Two one way rentals or one week and park?

[Madzac]

Curious what others do... do you get two one way car rentals from MCO to port and back or do you rent for the week and pay the parking?

With 6 of us, we feel that a rental minivan makes the most sense, plus we are coming in Fri night for a sunday 4 day cruise. I had planned to do two one way rentals. I was reading another thread about people's frustrating expereinces with the rental angencies in the port, especially at the end of a cruise.

What do you all recommend?

[ufcabear]

I can tell you from experience that two one way rentals is usually much more expensive than just paying to park and drive back. One ways are killer expensive.

[ksucats]

Originally Posted by ufcabear

I can tell you from experience that two one way rentals is usually much more expensive than just paying to park and drive back. One ways are killer expensive.

Not from MCO to port. They are not expensive at all. One ways is the way to go. You may have to wait a bit for shuttle if that concerns you. We only waited 5 minutes for Hertz, but have seen others complain about the wait.

[Madzac]

Its way early (June) but right now it is about 130 more to keep it and park than to do the two one ways, since budget doesnt have the one way fees. Most likely the car rental rates will come down a little more closer too, but trying to decide if convenience is worth the extra money.

[ufcabear]

Sorry my mistake. I somehow missed the MCO part and thought you were renting a van to drive from another location. My apologies. Guess I should go to bed.

[Madzac]

Originally Posted by ufcabear

Sorry my mistake. I somehow missed the MCO part and thought you were renting a van to drive from another location. My apologies. Guess I should go to bed.

No worries!!! Typically you are totally right though, usually those one way fees are outrageous!

[kcashner]

We typically do 2 one way rentals, but we also do 7 night cruises.

Look at the rates you are getting and determine whether it is better to do a single rental and pay parking OR use a towncar/limo service.
We've occasionally gotten great rates on minivan rental but other times it has been costly. If you pay $93 for the van for a day (as we did once) + parking, it may be more effective to just use a limo service....and they are very convenient.

[cozmo]

We did a 4-night dream cruise this past June, and added one a few days afterwards for a WDW trip (total was for a 10-day rental), so keeping the rental car was the best option.

We had a pretty decent rate from Budget for an Escape (or something similar), but about a month before the cruise, I checked Costco Travel, and I was able to get a minivan for the entire time for $185 (including all fees and taxes)! Couldn't believe it, and it worked out great with a park and cruise and CI&S.

I'd recommend NOT filling up at a gas station near the airport, I think it was $5-6 a gallon (unless you had a FL ID).

[kcashner]

Originally Posted by cozmo

I'd recommend NOT filling up at a gas station near the airport, I think it was $5-6 a gallon (unless you had a FL ID).

We've paid as little as $34 per day or as much as $93 for a minivan (including all taxes and fees). Do look at rentalcodes.com for potential discounts.

I'll echo the above. The gas station nearest the airport on Semoran is outrageous. He charges as much as $1+ per gallon over "normal" costs. If you drive another mile down the road you'll come to several stations charging the going rate. At the port, there is a RaceTrac right by the Budget place--good prices, no gouging.

[FLVacationGirl]

Price it out both ways. If it is close, the convenience of only 1 rental should win out easily.

I had 2 one-way rentals booked for my Dec 2012 trip and ended up cancelling and going with 1 rental instead. It was nice and easy to do the pick up at MCO and we parked at ParkNCruise.

[OKW Lover]

Funny this came up. Just yesterday I was playing with my rentals for an upcoming week cruise on the Fantasy plus 4 nights at BCV. Originally had two separate reservations. MCO>port on the day we arrived (day before cruise) and port>BCV>MCO after the cruise. Just for fun I checked to see how much it would be to to a 10 day rental and keep the car the entire time. Found it was less than the two separate rentals. Adding parking at our port hotel resulted in it being pretty much a wash.

[disnutz]

Ok - let me throw something in you may not have considered. I always used to do the one week rentals. For the convenience, and the price, I thought you really could not beat having the car waiting for you. Well, a couple cruises ago, we actually did ended up coming back to port in the middle of a bad storm off the coast of Florida (hurricane Faye to be exact, which you might recall stalled off the coast). We had to dock at Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) instead of Port Canaveral - where the rental was parked. besides the worry of whether the car had been flooded while we were gone, it would have been MUCH easier to take the bus directly to the airport. I will say Disney was great, but we had to hop the bus back to Port Canveral in the storm, and then drive to MCO. it was not fun. Even the highway was almost flooded. The car was ok though.

Since then, we have decided we will do one ways. it is actually not a hassle at all, One drops off everyone at port, and takes the shuttle back. Then, once home, one of us stays at the port with the luggage and kids, the other grabs the shuttle to get the car and comes back to get everyone else. it is rather easy and the staffs are all used to it. I have done avis and budget, both great.

[Madzac]

Originally Posted by disnutz

Since then, we have decided we will do one ways. it is actually not a hassle at all, One drops off everyone at port, and takes the shuttle back. Then, once home, one of us stays at the port with the luggage and kids, the other grabs the shuttle to get the car and comes back to get everyone else. it is rather easy and the staffs are all used to it. I have done avis and budget, both great.

Thank you for this! Its always good to hear positive reports and I think that is exactly what we will do unless the cost is equal like the previous poster.

[MichelleVW]

Originally Posted by kcashner

I'll echo the above. The gas station nearest the airport on Semoran is outrageous. He charges as much as $1+ per gallon over "normal" costs. If you drive another mile down the road you'll come to several stations charging the going rate. At the port, there is a RaceTrac right by the Budget place--good prices, no gouging.

I went by that gas station Thursday morning and it was $5.99!!! I kept driving and paid 3.29 for my gas!

[DahliaRW]

The thing to know with one way rentals is they are more expensive based on length. Usually for a 5 day one way rental you will pay more per day then you would with a 2 day one way rental. We have saved hundreds before by returning our car to the airport and getting a different car for the one way segment!