Uber, Lyft, Minnie-Van? Yep, Disney has officially launched its entry into the ride-sharing field for guests at its Central Florida resort. Announced at the D23 Expo just last weekend, this Minnie Mouse themed transportation service is already testing with resort guests at Walt Disney World.
Okay, technically, these aren’t ride-sharing as Disney owns the vehicles, not the drivers. The real purpose is to transport guests around the resort with out the wait or perceived discomfort of a bus. The real threat is to Mears taxis, which Disney has other partnerships with (including Disney’s Magical Express and the Disney Cruise Line busses).
The Minnie-Van service officially opens later this month for guests at Disney’s Boardwalk and Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club, but it has been soft opening for the last few days.
As with ridesharing apps, you arrange your own private Disney vehicle right from your smartphone. Your Minnie Van will be driven by a Disney cast member who will whisk you to anywhere in the resort in magical style. During testing the cost for this service has been a flat fee of $20. That’s subject to change when it exits the soft opening phase.
I’d glad to see Disney moving into this space and hope they find a price point taht works for both the average guest and those who are more used to private cars. Having a service like the Minnie Van in place when autonomous vehicles finally do arrive on the scene, will leave Disney better prepared than most organizations for the seismic shift that day will herald.
If guests prefer, they can still use a regular taxi or a ride-share app. But they won’t have certain advantages that the Minnie-Vans do have – like dropping guests off right at the front gate for Disney’s four theme parks.
If you’ve spotted the Minnie Van’s driving around property or snagged one for a ride yourself, let us know how your experience goes.
$20 seems really steep to get you from, say, Old Key West to Epcot. But then I don’t have any problem taking the bus, so I guess this sort of thing isn’t aimed at me.
I dont have a problem riding the bus but there have been times where I gladly would have put down 20 bucks to not have to deal with it.
Uber is around $7-8 per trip. This just seems like highway robbery to me for what – a closer drop of spot? If they make it $10, I can see using it but at $20/trip, I won’t be unless it’s an emergency.
I use taxis all the time . $20 is about average to go from one resort to another, or to go to downtown WOOPS I mean Disney springs
This will great when you’ve had a few too many at Jelly Roll’s and it’s too late to catch a bus back to the resort.
It would be worth the $20 to me if I didn’t have to walk back to the bus at closing time. I can’t stand up on the ride back.
I see this being super convenient if you have something like dinner reservations at another resort or Disney Springs and you don’t have your own car.
This has been needed as getting from resort to resort or to a theme park for a pre-opening tour can be challenging. Uber is cheaper so it will be interesting to see whether Disney thinks guests will pay a premium for Disney theming.
Wondering if these vans will have car seats for babies/toddlers (particularly rear facing seats for infants 1-4yrs) – I’m guessing so, as it’s Disney, but thought it worth checking! We’ll be at the Beach Club next month with our 2yo.
They have 2 car seats in the trunk. Don’t know the exact model, but they are the 4 in 1 style that can be either front or rear facing, and can become boosters also.
This is actually a really good price for families with small children as UberXL with the Car Seat option is always more than $20.
At the D23 convention, they did mention that each van will have two available child seats…
Does anyone know if these can accomodate wheelchairs, please? I can see this for the end of the night, instead of those really long bus lines but probably not for just average normal use, IHMO. It is always good to have options.
Wow $20? Uber and Lyft are still more reasonable. Maybe when things start getting going the price will be cheaper hopefully.
A huge benefit to these cars is that they can drop you off much closer to where you are going.
For example:
The bus drop off at Magic Kingdom.
Right at Pioneer Hall at Fort Wilderness for Hoop Dee Doo and Mickey’s Backyard BBQ reservation.
Much closer to your room at large campus style resorts with multiple parking areas.
Basically, they can go anywhere a car can go on Disney property, which is much more access than you’d get with a Taxi/Uber/Lyft.
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