Free Transport from Disney World Hotels to Universal
My friends at Destinations in Florida Travel have a deal where if you buy your Universal tickets from them, you can use, for free, their shuttle service from Disney World hotels to Universal and Harry Potter.
For more, and to get your Universal tickets that provide this free deal, see this.
For more on getting to Harry Potter from Walt Disney World, see this.
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4 comments
When I inquired about shutte service from Disney World to Universal Studios, I was told the shuttle would pick us up at our hotel at our pre-arranged appointed time and deliver us to Universal Studios within 20 minutes. I was told if we planned an 8:00 a.m. pickup, we would have plenty of time to get to Universal and pick up our tickets before the park opened. UNTRUE! By the time we finally arrived in the parking lot, the park had already been open for nearly half an hour! The bus arrived 20 minutes after the scheduled time, the bus driver seemed to take forever to check in passengers (6 people who had been waiting for nearly a half hour by this time did not even get on the bus because it was full). We stopped at Sea World en route (this fact was NOT communicated to me when I inquired about the services). The Mears driver made us carsick due to what seemed like his trying to keep a raw egg between his foot and the gas pedal; he kept blabbering about how we should stay at other resorts because they were cheaper than Disney’s (what does he care what we spent?), pointed out where we could go and guestimated the cost of the bus service, and on and on–unfortunately, he had a heavy accent so we had a hard time understanding him. I’m sure he meant well, but we all would have preferred a quiet ride, I’m sure. When we headed home, it took nearly one hour and forty minutes before we arrived at our hotel–I didn’t sign on for a Disney tour, which seemed exactly what we got because we stopped again at Sea World and then stopped at five Disney resorts before we got to where we were staying.
Had I expected this, so be it. However, it was NOT the service I was told I was paying for. I was duped. Give your customers honest advice–incorrect information was disseminated to me when making my vacation plans, and I am angry.
I will give your salesgirl Dawn Caitano praise for being apologetic; however, she either lied to me or had no clue how things actually work. Your agents need to have first-hand knowledge of how things work. I fell hook, line, and sinker. She suggested we call Mears to voice our complaint.
Then, when we called Mears Transportation to complain, their representative was belligerent. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her name. “There was no way it took over an hour and fifteen minutes to get back to the resort; there must have been traffic.” There was no traffic and it took much longer than 75 minutes!
Destinations in Florida pointed their finger at Mears and Mears pointed their fingers back to Destinations in Florida. In the end, we were the loosers!
You should send representatives to the Orlando area to suffer through the same experiences you expose your customers to.
When we headed home,
Mary I’m very sorry this happened to you.
Hello Mary,
I am quite disappointed to hear about your situation. I actually personally test this shuttle service (once a month as a secret guest) to make sure they are doing the exact same service we are telling our guests. I am quite disappointed to hear so many frustrations with your experience.
The ticket/shuttle combo is a Universal Studios ticket with Mears Transportation operating the transportation. If there is ever an issue, we certainly want to know about it, because we do know the proper people to contact in regards to any issues and to get the issues immediately fixed. I will check with Dawn to see if she has already contacted Mears Transportation and Universal Studios. We want to make sure Universal Studios, especially is notified about this situation, since this is their ticket/shuttle combo.
Do you remember the driver’s name? Having a late driver is unacceptable and Mears takes this very seriously. If we ever hear of a driver that is late, they are reported immediately. If you remember the drivers name, I would like to contact Mears Transportation, since the driver does need to be reported so this does not happen again. The shuttle is always suppose to be on time, usually early for our guests.
We have been selling this ticket option since Universal Studios offered it several years ago. Mears Transportation NEVER stops by Sea World. With this ticket option it is suppose to be a direct transport from your Disney or Orlando Hotel to Universal Studios. I am greatly concerned that they made a stop at Sea World. They are NOT suppose to do this and I certainly will talk with Universal Studios about this situation, too.
I am truly sorry this happened during your visit to Universal Studios. I will certainly be following up with Universal Studios and Mears Transportation in regards to all of these issues. Please email me at allison@destinationsinflorida.com with the rest of your details including your reservation number. I would like to talk with you more about your experience.
Thanks!
Allison
Thanks Allison–Mary, I really encourage you to reach out to Allison–she can help…
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