Should You Use Minnie Vans During Your Vacation?
One of the questions that I get asked most frequently isn’t simple to answer. It’s a debate of style vs. substance, an argument of financial responsibility vs. vacation splurges. What’s the question? Should you use Minnie Vans during your Walt Disney World trips? Read on for my thoughts.
Why Would You Use Minnie Vans
While you’re at Walt Disney World, you’re at the mercy of Disney’s mercurial transportation services. Buses and boats are notoriously unreliable in terms of timing. Their uptime is the gold standard in the transportation industry, which means that they’ll get you where you’re going in one piece. You don’t know how long it will take, though.
Disney has recently improved bus schedules by adding arrival times at the bus stations of some resorts. Similarly, the My Disney Experience app will display bus departure times from your hotel. It’s still fairly inconsistent, though.
During a recent stay at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, no bus information showed on the app. I reloaded several times to check but didn’t catch a break. I was stuck in my hotel room, waiting for a bus.
Then, on my next reload, roughly six minutes after I had started, the app notified me that a bus would appear in four minutes. I was…more than four minutes away from the bus depot.
So, I had to sprint to it and hope for the best. It was far from ideal. I had to sound cynical, but Disney’s bus system isn’t much better than it was in 2010 despite a decade of technological advances.
Minnie Vans solve this problem, albeit at a high price. You load the Lyft app on your phone and select the section for Minnie Vans. Then, you choose a pick-up spot. Your driver will arrive in a few minutes and transport you almost anywhere on the Disney campus.
The feeling is addictive. With Minnie Van service, you move around on your schedule, not Disney’s. It’s a much more efficient form of park transportation. And it has other benefits that I’ll discuss in a moment.
The Perils of Ride-Sharing
Imagine a personal chauffeur driving you around the Walt Disney World campus. That sounds dreamy, right? Now, contrast that idea with the thought of the weirdest ride-share driver you’ve ever met.
I’d link you to some of the stories, but most of them are shockingly NSFW. Of course, the reverse is true, as drivers have their own moderately SFW stories about customers. The point is that you never know what you’re getting as a passenger or driver with ride-sharing.
Minnie Vans aren’t quite as good as the personal chauffeur dream. However, they’re far better than a random ride on Uber or Lyft. Now, as I said a moment ago, the Minnie Van service employs Lyft to schedule rides. You don’t use Lyft drivers, though. Please allow me to explain why.
The Benefits of Minnie Vans
Disney trains its own cast members to drive Minnie Vans. The gig is quite prestigious, as former bus drivers apparently earn quite a bit more and have more enjoyable workdays. As such, you’re likely to learn a lot about Disney from your driver. That’s only an ancillary benefit, though.
The primary point is that you’re not getting in a Minnie Van with a stranger. Instead, you’re trusting a Disney cast member to do their job. Given the competitive nature of these gigs, you’ll have the best of Disney drivers at your disposal.
This professional will know the best paths to transport you to your destination. Their vehicle will come with some other benefits, too. It seats up to six passengers, two of whom can ride in baby carriages if needed. So, it fits the needs of any traveling party.
Plus, the vehicles feature USB ports. You can charge your devices while you travel! For this reason, Minnie Vans work well during the middle of the day. You take a quick break from the parks while rejuvenating your body and your smartphone.
I also want to circle back to driver knowledge. Some of the cast members have worked at Disney for 20 years or more. They know the history of your favorite attractions and the parks themselves. Feel free to engage them in conversation to learn more about your surroundings!
Also, ask them if they know any Disney rumors. In my experience, Minnie Van drivers know as much about upcoming attractions as anybody at the parks. Surprisingly, they’re willing to share this information. Most cast members are tight-lipped, but I haven’t found Minnie Van drivers that way. Your mileage may vary, of course.
The Cons of Minnie Vans
I only have two minor quibbles and one major one about Minnie Vans. We once had a driver bail on us for a strange reason.
The service advertises that it’s available anywhere, but the cast member couldn’t/wouldn’t take us to the Disney outlet store. It’s on the campus and also a business that Disney owns. So, that surprised us a bit. The person was very polite but firm in saying they had to go immediately. I’m still not sure whether that was our fault or the driver’s.
The other insignificant concern involves wait-times. I have praised the service as better than buses or boats, which I mean. However, it’s still imperfect. I’ve had to wait as long as 40 minutes for a Minnie Van. On the other hand, one has arrived in less than 10 minutes. There’s a sizable disparity in pick-up times. It’s undoubtedly an actionable area of improvement.
Of course, the real problem with Minnie Vans is the price. In reviewing the cost of our last three trips, we spent about $105 before tips. That’s $35 per trip. From conversations with others, I know that we’ve also gotten off cheap. Realistically, you should expect to pay at least $40 (plus tip) for a trip.
Final Thoughts
Disney already isn’t cheap. Spending another $40 for a 20-minute drive is a deal-breaker for many people. I understand that, which is why I only recommend Minnie Vans for special situations.
For example, let’s say that you’re traveling from one Disney resort to another. A bus won’t take you there directly. You’ll need transfers, which could add 30 minutes or more to your travel time. In such an instance, a Minnie Van provides a (costly) solution.
I justify the cost this way. I know how much I’m spending per day at Walt Disney World. So, any time that I waste along the way comes with a legitimate financial opportunity cost. Taking a Minnie Van isn’t saving me money per se, but it’s maximizing my time in a way that regular Disney transportation doesn’t.
Also, riding around in a Minnie Van is just plain fun. I feel like Disney royalty when the polka dot SUV pulls up beside me. It’s like an attraction outside the parks, and I’m willing to pay for it…on rare occasions.