News and Developments for Future In-Person runDisney Events

[Guidman]

It’s interesting that they say you’ll be on your way within 20 minutes of checking in at the Mears Connect area. In this past, I’ve had to wait a good hour or so for ME when arriving in the middle of the day. They’ve also expanded the service to include off-site hotels too.

Those of us (I’ll be one) who plan on using this for marathon weekend will get to be the guinea pigs to see how efficiently it works.

 

[camaker]

some of us don't know what the service was ever like though.....and given the choice of spending $300 on a rental car or $92 for a mears shuttle (because: car seat) I'll take the shuttle every day of the week. I certainly wouldn't know the difference. LOL

In the early days the buses ran on a pretty quick schedule and there was little waiting. The last few years they’ve transitioned to holding the buses until they’re full or almost full, regardless of the rate of people arriving. I’ve spent 30+ minutes waiting in the queue, then another 30-45 minutes sitting on the bus waiting for it to fill up before it left the airport. Then the trip length depends heavily on what stop number your resort is on the route.

It becomes a balance of how much your time is worth to you. The equation is changing for me now that the service is no longer ”complimentary“, but a separate expense. At this point, I’d rather pay a bit more so that I can maximize my time at Disney. Most of my trips are either solo or just with DW, though, so I don’t have to worry about things like capacity for kids and car seats any more.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Wow, intro pricing would be almost $100 roundtrip for a family of 3 assuming they use the same silly adult at age 10 cutoff that disney does. And no luggage pickup/delivery. Wait times TBD. I don't hold great hope that they will run any faster since I'm sure Mears will prefer the busses to be full to maximize that profit. So now you're paying for less service than you used to get for free.

 

[GreatLakes]

Since having a kid we just went with renting a car. We will have the car seat with us anyway prefer to have a way to get around property and town on our own if we want. Maybe once he is past where we bring a car seat to fly, we will consider it but not until then.

 

[sandam1]

some of us don't know what the service was ever like though.....and given the choice of spending $300 on a rental car or $92 for a mears shuttle (because: car seat) I'll take the shuttle every day of the week. I certainly wouldn't know the difference. LOL

Something to note - A LOT of private car services have car seats available. I know that the one that I use does. I don't know current pricing since we haven't been to Florida since 2/2020, but last time it was $110 round trip plus tax.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I looked up rates and with a shared shuttle, 1 adult is $16 from the airport to Disney. FYI, I think they're having technical difficulties because they wouldn't accept my CC while booking, but my online account shows it pending. I've reached out to their customer service to see what's going on.

 

[Dis5150]

I will also be one of their guinea pigs in January. I'm meeting Lynae and her boyfriend at Disney but travelling by myself and just don't feel comfortable as a woman alone getting into an Uber/Lyft. I can't justify a car service for just me and REALLY don't want to rent a car and deal with traffic, etc. So I am glad to at least have this option.

ETA: I have less of a problem with taking an Uber while on Disney property. Idk, just being having a random person pick me up at the airport feels sketchy, lol. For the record, I live in a town of less than 10,000 people and we don't have ride sharing here.

 

[Livelovedance]

I will also be one of their guinea pigs in January. I'm meeting Lynae and her boyfriend at Disney but travelling by myself and just don't feel comfortable as a woman alone getting into an Uber/Lyft. I can't justify a car service for just me and REALLY don't want to rent a car and deal with traffic, etc. So I am glad to at least have this option.

ETA: I have less of a problem with taking an Uber while on Disney property. Idk, just being having a random person pick me up at the airport feels sketchy, lol. For the record, I live in a town of less than 10,000 people and we don't have ride sharing here.

I'd prefer the option of the shuttle as well, although I might regret that statement once I'm there. We're currently booked at WL, but the Mears website lists "FORT WILDERNESS CAMPGROUNDS" and "FORT WILDERNESS LODGE"... I don't know Fort Wilderness so I'm confused. Is "Fort Wilderness Lodge" supposed to be WL? Is it referring to the cabins at FW (are they separate from the campgrounds)? My confusion leaves me feeling like there will be confusion at drop-off, so I'm waiting to see if the resort list gets updated before attempting to book!

 

[hauntedcity]

Long before Magical Express started, I had given up on Mears. After several waits over an hour (including a 90+ minute wait), I started to rely on town car services. (I know Mears ran ME, but I believe Disney forced them to higher standards.).
In January, I'll be getting in the day before my event, so there's no way I'm trusting Mears to get me to the Expo in enough time.

 

[Livelovedance]

In January, I'll be getting in the day before my event, so there's no way I'm trusting Mears to get me to the Expo in enough time.

This is my concern as well! I’m hoping for a Friday evening arrival, but I’m expecting to have to arrive Saturday morning. Not ideal having to get to the expo on arrival day, but I’m choosing that with a trade off of not having to fly home the day of the marathon. Maybe Mears Connect will pleasantly surprise us with decent service…

 

[jmasgat]

I'm thinking of doing a one way car rental so that I can get to expo, hotels, a few groceries, and then drop off. Hoping that with a corporate rate it really won't be that expensive. I really don't want to count on a shuttle for the inbound, but might consider it for departure.

 

[runningDisneygirl]

When does the event guide usually come out for Marathon weekend?

 

[camaker]

When does the event guide usually come out for Marathon weekend?

Mid-December, typically.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'd prefer the option of the shuttle as well, although I might regret that statement once I'm there. We're currently booked at WL, but the Mears website lists "FORT WILDERNESS CAMPGROUNDS" and "FORT WILDERNESS LODGE"... I don't know Fort Wilderness so I'm confused. Is "Fort Wilderness Lodge" supposed to be WL? Is it referring to the cabins at FW (are they separate from the campgrounds)? My confusion leaves me feeling like there will be confusion at drop-off, so I'm waiting to see if the resort list gets updated before attempting to book!

You should contact them about that error. While there are also cabins at Fort Wilderness, it's not a lodge. They are going to confuse people with that.

 

[Livelovedance]

Good point. I figured it was a new system mistake that would be corrected, but clearly it wasn't. I sent them an email, we'll see if it gets fixed...

I wonder how long this "introductory rate" will last. Anyone know if you can make changes to your reservation without a fee? I might change our resort if I can get something better, so I'm not sure if I should wait until that's finalized. I still can't book anything yet until SW releases its schedule, but I'd like to be prepared when it does.

 

[sandam1]

I'm thinking of doing a one way car rental so that I can get to expo, hotels, a few groceries, and then drop off. Hoping that with a corporate rate it really won't be that expensive. I really don't want to count on a shuttle for the inbound, but might consider it for departure.

The private car service that I use (Tony Hinds) actually allowed me to book something similar for Princess 2020. He picked us up at the airport, did a grocery stop, drop our bags off at our hotel at Universal, and then drove us to the Expo. We booked round trip so I can't give you an exact price that it cost us, but I can't imagine it being too expensive.

 

[Herding_Cats]

The private car service that I use (Tony Hinds) actually allowed me to book something similar for Princess 2020. He picked us up at the airport, did a grocery stop, drop our bags off at our hotel at Universal, and then drove us to the Expo. We booked round trip so I can't give you an exact price that it cost us, but I can't imagine it being too expensive.

how much was your round trip? Dh is nervous of not having a car, but I’m having a really hard time justifying $500 for 4.5 day car rental.

 

[shellott-hill]

How does everyone handle the need for a large amount of bottled water if they do not have a car? I just cannot stomach paying the large $$$ for Disney bottled water when trying to re-hydrate after a run.

I have in the past had a private car service at the airport to take us by the grocery store before we get to the hotel to pick up a flat of water. I am expecting on my next trip that I will need at least 2 or 3 flats of water over the week. How does everyone deal with the need for multiple grocery pickups during their trip if they do not have a car? Add into the mix hotel hopping where I do not want to be hauling 3 flats of water between hotels.

Are you using a grocery delivery service, Amazon - shipping, Walmart delivery?

 

[Rogue224]

How does everyone handle the need for a large amount of bottled water if they do not have a car? I just cannot stomach paying the large $$$ for Disney bottled water when trying to re-hydrate after a run.

I have in the past had a private car service at the airport to take us by the grocery store before we get to the hotel to pick up a flat of water. I am expecting on my next trip that I will need at least 2 or 3 flats of water over the week. How does everyone deal with the need for multiple grocery pickups during their trip if they do not have a car? Add into the mix hotel hopping where I do not want to be hauling 3 flats of water between hotels.

Are you using a grocery delivery service, Amazon - shipping, Walmart delivery?

We’ve ordered our food and water from GardenGrocer.com for the past several trips. You need to order minimum $40 to get delivery. We stay at Pop and then we just go down and get it. As far as I know we can still use luggage carts from luggage services to take it to our room. I don’t know if any other resorts are different. We’ve had good luck with them.

 

[Kerry1957]

How does everyone handle the need for a large amount of bottled water if they do not have a car? I just cannot stomach paying the large $$$ for Disney bottled water when trying to re-hydrate after a run.

I refill an empty 20 ounce G2 bottle from the tap whenever I need water. When in the parks, free tap water and ice is available for the asking at any restaurant.