whatever it asks and will continue to take advantage of that. They do not see a need to be competitive in pricing.

Sadly IMHO a lot of Disney "service" has become "see how much we can charge while providing the least possible service" Charging $150 one way to the airport???? That's twice the going rate and you get "cute car"? (and it's not cute on the inside) Really?

Of course the one time they gave me a free ride in the MinnieVan I only had to wait half an hour for the "Service recovery ride" Not really impressive

 

[pd1138]

I’m interested in running the numbers on this idea. We were there a few weeks ago and used the Minnie van for the first time. Our day was planned to rope drop HS at 7 am to do slinky ride so took Resort bus there. Then we wanted to make 9 am rope drop to MK as a challenge to do splash so I ordered a Minnie van at Hs to take 6 of us needing one car seat to MK. Minnie van was perfect for our needs and we made it. Three days later though we only wanted to go from WL to GF for breakfast and we were running late so I couldn’t justify $25 for such a short ride, we took a mears taxi van with car seat waiting outside WL and it was a third the cost of the Minnie van. I’m sure Disney is doing this to make more money and it will probably ended up costing more then the service costs now as a flat rate. We are hoping to return next August and interested in seeing what the transportation options look like then.

Edit to add when we stayed at Poly and needed to get to TL we took a mears van waiting outside lobby with car seat and paid about what a Minnie van costs so For our family a Minnie van isn’t that outrageous around property compared to competition if you consider going from one end to the other, however this new pricing structure could change that

 

[AngiTN]

Here's my theory. I always tip my Uber driver in CASH. I know a lot of my friends do too.

Unless they are unlike most of the US the "cash" does not get recorded on their income statements etc... So at least in some markets they are doing well (I have a friend who drives for Uber in ATL. He's friendly, reliable and raking in a lot of cash in tips. Of course my last driver in St. Paul got tipped $0. He was rude, had a filthy car and *****ed constantly about everything all the way to the airport

(And I am not "anti-Disney", I own DVC, I have an AP,I go a lot. I am anti "pay more to receive less" LOL! And these cars are just hysterical. Disney puts a cute paint job on them and "oh gee, it's so much better than anything else" when in fact they are actually hurting the "small business" guys who were making money driving for Uber/Lyft, but that's not "bad" because "Disney can only do good" right? )

I do think that the new pricing will be higher then Uber/Lyft because in Disney's Fantasyland (which is supported by lots of posters) anything they do is worth twice what it would cost anyplace else. So if it's true that the UberXL with a car seat is comparably priced to Disney expect that to change. Disney knows that it's fans will blindly pay whatever it asks and will continue to take advantage of that. They do not see a need to be competitive in pricing.

Sadly IMHO a lot of Disney "service" has become "see how much we can charge while providing the least possible service" Charging $150 one way to the airport???? That's twice the going rate and you get "cute car"? (and it's not cute on the inside) Really?

Of course the one time they gave me a free ride in the MinnieVan I only had to wait half an hour for the "Service recovery ride" Not really impressive

Color your statements however you want, they are condescending and jaded and preventing you from seeing anything positive. Owning DVC and an AP doesn't mean anything.
No one, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON, believes what you have posted, that anything Disney does is worth twice the cost just because Disney does it.
And you darn well know it.
People will NOT blindly pay it all the time. Will someone? Sure, some people have more money than sense. They pay for VIP tours too. To me, that's way more highway robbery than any Minnie Van every thought to be. Just because they pay it doesn't mean they think it's the best/better than anything else. Or that Disney is perfect. Heck, I stay on site and I know it's not perfect or the cheapest but I choose to because it's a free country and I can. But it's not because Disney is perfect. It's because I like the place I pick to stay.

Want to know if the cost of XL plus a car seat is similar, pull up the Uber app, select the vehicle, check a rate, then pull up Lyft, select the same route, select Minnie Van and check for yourself. There is no one else where Minnie Van is even close to being cost effective, that's been stated here over, and over, and over again. So I'm not sure where this Fantasy Land of posters are you are talking about is either. If you do not need XL with a Car Seat (2 really) then Minnie Van will never be cheaper. Show me where anyone has ever said otherwise. As to the airport ride cost, that's comically high. I can't fathom what they are thinking with it and from the drivers and CM I've spoken with, it's not being utilized

And I'm pretty sure the drivers here have never said that no drivers do well. Just that drivers in Orlando do not (or are some of the lowest paid)
I sure wouldn't count on their making big bucks on tips either. Not with the high numbers of foreign guests who may not even realize they need to tip period.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sadly IMHO a lot of Disney "service" has become "see how much we can charge while providing the least possible service"

Optional, NOT mandatory. People are intelligent. More are like pd1138 than not. Don't like the price of something? Find alternatives. Heck, I was buying a package of parmesan crisps - until they rang up at $13! I bought parmesan cheese and made my own.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Our day was planned to rope drop HS at 7 am to do slinky ride so took Resort bus there. Then we wanted to make 9 am rope drop to MK as a challenge to do splash so I ordered a Minnie van at Hs to take 6 of us needing one car seat to MK. Minnie van was perfect for our needs and we made it.

There are two areas where Minnie Vans provide something the competition cannot.

1) multiple car seats. If you have more than one child who needs a car seat, there's no guarantee Uber XL will be able to accommodate you, so MV will be your best bet.

2) if you're looking for fast access to MK. There are time where skipping the trip from the TTC is worth it, such as trying to make rope drop, and MVs are the only car hire that can drop off directly at MK. We're die-hard rope-droppers, and if an opening or two changes for our upcoming trip, I might be in this position of trying to make two RDs. Or, honestly, I might just want to sleep a bit more and still get to RD early.

 

[Shanti]

There are two areas where Minnie Vans provide something the competition cannot.

1) multiple car seats. If you have more than one child who needs a car seat, there's no guarantee Uber XL will be able to accommodate you, so MV will be your best bet.

2) if you're looking for fast access to MK. There are time where skipping the trip from the TTC is worth it, such as trying to make rope drop, and MVs are the only car hire that can drop off directly at MK. We're die-hard rope-droppers, and if an opening or two changes for our upcoming trip, I might be in this position of trying to make two RDs. Or, honestly, I might just want to sleep a bit more and still get to RD early.

That, and they're covered in polka dots.

Come on now, polka dots. We just couldn't resist that.

 

[AngiTN]

There are two areas where Minnie Vans provide something the competition cannot.

1) multiple car seats. If you have more than one child who needs a car seat, there's no guarantee Uber XL will be able to accommodate you, so MV will be your best bet.

Yep. I don't believe ANY car service has 2 car seats at all. 1 yes, not 2. The Uber car seat program (which they are no longer offering by the way, only Grandfathered drivers out there now) was only 1 seat, never 2. You'd just have to randomly hit a driver that had their own personal 2nd seat, like maybe their kid used it or something. If you have 2 kids in car seats and can't provide your own, Minnie Van is really your only option for a car service.