Car Rental

[Laurarn]

Hi Everyone! I wanted to get opinions on car rental. This is my 3rd cruise but 1st time flying into MCO. (I'm arriving the day before). I've read many posts saying to rent a car from MCO to port (one way) and doing the same thing on return. (least expensive option). Sounds good,however, has anyone that done this found it a hassle? It seems like a lot of transfers with cars, shuttles, etc. then, on return, is there a long line to get another car to get to the airport? I'm traveling with my 3 sisters (from another state) and we have flights to return home around 1pm and 1:30pm. Is it rough lugging all the luggage around during all the transfers? Does it take alot of time? Or am I stressing and it runs fairly smoothly? My other option is to just keep the car for the week and know that I have transportation when our shuttle returns to the Radisson. (I've made ressies at the Radisson). How do you get from Budget to the Radisson after dropping off the car there?
I'm also "sitting on the fence" whether to stay near the airport (maybe try Priceline for the 1st time). I get in around noon (and plan to visit a friend in the area), but the rest come in around 10:30 pm to MCO. One more question, what car category should I look at for 4 adults? (of course, being all women, luggage space is probably what I should concentrate on ). Looking forward to hearing your input. These boards are awesome!
Thanks!!!!

 

[DrCavin]

It really is not bad. When we claimed our luggage at MCO I got one of the luggage carts & put everything on it. When disembarking we used a Porter who took it all to the waiting area for the rental shuttle. It is really a simple process & goes really smoothly...

Based on everyone else arriving late, I would stay near the airport. You will probably need an SUV or mini-van to handle 4 adults & luggage. You may be able to get a full-size car, but not sure if you could get all the luggage in the trunk.

 

[Laurarn]

bump. If I rent a car one way each way, is there a long line or does it take a while to get the car, when you return to port? Are the shuttles running frequently to Budget? We're on the 4 day Wonder and have 1pm flights. Thanks!

 

[daisy112878]

We are doing Budget. We have not experienced this first hand yet but I've flown into MCO several times. If you decide to go with Budget sign up for their Fast Break. You'll get a small discount on the car. When you get to MCO you don't stand in line, you just go out pick a car in a FastBreak parking space. Show your DL and tag from car at the gate. Here's the link to it:
https://www.budgetuat.com/budgetWeb/profile/fastbreak.ex

 

[DISJen]

Laurarn - you have have a choice of shuttles at the port when you get off, both of them are easy and the shuttles seem to run pretty often, the Radisson or the Budget. By the way, the Budget car place is practically next door to the Radisson, you can easily walk there if you want. But by taking the Budget shuttle, you'll cut out one transfer.
The luggage doesn't have to be that bad. Disney has porters that will take it all the way to the curb for you and then the shuttle drivers will put it in, you just have to tip everyone in sight.
What we did is we had one person go get the car and then drive back to the curb at the terminal to pick everyone and the luggage up. That's not so bad either. The drive to/from the airport to the port is a very straight and easy shot.
None of this seemed so bad to me especially when I compared it to how expensive the Disney shuttle is, and I'm one who would pay a little extra for convenience.
If money is no object, then take the Disney shuttle, you won't even have to think.

 

[Tiggeriffic]

We just returned friom the 4/23 Western cruise. We rented cars from Avis
instead of using transfers for two reasons. First, it was cheaper. Second, we
had time on both ends before our flights. We flew in the day before the cruise
and didn't fly out until the night on Saturday. This gave us freedom to do
what we wanted.

We had absolutely no problems renting from Avis this time. Avis is right on
the airport, so there is no shuttle to take there. At Port Canaveral, it is a
short ride (approx. 5 minutes) from Avis to the Port. We had very little wait
for a shuttle ride both to and from Avis. On our first cruise, 2 years ago, we
had experienced quite a wait to get a shuttle from the Port back to Avis, but
this time things seemed to go much smoother and we only waited about 5 to
10 minutes.

I haven't used the other rental car companies when doing the cruise, so I
can't say whether or not they take a long time. However, if at all possible,
sign up for whatever preferred service the rental car company has before
you make your reservation. Many of these are free, or can be free if you find
the right coupon/code. This will usually speed up the process quite a bit - I
know it does for both Avis and National which I've used quite frequently.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

[S'sMom]

and park it at the port. This is what we did on our last trip and its what we are doing this trip. I agree the hassle of the one way thing is too much. It is so much easier to just rent it and park it.

I got our rental from Alamo at a greeat rate... (110.00 after taxes and everything using the Entertainment Book). We will be in that area from may 31 - jun5 before the cruise at dw and after fo to airport ot go home.

Another hint for you if you want to avoid the long lines at Alamo, get a quote from them that you might like then when you get ot mco, go to L&M Rental and show them your quote and they will match it to get yoru business. Even their website is cheaper. We did this last trip and it was so worth it. They never have a line and they stand in front of thier counter trying to get people to rent cars frm them

We had no problmes from them

Good luck to you

 

[mmouse37]

Alamo, Dollar, L&M....are all great to use if you are keeping the car the whole time and then returning to MCO. You would not be able to use these car rental companies if you want a one-way rental as they have no offices at the port area.

We have done it both ways...kept the car the whole time (the easiest) and the two one-way rentals (not that bad), but we did find the Budget shuttle to be slow on a few occasions when we got off the ship and opted to take a taxi that was there to the budget location to pick up the car. Next time I will program some taxi phone numbers in my phone and call for a taxi as I exit the ship. The taxi's did not seem to run to regularly...we just lucky one was waiting there.

 

[daisymae]

We just returned from the April 23rd Magic and did the one way rental both times - worked very well. I rented online through Budget(was the cheapest at the port). There is a discount code I used to get the best rate (I think I found it on www.dcltribute.com). We stayed at the Radisson a few days early and toured Kennedy Space Center. On cruise morning, drive into the Day Parking lot and head toward the awning. My husband dropped us off and we went across the walkway with our luggage to wait at the gate. He returned the car and headed back on the shuttle - pretty easy with no luggage. On the return, we didn't go out of the gate to the rental shuttles. Right after you leave the building, on your left side, there are benches where we waited for my husband to return with the rental. He hopped on a shuttle and was back within 30 minutes. On your way back with the car, go past the rental shuttle stops and make a left to go into the terminal driveway past the gates. There's a guard there, but you can just explain you are picking up passengers and he'll let you through. It was just a few feet from the benches to the curb where we loaded our luggage. Our flight was at 5:30 so we had time to go to Downtown Disney and do lunch. Have a great trip.

 

[Laurarn]

Thanks for all the great info! Next question (sorry), how far out to book the car rental? Or should I wait until closer to the dates for a good deal?
Laura

 

[mmouse37]

I book the ressie and then keep checking prices and codes when they come available....if I get a cheaper price then I book that ressie and cancel the first ressie. Always keep checking because prices do change....I saved over $150.00 on a 10 day rental by checking periodically and trying different codes from www.mousesavers.com and a coupon from the entertainment book.