How is everyone's luck with Lyft/Uber for getting to the parks?

[fractalpotato]

Just wondering, we are maybe going again this year (if they ever give us concrete dates for Epcot Forever!) and having the eternal rental car debate. On trip before last, I was frustrated to no end with the cost of parking at the resorts (especially since construction meant parking two or more buildings away most of the time) and decided to try Disney Transportation for the next trip (which was our last trip) and It. Was. Awful. Never ever again! Or so we thought, halfway through that week we started begrudgingly trying to buy our way out of that mess with Lyft, but 4 out of 5 times we couldn't get a pick up, or we'd get one that would park and wait us out to cancel. It was infuriating, so now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I pay for a rental car + gas + parking, or do I gamble on Lyft/Uber? I'm not doing Disney Transportation anymore!

How is everyone's experience with Uber or Lyft? Minnie Vans seem too expensive and I might as well just rent a car at that point. Are there any other services people use?

Honestly, it's getting to the point where I almost don't even want to go. SWGE ruined our plans for a peaceful visit, we just wanted to see F&W and one more Illuminations show, and of course Epcot Forever. Now I'm looking at rising airfare, ticket prices and difficulty and cost getting around!

Matt

 

[deanimal]

We stayed offsite back in December 2108 so it's not quite the same as onsite, but we are never going back to car rental/paid parking again! We'd pull up the app as we left the park each day, walk 1-2 minutes to the pick up point and never waited more than a few minutes for our ride. A few minutes later we were dropped off at our door. We were about 10-15 minutes away in Windsor Hills and we paid around $300 for ten round trips during our stay, or only $50 more than just the parking for 10 days at the parks. Super easy and always nice drivers. One tip for Magic Kingdom is to get dropped off at the Contemporary. From there you can do the walkway to the park with the shorter resort security check in less time than it would take to get there from the Transport and Ticket Center.

 

[czechplz]

I prefer to use a combination of Lyft and Disney transport. Lyft is more generous to their drivers and doesn't take portions of the tip so I prefer them over Uber.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you don't like Lyft based on your recent experience, why not use cabs? Sure, more expensive than rideskares, but always available, frequently already waiting wherever you are.

 

[Darklord77]

We would use Lyft to get to and from Epcot if we were just going to the World Showcase. I would set the drop-off point for the Boardwalk or Beach Club. Same with pickup after the World Showcase closes. It was so much easier to get a Lyft from the Boardwalk than walk with the crowds to the front of Epcot to catch a bus after Illuminations. We rely on Disney transport for the rest of our travels.

 

[kaytieeldr]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/everthing-you-wanted-to-know-about-uber-lyft-at-wdw.3443634/

 

[Cornucopiaoflove]

We used Lyft, busses, and the Minnie Van when we stayed at Kidani last year. We tried Uber a few times but we found the Lyft drivers to be better, and seemed to be able to navigate parking lots better. We typically always took the bus back for a mid-day break, which meant it wasn't too busy.

 

[joelkfla]

or we'd get one that would park and wait us out to cancel.

You should not request a ride until you are at (or at least in view of) the pickup area.

Drivers get paid peanuts, but they only get peanut crumbs for wait time.

 

[fractalpotato]

You should not request a ride until you are at (or at least in view of) the pickup area.

Drivers get paid peanuts, but they only get peanut crumbs for wait time.

No, I meant they would park somewhere in the way to pick up and wait for us to cancel, and never answer a phone call. One of the few drivers that did pick us up explained it is a common practice to dodge a fare without penalty. We never ever request pickup until we are ready to immediately get picked up.

Matt

 

[Shughart]

Thanks for posting this! I am so close to getting my DH to fly instead of drive and our next debate will be rental car or Lyft. I'd rather avoid the rental/parking costs and just Lyft. We're not hopping/not taking breaks and will likely only one round trip each day.

 

[JimMIA]

I prefer to use a combination of Lyft and Disney transport. Lyft is more generous to their drivers

Neither company is "generous" to their drivers, and in fact, both companies are in the middle of a series of pay cuts for drivers. Anyone who tells you Lyft treats drivers better than Uber either has never driven for Lyft, or never driven for Uber.

In some markets, one company pays a little more for some rides, a little less for others. But in most markets, they pay the same or about the same. I believe the two companies pay identically in the Orlando market. Joel, please correct me if that is inaccurate.

and doesn't take portions of the tip so I prefer them over Uber.

If you are implying that Uber keeps part of in-app tips, that is absolutely false. Neither company has EVER taken any portion of any driver's tips. Never.

 

[JimMIA]

We used Lyft, busses, and the Minnie Van when we stayed at Kidani last year. We tried Uber a few times but we found the Lyft drivers to be better, and seemed to be able to navigate parking lots better. We typically always took the bus back for a mid-day break, which meant it wasn't too busy.

FWIW, in every market that I know of, the vast majority of drivers drive for both companies simultaneously. Same driver, same car.

 

[JimMIA]

or we'd get one that would park and wait us out to cancel.

If you have that experience with either company, you should contact support and tell them what happened. Your cancellation fee will be quickly refunded.

Also, if that happens to you again, do NOT cancel the ride. Wait it out, order a ride from the other company, and make that driver cancel the ride. The driver will eventually cancel because they can't receive a new ride request while they are supposedly headed your way.

There is no excuse for that behavior -- but if you run into a driver like that, please don't ENABLE them!

 

[joelkfla]

No, I meant they would park somewhere in the way to pick up and wait for us to cancel, and never answer a phone call. One of the few drivers that did pick us up explained it is a common practice to dodge a fare without penalty. We never ever request pickup until we are ready to immediately get picked up.

Matt

That should be reported to Uber or Lyft, so those drivers can be "re-educated"! A singe complaint may not do much, but if there's a pattern with a driver, I think the company will act.

 

[JimMIA]

That should be reported to Uber or Lyft, so those drivers can be "re-educated"! A singe complaint may not do much, but if there's a pattern with a driver, I think the company will act.

Yep, and both companies track the driver's progress to pickup in real time. If there is a complaint, the company has a GPS record of every second of the ride.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

We have used Uber and Lyft and found them both to be worth it. No issues with either one.

Whenver we have used a rental car it has typically been paid for by DH's work so it's hard to say if it's worth it or not (sure, the car was "free" but the parking was not as we were not AP holders or staying on DVC points for those trips so one way or another we paid to park at either the resort or the park).

FWIW, in every market that I know of, the vast majority of drivers drive for both companies simultaneously. Same driver, same car.

This was my experience- every car that picked us up was a driver for both companies.

Thanks for posting this! I am so close to getting my DH to fly instead of drive and our next debate will be rental car or Lyft. I'd rather avoid the rental/parking costs and just Lyft. We're not hopping/not taking breaks and will likely only one round trip each day.

I used Lyft from MCO to the resort and absolutely loved it. Our reasoning was similar- no rental/ parking costs, one round trip per day on the Disney busses. The only reason I didn't use DME to the resort was that I was meeting DH for dinner (he had flown in a few days prior for a work conference) and wanted to save some time, but I would use it again over less in the future!

 

[AngiTN]

We use Disney transport for majority of our trips and it's perfectly fine. A few rides take more than 10 min and a few less, so it all evens out in the end to avg of 10 min
We only use Ride Share (and honestly, no difference between Uber/Lyft 99% of the time) when 1, we are going Resort to Resort or 2, we are short on time or 3, it's early and we want to sleep in.

 

[fractalpotato]

That should be reported to Uber or Lyft, so those drivers can be "re-educated"! A singe complaint may not do much, but if there's a pattern with a driver, I think the company will act.

Yep, and both companies track the driver's progress to pickup in real time. If there is a complaint, the company has a GPS record of every second of the ride.

In theory I agree with you both, in practice all I got was a half hearted apology and an assurance that my rider rating was very high, nearly perfect, on two separate occasions. At this point I have removed the Lyft app from my phone and I'm not sure I want to give them my business any longer.

Matt

 

[JimMIA]

In theory I agree with you both, in practice all I got was a half hearted apology and an assurance that my rider rating was very high, nearly perfect, on two separate occasions. At this point I have removed the Lyft app from my phone and I'm not sure I want to give them my business any longer.

Matt

Sorry you had that experience, and hopefully you were not charged any cancellation fees on those rides.

You're right about the response though. Any time they start talking about your high rating, in English that translates to "We're not doing a thing." They use the same code for us!

 

[Dash7]

We’ve had spotty luck with Uber & Lyft. We’ve had multiple cancellations while they are en route which is frustrating especially if you’re trying to arrive for a reservation. And we've had a couple of drivers who seemed unfamiliar with the area and asked us how to get places. I'm especially reluctant to use it for early morning rides because we seem to run into the most trouble then. We may just have had bad luck though.