Car rental from Orlando to Clearwater - when/ where?

[dizzyr]

We aren't planning on renting a car for the whole trip because my dh doesn't want to deal with parking/tolls and maps LOL but we do need it for one part.

We are flying in on Sunday November 9th and staying at a SeaWorld hotel for 3 nights. Our plan is to check out on Wednesday, spend the day at Universal and then drive to Clearwater and stay there Wednesday night. On Thursday we will go to Clearwater Marine Aquarium and see Winter from A Dolphins Tale and then head back to Orlando stopping at LEGOLAND on the way. Thursday night we'll be checking into at WDW hotel and won't need the car for the rest of the trip.

So my issues are

1. We want to be at US as early as possible and obviously we don't want to have our luggage with us so we either need a place close to US or SeaWorld that will pick up us from our hotel and take us to the rental place early in the morning.

2. A better option would probably be to get the rental Tuesday night but we have tickets for Dine with Shamu at SeaWorld so to be able to get the car on Tuesday we would need a place that would be open late.

3. On Thursday we'd want to drop it off before checking in to our hotel (or right after) so we'd need a place that would shuttle us (or just my dh) back to the WDW hotel.

Is this plan doable and if so who should we go with?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Well how do you plan to get from the airport to your US hotel? I would think renting a car would make the most sense sinse you will be right at the airport. A shuttle service from the airport to the hotel will likely cost you 3 times the amount that I rental car would plus tip. As far as the tolls it will only cost you less than $4.00 from the airport to the hotel. Just bring a roll of quarters with you. If you rent from Alamo at the airport you can drop the car off at either one of the Alamo location onsite at Disney and they will take you back to your Disney resort.

The only place I know that will pick you up is Hertz and Enterprise but both of these places do close early 5 or 6 p.m. and open at 8:00 or 9:00 a.m.

 

[Greysword]

LOL, I'm getting exhausted just hearing about this whirlwind plan .

I agree with Shelly. It would likely be the least expensive and time savings to rent from the airport and drop off at WDW Car care Center or the Swan & Dolphin hotel. A couple questions/comments:

- How are you getting from the airport to the SeaWorld hotel?

- The trip to Clearwater (one-way) will be 1.5-2 hours (more if during rush hour in Orlando or Tampa). I just wanted to set the expectation, as when I was a kid, we would take the day trip to WDW from St Pete/Clearwater and the drive can be tough after a par day. With check-in and settling in, you'll be getting to bed late. Not a problem, just awareness.

- If you did rent from the airport and wanted to avoid possible drop off charges, your DH could drop you and the kids off at the WDW hotel, drive to MCO, then take Magical Express back. Just coordinate ahead of time for the return trip. This will eat some time, though, so weigh that against any potential extra drop charge fees.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[dizzyr]

We were planning on getting a cab or shuttle from the airport. I wanted to rent a car for the whole week and originally we weren't doing Disney but then my dh said he'd rather take Disney transfers to the cruise (yup a cruise is also part of this crazy whirlwind once in a lifetime trip!) and suggested we cut out one day at US and combine the legoland and Clearwater into one day (was originally going to be two) and spend the last two days at Disney. It sounds like it will make it more complicated but I can't seem to bring myself to say no since it may be my one shot at WDW at least for the foreseeable future.

Do you know if you have to pay for parking at the Disney resorts? What about residence inn at Seaworld? If not it does sound like the easiest thing would be to rent the car for the whole week at the airport and drop it back off there and take the Disney shuttle to the ship from the airport instead of the resort which would probably get us on the ship earlier!

If you have to pay for the parking it seems like a waste of $ to have it and not use it except for the two days. Maybe I can convince my kids to drop the Legoland and aquarium idea. The whole trip planning started though because two years ago I told them if I could ever take them to see Winter I would. Somehow seeing Winter has turned into "mommy wants to go on a cruise and daddy wants to see Harry Potter world" lol!

 

[serenitygr]

We drove from Disney to Clearwater one day during our trip. We did not tell the kids where we were going, so when we got there and it slowly dawned on them that Winter WAS real it was the moment of a lifetime . If your kids love winter don't miss going there . We still watch her on the webcam and it was all 4 of our kids favorite part of our vacation!

 

[dizzyr]

We drove from Disney to Clearwater one day during our trip. We did not tell the kids where we were going, so when we got there and it slowly dawned on them that Winter WAS real it was the moment of a lifetime . If your kids love winter don't miss going there . We still watch her on the webcam and it was all 4 of our kids favorite part of our vacation!

Awesome! Can you tell me more about how much you saw her etc. Did your kids do any of the extras like the trainer package - if so was it worth it? How much time did you spend there?

 

[Greysword]

Just a caution, I think you are trying to cram too much in.

A suggestion, make SeaWorld a one day park and use the other two days for Universal (checking out the next day) and Legoland (stay the night at a hotel here after the park instead). Then on day four, head to Clearwater, visit Winter, and head back to WDW for your stay.

- Day 1: Arrival day, get to hotel and settled in
- Day 2: SeaWorld, second night in SeaWorld hotel
- Day 3: Universal, last night in SeaWorld hotel
- Day 4: Legoland, stay in hotel near park (Winter Haven?)
- Day 5: day trip to Clearwater to visit Winter, have lunch on beach, enjoy the Gulf, return to WDW in the evening
- Day 6: Mickey!!!

This is more reasonable if you want to hit so many attractions within the limited time presented. The SeaWorld hotel can be a solid base of operations for this, and you'll get good use from a rental car during this time frame.

That is my recommendation. Good luck!

 

[dizzyr]

I know it sounds like a lot (and probably is too much) but since we aren't really ride people we don't spend as much time at parks as the average person so I think it will be ok.

1. Sunday - arrive at 10:30am get settled in the hotel have lunch then head to seaworld to see one show and maybe one ride

2. Monday - Discovery cove!!! Nothing planned for the evening but relaxing

3. Tuesday - Aquatica in the morning if we feel like it in the morning or pool if we don't. Seaworld in the afternoon and dine with shamu.

4. Wednesday - US for HP and whatever else we have time for - drive to Clearwater. (We regularly drive 45 min just to go for dinner at the Olive Garden so the drive is not an issue at all.

5. Thursday - this is really our only busy day so far. See winter then stop at legoland mostly because we scored tickets for $22 and the kids and dh want to shop. Check into Disney hotel.

6. Friday - WDW (mk) and mickeys Christmas party

7. Saturday - WDW (ak) and then birthday dinner for dh

8. Sunday - cruise!!

The only issue I have is how to arrange the car rental but its looking like renting one for the week may be a better option.

Where we live almost all the car rental places do pickup and drop off but I'm thinking its probably because a lot of the people renting the cars are doing one or two day rentals for car repairs not a major tourist place like Orlando.