budget Rental Car Shuttle to port?

[Maple17]

Maple17, There is an area outside the cruise terminal for all the different car rental agency shuttles......u can't miss it. The lines are very long for each car rental agency and no, u can't prebook the shuttle as it is first come, first serve. I would recommend taking a taxi if u can. We waited in that line forever! Budget has a long line either way if you're waiting for the shuttle at the port or at their agency (to go to the ship).

Thanks, good to know!

 

[Billinaz]

Allow at least one hour from the time you get off the ship until you are in your car, especially if you have the later breakfast. We have used them 7 times in the past few years and have only had 1 bad experience. We waited 30 minutes at the port for the shuttle this past week.

Once we got to the car rental, they had more reservations than they had cars. Budget overbooked and at least 10 families had to wait until cars were returned. This mean standing in a parking lot with your family and luggage, waiting for a car to be returned, checked in, fueled and ready to be issued out. It also meant that if you needed a mini-van, you had to wait until a mini-van was turned in. Fortunately we got a car right away but I felt bad for those who we left standing in the parking lot.

The staff did a great job with what they had to work with but Corporate really put them in a bind.

Its always that way. I have seen this happen every time we were getting a rental from them.

 

[bats]

Maple17, There is an area outside the cruise terminal for all the different car rental agency shuttles......u can't miss it. The lines are very long for each car rental agency and no, u can't prebook the shuttle as it is first come, first serve. I would recommend taking a taxi if u can. We waited in that line forever! Budget has a long line either way if you're waiting for the shuttle at the port or at their agency (to go to the ship).

It's never been a long line for us at the agency as we get there for around 9:45-10:15. We're first in line for the shuttle bus and have never had any problems at all.
Best thing about the shuttle buses are getting first timers on there with you ... Fantastic seeing their eyes light up and smiles spread across their faces, the downside is that there's not enough time to share all the hints and tips you've learnt from on here!!

 

[kshark1958]

It's never been a long line for us at the agency as we get there for around 9:45-10:15. We're first in line for the shuttle bus and have never had any problems at all.
Best thing about the shuttle buses are getting first timers on there with you ... Fantastic seeing their eyes light up and smiles spread across their faces, the downside is that there's not enough time to share all the hints and tips you've learnt from on here!!

I am assuming from your post you are talking about agency to port. If we were to get there as early as 10:00 and can't get on ship till about 1:00 are their things to do or see at port before boarding besides the check in stuff.

 

[woody73]

. . . Best thing about the shuttle buses are getting first timers on there with you ... Fantastic seeing their eyes light up and smiles spread across their faces . . .

Not the typical reaction when arriving at the Budget office.

Woody

 

[skylynx]

We have Budget cars booked coming to the port from WDW and returning from port for our Feb 9 cruise. Though we've done this many times, we still cringe at the very real threat of long waits either way. We usually get to the terminal early, between 10 and 10:30 just because we like to hang around and bask in the anticipation, but lately we've heard the Budget shuttles won't take anyone to the port, even in an empty shuttle, until they've picked up all the passengers disembarking. So maybe not until 11 or later? Has that been anyone's experience recently? Our reservation has us dropping the car off at 10 so I don't fancy sitting around their lot an hour and change waiting to be allowed on a shuttle. Taxi!

Returning to Budget from the ship is usually a nightmare...moreso for folks who need a larger car or van (we get the smallest, cheapest car for just the two of us) and so have not had to wait nearly as long as larger families with more luggage needing a bigger vehicle. We, too, have experienced having to lurch around with our suitcases in tow in a hot parking lot waiting for a car to be returned. Once it was so bad groups of renters waiting would cheer when a car turned into the Budget parking lot! The unknown delay is especially frustrating because we always go straight from the port to a park, so Budget hold ups are a direct hit on our park time. We're not walk ins, so Budget should know how many cars are needed at a certain time, and if that doesn't align with those being returned, they need to move some cars down from Orlando. We tried to make it work out getting a weekly rental and just paying to park, but couldn't make the numbers make sense.

 

[abmama]

Hi,

We are first time cruisers as well and it will be our first trip to WDW. We are going to WDW first and then taking the Fantasy cruise April 20-27. I have 2 children, aged 3 and 1, who will need car seats for our car rental. We are flying in really late into MCO (around 11:15pm) so we opted to take the Magical Express to WDW. We are staying on resort at the caribbean beach resort for the 15-20; my in-laws are flying in on the 18th and then we are planning to rent a van from Budget or Hertz to pick up some supplies and go to the port.

I looked on google maps and at WDW, the Budget car rental is not close to the caribbean beach resort. I assume my husband could take a Disney shuttle or bus over to the Budget rental at WDW?

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm open to them. We were going to do the Disney transfers but would like to pick up supplies before our cruise. Also, our flight on the 27th isn't until 8pm and our travel agent said Disney shuttles would take us early in the morning. I don't want to have to spend a whole day at the airport with 2 toddlers if I don't have too!

Sorry for the long post.....any advice is certainly appreciated!

 

[kshark1958]

Hi,

We are first time cruisers as well and it will be our first trip to WDW. We are going to WDW first and then taking the Fantasy cruise April 20-27. I have 2 children, aged 3 and 1, who will need car seats for our car rental. We are flying in really late into MCO (around 11:15pm) so we opted to take the Magical Express to WDW. We are staying on resort at the caribbean beach resort for the 15-20; my in-laws are flying in on the 18th and then we are planning to rent a van from Budget or Hertz to pick up some supplies and go to the port.

I looked on google maps and at WDW, the Budget car rental is not close to the caribbean beach resort. I assume my husband could take a Disney shuttle or bus over to the Budget rental at WDW?

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm open to them. We were going to do the Disney transfers but would like to pick up supplies before our cruise. Also, our flight on the 27th isn't until 8pm and our travel agent said Disney shuttles would take us early in the morning. I don't want to have to spend a whole day at the airport with 2 toddlers if I don't have too!

Sorry for the long post.....any advice is certainly appreciated!

I read this under FAQ on DCL forum page.

Budget has a location at Doubletree Guest Suites in the Walt Disney World Resort near Downtown Disney. You can take a Disney bus from any of the Disney resorts to Downtown Disney. Get off at the Marketplace stop, then walk across the street and up Hotel Plaza Blvd to Doubletree Guest Suites. It's about a mile. Alternatively, you can take a taxi from Downtown Disney, which should cost around $5. The phone number of Doubletree Guest Suites' Budget desk is (407) 827-6089.

 

[manitobamickey]

I read this under FAQ on DCL forum page.

Budget has a location at Doubletree Guest Suites in the Walt Disney World Resort near Downtown Disney. You can take a Disney bus from any of the Disney resorts to Downtown Disney. Get off at the Marketplace stop, then walk across the street and up Hotel Plaza Blvd to Doubletree Guest Suites. It's about a mile. Alternatively, you can take a taxi from Downtown Disney, which should cost around $5. The phone number of Doubletree Guest Suites' Budget desk is (407) 827-6089.

This was exactly what i was going to suggest you do. We have taken the magical express to the hotel from the airport and done both, called for pick up (can only do this between certain hours) and taken the bus down town and walked a block. Easy!

 

[abmama]

Thank you so much! This helps me out a lot!

 

[jwongclan]

Allow at least one hour from the time you get off the ship until you are in your car, especially if you have the later breakfast. We have used them 7 times in the past few years and have only had 1 bad experience. We waited 30 minutes at the port for the shuttle this past week.

Once we got to the car rental, they had more reservations than they had cars. Budget overbooked and at least 10 families had to wait until cars were returned. This mean standing in a parking lot with your family and luggage, waiting for a car to be returned, checked in, fueled and ready to be issued out. It also meant that if you needed a mini-van, you had to wait until a mini-van was turned in. Fortunately we got a car right away but I felt bad for those who we left standing in the parking lot.

The staff did a great job with what they had to work with but Corporate really put them in a bind.

Wow, this is what I'm very afraid of. So this problem of overbooking at Budget is still occurring? We are travelling with 2 other families and we all have minivans booked with Budget after our cruise Feb 9. Since we are staying an extra few days to do the parks, we have to rent vehicles or we would just take a car service. I think the plan is to disembark the ship as early as possible and have the husbands only go get the rental cars while the rest of us hang at the cruise port. Will this be easier you think? Now I'm thinking the chances of getting 3 minivans at this Budget may not be that easy at all. Suggestions?

 

[kristinanderic]

We have a minivan we are dropping off and picking up...this thread makes me very nervous.

 

[woody73]

. . . We are travelling with 2 other families and we all have minivans booked with Budget

. . . I think the plan is to disembark the ship as early as possible and have the husbands only go get the rental cars while the rest of us hang at the cruise port. Will this be easier you think?

It will be easier and faster for the husbands to board the Budget shuttle (without luggage) to pick up the minivans.

Woody

 

[4mousefans]

No real issues dropping our car off...line was quick and easy and though Budget was very short-staffed, they were friendly and efficient. For those at the location waiting for a car to return to Disney or the MCO airport, it was a nightmare. One family reported that they had been waiting for over two and a half hours and were still waiting when we headed to port at 11am. We were told by staff that there was an usual amount of ships in port combined with the over-booking by corporate.

With that in mind, we heeded the advice from Budget (mainly to be at the parking spot for the shuttle prior to 8:45 to avoid the crowds/wait). We skipped our breakfast on the last morning, carried off our own luggage (others we saw at the airport said it was a long process to retrieve bags), and were at marker #13 (Budget's parking area outside the terminal) by 8am. The driver of the shuttle had us to Budget by 8:10 and we had our car by 8:30. Our flight didn't leave until 3, so we had time for lunch at Downtown Disney and a little shopping as well.

Honestly, missing the final breakfast was no big deal to us. Carrying our luggage out on our own was so much easier and less hassle...granted, we were a party of two adults but there was a large number of families doing this as well. We were able to grab a bite at Cabanna's before heading down to depart and said our goodbyes to everyone the night before.

 

[kristinanderic]

Just used budget last Sunday and Thursday. Things went smoothly and had no issues.

We were the first shuttle to leave terminal to go back to Budget Thursday morning, as soon as the shuttle stopped I hopped out to get in line and let DH worry about the luggage. By the time they got everything off the shuttle I had keys to a van