Knowing Who to Trust

Posted by Filed under Cruising from Port Canaveral, Orlando Travel, Universal Florida Tips & Tricks, Walt Disney World Tips & Tricks

When the first version of the Orlando Hotel Shuttles website went live, it was really a site more like the “Kayak of Orlando ground transportation”. Like Kayak, we compared all of the local transportation companies in the area and presented a list of all the lowest prices for each route.

But within a few months, I had the chance to learn more about the industry, its drivers and owners, and the reputations of the various companies that were all providing low-priced trips to Disney-area hotels and resorts plus all those surrounding Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, Wet ‘n Wild, and of course SeaWorld. With all of the popular destinations for family fun and entertainment throughout Orlando and Kissimmee, coupled with the huge number of vacationers who swarm the region each year, the result is a vast menagerie of transportation options with varying levels of quality — some with highly questionable reliability.

So with swift perseverance, I made it a point to review each company on our list to vet each one and hone our “travel suppliers” down to a shorter list of excellent pricing and particular quality. And I have stayed fervently on this task — continuing to monitor our clients’ feedback on each booking and to stay in tune with the news of scandals involving disreputable drivers and providers in local  business.

The end result is a select grouping of the best ground transportation providers, ALL of whom I would proudly recommend and ANY one of which I would choose to transport myself or my family.

Please let us help you make this portion of your travel planning easier by inputting the routes for your upcoming trip, choosing from the competitive rates displayed, and using our easy reservation system to finalize your booking in short order. Have a great trip!

How to Save Money in Orlando

Posted by Filed under Universal Florida Tips & Tricks, Walt Disney World Tips & Tricks

Our clients will often ask me how to find savings for their trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando. Here is some of the vacation planning advice I have collected:

When you are trying to find discount theme park tickets, you will find there are dozens and dozens of options once you have arrived in Orlando. Many of the area resorts – particularly chain hotels such as Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Holiday Inn, etc. – will have a small desk in the lobby staffed with a person knowledgable about special events & concerts going on during the week. But best of all, they also sell discounted park tickets – maybe not at the lowest price possible, but it’s a good deal and will save you a ton of time.

If you’re not so interested in ‘paying the small convenience fee’ of a higher price in your hotel lobby, there are billboards and flyers all over town to direct you to the several “visitor centers” and discount ticket vendors located in all the highly trafficked tourist areas.

My personal favorite is located between the DoubleTree Hotel Universal Orlando, the Holiday Inn & Suites Maingate to Universal, and the Hyatt Place Universal, just across the street from the entrance drive heading into the Universal theme parks (which include Islands of Adventure where you’ll find The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – an amazing place). This little ticket location has everything; they do offer timeshare opportunities to land you an even better discount – but the staff people are very nice and won’t pressure you to buy anything more than the attraction tickets you came for. Plus they have a ton of brochures and printed information books to help with other aspects of your trip planning.

I’ve used both options in the past, and was even able to wrangle a discount for tickets to Blue Man Group for a less busy performance night directly from the auditorium’s own ticket booth personnel.

However you go for it, there is so much to do & tons of fun to have when you visit Orlando! We hope you’ll come and see us soon!

A Savings Success Story

Posted by Filed under Cruising from Port Canaveral, Walt Disney World Tips & Tricks

Recently a man contacted us to ask about how to create his reservation when he was being dropped off at MCO, instead of flying in on an airline. He had booked round-trip travel on the cruise line bus, which only took him and his family to and from the airport.

This gentleman and his wife were planning a family trip with their kids and grandkids. The cruise line made it ‘easy’ to add on their ground transportation to the port, but since the family wanted to spend a few days at Walt Disney World following the cruise, he wanted to book a separate round trip from MCO to his Disney area resort hotel.

I explained that we could certainly book the transfers he requested, but that with the multi-route discount available, I could probably save him even more money while also providing a private vehicle for his family for the routes to and from the port as well.

After comparing the Cruise’s ground transport price of $70 per person for his group of seven passengers, he was able to not only enjoy having a private driver waiting for him at the airport baggage claim, but they rode in a private car for all three routes AND saved $285. The cruise line gave a full refund of their ground transportation charges in a simple cancellation process.

Helping people have More Fun on their trip – and saving them money – is what we love! Click the link above to get your Free Quote and start our simple (and free) booking process.