Guide to Mears Connect Airport Shuttle to Disney World
Mears Connect, the spiritual successor to Disney’s Magical Express, offers ground transportation between Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World. This post covers pricing, hotels serviced by the shuttle, options, and everything you need to know based on our experiences using the service! (Updated June 21, 2025.)
Let’s start with a quick recap. Walt Disney World’s free shuttle service from MCO to the company’s resorts, Disney’s Magical Express, ended last year. Guests now need to find their own transportation from the airport to their hotel, and we cover the range of options in our Guide to Airport Transportation for Walt Disney World. There is no one-size-fits-all perfect solution; it depends on your party size, budget, and other factors.
Mears Connect is one of the options, and it’s actually a shuttle service by the same company that operated Disney’s Magical Express. In fact, Mears Connect literally uses the exact same drivers and buses, just minus the Disney-branded wraps. Some of the buses look very similar to the old ‘ocean-liner’ DME buses, with only Disney logos and characters removed.
Mears Connect is now operating, promising provide fast and convenient transportation service for visitors in high occupancy vehicles, thereby reducing traffic and lowering environmental impacts. Guests can expect scheduled service, luggage handling, convenient airport terminal staging, and return trips from resorts to the airport.
Mears Connect has two options: Standard and Express. The Standard level of service is a shared ride service on Mears Connect (bus or van) that is economical. The Connection will make a limited number of stops and will have you on your way to your resort. The Premium level is a direct service with limited to no wait time. Both include all tolls and other surcharges.
Note that Express is not private transportation. We mention this because we’ve booked the standard service and been put on small vans with guests who booked Express. The only advantage they received over us was that they were the first stop. (I also question that “limited to no wait time.” We all definitely waited!)
Here’s a look at current pricing as of Summer 2025:
We’ve now used Mears Connect well over a dozen times, and the service is pretty comparable to what we experienced with Disney’s Magical Express.
In Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine Review: Is Disney World’s Airport Shuttle Still Good?, I mention that the number of stops has increased. That review was from last year, and this issue has only worsened during non-peak times in 2025.
If familiarity is of paramount importance, Mears Connect should be your shuttle service of choice when flying into MCO and staying at one of the resorts below near Walt Disney World. This is literally the spiritual successor to Disney’s Magical Express in every regard–right down to its location on Side B.
The check-in process is incredibly simple, with guests arriving at this kiosk and scanning a QR code in their email and then being assigned to one of the lanes behind the podium. From there, guests are assigned to buses based on demand and locations.
Sound familiar?
Here’s one of the Mears Connect buses outside in the loading area.
When were here, everything was being done incredibly efficiently with no line whatsoever for the check-in podium and minimal wait to board a bus. With that said, there were times when Disney’s Magical Express was equally efficient, and other times when the lines stretched through the terminal. It’s impossible to judge this service based on one experience–the true test will be during a peak travel time, and this was not.
One thing to keep in mind is that Mears Connect is the spiritual successor to Disney’s Magical Express by virtue of using the same buses and drivers, but it’s not the only replacement. Launching around the same time as Mears Connect was the Sunshine Flyer, which was themed to old timey trains.
It didn’t last long. Sunshine Flyer and Mears Connect merged a couple of years ago. Although the companies didn’t state as much, the reason was obvious to me: insufficient demand to sustain both. The combined company, Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine, still operates as of 2025.
For some guests, Mears Connect will be perfect. Many guests, especially larger parties, will be better suited to use rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, or even private car services that charge by the vehicle instead of per person, and allow stops for groceries.
For solo travelers or couples, the math works out on Mears Connect. It’s going to be slightly cheaper than Uber or Lyft transportation between the hotel and airport the vast majority of the time.
However, the convenience, efficiency, and private ride offered by Uber or Lyft mean we’d take one of those ridesharing services over Mears Connect every single time. (Then again, we frequently took Uber over using Disney’s Magical Express even before this.)
For families with small children, Mears Connect might be a great option as it avoids hassles with car seats and provides more convenient transportation. For groups with only older kids or adults, the economics of Mears Connect won’t work out. Even if they’re unconcerned about convenience or efficiency, Uber or Lyft will win handily on cost.
For others, a rental car will make more sense. As with anything, there are undoubtedly additional personal considerations we aren’t taking into account in the Uber/Lyft v. Mears Connect v. rental car comparison. Your mileage may vary.
With that said, let’s take a look at hotels at and around Walt Disney World that will be serviced by Mears Connect…
ELIGIBLE DISNEY OWNED HOTELS (SPOILER: IT’S ALL OF THEM)
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort & Gran Destino Tower
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — French Quarter
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (Listed as Fort Wilderness Lodge on the site)
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Kidani Village
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
ELIGIBLE ON-SITE THIRD PARTY HOTELS
Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet CreekWaldorf Astoria OrlandoJW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek ResortWyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek- B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
- Drury Plaza Hotel Disney Springs
- Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
- Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
- Holiday Inn Orlando
- Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
Four Seasons Resort Orlando- Shades of Green
- Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
- Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
- Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
Eligible Off-Site Hotels
- Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
- Orlando Marriott World Center
- Renaissance Orlando Resort & Spa
Strikethroughs are hotels that Mears Connect has stopped servicing since launch.Â
You can view pricing, FAQ, other info, and book reservations for Mears Connect here.
Ultimately, we think it’s great that Mears will continue offering transportation between Walt Disney World and area hotels. Meas Connect serves an important role for many guests; it’s good to see that the service is now operating smoothly and without any major issues.
As we’ve said since Walt Disney World announced the end of Magical Express, we maintain that this is an incredibly shortsighted and guest unfriendly decision that will have unforeseen negative long-term consequences for Disney. No point rehashing all of that here, though. Kudos to Mears for continuing the service in spirit–it’s not their fault that Disney discontinued Magical Express.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Mears Connect? Will you use the service, or is it too expensive for shared transportation? Will you opt for Mears Connect over Uber, Lyft, or renting a car? Thoughts on pricing, efficiency, or anything else regarding Mears Connect? What do you think about Walt Disney World ending Disney’s Magical Express? Other thoughts on this? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Mears worked perfectly for us traveling on the Brightline. The Brightline station is adjacent to Terminal C and a quick covered walk to the Mears check-in desk. You don’t have to deal with airport security, which is nice and makes the process go smoothly. As such, when we returned for our train ride home, they gave us a closer arrival time (not 2+ hours before flights etc.) since you don’t need such a wide berth with Brightline. My Mears driver told me that not that many Brightline passengers utilize Mears, which is surprising, especially given that the two companies have a partnership.
Hi Tom
I noticed this article has not been updated for over a year and the comments are also very old. Was hoping you could tell me if the Mears service is still having reliability problems with picking up people at WDW resorts for their return trips?? Also, have the prices changed at all? Considering using this Mears shuttle service, but worried about having problems with the return trip. There are only 2 of us traveling to WDW this September. We’ve been to WDW many times in the past but have onlybever used Disneys Magical Express shuttle buses. We dont really know our way around MCO airport very well. I don’t know where to find the designated area for Uber/Lyft pick up and am concerned about availability and how much the price might be now when we arrive at 4pm on a Thursday mid September 2024? If Mears service is still having problems now picking people up at WDW resorts for return
to airport trips, I was considering booking a one way Mears shuttle to Pop Century Resort and then ordering an Uber at the resort to pick us up for our return trip? Does the entrance gate security allow Uber drivers into the Resort gates to pick guests up at the front of the resort without any special prior arrangements? Any further/updated information or ideas you have about this would greatly appreciated.
Hi Med,
We were loyal and happy Magical Express users. This has been my expeience since its demise. When there were 3 of us, I chose a Lyft from MCO to the resort and it was more economical than 3X the $17 or so each that Mears charges and should have been faster. I did this twice. Once was very late at night and I actually had trouble getting and keeping a driver. The other time was around 9:30 am and I experienced surge pricing, meaning when we first deplaned, Lyft and Uber were both much higher priced than I expected. I tried again about 15 minutes later and the price dropped into a more normal range. (If it hadn’t, I was going to go find the Mears area and sign up on the spot.) On two trips there were only two of us, and we used Mears Connect from MCO. Once we waited about 20 minutes for the bus to fill up a little more before leaving, and the other time we were loaded onto one of their smaller vans and left almost immediately. This is not dissimilar to the ME timing we have had in the past. In all of these cases, we used Lyft (I find it tends to be less expensive than Uber) back to the airport. I have had no trouble with them entering the resort to pick us up. Pricing is a little better in this direction (though with only 2, Mears would still cost less) but the ability to control timing myself and get about 1 hour extra of Park or resort time makes this my favorite way to do it. Hope this helps!
Aftwe reading all the comments, I was wondering if the departure issues are no longer, since I have to book my trip for september. It’s gonna be only my kid and I, and we will take a midnight international flight.
I read early on when the separation occurred between Mears and Disney that they were offering free service to make-a-wish children. Do you know if that offer is still valid and is it only for kids other make-a-wish trip or make-a-wish alumni? Thanks for any info you can provide!!!
Service from the airport to the Caribbean Beach was fine. They never showed for our 4:15 return trip to the airport when our vacation was over, in fact there were 2 other families waiting with us. I tried calling and was on hold for over 30 minutes getting no one. When the 4:45 bus showed up to pick up the 1 family at 5, the valet at the hotel got us all a voucher to take a cab to the airport. If we didn’t have TSA Pre we would have missed our flight. I don’t understand why when a bus drops off people that is empty they can’t just take us to the airport -there were 2 buses that were empty after dropping off passengers (4:10 and 4:20). Working on getting a refund now.
We were very pleased with our airport pickup to French Quarters it was on spot but our return to airport was not as good .Flight was leaving at 335pm Mears sent me an email to be picked up at 140pm our name wasn’t on list when the bus arrived but took us then we had to stop at Riverside where about 25 people boarded Got to airport 40 minutes before flight and we were 8 people 4 being small children luckily an attendant rushed us thru the checkin line and had to walk right on airplane when we got there if flight had not been delayed we would have probably missed flight
We just returned from Disney, Jan 17th for 10 days. Mears was excellent. Took the cheap trip from airport to Port Orleans roundtrip. Very few stops, on time, sent notifications by text, so no waiting for hotel to deliver letter. Easier than before, actually! Definitely would use in the future.
Tom, when taking an uber back to MCO, do you usually leave Disney 3 hours before your flight time? Just wondering if skipping mears and sunshine flyer would allow for later departure ftom hotel?