Minnie Van Question

[iujen94]

Hey all! I'm so sorry if this has been asked and answered. We are staying at the Dolphin in September. We have a PPO ADR at BOG one morning, and as a treat I thought we'd take a Minnie Van. I imagine that's a very popular time of day for Minnie Vans. If I request a Minnie Van, and it's going to take too long (in my opinion) for it to come and get us to MK in plenty of time, can I cancel the request? Or once I make the request, am I obligated to go?

 

[JimMIA]

No obligation. You request the ride through the Lyft app. Your request will be sent out to Minnie Van drivers, and if there is nobody available you will be notified that no match could be found. You can then cancel with no fee and rebook via Lyft or Uber, where there should be plenty of availability.

 

[iujen94]

No obligation. You request the ride through the Lyft app. Your request will be sent out to Minnie Van drivers, and if there is nobody available you will be notified that no match could be found. You can then cancel with no fee and rebook via Lyft or Uber, where there should be plenty of availability.

I know Uber will tell you how long it should take your driver to get there. Any chance Lyft will tell me a Minnie Van driver is, say, 20 minutes away? If that happened, I’d rather use Uber, but could I cancel at that point?

 

[kaytieeldr]

If MinnieVan isn 't available, just take the bus.

 

[JimMIA]

I know Uber will tell you how long it should take your driver to get there. Any chance Lyft will tell me a Minnie Van driver is, say, 20 minutes away? If that happened, I’d rather use Uber, but could I cancel at that point?

Yes, the app will tell you how far away the driver is, and you will be able to see the driver approaching on the app -- just like Uber.

And yes, if they're too far away, you can cancel with no fee on Lyft.

The key to the "too far away" problem is to start early and give yourself plenty of time -- it's an "ounce of prevention" thing. If you do that, kayeieeldr's suggestion above of having the bus as a Plan B becomes an excellent alternative.

 

[iujen94]

Yes, the app will tell you how far away the driver is, and you will be able to see the driver approaching on the app -- just like Uber.

And yes, if they're too far away, you can cancel with no fee on Lyft.

The key to the "too far away" problem is to start early and give yourself plenty of time -- it's an "ounce of prevention" thing. If you do that, kayeieeldr's suggestion above of having the bus as a Plan B becomes an excellent alternative.

That totally makes sense - but I have to decide if sacrificing a few minutes' sleep on a rope drop morning (every minute counts!) is worth the novelty of the Minnie Van - maybe I should just stick with the relative certainty of Uber.

 

[joelkfla]

That totally makes sense - but I have to decide if sacrificing a few minutes' sleep on a rope drop morning (every minute counts!) is worth the novelty of the Minnie Van - maybe I should just stick with the relative certainty of Uber.

It only takes a minute more to request Uber if the Minnie Van is too far away -- even less to request Lyft, since you're already in the app to request a MV.

 

[MinnieMSue]

We used both Lyft and Minnie van via Lyft and both times we got a Lyft it was 2 minutes away. The Minnie van was 10. We got that near Hoop de doo so we didn’t really have a choice to use another service for that trip. I was considering using Minnie van to go to Hoop de doo but didn’t because if it wasnt available the other car services could only take us to the main entrance to the resort and then we would have to wait for a bus. Didn’t want to run it too close and chance being late. We just left early and took bus and boat. We were very pleased with Lyft and Minnie van. We don’t have car services in my smallish town

 

[JimMIA]

That totally makes sense - but I have to decide if sacrificing a few minutes' sleep on a rope drop morning (every minute counts!) is worth the novelty of the Minnie Van - maybe I should just stick with the relative certainty of Uber.

For BOG, don't forget that Uber/Lyft will drop you off either at TTC or at the Contemporary. Minnie Van or bus will take you to the MK bus dropoff, which is less of a walk than from the Contemporary.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Do the Minnie Vans pick up at the Dolphin? I thought it was only Disney resorts.

 

[iujen94]

Do the Minnie Vans pick up at the Dolphin? I thought it was only Disney resorts.

I’ve read elsewhere that they do, so I’m hoping that’s accurate!

 

[AngiTN]

No obligation. You request the ride through the Lyft app. Your request will be sent out to Minnie Van drivers, and if there is nobody available you will be notified that no match could be found. You can then cancel with no fee and rebook via Lyft or Uber, where there should be plenty of availability.

Actually, if there is no match, there's nothing to cancel. It just reverts back to a select a car again. You start all over.

 

[AngiTN]

Do the Minnie Vans pick up at the Dolphin? I thought it was only Disney resorts.

I’ve read elsewhere that they do, so I’m hoping that’s accurate!

I think they do but worse case, if they don't, walk to YC

 

[drwadadli]

Do the Minnie Vans pick up at the Dolphin? I thought it was only Disney resorts.

As of May 8, 2018, the Minnie Van service expanded to the Walt Disney World Dolphin and Swan and the Four Season Resort.

 

[lfortin16]

We used the Minnie Van 3 times while we were at Disney.
We used it for rope drop so we could get to AK before it opened.
We also used it to get from Saratoga Springs to the Poly for dinner reservations.
The ease and quickness of these trips made the extra $$ worth it.
The Cast members are very friendly and knowledgeable about Disney.
They even play Disney music in the van!

 

[ResilientRabbit]

We just returned yesterday from a Beach Club stay. We used Minnie Vans regularly. They were a delight and, for us, worth every penny! My ONLY complaint is that there aren't enough available at peak hours.

Pro tip: Request a Minnie a few minutes earlier than you think that you should. While you are still walking to the pick up point. That will give you a sense of how busy they are at the moment. It is difficult to score one at park closing and/or in the half hour before rope drop. In those instances, we took a cab.

But do try out the MV service. It's a delight!