Rental car or Bus?

[profdsny]

We have a rental for a week, and are taking a three day cruise. Our original plans were to drop have the kids back at the airport who aren't going on the cruise, (big party here in town) then driving and parking while we taking the cruise. HOWEVER, I was thinking, would I do better to turn the car in, then take the bus to the boat from the airport, and back?
What does the transportation from the airport cost R/T, and how do I find out how to sign up for it?
Thanks,

 

[DARWIN91]

If you are talking about DCL transfers they cost about $48.00 per person roundtrip. You can call DCL directly and they will add it to your reservation. I have always found a rental to be cheaper when I rent it one way for the day.

 

[LuvTravelToo]

Here's a link that discusses pros/cons of rentals vs transfers. Personnally, I thought the rental was easy and inexpensive...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=660357

 

[momof3luvs2run]

Having just spent a large amount of time researching our transportation options, I finally made reservations for a rental. We are a family of 5 which played a big part in our decision with what to pick. I checked Happy Limo and because we have 5 people, we couldn't go with the Town Car, so would have to go with a van. The Disney transportation for 5 of us was our most expensive option. We ruled that out right away. Instead we went with a rental car. We will arrive in Florida on Wed. I rented a car to drive to Disney. We will keep it for that night and drop it off on Thurs a.m. Cost for the rental is $74.21 (minivan) This is comparable to the Happy Limo ran rate. Then on Saturday evening (night before the cruise) we will go back and pick up another minivan and on Sunday will drive it Cape Canaveral. Cost $73.46 (to do the Happy Limo van it would be $120 for them to take us from Disney to CC). Then on Thursday when back from cruise we will pick up another minivan $69.41 and return it to the airport later that day before our flight. That way we can spend the day however we want at our leisurely pace.

I think we made the right decision and in the end this comes out to be our cheapest option. Also I had some rewards on a credit card that will give us $75 towards the rentals

 

[cepmom]

momof3luvs2run -
If you don't mind me asking - which rental company are you using? We are in a similar situation with a family of 5 and needing to rent a car first to get to Disney from MCO, then need a car to get from WDW to PC, then need a car to get from PC after the cruise to Universal for 1 night then to MCO. Where are you renting from and returning to? Originally I thought we would rent for the entire time and pay to park at the port, but I think that it will end up being too expensive that way. TIA

 

[DisneyZell]

we rented a car at the airport, drove to Cocoa Beach and dropped it. We rented from National, and I think it was around $40. we then took a cab which was $15. There are 4 of us, so it would have been more expensive to do the bus, PLUS we were able to stop at a store and buy some last minute things before getting on the cruise, I think this saved us alot as we had forgotten some important tip items (like clothespins for the curtains! these saved us!). Anyway, whatever you do, have fun!

 

[momof3luvs2run]

cepmom, we ended up going with Budget. They have locations at the airport; about 3 miles from CC and a Disney location. I went to http://www.mousesavers.com/transportation.html for help and used the discount code they mention from Walmart (W810011). I tried it without and then with the code. We did get a nice savings from that.

I found that it was cheaper to do the day rentals vs. renting for the entire length of trip. I hope it isn't too much of a pain to have to go through the process three times though.

We are staying on the Disney grounds (Beach Club), so didn't really see a reason to have a rental for that time. Also I believe it is $10 a day to park at the cruise lot.

I did a lot of playing around with different rental sites and Mears and Happy Limo. I can't tell you how much time it took me to come to this decision. Way too much!!! LOL

I'm relieved to have it decided.

 

[mmouse37]

We are also a family of 5 and have done one-rentals a few times in conjunction with our cruises....we use both Avis and Budget...whoever has the best rates at the time.

We have rented a mini van and an SUV on different trips and found the SUV to have much more room than the mini van for luggage.

We just booked an SUV for our trip in January instead of the minivan. We will be in Florida for 9 days (including a 3 day cruise on the Wonder) and I found it cheaper to keep the SUV the whole time with Alamo instead of doing two one-way rentals.....even with paying $30.00 parking fee at the port.

I was able to get an SUV for 9 days with Alamo for $236.00 with a Wal-Mart code from Mousesavers.

MJ

 

[MajorWoody]

Hello,

We looked around and came up with a different plan. We booked the DCL transfers for 2 legs, from the resort to the port, and the port back to airport. We got a rental car from Alamo for our first leg, the airport to WDW, with a one day rental priced at $29 for one day, using a discount code from mousesavers, and my Alamo Quicksilver ID. This ended up being about 9$ cheaper than using the DCL transfer for that leg, and we are able to pick up the car at the airport, and drop it off at the WDW Car care center the next day, which works out perfectly. This now enables us to be able to do some outlet shopping to start off our trip, something we wouldn't have been able to do if we used the DCL transfers for all 3 legs of the trip.


Hope that helps,

Take care,

Bill

 

[cepmom]

momof3luvs2run -
Thanks for the info on the Walmart code for Budget- I checked it out and it did end up saving money but I checked into renting from MCO for 4 days, returning to the location at PC, then picking up again at PC after the cruise and returning to MCO the next day. I could not find a location at Disney .... which location did you choose to return the van once you get to WDW? Thanks

 

[momof3luvs2run]

http://www.budget.com/locations/locations.jsp

I went to the above link, and typed in the address for the Beach Club (the place we are staying at for the Disney portion of the trip) and came up with the following. According to Budget's website It is 2.97 miles from the Beach Club:

Double Tree Hotel
2305 HOTEL PLAZA BLVD (M03)
DOUBLE TREE HOTEL
ORLANDO, FL

 

[cepmom]

Thanks again momof3luvs2run! I will check that out!