Disney World is like a city unto itself, which makes being able to traverse it as vital as getting around any other town. Now the park is partnering with Lyft to make getting around easier. And the name of the vehicles is perfect. Starting today, users of the Lyft service who are visiting Walt Disney World can call a car to get them from one area of the parks to another, and they'll be picked up by a red and white polka dotted Minnie Van.
First announced at the D23 Expo, the Minnie Van program is now entering its pilot stage where it will take guests from the BoardWalk Resort and Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts to anyplace else within the Disney World Resort complex. Users of the Lyft app will have access to the Minnie Vans as they would any other car using the service. Eventually, the Minnie Vans are planned to expand to serve the entire park.
The Minnie Vans are designed to accommodate up to six people and they include a pair of versatile car seats, a smart move since families will obviously be a big part of the population of Disney World.
This should be a welcome addition to the transportation options within Walt Disney World. Between the four theme parks, the Disney Springs downtown area, and the more than two dozen hotels, there are numerous places you'll want to go over the course of your vacation. While there are already shuttles that can transport you and the Monorail can stop at several hotels and two of the parks, these options either don't go everywhere that you want to go, or they don't do it very quickly. While the Minnie Van will have an additional charge to it, something those other options don't have, for many the speed will be worth the cost, and even for those that don't use it, its existence will hopefully take a step to alleviate the congestion of the other methods. Plus, you get to ride around in a cool Minnie Mouse car, and who doesn't want to do that?
No timeline has been given for the expansion of the Minnie Van service for other guests, but we can guess it will happen sooner rather than later. The biggest issue that I foresee is the possibility that the Minnie Vans are so popular that there aren't enough of them to meet demand, leading to delays in pickups that make the cost of the service less of a benefit.
Photo Courtesy Disney/WDWNews.com
