Daytona USA

[birvine]

I'm sorry, but I am going to post this in another forum as well. Not sure this is exactly the place to pose this question....buuuut.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the 500 yesterday, and my 9 year old son being a HUGE fan, AND our planned trip to Disney (Orlando) in October, does anyone have any input on how we might be able to get from PORT Orleans to DAYTONA USA so my son can see JR's car?

We are using the Magic Express service from the airport to the resort, so we won't have a rental.

Has anyone done this? I understand the ride is more than an hour. Do taxis run that far? I'm a country boy, no taxis where I live. Is it a better idea to rent a car for the day? I have no idea how I would get to and from rental place since we are staying at resort and don't have a means to travel around Orlando.

Thanks for any suggestion in advance.

 

[Jimsig]

Rent a car for the day and make a day of it in Daytona, a taxi would cost you a small fortune. 2 trips ago it was just me and my now wife and we stayed off property and had a rental. We went to Daytona, pre season testing was going on so we were able to watch some of that and see Daytona USA.

After you hit Daytona Speedway for some fun head to coast and drive on the beach, pretty sure a 9yo would love that.

Others can tell you how best to get to the car rental while at DW. It's just over an hour up I-4 to Daytona.

 

[anniemck]

I will agree with rent a car. It is an easy ride, I-4 East from Disney World and there is an exit for Daytona International Speedway. The Speedway and Daytona USA is an awesome experience. Make a day of it and take the same road that the speedway is on out to the beach and have lunch at the Cruisin' Cafe. This was a pretty neat experience, they have booths where the benches are cut outs of actual cars. Each table has a driver theme. There was an awesome shop right across the street that had all kinds of NASCAR memorabilia shirts, jackets all of it.

It is a 66 mile drive just over an hour straight highway.

 

[anniemck]

Alamo and National Rent A Car are on Disney property.

 

[richmo]

You almost have to rent a car. A taxi each way would be super expensive. Amtrak might go up there, but you'd still have the issue of getting to the station in Orlando, schedules, etc.

As far as renting a car, if you only need it for the day, there are several places on or near Disney property. As a PP mentioned, Alamo/National is onsite at the Car Care Center, just outside the Magic Kingdom exit and the Dolphin. Since you are staying onsite, they will pick you up at POR and take you to the Car Care Center. You just have to call the local Alamo office (its on their website) a day ahead and let them know when you would like to be picked up. Of course, you can do the car reservation itself online. When you return the car (if its to the Car Care Center), they will take you back (or, I've had them drop me at the TTC).

There are also agencies at several of the hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd (near Downtown Disney). I forget which agencies are where, but cars are available at the Hilton (Avis, I think), Wyndham and Doubletree. All, especially the Hilton, are in easy walking distance to Downtown Disney Marketplace, so if you can get a bus there, you could easily get to one of the hotels.

 

[JillyBean1899]

Definitely rent a car for the day. Even if you could find a taxi driver willing to drive you, it would cost more than your Disney trip. Another thing you might want to do is call DIS and find out about their tour schedule. They have various options that are under $50 per person (the cheapest one is $16 for adults, $10 for kids 6-10, and free for kids 5 and under), and some include a trip around the track (in a van, low speed) and a visit to Victory Lane. If your kid is a big Jr fan, he'd be thrilled to get a picture in VL where Jr was celebrating Sunday night.

 

[LadyBeBop]

I'll echo everyone who said rent a car for the day, and make this a fun beach day.

However, I have a question.

Daytona is one of the few beaches that you can actually drive on. And it's a fun experience. However, we've always driven down to Daytona.

I thought I read somewhere that rental companies won't allow you to drive their vehicles on the Daytona beach. True or false.

 

[JillyBean1899]

I'll echo everyone who said rent a car for the day, and make this a fun beach day.

However, I have a question.

Daytona is one of the few beaches that you can actually drive on. And it's a fun experience. However, we've always driven down to Daytona.

I thought I read somewhere that rental companies won't allow you to drive their vehicles on the Daytona beach. True or false.

Best bet is to call the rental companies. A lot of them have stipulations in their contracts that prohibit "offroad" use, and an ungroomed beach (as opposed to a graded dirt road) would probably qualify as offroad use.

 

[nacho113]

I thought I read somewhere that rental companies won't allow you to drive their vehicles on the Daytona beach. True or false.

Unless you bring the car back with the carpets all full of sand, not sure how they would even know that you had been driving on the beach.
Have driven on the beach in rental cars before, nothing was ever mentioned when we returned the vehicle. Besides, the sand is so hard packed in the driving lanes that it's almost like being on the road.