Well first of all, I'm sorry you had those problems two years ago. I'll address those questions later below.
For general safety, here's a link to a post earlier in this thread with general safety information:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/e...ber-lyft-at-wdw.3443634/page-92#post-58818798
There are several keys to being sure you have the right car and right driver.
- Regarding the right car, you can see your Uber approaching in the rider app. There is a short time lag due to the satellite tracking, but you can usually figure out which car is yours quite well using just this one feature.
- You will also have the vehicle description and tag number (although in Florida, we only have tags on the rear of the car).
- You will have the driver's real name, and it is important to ask the driver what their name is. Don't ask, "Are you Jim?" because anybody can nod their head. Make them tell you their name.
- And, as you mentioned -- the photo, which is your best protection.
There are many other safety protections that are not obvious. For one thing, both you and the driver are being continuously -- and separately -- tracked through the driver's app and your rider app. That tracking is constant for the driver, and continues for you for several minutes after you get out of the car.
With Uber, you can also
share real-time tracking of all your rides with trusted friends or family. That is part of a new suite of safety features built into the rider app, so be sure you are using the latest update.
Another part of that suite of features is the ability to call 911 directly from the rider app. If you use that feature, your exact location is pinpointed from the GPS, rather than the normal location system using cell tower locations. Obviously the GPS is MUCH more accurate; cell tower locations can be several miles off.
Uber is also now monitoring vehicles which are idle for a period of time, and contacting the parties to be sure everything is OK.
The problems you mentioned above with lost drivers are not safety issues, but they are still important.
Specifically, the woman who told you she had no GPS was lying. If she was using the Uber driver's app (and she would have to be if you ordered the ride and got in the correct car), the
navigation is built into the app. Stop and think about it -- if she had no GPS, how did she find you in the first place?
WDW can be a confusing place to drive, especially for new drivers, so it doesn't surprise me that someone made a wrong turn. I make at least one wrong turn on every WDW visit!
And it can also be confusing trying to get back on track because with many of the WDW roads there literally is "no way to get there from here!" There are places where you are forced to take a winding route to get to a particular location, so some of those deviations may actually have been the correct way to go (or the ONLY way to go).
That said, any time you have a ride where the driver seems to be taking a circuitous route, you should check the route and fare afterwards. Most of the time, because of upfront pricing, your fare actually should not change from what you were quoted.
If you have any questions,
message Uber Support via your rider app and ask them to review the route to be sure you were correctly charged. They're very good about making adjustments.
And finally, don't give up on MinnieVan. With their new pricing model, some fares will be more -- sometimes MUCH more. However, for shorter trips some fares will be less than $25. So if you like MV, check their price and see what it really is for the ride you are getting ready to take. Uber/Lyft will usually be somewhat less, but MV may not be too bad either.