6 Things To Know About The Minnie Van Service At Walt Disney World

Editor’s Note: The Minnie Van Service at Disney World has been discontinued. While not as magical, Uber and Lyft are both options for getting around property quickly with designated pick up and drop off areas at the parks and public areas of Disney World.

Minnie Mouse’s fashionista style is not only cute and classic, but it’s making an impact on the transportation world! That’s right… Walt Disney World’s roadways are filling with red cars with white polka dots and rocking the name “Minnie Vans”. This isn’t your typical pile everyone in the car for soccer practice type of minivan, but rather, stylish wheels that offer a relaxing ride to and from destinations all over Disney World property. Roll with us through these six things you’ll want to know about the Minnie Van service before rockin’ the dots through town!

1 – What Is This New Transportation All About?

Disney World has all sorts of transportation options including bus, boat, the Monorail, and walking paths. While all of these options are extremely useful and complimentary to guests, Disney was seeing an influx in Uber and taxi use among their guests. Disney responded to this trend by partnering with Lyft (an on-demand transportation company) to launch the Minnie Van Service. The service began as a pilot program at just a few select Disney World Resorts. When these red with white polka dot Chevrolet Traverse SUVs began hitting the roads, popularity grew! Minnie Van Service is now available at all Disney World Resort hotels.

2 – Logistics

The Minnie Van fleet is comprised of many Chevrolet Traverse SUVs that allows for up to six passengers. Two wheelchair accessible vans are available as well. An infant car seat and toddler car seat are readily available in each car if you have a little one you need to haul. Drivers will put the car seat in for you and you simply buckle your little one in. We also like that the drivers are actual Disney Cast Members (many former bus drivers). The hours of operation are 6:30 am to 12:30 am but we hope this time frame will change as popularity grows. For example, we’d love for it to be available early enough to drop us off at RunDisney events when we are ready at 4 am or late enough to pick us up when we’re done dancing the night away at the Atlantic Dance Hall at 2 am.

3 – Using the Service

To use the service the first step is to download the Lyft App if you don’t already have it on your phone. The Minnie Van service is organized via the Lyft App… not the My Disney Experience App as you’d suspect. Once that is done, Lyft will offer easy steps to send for a driver, driver’s current location, and how to input your credit card information. Simply confirm your location, tap your desired destination and then watch your Minnie Van’s progress on its way to pick you up.

4 – Where Can You Go?

The Minnie Van Service will take you all over Walt Disney World property. It can pick you up or drop you off anywhere on property. Disney Resorts, Disney Springs, ESPN Wide World of Sports, all four theme parks, and Disney’s two water parks are all included in where you can go! We’ve learned the Minnie Van service is especially wonderful when going to and from Magic Kingdom. Unlike Uber or a taxi, the Minnie Van is allowed to pull in where the buses pick and drop off right at the entrance of the park. If you take Uber or a taxi to Magic Kingdom, you’ll be dropped off and picked up at the Transportation Ticket Center.

5 – What Is The Cost?

Unlike all other forms of Disney World transportation, Minnie Van service is NOT complimentary. As of September 2018, the service now has a flat fee of $15, plus charges $2.75 per mile. Most trips will now be around $30. This was disappointing news since before it was a flat fee of $25. Now a trip from the Contemporary Resort to Disney’s Animal Kingdom will cost almost $40!  Lastly, your app will state that no tip is required as typically Cast Members are not tipped for their services. When we asked our driver about the tip process, he stated it’s not required or expected but if a guest would like to leave a tip they are welcome to.

6 – Service To and From Orlando International Airport

Minnie Van service includes a ride from Orlando International Airport to your Disney Resort hotel and vise versa as much as six months. Keep in mind, the Magical Express will do this for resort guests at no charge, however, you might prefer this option instead. You can book this service as much as six months in advance. To arrange a one-way or round trip booking, call (407) WDW-PLAY or (407) 939-7529—have your flight information handy. For domestic travel, make sure pickup is at least 2 hours prior to flight departure—for international travel, at least 3 hours prior. Also, be mindful of your luggage. Minnie Van service vehicles can accommodate up to six medium-sized suitcases. The price for airport Minnie Van service is $155 each way–gratuity not included.

Airport service is available for all Walt Disney World Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort, Shades of Green, Disney Springs Resort Area Hotels, Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek, Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, SpringHill Suites Orlando at Flamingo Crossings and TownePlace Suites Orlando at Flamingo Crossings.

7 – Our Experience

Overall, our experience with the Minnie Van Service was an exceptional one. We used our push notification from the My Disney Experience App as our invitation and downloaded the Lyft app. We were at Magic Kingdom on the last day of our week-long trip. We were tired and there was the usual mad rush out of the park after the fireworks. We decided while the crowd rushed out, we’d have a seat and send for a Minnie Van back to our resort. The Lyft app is extremely easy to navigate through and within a minute, we had Minnie Van number 28 ready to serve our party of five. We got a call immediately from the driver that gave us directions on where he was located in the bus loop (although the app was showing us where the Minnie Van was located too). We walked out of the park directly to the car where the driver greeted us. He was great at helping us get loaded with all our bags, asking if we needed anything, and even opened the doors for us. The drive back to Old Key West Resort where we were staying was a peaceful one. No fighting bus crowds! The driver played some Magic Kingdom music and chatted with us as we drove. We learned he was a former bus driver but was loving this new role. It was especially comfortable knowing he knew the most direct way through the traffic and construction. He pulled into our parking lot, as close to our room as possible at Old Key West. We had already paid the fee via our credit card on the app, but as mentioned above regarding tips, we gave him a cash tip. Will we use this service again? Absolutely! It was well worth the money in our opinion for when we needed it most.