What happens the first time you book a private car instead of a shuttle?
The trip starts about forty minutes earlier than it used to. That is the honest answer, and it is the one first time guests mention most. There is no waiting for a bus to fill, no loop through three other resorts before yours, and no standing in a queue with luggage while a dispatcher counts heads and reads names off a clipboard.
This family booked both directions on their first attempt. They got one chauffeur out to the resort and a different one back to the airport, and said both were friendly and personable. Two people. Two shifts, a week apart, and the same standard from both. That consistency is not luck and it is not a coincidence. It is the reason we own our fleet and employ our chauffeurs directly rather than brokering rides out to whoever happens to be available that morning, which is how most of the market operates. A first booking with The Genie Transportation Services is a test and we know it. This family finished the trip saying they would use us again on their next trip to Orlando, which is the only review metric that really counts. Anyone can win a first booking with a good price. Winning the second one is the harder trick.
Is booking the return leg at the same time actually worth it?
Yes, and mostly for a reason nobody thinks about while they are booking. Reserving both directions at once locks in your departure vehicle before the calendar fills, and Orlando departure mornings cluster hard. Checkout at the big Disney resorts happens inside a narrow window. Cruise returns push thousands of people onto the road at the same hour. The 5am to 8am block gets tight weeks ahead of time. It fills quietly.
Booking it while you are already booking the arrival costs you nothing extra and removes a decision from the middle of your vacation, which is worth something on its own. It also means the same standards apply on the way home, when you are tired, the kids have peaked, and you are least equipped to troubleshoot somebody else's problem. You can see how the two legs are priced on our transportation rates page. Round trip is also the only way to add a stroller through our Disney stroller rental service, because the return leg is how the stroller comes back to us.
Which vehicle should a first time family pick?
Count the bags, not the people. That is the mistake almost every first time booker makes, and it is an easy one. Six people fit in a Genie Comfort GMC Yukon XL comfortably. Six people with six large suitcases, a stroller, and a week of theme park shopping is a completely different problem, and the honest answer there is the Genie XL Mercedes Sprinter.
Couples and solo travellers with light bags do fine in a Genie Express. The VIP Cadillac Escalade ESV seats five and exists for guests who want the arrival itself to feel like part of the holiday. We would far rather talk you into the right vehicle on the phone than watch a chauffeur play luggage tetris in a resort porte cochere while a family stands there wondering whether they have made a mistake. Our fleet and service levels page lists real passenger and suitcase capacities for every class rather than vague descriptions, and our team will size it with you when you book private transportation from MCO.
If you are genuinely unsure, tell us the flight number and the ages of the children and let us pick. We do this every day and we get it wrong far less often than a booking form does.
What Our Guests Say
"This is our first time using The Genie! Our driver took us to our resort and drove us back to the airport and both were very friendly and personable. We definitely 100% will be using The Genie on our next trip to Orlando."