Do we really NEED a rental car???

[Peytonthe1st]

Hi All,

I am in the VERY beginning stages of planning our WDW vacation/DCL cruise for November 2015. We will be flying in to MCO and heading to WDW for 4-5 nights, then heading to PC for our cruise and back again to MCO to go home. We will most likely take Disney transfers from PC to MCO, but I am pretty certain (for our family of 4) a one-way rental car from WDW to PC is the way to go. That leaves just MCO to WDW to contend with. Now, the question is, do I just go ahead and plan to have a rental car from MCO one-way to PC for the entire week? We obviously don't know what hotel we'll stay at, but do we need one when spending our time on the WDW resort property? Or can we get around by shuttles, on foot, etc....?

I am an obsessive planner and this is one of those things I just can't figure out. I've never been to WDW (neither has DH) so I cannot wrap my head around the logistics of transportation from MCO to WDW and what sorts of transportation concerns there might be once we are on-site.

If I don't get a rental car the entire time from MCO-PC and just have one WDW-PC, how the heck do I get to WDW? And can I find rental cars at WDW or thereabouts, or do I have to go back to MCO to rent a car?

Thanks for putting this gal's mind at ease.

 

[amomma23]

No, you don't need a rental for the whole trip. You can take Magical Express (free) from MCO to WDW. There aren't many places you can walk to at WDW, but there is free bus transportation to get to parks/resorts.

I agree that renting one-way to the cruise is probably cheaper. Alamo/National have cars at the Dolphin Resort and the Disney Car Care center (both on property).

DCL transfers are probably the easiest option to get from PC to MCO at the end of your trip.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Peytonthe1st]

Hope that helps a bit.

Absolutely! Thank you!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

There is absolutely no way to know what rental car costs will be like 1.5 years from now. But in the past, I have rented cars for 2 weeks for very reasonable rates. Compare that to the OVER $100 per day rental I was looking at picking up at PC and dropping at MCO, and the longer rental made more sense. (we ended up not doing either, LOL, but if I had just had those choices it would have been the rental)

BUT I like having a car. I dislike disney transportation intensely, to the point of getting cab rides instead of dealing with a bus at times.

 

[sam_gordon]

There is absolutely no way to know what rental car costs will be like 1.5 years from now. But in the past, I have rented cars for 2 weeks for very reasonable rates. Compare that to the OVER $100 per day rental I was looking at picking up at PC and dropping at MCO, and the longer rental made more sense. (we ended up not doing either, LOL, but if I had just had those choices it would have been the rental)

BUT I like having a car. I dislike disney transportation intensely, to the point of getting cab rides instead of dealing with a bus at times.

I currently have two one ways booked for next month... MCO to PC (actually two days) and PC to MLB after the cruise. I'm getting them for ~$50/day including all fees. Still hoping for price drops.

FWIW, that's compared to $450+ AND parking during the cruise if we kept it the entire time.

To answer the OP's question, no, you don't NEED a rental car. Some folks prefer a rental car, but it's not a necessity. One thing to consider though is whether you're staying off site or on. If you're staying off site, I think a rental car IS the better option.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

You can definitely take the Magical Express from MCO to WDW. Once on site, depending what hotel you're at, there are buses, boats, and monorails that connect the hotels to the parks and Downtown Disney, water parks, etc. We've done four trips and never once had a vehicle and have been perfectly fine! If worse came to worse and you needed to be somewhere at a specific time (for an ADR, for example) and didn't want to bother with Disney transport, you can always use a taxi, but it's really not necessary with a little planning.

As for a rental once you're on property, there is a car center right there. I believe both Alamo and National have services there. If you're renting from them, they'll actually send a shuttle to pick you up at your hotel, take you to the car care center to do all the paperwork, etc., and you're on your way. When I was looking at doing a one-day rental last year, it was about $50 a day.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My husband insists on a rental car every place we go, especially WDW. I have to admit that it is nice not to wait in the long lines for the buses and the multiple stops they make. Keep that in mind when making ADR's because if you rely on WDW transportation, you'll need to give yourself PLENTY of time to get there. When we fly into MCO, we rent with National and bypass the counter and go right to our rental car. So easy, so simple. We walked right past the line of the Magical Express and it was incredibly long.

 

[leebee]

I should point out… you can take Magical Express from MCO to WDW IF you are staying at a Disney resort hotel. I know, you probably will stay onsite, but it wasn't clear from your post- in fact I think you mentioned you didn't know where you were staying yet. SO… if you are staying at a WDW hotel, you can take Magical Express from MCO to your Disney hotel. While visiting Disney's parks, you can use the monorail, buses, and boats to get around the property.

 

[Hopefully]

I can't answer the WDW to PC question, but as far as renting a car, no you do not NEED to.
We have done it all ways. We have driven to Florida and had our own car, we have rented a car only to have it sit in the hotel parking lot all week, we have used a Town Car service with a grocery stop and we have used DME and wegoshop for grocery deliveries.
By far, we prefer using DME, grocery delivery to the resort, and the onsite Disney buses, boats, monorails etc.
If you are staying onsite, you are entitled to use DME back to MCo where you can connect with the Disney transfer MCO to PC
Good Luck

 

[puffkin]

Probably the easiest and least stressful option is to rent a car at MCO use it for your time at WDW and then return it at PC. Then for PC back to MCO, either take the DCL Transfer (easiest) or do a 1 way rental (cheapest)...whichever works out best for you.

You don't NEED a car at WDW and can use Magical Express and Disney Transportation for free. But a car is much easier and way more convenient. Plus then you are always on your schedule, not Disney's schedule. Compared to other parts of the country, rentals are usually pretty cheap in the Orlando area.