Tips for Using Lyft & Uber at Disney World
Thinking of using Uber or Lyft instead of a taxi, rental car, or bus transportation at Walt Disney World? Ride-sharing services are the most efficient way for getting to parks, resorts, and Universal Studios Florida; these tips will help save money and improve your experience with it. (Updated March 24, 2021.)
During the phased reopening, Walt Disney World transportation options are limited and operating at reduced capacity. Fewer parties are allowed on each bus to accommodate physical distancing, and the result has been longer and more unpredictable wait times for buses. We discuss how bad this has gotten as of Spring Break 2021 in Bus Wait Times at Walt Disney World.
Consequently, our “Temporary Abnormal” Guide to Walt Disney World recommends avoiding the buses for this reason. Unfortunately, the Minnie Van private ride service has been suspended and is not returning any time soon–if ever. That essentially leaves two options: Uber or a rental car. However, the latter option comes with a couple of big downsides…
While we’re fans of the freedom having your own vehicle offers, not everyone wants to drive on vacation and there are obvious downsides in paying for parking and hassling with the car at the airport. Beyond that, there is currently a severe rental car shortage.
Last year when travel essentially stopped, the rental car industry sold off more than a half a million cars, about a third of their combined fleets, to generate cash they needed to survive the crisis. Although demand has now returned, rental car companies are unable to rebuild their inventory because of supply chain issues facing the auto industry.
Consequently, many Florida airports are now totally sold out of rental cars for peak travel dates (including Orlando International) with other dates having insane prices–like $100 to $300 per day for a rental. Suffice to say, if you didn’t book a rental car for your Walt Disney World vacation far in advance, Uber or Lyft might be your only alternative to Disney’s buses. As such, we’ll rundown the pros & cons of rideshare at Walt Disney World here…
First and foremost in terms of a post-reopening update, both ride share companies have new health safety programs. You can read about Lyft’s here and Uber’s here. Both are essentially the same, with face masks being required for drivers and riders, new cleaning procedures, and keeping the windows open when possible.
Masks are important and well-understood at this point, but we would emphasize opening the windows. Study after study has shown that ventilation is one of the keys in reducing transmission risks (check out “We Need To Talk About Ventilation,” which breaks things down in lay terms). When using taxis or ride share services, professors at Harvard’s School of Public Health suggest that you “open up the windows just a bit, even if everyone is feeling fine…doing so will dilute the concentration of viral particles in the car.”
Thankfully, even as bus transportation has gotten worse at Walt Disney World, using Uber and Lyft has actually gotten better over time! Cast Members and security have become more familiar with ride-sharing services, and Walt Disney World has introduced policies for consistent drop-off/pick-up.
As such, we highly recommend using Uber or Lyft for rope drop in the morning–especially at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where arriving in time for opening and the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass dash is imperative. (Unless you’re staying at a Skyliner resort.) Uber and Lyft can also be incredibly useful if you’re leaving any of the parks at closing time, and there are long lines at the bus stops.
In fact, using ride-sharing at Walt Disney World has been a such a positive experience for us that we thought we’d return to offer the ins and outs of it, and why we think it’s worth the added cost for the added convenience. We’ve used Uber and Lyft extensively at Walt Disney World in the last 5+ years, and have updated this advice as of March 2021…
For most people, Uber or Lyft will be cheaper than renting a car, but some people still might prefer the perceived freedom of their own car. We also wanted to provide some new tips based on things we’ve learned with more recent experiences using Uber.
To start, although the details here are specific to Walt Disney World, the high-level advice can be applied to Disneyland and virtually anywhere else Lyft and Uber operate in the United States. In many cases throughout this post, we reference only Uber, and that’s simply because they have a larger presence. Corporate culture aside, Uber and Lyft are nearly identical in guest experience and service, and these tips apply equally to both ride-sharing services.
By way of background (you can skip all of this if you’ve ever used Uber), Uber is ride service that allow users to request rides via robust mobile apps. These apps show drivers in your vicinity, anticipated pick-up time, and have a host of other features. When a ride is requested, nearby drivers are pinged, and can accept or decline the riders.
Riders then see that their ride has been accepted, the driver’s name, vehicle, license plate, average score, current GPS location, and arrival time. This is all virtually instantaneous: the amount of time from requesting a ride to a ride being confirmed is usually under 10 seconds. If all of that doesn’t totally make sense, think of Uber as a taxi for the modern age, with a really nice app.
Does that all sound pretty good? Well, it should, because it is. Uber and Lyft have exploded in popularity, which has wrecked havoc for taxi companies that are rapidly losing business and are in danger of obsolescence in some areas. Taxi companies have fought bitter political and legal battles to keep Uber out of many areas, with the dispute boiling down to one thing: money. Taxi companies want to keep making money, and Uber makes that difficult for them.
As a consumer, the only pertinent concerns are whether Uber safe, efficient, and less expensive. Uber is obviously less expensive. That’s the whole reason taxi companies are fighting Uber tooth and nail. It’s cheaper because it’s more efficient, allocating resources via the app in a way that makes best use of them, with the app likewise providing a more efficient experience for riders.
Finally, safety. None of the above would matter if Uber isn’t safe. Uber performs background checks on its drivers (as do taxi companies), but more important is the rating system in the app. If a driver’s score falls below 4.5/5, they run the risk of being dropped by Uber. The flip side of this is that drivers also rate riders, so if you’re constantly an angry, drunken buffoon, you run the risk of not being picked up.
By contrast, ask any regular Uber rider how many negative experiences they’ve had with ride-sharing drivers. The horror stories are few and far between, with most riders instead gushing over how much better the experience is than traditional taxis. Friendly drivers who come from interesting backgrounds and will make pleasant conversation with you, or simply leave you alone if you don’t feel like chatting.
Now that we’ve established some background, let’s get into the tips…
General Tips
- Payment is automatically made via the app (and your attached credit card) at the end of the app. No cash payments.
- Tipping originally was not part of the Uber “culture” but it is becoming increasingly customary to tip drivers. You can now do so within the apps for both Uber and Lyft. (We recommend tipping.)
- A pleasant way to end each ride is by saying, “thanks for the great ride, I’ll be sure to give you 5-stars.” (Which also helps increase your chances of receiving a positive review from the driver.)
- If you have more general questions about using Uber that this post doesn’t answer, refer to the Uber Help page for FAQ.
- If you’re new to the Lyft, you can get a free or reduced-cost first ride via this link.
Disney Tips
- Average Uber/Lyft cost within Walt Disney World is $10-15 per trip. This works out to be around one-third to half the cost of a Mears taxi for the same distance.
- Average Uber cost from Walt Disney World to Universal Orlando’s drop-off point is $20-25 per trip.
- Average wait for a pick-up at Walt Disney World is 4-8 minutes.
- Security check-point and parking plaza Cast Members are familiar with the Uber service, and will allow drivers to pass (without paying for parking) if they show an ID and indicate they are there for guest drop-off.
- DO NOT show your Annual Pass or parking voucher at the parking plazas, as your driver will be directed to regular parking, which is farther away from the front entrance of parks than the guest drop-off points.
- Surge pricing is becoming less common in Orlando as more drivers flock to the area, but if there is a surge, it’s most likely to occur around 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
- Lyft and Uber pickups are now allowed at MCO; there’s an airport surcharge added to your tab, but it’s not too bad. Uber drop-offs are also allowed at the airport. Uber and Lyft are far faster than Disney’s Magical Express.
- Drivers can see your GPS location, but sometimes the system is a bit wonky. Immediately after requesting an Uber, message the driver and indicate your exact location if it’s not the main lobby (e.g. “I’m wearing a ballin’ tie dyed EPCOT Center shirt outside Building 4 at Pop Century Resort. Turn left as soon as you pass security and follow the signs.)
- To decrease your wait time for a pickup, drop a pin for the location where you want the pickup as you walk to that location, but be sure you can beat the driver there based on the estimated arrival time.
- Uber has unveiled the Uber + Car Seat in Orlando, which will bring parents an Uber vehicle with a car seat inside, on-demand.
Magic Kingdom
- Standard pickup and drop-off location for the Magic Kingdom is the Ticket & Transportation Center; from there, you take a monorail or ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
- Instead, consider specifying the Contemporary or Grand Floridian as your destination and walking to Magic Kingdom.
- Security at the Contemporary isn’t always the easiest to pass, so don’t be surprised if you’re turned away there. Grand Floridian is the better option, but the walk is slightly longer.
Epcot
- The Uber process at Epcot has improved considerably. The only downside is that the roadway into the park and parking lot itself are both lengthy, making pickups take longer than at the other 3 parks.
- If possible, we recommend using the International Gateway entrance at Epcot, and walking to/from Beach Club for pickups and drop-offs. This is simpler, and often faster.
- The pickup and drop-off spot at the front entrance of Epcot has constantly changed, but as of now, it’s near the Preferred Parking section.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Drop-off and pickup at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is right next to the Disney Skyliner gondola station (lower left corner in the photo above). This location is very convenient.
- Due to the popularity of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the drop-off line can back-up early in the morning before DHS opens. Plan accordingly and allow yourself a bit of extra time.
- If you request an Uber ride as you exit the park, your driver will often arrive within 2 minutes after you get to the taxi point at DHS. Just make sure you double-check that there isn’t a driver already near the Studios lot when you make the request, as you don’t want your driver having to wait for you!
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Animal Kingdom is another park with a long roadway leading into the park, so pickups can take a bit longer here, but it’s still pretty simple.
- The drop-off/pickup spot is also pretty simple at Animal Kingdom. You can see it as the pin on this map.
That about covers the major points, I think. If you’re new to using Uber, you can get a free ride credits by signing up via this link for Uber or a free ride on Lyft via this link. They are constantly changing their sign-up incentives, so if you don’t see any credit amount on those screens, definitely Google signup offers. There’s usually an incentive or promo code for your first ride on both Uber and Lyft.
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
Any additional experiences using Uber that you’d like to share? Do you prefer Uber, Lyft, Minnie Vans, or using Walt Disney World’s standard (bus, monorail, boat, Skyliner) transportation? If you’ve used Uber or Lyft at Walt Disney World, did you find the services efficient? Do you agree or disagree with our Uber/Lyft advice? 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!
Ive never used an uber before i dont really understand it and it scares me! But not as much as the taxi drivers driving at disney! Never again!!. I go in 3 weeks can i get some advice and proof that its easy please?! Should i get the app now??
Hi do you have any suggestions on using lyft or uber from a Disney resort ( either cbr or csr) to port carnaval ? We are staying at the resort three nights before our cruise, not Disney. It would be on a sat feb 16,2019
Guess you figured something out by now, but I’m doing a similar trip in March. I’ll be booking a shuttle from airport to Port Canaveral. So basically, Uber/Lyft/Magic Express to airport, then shuttle to port. There is also shuttle that goes directly from DW to Port Canaveral. Forget the name, but you can find it by Googling. The times they had didn’t work for me though so I’m doing the airport to port instead.
However, it’ll still be a lot faster by Uber/Lyft. I’m just doing the shuttle because it’s cheaper. Might be more difficult also to find drivers that will go from DW to Port Canaveral due to the distance.
Can disabled passengers with a disability placard be dropped off at hp parking entrances. That seems closer than what has been mentioned.
Can we take Uber from Pop Century to the parks without car seats? We have booster-aged kids.
This is dependant on your driver. Usually if the child can sit up on thier own with thier own seat belts, usually not a problem. No lap seating allowed (that’s the law) unsafe especially if we are talking I4.
Hello, I have 2 questions please.
We are staying in the all star sports, should we order a uber from there or is it best to get from one of the parks or disney springs? (We will be going to universal studios)
ALSO there is 8 of us (1 is 3 yr old) will we need to get 2 cars or do they have mini vans? Also will they bring a child seat?
Thank you 🙂
There is a few dollars difference between All Star and Disney Springs to Universal. I feel your resort is better as it’s not subject to traffic around Disney Springs.
Thank you for the useful info! You mentioned background checks being performed by Uber & Lyft – I read many articles about how lackluster theirs are:
https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-lyft-reportedly-skimp-on-background-checks/
Love all the tips, thank you so much for sharing them. Do you know if Uber/Lyft runs from Disney to Legoland and back?
Uber and Lyft pretty much run anywhere you want them to, at any time.
Quick question, my daughter and I are going to Disney in October. We want to spend a day at SeaWorld and I’d rather use Uber or Lyft than a taxi. My main question is, do either of those services provide a booster seat? I don’t want to bring one for my 6yo if that’s the only time we are going to need it as we plan to use the Disney transportation for everything else we do.
Thanks!!
In Florida, children are only required to use car seats or boosters until age five. However, it’s perfectly understandable that you want your daughter to be safe. Orlando is one of the few Uber cities that offer rides with car seats (and drivers have to follow pretty rigid rules about the seats to participate), but boosters may be a different matter. Inflatable travel boosters are available on Amazon; that may be your best bet.
How would we request the same driver for our whole trip? And we have a wheelchair that folds what would we do? Also we never ubered or Lyft anywhere before is it worth it? Is it better than the Minnie vans?
As I wrote previously I’ve taken folding wheelchairs with no problem; just advise when you’re requesting a ride. Minnie Vans are driven by Disney employees but powered by Lyft. Tom’s written about the service here so that’s the best place to learn how it works. I do know Minnie Vans are a flat $25 per trip; Uber and regular Lyft would be about half that. Individual drivers can’t be requested because who picks you up is determined by their proximity to your location, but all drivers undergo background checks before being allowed to drive.
What about wheelchairs? Mine is a manual one which folds up and fits inside the trunk. My husband will transfer me into and out of any car (there will be four of us traveling together). Should we ask the driver to place and remove it from their trunk to avoid causing any damage and/or being charged with damages? Do drivers dislike taking wheelchairs in their cars? I would like to take Uber or Lyft but worry about the logistics of traveling with a wheelchair. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips!
I’ve taken a couple of wheelchairs in my car–I have a small SUV so it fit nicely in the back. As long as you give a text heads-up to the driver, you should be okay, particularly if you explain that your husband will be helping you.
Thank you for the info! I will do that.
When leaving MK after the fireworks, is it difficult to get an Uber or Lyft? I’m planning on staying pretty close to the entrance, so that we can just run once they’re over, but is it even possible to get either if everyone is doing the same thing at the same time? Thanks.
Uber and Lyft both have queues at the Magic Kingdom–in fact MK after the fireworks is a very popular time and place to drive!
How can I find an estimate of what Lyft may charge to pick us up at MCO and drop us at The Contemporary….we have the Disney’s Magical Express but we’d consider by passing that
You can enter the trip on the Lyft app, but not request it. I just checked, and it was quoting me around $33, but that will vary a bit depending on the time of day.
A couple of tips. If going to MK, Uber to the Contemporary Hohatel and let them drop you off just past the guard station. From there you can take the path to MK – one of the biggest advantages of this is going through a dedicated bag/metal detector station on the path (so you can avoid the long lines in the every other guest goes through).
If Ubering FROM EPCOT, take the back Gateway exit and get picked up at the Beach Club resort. It’ll be much less crowded and the traffic will be much less.
Hi Tom, wanted to share a really bad experience-suprise while using Lyft on our last trip. We ate a Ohana and watched the fireworks from the beach after. We arranged a Lyft ride to go back to our resort. The fare was good, the service aswell. But when we got home we were suprised with a 150$ charge for damage to the drivers car. He charged us with damage for sand that stuck to our shoes and stayed on is carpet. We contested with the Lyft company and we were left very disatisfied with the way they handled our claim. Our therory is that they might “try” theses things with foreigners, since its harder for us from abroad to contest with ease. We hope us sharing this experience will give your readers one of the downsides to using this type of service. have a nice day.
It’s because sand is really hard to clean out of cars and costs the drivers extra money. Next time, bring another shoe to put on before you get in the car. Rental car companies do the same thing for sand.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article215299675.html
People who vomit in Ubers and claim they didn’t far outweigh drivers like this. One of the reasons I only drive mornings is to avoid drunks who might hurl in my car. 😀
Should I wait to use your Uber link until I get closer to my trip? We go in August of this year & didn’t know if I should use the link now or when we are closer to our arrival date.
Great tips. Thank you
Where does the drop off take place at Universal? How close to entrance?
Universal’s rideshare pick up/drop off area is at the bottom of the security pavilion before the park entrances. If you’re going to Volcano Bay (water park) you’ll pick up a bus and go through security there.
Thanks do they have any issues getting the car into drop off?
No issues–there’s lots of parking for rideshares.
Recently returned from WDW. We stayed at All Star Music and ended up using Lyft to get us from our resort to Universal Studios. For a family of 3, we went with just a small car and ended up paying about $20 each way (that included our tip). So, a total of about $80. Lyft asked us which area of the hotel we were in. This was nice as we didn’t have to trudge to the resort lobby to be picked up as they had a pick up location closer to our room.
We had no problem with Lyft (& I’m sure Uber would be the same.) Would highly recommend as another way to get around (though not free.)
I’m just confused – you said the Uber cost $20 each way, but the total was $80 – ??
Mia, that just proves I didn’t explain our Lyft usage properly. (ugh) It would’ve been about $80 for my family of 3 to take TWO ROUND TRIPS from Lyft from All Star Music to Universal Studios. Sorry about the confusion!
Can I get a 7 seater in Orlando with Uber
Yes–when you request an Uber and give the number in your party, a vehicle large enough to hold everybody will be sent to you. This is called UberXL.
My little family is going to WDW later this year. It’s a MUST that we go to church the sunday we’ll be there. We can Uber from Pop Century to the church, & back? May sound like a dumb question, but we’ve never used Uber before. Thanks!
As long as you choose the church beforehand and enter the address in the Uber app, you should have no issues. Google “churches near Disney World” and you should find sites that will list nearby churches by denomination.