How can non-car drivers get from Disney World to Universal Orlando?
Walt Disney World: We booked the 5-park orlando flex ticket including Universal, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, but we're not driving. How can we get there from Disney?
were staying at the all star resort hotel in disneyworld for 2 weeks in june, and weve also got the orlando flexi ticket so we can go to sea world, bushgardens and orlando studios.
were not taking a rental car so how could we safely travel to these other resorts and back again every day?
And if it involves shuttles etc are they safe at the late hours of the night (well 9-10pm)
any help would be greatly appreciated :)
From Alon Adar
Posted April 9, 2005 at 9:12 PM
The All-Star Resort is WAY out of the way in Orlando. Disney hotels don't provide shuttles to Universal (for obvious reasons) like other hotels do, so your best (and only option) is to take a cab. However, that's going to be an expensive cab ride...so expensive that it might justify the cost of an economy rental car!
From Alan Bell
Posted April 9, 2005 at 11:08 PM
you can catch the links bus (i think its the number 52) direct to seaworld. you can then get the i-ride trolly which can take you to anywhere on i-drive including wet and wild. if you get off the trolly at universal bulivard then its only a short 10 min walk to both IOA and Universal. If you get off the stop before seaworld then you could also get a free transfer from the links bus to catch another links bus that goes down i-drive. the shuttle for busch gardens picks up at seaworld, universal and the mecado centre (on i-drive). we have been on vacation to florida for the last 5 years with no car and had no problems with transport at all. but we stay the other way round (on i-drive and travel to disney) if you are gonna be using the i-ride trollys alot then its cheaper to get one of the passes that gives unlimited rides for a set amount of days. I hope this help you. your theme parks are the best ours in the uk just cant compare :(
From Alan Bell
Posted April 9, 2005 at 11:17 PM
forgot to mention the links bus can be boarded at the disney transportation centre which you can get to free from your hotel using the disney busses.
Hey, before I moved here I experimented with every mode of transportation available. I solved most of my problems by not going to both resorts on each visit, but if you aren't fortunate enough to make a couple trips per year, the ONLY way to go if you can swing it is to rent a car.
The biggest savings is time! The shuttles, however free (in most cases. Others have a small fee), cost you dearly in time and that is a huge factor down here because you will spend plenty of time in queues to waste anymore waiting for transport.
As I said, I've done it every way I can think of and the bottom line to determine which is best for you is ask yourself the question "do I have more time or money on this trip?".
The answer to that question will help you with your transportation choices.
2 weeks is plenty of time. The 50 bus goes from Disney Ticket Center straight to Sea World parking lot. Getting to Universal takes more time. Either 2 buses (50 & 21) or 3 (50, 42, 37). The 21 & 37 go to the Universal parking garage. The walk from the Trolley is long and lonely on a busy street. The Trolley is smaller and can get VERY crowded. Lots of "shopping tourists" in groups of 5-10 with lots of goodie bags. Many "park-goers" take the bus, you won't be alone. But it can take almost 2 hours to Universal. Sea World is fast, just the next stop on the 50. Tell the driver what bus you want to transfer to, and he'll tell you where( no transfer to Sea World). Fare is $1.50--have exact amount. A cab to Universal will run $40 each way. The website is www. golynx.com Then Route Assistance--schedules and maps. I have done this many times and will again in May. Just relax and take a tour.
Sorry to say, I would look into renting a car if you are going to go to Disney Parks and "other" more than once. Especially to Bush Gardens because it is the furthest away. As you see, Disney does NOT want you to go to the other parks. The issue here is that Disney is its own little town so they control the transportation of that area!
If you get the link bus out of disney, towards seaworld, get off at seaworld and cross over the road, get the trolley bus up International drive towards Universal, or use the link bus to universal. the trolley bus passes were $14 per adult for two weeks, free for some children. The tourist board in florida has all the info on buses and transportation in Orlando
The Central Florida Transportation Authority has a
Lynx online bus trip planner that might be of help.
Staying on property at a Disney resort really hurts you here. If you were staying off-property, preferrably someplace north of Disney and south of Universal, you'd likely be able to pick up a shuttle from your hotel to take you to all three resort areas. But Disney's hotels do not run shuttles to either Universal or SeaWorld, forcing you to use the Orlando public buses instead.
From Joe Lane
Posted April 11, 2005 at 6:34 AM
You could always steal some pixie dust and use it to fly to Universal... :-P
thanks guys. lots to think about. is the area around these parks dodgy? are the buses/bus stops safe? id hate to be waiting around looking for buses late at night in a rough neighbourhood.
There are no rough neighborhoods in that part of Orlando, though there is the typical petty crime that you'd see in any tourist-laden community in America. Watch your wallet and your purse, and don't talk to street cons. Nighttime is no more, or less, dangerous for this sort of thing than any other time of day. The areas around the theme parks in Orlando in summer is as much a 24/7 "always open" city as New York or Las Vegas.
The bigger problem is pedestrian safety. You've got thousands of people coming to, leaving from and driving between these parks -- most with little or no idea where they are going. Crossing streets on foot, therefore, can be quite dangerous, even when you have the right-of-way.
Hi Bob
I was told if you don't feel safe get a cab from Universal to disney, but the late buses run untill 10.30pm. You can get a link pass for the week. The best bet is to go on the website, Florida.com or www.Internationaldrive.com the trolley buses timetables are on the website.
Rental car is your best bet. It is fairly easy to get around Orlando, since all of these attractions are off of I-4, the main interstate. Good website for info on car deals, or transportation around Disney is mousesavers.com. I have been able to save a lot of money with their info on car and hotels on my last two trips. Another hint: buy the refillable cups at All Star Resorts. You can use it for coffee in the morning and soda later in the day if you decide to eat there.
Well, to be fair, you can
book hotels and rental cars on Theme Park Insider, too.
I did Florida without a car this past August. We used a shuttle service to get to all of the parks: Disney (we stayed off property), Universal, Sea World, and Busch. The name of the company was Ceasar Transpotation. We found it to be fast and a reasonable price (I don't remember exactly how much off hand, but I can find out if you're interested). Also, I posted part one of a trip report onour experiences on TPI at http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=1888. Most of the info that would help you will be in the extremely delayed part two (yes it is still coming, for that one bored person out there who still remembers the first one), but you might find somthing in there useful.
Robert you are right -- and to be fair, I have booked some hotels through TPI - Thanks for the reminder!
We stayed offsite at the Radisson and saw a sign that offered shuttle service to Universal for about $14. Not sure about the times.
All this is probably too late, but the info might still be valuable...
You MIGHT want to check online for some sort of car service. I found someone to drive us from Universal to the All-Star Sports for $20. But that was a side deal I made from one such car service from our hotel which is the service that brought us to the hotel. But you have to look around the web quite a bit.
Still, rental rates per day will be much cheaper than paying for a taxi (unless you find a perfect bus schedule, which I never could) both ways.
BUT, here's the BEST plan, though it would involve canceling days on your trip: One year, we spent four nights at a hotel near Universal, where we had a free shuttle to Universal and SeaWorld (SeaWorld used to have their own shuttle to BGTB). Then we took the towncar to All-Star for the Disney portion of the vacation. Really, unless you have already paid for the whole package, there is no point in staying in a WDW hotel if you aren't going to BE in WDW that day. You don't get the Magic Hour Benefit; you don't get the transportation benefits; you don't get the closeness benefit. You can get a lot of places outside WDW for the same cost that are just as nice (if not nicer) than the All-Star for the non-Disney part of your stay, and then move to WDW when you will actually benefit from it. What you miss from being "inside the Magic" you will more than make up for by not having to hassle with taxis or rental cars. (Plug your dates into TPI's hotel page and you'll see what your options are. For four nights in August I found comparable prices at many 3-star hotels, including the Sheraton Studio City, the cool tower near Universal. UO's Royal Pacific is $159, which would include front-of-the-line ability. And always check out their site for specials.)
Hello
my english isn't good but I am deaf and write some bad grammatic or spelling, please notice that not dismiss the words.
I tell my story about the vacation from Orlando /FL, we have been the third times over and we going to Universal Studios with cab amount most expensives $20 to now $30 and back again same $30! We have stay the hotels to Disney's All Star Movies, now is since Christmas 2010 to Port Orlean's Riverside, again the cabs drive to Universal Studios, my best friend (my school friend), she tell me the free driving bus to Universal Studios, I didn't know how did I look at the internet, but I could want only my native language german, if I read to understand as than hard english - know - how...
I tell my mother, she isn't believe the free shuttle to Universal Studios.
I want to plan in next time again to Orlando and we wish cost free shuttle to Walt Disney World, how can I do that?
My mother asked too the hotel recpetions, they aren't clue with the transport... I couldn't know better.
Perhaps can to help me, if I catch cost free transport.
greeting from Luxembourg, Europe.
Davi
Well the Flex Ticket used to have a bus that would go from Seaworld to Wet'n'Wild then down to Busch Gardens. I'm not sure if they still have that anymore but it could be an option. For traveling around from Disney to Seaworld/Universal your better off to take a taxi then trying public transportation in my opinion. Though if you want to local bus system is "Lynx" which runs all threw both Disney, Kissmmee and the theme park areas.
Perhaps an Orlando local in here could help Davi out, contact her privately and get the information from her hotel about what transportation services they offer. I don't think she said that she had a hotel yet, so maybe they could give her a few ideas about what hotels have the best transportation services for what she needs. She's deaf, her native language is German, and she can write understandably in English. I think she did pretty well!
Carrie and James:
thanks with help.
Where are the station from bus over the outside of Disney's parcs? Mears and other cabs are payment, we has been used then I want not too much money spent to tax and tip. Which are the Disney's Hotels not contact with the connection of free driving to other parcs, Flex Tickets we have last two years ago used and we haven't know what to driving into the street. I don't have car license.
Walt Disney World is the way from 11 kilometres (european number as US Miles about some 6 miles, right? ) the cabs costs $30 in and back together $60 , I think it is really too much money spent!
free driving with bus costs some $5 or $10... I don't know about US traffic and stations of train or bus shuttle. In the Europe are a lot of bus traffic into transfer at home, station, city and prize the entre into bus costs cheaper $1 to $5.
I think, at Disney's parcs need the traffic from outside to Universal Studios and Co. that is my option for taste about proposal.
Example, I visting a lot of time at french Disneyland Paris and staying at the hotels, bus shuttle are free from hotels to parcs, very short walking to hotels and other people live at home from nearly Paris, they take used by bus traffic from the locations home, station and take used too the train, U-subway from Paris, pay or ticket cards owned are cheaper as than the cabs taxi!
Same at Anaheim / Calfornia with bus shuttle once time pay and driving to Universal Studios.
One other option is purchasing the Universal Studios ticket called the 1-Day/2-Park Pass. This ticket allows you one day to visit both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It includes transportation from the Disney Hotels or Orlando Area Hotels for free. You get free roundtrip transportation.
http://www.destinationsinflorida.com/universal/1daypasses.html
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