10 Disney World Rideshare Tips We Learned the Hard Way
If you’re going to Disney World and won’t have access to a car, you’ll need a way to get around the resort.
Rideshare sign
And although Disney World has an excellent transportation system, sometimes you might need to book a rideshare, especially if you’re in a rush or need to travel quickly from one Disney World location to another. We use rideshare services at Disney World A LOT, so we’re going to break down our best tips and tricks based on everything we’ve learned along the way.
Make Sure You Know Where Pick-Up And Drop-Off Spots Are
Rideshare services aren’t always able to drop guests off at specific Disney World locations. So you’ll need to know where to catch rideshare, as well as where you’ll be dropped off.
Rideshare can be faster than Disney buses
When it comes to the parks, you might wonder why you’d even need a rideshare — but at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT, you can be dropped off in front of the entrances. This could make the difference in making it to a park in time for an advance dining reservation or rope drop.
Rideshare can get you to Animal Kingdom faster
But here’s what you need to know if you’re grabbing a rideshare FROM the parks — where to find the pick-up locations:
- Animal Kingdom: front of the park to the ride side of the parking lot
- Hollywood Studios: last row of the bus station
- EPCOT: right as you get into the parking lot on the left
- Magic Kingdom: at ticket and transportation center (we’ll get to that in a bit)
- Disney Springs – Marketplace Bus Loop on the east side and loading zones 8 and 9 of the West Side Bus Loop
- Resorts: front entrance
Rideshare services can drop you off and pick you up at hotel entrances.
Most locations have signs pointing you to rideshare pick-up points, so be sure to look for those. And you can always ask a Cast Member to point you in the right direction, in case you don’t see those signs right away.
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Be At The Pick-Up Location BEFORE You Book Your Ride
Don’t book your ride until you are near the pick-up location. Here’s why — if you book your ride from your hotel room or somewhere that’s not anywhere near where you need to be picked up, you may miss your ride, especially if it gets there quickly.
Rideshare Pick-up at Animal Kingdom
So study the list above so you know where the pick-up locations are, go there, and THEN AND ONLY THEN book your ride.
Here’s The Disney World Planning Advice We IGNORE.
You Can’t Be Dropped Off or Picked Up Directly at Magic Kingdom
If you take a rideshare to Magic Kingdom (or need to be picked up there), you’ll be picked up and dropped off at the Ticket and Transportation Center. You’ll need to then take the Monorail or Ferry to and from the park. However, you can walk from Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Resort and take a rideshare from there.
Ticket and Transportation Center
This may not work both ways, though — rideshare drivers can only drop off guests at the Contemporary (and other resorts) if they have a room booked there or a dining reservation for a resort restaurant.
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Give Yourself Plenty Of Time to Get to Where You’re Going
After Disney World reopened, it started to take a little longer to book a rideshare, although that has improved recently. But we will always recommend booking your ride with PLENTY of time to get to wherever it is you need to be, whether it’s for rope drop, an advance dining reservation, or something else.
©Uber
We have seen waits of just 7 to 10 minutes, but during busier times, you could wait as long as 40 minutes for a rideshare, so make sure you account for that possibility in your plans.
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If You Have Children And Need a Car Seat, You Can Request One
Not all rideshare drivers have car seats, so if you have children and need one, you can indicate in both the Uber and Lyft apps that you will need a driver with a car seat.
©Uber
However, note that this might mean you could wait a little longer for a ride, so as we previously suggested, give yourself plenty of time to find a driver with a car seat to pick you up and get you to where you’re going.
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Pick Priority Mode with Lyft When It’s Available
If you’re really in a hurry, you might want to consider Lyft for your rideshare service, which has a “Priority” mode. If you choose that mode, it encourages drivers to pick you up faster, especially if there aren’t other eligible drivers in your immediate area. This will cost you a little more, but you’ll get picked up a lot faster.
Priority mode can get you picked up faster, so you can get to EPCOT faster!
There’s even a guarantee that if a priority driver can’t get to you in time, the upcharge for the priority ride is removed from the total cost of your ride. Though this isn’t the most budget-friendly option, it does give some peace of mind knowing that there is an option available if you’re in a super big hurry!
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Rideshare Is a Good Option When Disney Buses Are Taking Too Long
Sometimes, Disney transportation is slower than we would like. Sometimes, buses aren’t running too regularly (which is often the case in the middle of the day). Sometimes the Skyliner has been shut down or delayed because of weather or another problem. Sometimes the Monorail gets closed or delayed due to technical issues.
Sometimes Disney transportation just isn’t fast enough
If you’re waiting on Disney transportation and it’s just not arriving to pick you up fast enough, rideshare will get there quickly and you’ll be on your way a lot faster. These options are particularly appealing when you just can’t take that Florida heat another minute and need that air-conditioned ride ASAP, or after your 14th loop around World Showcase, when your legs just can’t hold you any longer!
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Rideshare Is the Best Option When Traveling From Resort to Resort
Believe it or not, Disney transportation from resort to resort isn’t that great, unless you’re staying at a Skyliner or Monorail resort and traveling to another Skyliner or Monorail resort. So rideshare is often times the best option if you need to travel from somewhere like Disney’s Boardwalk Inn and Resort to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
If you’re traveling from resort to resort, rideshare is your best option.
You could always travel from one resort to Disney Springs and then transfer to another bus to get from one resort to another, but rideshare is faster and more convenient.
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If You Take Rideshare to the Parks In the Morning, You Might Have to Wait
If you take a rideshare to a theme park in the morning, maybe for early entry or rope drop, you’ll need to understand that cars that aren’t Disney transportation are held at the main gate until a specific time every morning.
You may get held up at the gate early in the morning until it officially opens.
So be prepared to wait WHILE in your rideshare if you call for it super early to get to the parks. Parking lots are generally open to the public around 60-90 minutes before a park’s official opening time, so this is usually when cars are allowed to drive through the main gate. So keeping an eye on park hours can also come in handy!
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Busy and Peak Times Will Cost More
It’s the basic rule of supply and demand — more demand means that cost goes up. And that’s the case with rideshare. During busy times — like park opening and park closing — you’re going to pay more for a rideshare than you normally would. This also comes into play on the weekend evenings at Disney Springs, too!
Bus Line at Magic Kingdom
Here’s a tip — if you see a price that’s a lot more than what you expected on the rideshare app, just wait 5-10 minutes because that’s all it might take for that price to go down. Also, be sure to check both Uber AND Lyft to get the best price. And if you are traveling in a group, check on multiple phones. The prices can and will vary.
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So those are our top tips for using rideshare at Disney World, and we’ll continue to share all our best tips and tricks to make sure you have the most magical time possible on your next Disney World vacation.
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Have you ever taken a rideshare at Disney World? Let us know in the comments!
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