Minivan vs SUV

[Atchley]

We are planning a trip in May/June 2013. It will be myself, DH, DD 15, DDBFF 14, DS 13, and DN 12.
We know that we are going to have to rent a vehicle. We keep reviewing prices to try to find the best deal, but everything is so confusing.
I have found a minivan online for 11 days for under 700.00. All of the SUVs such as a Tahoe or a Suburban are well over 1000.00.
How much room difference is there between a minivan and a Suburban? The last time we rented a vehicle to go was a Suburban with 5 people. Now we will have 6 and less room. I know that I can cut down on the items that we will take since we rented the Suburban last time, but do you think that we will have enough room for everything in a minivan for all six of us?
I really want to save the money as DH and I are paying for the entire cost of the rental with most of the extra costs at WDW as well.
I know that I could get a luggage thing for the top of a van, but if I have to do that, I might as well just rent the bigger vehicle.
Please let me know your thoughts. We don't rent vehicles very often, in fact, this will only be our second time. I don't know whether to wait to rent closer to time to get a better deal or if I take a chance of them not having a vehicle that I need.
Thanks for any advice that you can share!

 

[francie57]

Depending on how much luggage you have you are going to be crowded. The minivan will seat everyone comfortably but there isn't a lot of room behind the seats for luggage. We rented a full size SUV a few years ago and had only 4 people and even with the third row of seats folded down we had trouble getting in all the luggage. My suggestion would be to try and check out each vehicle before you leave to make a decision. If you have any car dealers near you, go take a look at each type vehicle and see which would work better. If you aren't near dealers, keep an eye out for the vehicles in parking lots and just carefully look at the cargo area to see which would work.

 

[NJRRK]

In my opinion the minivan would be fine, IF you are flying in and the only time you'll have luggage in the vehicle from the airport to the hotel and visa versa. It will be cramped but very doable.

If you are driving any distance with luggage and people then you'll definitely want the suburban.

 

[pigletto]

You may have to put some suitcases between kids in each row or small bags on the floor, but if it is the only on the way there and back I would say it is absolutely worth the savings. I never ever see the large SUV's go as low as the minivans.
We've rented for 3 trips in the last year and a bit. For our most recent trip we could not get a van less than 400 for 10 days so we went with a car. But the two trips previous we found vans for 200 for the 10 days with Alamo.

You will have to watch daily for price fluctuations and use different combinations of coupons and codes etc, but you should be able to get that van price down much lower.
Now if you plan to be traveling with the luggage a lot then it might be trickier. We had an Impala for the 5 us last trip. It was tight. I did ask dd and her friend to share a suitcase which they did easily, and the carry ons sat in their laps so we could get a few bags of groceries in the trunk. But it all worked out for the relatively short distance we had to go.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

another possible idea if flying, have husband pickup minivan while you and kids take the ME from the airport. thatway luggage could be taken by ME and not in van. minivan should be fine other than with all luggage.

 

[MulanMom]

Haven't rented in awhile, but in the past, when we've rented a minivan, we had to make sure of the type of minivan it was. Sometimes one model type would be shorter in length than another, which could considerably affect seating and luggage room. IIRC, the shorter might have been a "sport" model while the full size was considered regular or touring.

Another thought....kids (teens/young adults) sometimes like to pack duffel bag type pull alongs rather than rectangular luggage. Having them use duffels may help to fit it all in!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

[webworm]

We are planning a trip in May/June 2013. It will be myself, DH, DD 15, DDBFF 14, DS 13, and DN 12.
We know that we are going to have to rent a vehicle. We keep reviewing prices to try to find the best deal, but everything is so confusing.
I have found a minivan online for 11 days for under 700.00. All of the SUVs such as a Tahoe or a Suburban are well over 1000.00.
How much room difference is there between a minivan and a Suburban? The last time we rented a vehicle to go was a Suburban with 5 people. Now we will have 6 and less room. I know that I can cut down on the items that we will take since we rented the Suburban last time, but do you think that we will have enough room for everything in a minivan for all six of us?
I really want to save the money as DH and I are paying for the entire cost of the rental with most of the extra costs at WDW as well.
I know that I could get a luggage thing for the top of a van, but if I have to do that, I might as well just rent the bigger vehicle.
Please let me know your thoughts. We don't rent vehicles very often, in fact, this will only be our second time. I don't know whether to wait to rent closer to time to get a better deal or if I take a chance of them not having a vehicle that I need.
Thanks for any advice that you can share!

We are a family of 5 and the minivan works great for us. Try Budget using x474200 (travelocity code) and for 11 days is $527 inc taxes. You can also add a $30 e-coupon code later to bring that to $500. The best rates are usually 2 - 4 weeks before travel.