Fifteen sleeps until we leave - two last minute questions - towels and tolls...

[1926Moon]

Hi Fifteen sleeps until we catch our flight to Orlando and pick up our rental car - 3 nights at Universal, 7 nights on the Fantasy, 8 nights at Beach Club Villas - we are DL regulars, but this is our first ever trip to the east coast and our first ever DCL adventure.

Two last minute questions just popped into my head...

1) towels - on the cruise do we have to take the towels from our to use at the pools and aquaduck? Or are there towels available on the decks for our use? I am paranoid about losing a room towel at the pools and being charged for it :/

2) road tolls! We have a rental car for the full almost three weeks we will be there, it was actually cheaper to do this and pay for parking a the port than to rent for two shorter periods! Crazy, eh? Anyhow, we need to drive from USO to the port, and then from the port to WDW - what is the best way to go about paying for road tolls? Are there toll booths that we can pay cash at? Because that would really simplify things!! I am worried about excess charges from Alamo due to tolls charged to the car....

Thanks everyone! I have been perusing the dis boards for almost two years now prepping of this trip and you all have been so helpful

 

[dcassetta]

1. Plenty of towels at the pool areas, and you can also take ship towels off when you do a short excursion.

2. The toll plazas on the beach line are manned and you can use cash. There will also be coin lanes.

 

[1926Moon]

1. Plenty of towels at the pool areas, and you can also take ship towels off when you do a short excursion.

2. The toll plazas on the beach line are manned and you can use cash. There will also be coin lanes.

Thank you for the quick response. I shall make sure we have American $$ for tolls! You totally put my jittery last minute mind at ease For now, until the next crazy question pops into my head!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

1) towels - on the cruise do we have to take the towels from our to use at the pools and aquaduck? Or are there towels available on the decks for our use? I am paranoid about losing a room towel at the pools and being charged for it :/

No, there are towels on the pool deck in the cabinets. DCL will also supply towels for excursions, if you need them. Unlike other cruise lines you aren't charged for lost towels. Just remember to bring them back with you on excursions, please.

 

[Msidescooter]

Your rental car should have a sun pass pre-installed (I haven't seen one down here without it installed), they'll charge the tolls to your card and you'll save a great deal of time making your way from Orlando to Port Canaveral and back again! There are 4 or 5 toll plazas from the start of the beach line through to Port Canaveral and the cash lines can get REALLY REALLY long.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Your rental car should have a sun pass pre-installed (I haven't seen one down here without it installed), they'll charge the tolls to your card and you'll save a great deal of time making your way from Orlando to Port Canaveral and back again! There are 4 or 5 toll plazas from the start of the beach line through to Port Canaveral and the cash lines can get REALLY REALLY long.

We had a rental car, and there was no sunpass in it. Maybe it's an option for some models?

 

[Bishoparc]

We had a rental car, and there was no sunpass in it. Maybe it's an option for some models?

Depending on the rental company, a lot of them have their tags mapped in Sunpass so they just bill you later as all the Sunpass lanes take pictures of your license plate.

Just be sure to tell the rental company when you pick up the car you want the "toll pass" service. I know that is how National does it (should be the same for Enterprise as they are owned by the same company).

I know this as I live in Florida and just rented a car at MCO to drive back home and when I asked he said they don't hand out Sunpass', they just go off of the license plate billing. Just be sure if you use this service whatever credit card you use keeps enough available balance on it for the tolls about 2 months as it usually takes 1-2 months to bill.

 

[jiminy14]

Your rental car should have a sun pass pre-installed (I haven't seen one down here without it installed), they'll charge the tolls to your card and you'll save a great deal of time making your way from Orlando to Port Canaveral and back again! There are 4 or 5 toll plazas from the start of the beach line through to Port Canaveral and the cash lines can get REALLY REALLY long.

We always rent a car and we have never had a car with the sunpass installed. I know most rental agencies offer the option of renting a car with the sunpass installed but it is at an additional daily cost. The company we use charges $16/day for the sunpass and we would never spend the much a day in tolls. The tolls between WDW and the port are about $5 each way. There are 3-4 $1.00 tolls and one $1.25 toll. I would also try and have a couple of dollars worth of quarters (25 cent pieces) because there are several tolls in the WDW area that only accept coins. You probably won't encounter any of these but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
As far as towels, there is an ample supply of towels on the pool decks for your use. DCL also provides towels for your use on the excursions and Castaway Cay. The towels for the excursions are usually given out at your meeting point on the ship and the CC towels are available on the dock as you exit the ship. DCL asks that you return the towels before boarding the ship. There are towel return bins on CC and large bins located on the dock upon returning from your excursion. A CM on our last cruise informed our excursion group that DCL loses an average of 600 towels on each port day.

 

[hubie1313]

I purchased a sunpass transponder and just keep the account open and funded for use in rental cars when we are in Florida . I just make sure I update and the license plates on the rental to my sunpass account. It works great.

 

[bumbershoot]

I have had a "long" line exactly one time, and it was ONE car in front of me having some sort of issue. That's it.

Get 10-20 ones and a roll of quarters ($10), keep them handy, and you're good to go.

 

[wilma-bride]

I just did this journey from WDW to Port a couple of weeks ago. There is 1 x $1 toll and 1 x $2.25 toll. The other toll plaza is currently not active (would normally be $1 also)

 

[Sytrace]

I would recommend taking the turnpike (picks up right where Universal Studios is) to the Beachline (528) and bypassing SOME (not all) of the construction happening right now.
On the way from PC to Disney, take the Beachline to 417 and it will take you onto Disney property without the constuction issues.

The only place on the toll roads that don't have a change/reciept lane is if you get off the toll road at the Gaylord Palms exit off the 417.
That is exact change or Sunpass only.

 

[hrhdhd]

The only place on the toll roads that don't have a change/reciept lane is if you get off the toll road at the Gaylord Palms exit off the 417. That is exact change or Sunpass only.

Most (all?) of the entrance/exit ramps on the GreeneWay (SR-417) are unmanned. Only the mainline plazas offer change and receipts.

 

[Sytrace]

But the exits that they would most likely be taking on the 417 are manned with the exception of the one I mentioned.

 

[Princess Melody]

Depending on the rental company, a lot of them have their tags mapped in Sunpass so they just bill you later as all the Sunpass lanes take pictures of your license plate.

Just be sure to tell the rental company when you pick up the car you want the "toll pass" service. I know that is how National does it (should be the same for Enterprise as they are owned by the same company).

I know this as I live in Florida and just rented a car at MCO to drive back home and when I asked he said they don't hand out Sunpass', they just go off of the license plate billing. Just be sure if you use this service whatever credit card you use keeps enough available balance on it for the tolls about 2 months as it usually takes 1-2 months to bill.

I DO NOT recommend trying this. We were told this by a rental agency (we live local & accidentally left the transponder in the car during a long service, called & asked about picking it up & got that response). We were billed more than double what the actual tolls would've been! Since we live here & go the same route to work every day there was no questioning actual cost vs what our bill ended up being. Got it corrected but it was a pain!
I can also say we've never gotten a rental car with a transponder in it or had any of our many family members that visit & rent get one.

 

[RedSox68]

Just wondering -- are you only using the car to go from a park to pier and back to a park? If you are not planning on driving around Orlando to other attractions, a private transportation company might be cheaper. The one we've used has many times taken us from airport to Universal, to pier, from pier to WDW. And their costs are pretty much in range with booking Disney's cruise buses and (we found) cheaper than renting a car, paying for gas and tolls, and paying to park at both the pier and at the parks.

 

[limabeanies]

Just check to make sure that the sunpass is A) not installed or B) has been manually switched off. Some of the rentals have a switch on them that you can control.

 

[1926Moon]

I have had a "long" line exactly one time, and it was ONE car in front of me having some sort of issue. That's it.

Get 10-20 ones and a roll of quarters ($10), keep them handy, and you're good to go.

I think this is the simplest way for us to handle it. Thanks!

We are coming from the west coast of Canada and this trip will be a once in a life time kind of thing, so buying the transponder is no use to us down the road and I also don't want to deal with the rental car company anymore than I need to.....so keeping some small cash on us will be the solution

 

[1926Moon]

Just wondering -- are you only using the car to go from a park to pier and back to a park? If you are not planning on driving around Orlando to other attractions, a private transportation company might be cheaper. The one we've used has many times taken us from airport to Universal, to pier, from pier to WDW. And their costs are pretty much in range with booking Disney's cruise buses and (we found) cheaper than renting a car, paying for gas and tolls, and paying to park at both the pier and at the parks.

I considered both options for us. As far as cost goes, there are only two of us so the other transportation options are almost a breakeven point compared to what we paid for the rental car. Plus - we like to meander and wander around, sometimes taking a drive to see the a bit of the area we are in, so it is nice to have that option and freedom If it were just me, I would never leave the resort - but my husband likes to do a little exploring sometimes.

 

[1926Moon]

Thank you everyone for all your responses - I really appreciate it!!