REVIEW: This FREE Hotel Bus Service Made It EASY To Get to Epic Universe

We’ve been to Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe many times at this point (and we have no regrets). We’ve been on the rides, we’ve eaten at all the restaurants, and we’ve met a lot of the characters in the new theme park.

However, we recently stayed at the Orlando World Marriott Center and got to go to Epic Universe in a NEW way — aboard the hotel’s shuttle service. So we’re going to tell you all about how it works and what it’s like.

The Orlando World Marriott Center is located about ten miles from Epic Universe and about four miles from the outskirts of Disney World. That means this could be a great hotel to stay in for your next Disney or Universal Orlando trip. The hotel has a total of 2,000 rooms, which makes it the largest Marriott property in the world.

As part of your stay, you can get free transportation via shuttle to Epic Universe through the hotel’s Coasters and Comfort package. The round-trip shuttle is available on Saturday and Sunday for up to four guests per day. You’ll get a QR code that you can scan to book a reservation on the bus. You’ll need to book a reservation for both your trip to Epic Universe and back to the hotel.

You’ll want to arrive at least five minutes before your reservation. The Epic Universe shuttles pick up on the side of the hotel’s driveway. We were surprised when it arrived because it’s a Mears shuttle bus. Sweet!

We boarded the shuttle and talked to the driver, who told us that the trip to Epic Universe would take about 20 minutes, as long as traffic behaved. If you’ve been on the Mears Connect bus from Orlando International Airport to Disney World, you already have a good idea of what this bus looks like on the inside.

Oh, by the way, this bus obviously once worked for Disney Cruise Line because the seats still had the Disney Cruise Line logo on them. Now, this bus service is new, so this will probably not always be the case.

When we made it to Epic Universe, we saw that the spots for the Orlando Marriott World Center shuttle are those numbered 23 through 28. This is also where you’ll catch the bus when you return to the hotel. These spaces are a little further down the walkway than the official Universal hotel shuttles, but not too far away. These spaces are also conveniently close to some bathrooms and water fountains.

After speaking with some other bus passengers, it seems like same-day bus reservations are easily doable as long as there’s enough space. Each bus can hold up to 54 people without a wheelchair or scooter. There’s also space for up to two wheelchairs to be carried on the bus, although it requires some seat rearranging, which would mean six fewer people can get on the bus. The bus driver told us that this is why reservations come in handy, so they know ahead of time if they need to take out seats for accessibility devices.

Overall, it was pretty easy to get to Epic Universe from Orlando World Marriott Center, and the buses are nice and comfortable.

Check back with AllEars again soon for more.

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Would you consider a stay at the Orlando World Marriott Center for your Epic Universe trip? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: We were invited by Orlando World Marriott Center to try out the hotel’s Coasters and Comfort Package. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

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