The Sunshine Flyer Shuttle Service

Are you looking for a fun ground transportation option for your next Walt Disney World vacation? Look no further than The Sunshine Flyer! The Sunshine Flyer brings the era of 1920's rail travel to the start of your vacation. Each motorcoach features a different 1920's era locomotive or passenger car design. With drivers and staff dressed like 1920's rail conductors and engineers, you get the full theme of old-fashioned railway travel on a modern motorcoach. 

The Sunshine Flyer offers two services; motorcoach service and the Sunshine Flyer Direct service. The motorcoach option is a shared service where guests will typically wait within 30 minutes to board along with other guests and potentially make stops at other resorts. The Sunshine Flyer Direct service offers a direct option for you and your family which means there will be no waiting for other passengers and no additional stops. They will take you directly from the baggage claim area to your Walt Disney World area resort. 

Once you arrive in Orlando, you'll head to baggage claim to collect your luggage, and then make your way to the ground transportation level 1 on the B side at the Orlando International Airport (if you've booked the standard motorcoach service). The check-in area for the Sunshine Flyer is located at the last counter against the wall, past the Starbucks. 

Prior to arriving, you'll receive a confirmation email from The Sunshine Flyer with your booking information. You should receive another email the day before your arrival that includes your QR code tickets and information on where to meet the motorcoach. You'll use this QR code at the check-in desk to check-in your party. At the check-in counter, you'll also find some fun conductor hats and stickers for the kids. 

Once you're checked in, you can take a seat and relax until one of the staff members announces your Disney Resort area hotel. On our recent visit, we waited about 20 minutes before our resort was called and we boarded the motorcoach. Approximately 45 minutes later we arrived at our resort, as we were the last stop on our motorcoach. Please note that your experience may differ due to your arrival time, how many other reservations are booked, how many buses are in service, the number of stops of your motorcoach, traffic, etc.

The motorcoaches are fairly standard with seats that recline (if only slightly), small cupholders, and seatbelts. Car seats are permitted onboard but they are not provided so if you want to use a car seat for your child, you'll have to bring your own. Children can also sit on an adult's lap or occupy their own seat.  There's also a bathroom on the bus if needed. (This really came in handy when we were traveling with our son recently!) There is some entertainment on the bus played throughout your trip. The onboard screens will show train-themed trivia as well as some very old, train-themed cartoons. The cartoons aren't great but it's better than nothing!

Pricing for The Sunshine Flyer is $39 round trip, per adult, and $22 round trip, per child, however they have been known to release discount offers. To celebrate their 12 months of service, they are currently offering $12 tickets per person ($24 roundtrip) for new bookings made through May 31, 2023! This isn't the first promotion they've released either. Last summer they had an offer where children rode for free, which was a great savings! Children 2 years of age and under can always travel for free on the lap of an adult.

The Sunshine Flyer Direct ranges in price from $240 round trip for a sedan up to $320 round trip for a Sprinter Van. Those prices are per vehicle, not per person and do not include gratuity. There will also be a 3% admin fee and a 10% airport fee added to all pick ups at the Orlando International Airport. The sedan can hold up to 3 passengers with 3 suitcases max, the luxury SUV holds up to 6 passengers with 6 suitcases max and the Sprinter Van holds up to 10 passengers with 18 suitcases max. Car seats are also available with the Sunshine Flyer Direct service but are limited to 3 car seats per reservation. 

The cancellation policy for The Sunshine Flyer is no charge if you cancel or change your reservation more than 72 hours prior to your first scheduled pick up. For the Sunshine Flyer motorcoach service, a 100% future credit will be applied if you cancel or change less than 72 hours prior to pick-up time. For the Sunshine Flyer Direct service there will be no refund or future credit given for cancellations less than 72 hours prior to pick-up.

Reservations can be made through The Sunshine Flyer website or you can reach out to your Kingdom Konsultant Agent for assistance with booking. Reservations are accepted up until 4 days before service. The Sunshine Flyer service starts at 4:00am for flights as early as 7:00am and the last bus leaves the airport at 11:00pm.

The Sunshine Flyer will email you a pick-up time for your return service one day before you are scheduled to depart. Pick-up times are approximately 3-3.5 hours prior to your scheduled flight departure times for domestic flights and 4 hours prior for international flights. If you don't arrive at the scheduled pick-up time, your driver will call you. (I may be speaking from experience!) 

My family and I have traveled using The Sunshine Flyer a few times since they began service at the Orlando Airport and we have been very pleased with the level of service each and every time. On top of the great service, the prices are reasonable, especially when they are running a discount promotion!

Have you traveled on The Sunshine Flyer? What did you think of the service? Let us know in the comments.

Ashley Lehman

Ashley has been a Disney Parks fan from an early age and loves anything vintage Disney. You can email Ashley at ashley@kingdomkonsultant.com.