Drive vs Disney Shuttle Bus?

[christmas angel]

To drive or not to drive... that is the question. My family of 10 will be sailing on the Fantasy this coming December, and if we take the shuttle, it will be $35 one way (airport to port), which would equal $350. Someone said it would be cheaper if we just rent 2 cars from the airport, and drop it off at the port. Any comments?

 

[jpeppers]

with large groups definitely go the rental route. I even rent with just my daughter and I, usually don't get the best deals until a month or so before the cruise. My current rental for a standard car on budget from MCO to the port this weekend is $33, even if you rent 3 cars $99 is way better than $350. Hope this helped!

 

[emilyann415]

I'd even check into happy limos or a car service like that. They have large vans you can reserve. It would be more than a rental but for me not enough to deal with the pain drop off and pick up were for a rental and dealing with a shuttle to the port. When we rented from Avis this last March we waited in the line for over an hour to get our rental car!

 

[MaleficentRN]

I'd look into getting a car/limo service. You could get one for less than $200 including tax, tip and tolls. Or you could rent a couple of full size cars or van for about $160. Then you'd have to pick the vehicles up, drive to the port and pay the tolls, drop everyone off at the port, put gas in the vehicles and drop them off, then get a shuttle back to port.

 

[TravelBugg]

We made reservations for a driving service (Apollo's Chariots), since we didn't have an option to take Disney's Magical Express (flying into Orlando/Sanford rather than Orlando International).

 

[masylimed]

We are a family of 5 taking our first cruise in 7 days!!! I looked into several transportation options for our family - both economically and timing.

We are staying on night at WDW then going to the cruise the next morning. Our flight home is very late in the evening so I really didn't want to hang out at the airport all day.

We looked at the ME both as a one-way and two-ways, town car service, and renting a mini-van. We chose to rent 2 one-way minivan's from Dollar rental service. The towncar option seemed to be about the same price for us as the ME - especially with gratuity. The rental mini-van appears to be much cheaper - even with gas and tolls. Using our local AAA code, the van is a total of $63.74 for MCO to WDW to PC and $86.04 for PC to MCO. This includes the one-way surcharge fees.

I like that it's cheaper and I like the convenience of having a car to get to PC when I want and for flexibility on our return day.

There are so many options out there. Keep looking to see what works for your family. If you do decide to rent a car, keep checking prices after you book. My rental fees have gone down about 6 times since I initially booked. I keep modifying my reservation to get the cheaper rate. Just went down another $7 today on our return rental

 

[MouseMomx2]

I always recommend one-way car rentals, but for your large group I would go with a van service. It would be just a bit more than the car rentals but with such a large group I think it's worth it. You will already be dealing with getting everyone organzied/packed/out the door and having to return the cars would be just one more thing you'd have to think about and deal with.

 

[bumbershoot]

I personally would hire a driver. That way they can be sure to get vehicle and luggage transportation that works for everyone. The luggage being a pretty important part! We saw for-hire vehicles with trailers for the luggage; that was pretty cool.

Just getting rental cars doesn't absolutely mean you'll be able to find vehicles that will fit people AND luggage.

 

[lizzyb]

We have a family of 5 so it is cheaper for us to rent a vehicle.

 

[christmas angel]

Thanks for the tip folks! Will look into Apollo's Chariots and Happy Limo Company. And will also look at the car rental deals. I did not know that the closer it is to the event, the cheaper! Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[algae]

Someone said it would be cheaper if we just rent 2 cars from the airport, and drop it off at the port. Any comments?

It is cheaper to rent, but remember that you also need to go from the ship back to the airport. If this were my first time, I would use the DCL shuttle from the airport to the ship for the fun of it, but then rent a car(s) to go back to the airport. Schedule is more flexible and, depending on the flight time, you can do other stuff that day after the cruise.

 

[mickey2mom]

Can I do One Way ME travel from the port to the airport - just the one way?
I fly in the day before the cruise (6 people) so i think i will rent a van for the day and night in Cocoa Beach and drop it off at the Port the morning of the cruise.
But i wasn't sure what to do the day the cruise ends. My flight is the same day so I hate to rent a car for a few hours.
Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[su_A_ve]

Can I do One Way ME travel from the port to the airport - just the one way?
I fly in the day before the cruise (6 people) so i think i will rent a van for the day and night in Cocoa Beach and drop it off at the Port the morning of the cruise.
But i wasn't sure what to do the day the cruise ends. My flight is the same day so I hate to rent a car for a few hours.
Thoughts? Thanks.

Absolutely. You can do it one way like you said. As you are six, you may want to look into a car service for the return - will probably be cheaper than taking DCL transfers.