Transportation from WDW to Universal Studios
By D’land Diva
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use your land speeder to travel off WDW property during your vacation? Unfortunately, you can’t, but there are some other options.
First and foremost, last I checked, parking was $15 per car at Universal. So if you choose to use a rental car, just keep that in mind. Many folks (myself included) like to have a rental car while on vacation for excursions such as this (or maybe a late night trip to Sonic). Rental cars available at the airport and on property at the Swan and Dolphin resort WDW, as well as at the Car Care Center just outside the Magic Kingdom. The price varies, but good shoppers can find a rental car for $30 a day.
Another option may be the Mears Shuttle. The shuttle runs $18 each person round trip, with prices for children lower and children under the age of 3 riding for free. Just call 24 hours in advance to set up your trip. More information can be found at http://www.mearstransportation.com. They are a cash only operation, so just keep that in mind.
There is also the option of a taxi. Taxis normally do not carry more than 5 people in a car, so if you have a bigger group, you may need a taxi van. Currently, the rates run around $38 per person for a one way trip from Downtown Disney to Universal. Please note that the fees may be higher if there is a lot of traffic, and this of course, will depend on what time you are leaving for your trip. There is a cool website called http://www.taxifaire.com that will give you the costs and routes for your trip. 
The cheapest option is to take the city bus. It is also the looooongest option. I mean, it will take you 1 1/2 -2 hours to reach Universal by bus. It is only a few dollars per person round trip . Orlando bus transit is called Lynx. Information on their routes and costs can be found at http://www.lynx.com. The bus station at Downtown Disney is located on the west side, near the overflow parking lot.
Whichever way you travel, I hope you have a fun and memorable trip!
Thank you so much for this post! We will be going to Disney in a few weeks and this has helped us to decide to do the rental car option over taxi to get us to Universal. Plus we can make other stops if needed that day. Thanks again!
I’ll be blogging about my trip when I return and will DEFINITELY be linking to this post!
Thank you for the information. My family will be staying at Fort Wilderness Cabins for 6 days but plan to visit Universal at least once or twice. I was worried about transportation since we will not have a car but your posting was very reassuring.
Thanks for the post.Very useful information.We are going to visit the park for Christmas vacation.
You could also hire Happy Limo, Mears or something similar. Lots of shuttle options in Orlando.