Cruising and a car?

[psimon]

I am looking for some advice....

We are doing WDW and the cruise a la carte... by that, I mean I am putting the "package" together myself instead of taking the conventional land/sea combo. We are doing 5 nights at OKW and then taking the 3N cruise, which starts on a Thursday.

My question is regarding getting around. We usually have a car for the duration of our stay. This trip, we obviously don't need a car while on the cruise. The question is what to do with our wheels?

As we see it, here are our choices...

1. Rent a car at the airport, use it during our WDW trip, return it to the airport the day of the cruise and take the Disney bus round trip to the boat. Upside: Not paying to rent a car while it sits in the port parking lot. Downside: Have to leave WDW early to get back to the airport and unload the car. Also, if our return flight at the end of the trip is late in the day (we don't have our return flight yet) we could be stranded at the airport all day.

2. Rent a car at the airport and keep it for the duration of the trip, park it at the port, and drive back to the airport at the end of the trip. Upside: Convenience of having the wheels when we need them. Downside: Paying to rent a car while it sits in the parking lot.

3. Rent a car at the airport, keep it at WDW, drive to the port and return it there before sailing. Rent another upon return and drive it to the airport. UPside: a car when I want it. Downside:lots of time to rent and return cars.

Anyone have any thoughts? Is there a better way? All thoughts appreciated.....

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[Donnainnj]

Paul,
I would definitely keep the car the entire time if I were you. It is only 3 nights so $30 for parking, and many times renting a car for less then a week is more then a week or the same. The total money should not be much different, and time on vacation is so valuable.
I am trying to figure out how much extra it will be to leave a rental car for the 7 day cruise. We are going at least one day early and are staying at least 2 days after. I know the $70 for parking, and then the rental car fee, but then what would my other options cost. The thing that really bugs me is that we will probably also have our own car sitting at the airport racking up parking fees during the trip. Also note the Disney transfers are not cheap, and they get you to the ship a bit later in the day then you can get on otherwise.
Have fun planning!

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

We are renting a car this year for our trip to Florida because last year we took our car and broke the speaker wires in the trunk with the luggage. We also need a bigger car this year as we will be taking 1 more person with us. Yes we will be leaving the car at the port for 7 days so we looked around and found a car with a pretty good rate with unlimited mileage. It is worth it to us even though we will only be driving it 3-4 days. Mickey is worth the extra money.

 

[scrapperjill]

Just wanted to add...if you have everything planned out and arranged ahead of time. Renting and returning a car does not take much time at all. We just went on a short weekend trip and I think the time we spent getting the rental car and returning it was less than 15 min...together. So if it were me...I know I could come up with something else I'd rather spend the "parking" money on other than parking...like maybe one of those cool DCL beach towles . Also I'd do the pick up at the airport and drop off down at the port.

 

[disneyfuntime]

We're arriving in Orlando on a Sun taking FL tours from airport to hotel,until our 3 day cruise on thurs using FL tours from hotel to cruise after the cruise FL tours to the airport to rent a car for the remainder of the trip. We figure the 4 days before the cruise we would do the parks, no reason for a car just to sit in the parking lot. I've heard that the bus from the airport is crowded and you arrive after the crowds have started with a car company you can arrive at anytime you wish. Just a thought

 

[Drcell01]

For September we have rented a car (at a great price from L & M at the Orlando airport) and we will just pay the $10 per day to park it at the port. If we just rented for one day before (arriving on Saturday, staying at OKW, and going back to WDW after the cruise) would cost almost double to rent from another company, drop off at port, and then pick up another rental to return to WDW would be quite a bit more expensive.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

HI PAUL,

WHY DON'T YOU DRIVE TO THE PORT THE "MORNING BEFORE" YOUR CRUISE, STAY IN THE RADDISON (85.00)

http://www.radissonport.com/index.htm

LEAVE CAR THERE(FREE) & TAKE THE SHUTTLE TO THE PORT(FREE)

AFTER THE CRUISE THE RADDISON SHUTTLE WILL PICK YOUR FAMILY UP & BRING YOU BACK TO THE HOTEL.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING ON YOUR CRUISE?


------------------------------------------------------------

FAITH FULLY TRAVELED TO DISNEY FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS:

WDW 1994 THRU 2004

"FUTURE" DISNEY TRIPS:

DCL 11/04/04

WDW 02/19/05

 

[Griggle]

We did a land/3 day sea last year and left the rental at the port. I shopped the heck out of car rental, and got a great weekly rate, so it didn't *hurt* having the car sit there for the three days. Also, with the kids and all the luggage, just seemed like it would be less stressful trying to make all other kinds of transportation arrangements. And it was!

Another HUGE plus - when we packed, we had "land suitcases" and "Sea suitcases" - so, we didn't have to bring all the extra luggage on board with us (as well as the baby's car seat).

 

[psimon]

Originally posted by PURTYPAT1
HI PAUL,

WHY DON'T YOU DRIVE TO THE PORT THE "MORNING BEFORE" YOUR CRUISE, STAY IN THE RADDISON (85.00)

http://www.radissonport.com/index.htm

LEAVE CAR THERE(FREE) & TAKE THE SHUTTLE TO THE PORT(FREE)

AFTER THE CRUISE THE RADDISON SHUTTLE WILL PICK YOUR FAMILY UP & BRING YOU BACK TO THE HOTEL.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING ON YOUR CRUISE?

We are doing Halloween '04, staying at OKW, departing there on Thursday morning, going straight to the ship. Staying at the Raddision the night before would chop a day off of doing the parks and that wouldn't go over big with the kids (small and big )!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[psimon]

Originally posted by Griggle
We did a land/3 day sea last year and left the rental at the port. I shopped the heck out of car rental, and got a great weekly rate, so it didn't *hurt* having the car sit there for the three days. Also, with the kids and all the luggage, just seemed like it would be less stressful trying to make all other kinds of transportation arrangements. And it was!

Another HUGE plus - when we packed, we had "land suitcases" and "Sea suitcases" - so, we didn't have to bring all the extra luggage on board with us (as well as the baby's car seat).

I understand the concept of seperate land and sea luggage.... something I have pushed for but we will see how that pans out!

I guess one of my gripes is that I will be paying for a rental car I won't be using and then paying to park that rental car I won't be using! As I see it, it could be $75 or more for that exercise between the parking and rental... am I wrong?

Wish there was a better way.

----Paul in Southern NJ

 

[PURTYPAT1]

WILL YOUR FAMILY BE ON THE NOV 4TH CRUISE?

 

[psimon]

Originally posted by PURTYPAT1
WILL YOUR FAMILY BE ON THE NOV 4TH CRUISE?

Yes... you?


--- Paul in Southern NJ

 

[PURTYPAT1]

HI PAUL,

YES, I WILL BE ON THE NOV 4TH CRUISE ALSO!!!

WILL BE WITH MY DD 10 & MY DML

WHAT ARE YOUR CHILDREN'S AGES?

HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR CABIN ASSIGNMENTS AS OF YET?

PLEASE SIGN MY THREAD


THANKS PAUL

PATRICIA
-------------------------------
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=568200

 

[erikthewise]

I vote for parking at the port -- that what we did in 2001 when we did the same thing you're doing.

Renting a car for 8 days won't cost much more than a 5-day rental plus a 1-day; it may even cost less! Even with an extra $30 for parking, I think it's well worth it to avoid the hassle of a rental car transaction and shuttle ride on both ends of the cruise.