Get me from Sanford Airport to WDW cheap and fast!

[CrackTheSkye]

Me and the wife are going to WDW for our anniversary on dates 3/29-4/4. We are flying Allegiant into Sanford/Orlando. We need to get from there to our resort (POP) as cheap and fast as possible. I know the ride/drive is about an hour which is fine. We just don't need to be out any longer. I've looked at rental cars which seem to be $200+ for the week but I don't want to pay that as we'll only use the car to get from airport to WDW and back to airport when we leave.

I've read about shuttle services costing around $200 round trip but then again hat is fairly expensive for what we need. Same with catching a cab. We're sort of on a tight budget as it is and really can't afford spending to much just getting from airport and back.

Any other suggestions?

 

[vicki_c]

Rent a car for one way and drop it off at Disney.

And the same in reverse when you leave.

 

[goofy4tink]

You could rent a car from Alamo or National at Sanford, one way. Return it to the Dolphin and head to a park or get a cab back to Pop....about $10. Then, rent again on your last day,to get back to the airport.
This is the price you pay when flying into Sanford. It is a much less frequently used airport, so it costs more. Not to mention that is almost double the distance to WDW from MCO.

 

[CrackTheSkye]

You could rent a car from Alamo or National at Sanford, one way. Return it to the Dolphin and head to a park or get a cab back to Pop....about $10. Then, rent again on your last day,to get back to the airport.
This is the price you pay when flying into Sanford. It is a much less frequently used airport, so it costs more. Not to mention that is almost double the distance to WDW from MCO.

One day rental at Alamo is $144. So that's $288 for trip/return trip.


We are wanting to go to AK as soon as we get to WDW. Plane lands at 10:00am. I'd like to be at AK by 1pm if at all possible.

 

[vicki_c]

If $288 is the best rental price you can get, then I would look into a town car. I don't think that would be more than that.

 

[goofy4tink]

One day rental at Alamo is $144. So that's $288 for trip/return trip.

We are wanting to go to AK as soon as we get to WDW. Plane lands at 10:00am. I'd like to be at AK by 1pm if at all possible.

Keep looking at rental cars. Their prices fluctuate constantly. You may find a better price. You can also rent from other companies, just have to go to DTD to return the car..not a big deal.
If you can't get a rental car for a price you can live with go with a car service.

Now having said all that....didn't we just have a poster that put her mother on a shuttle back to Sanford and it worked quite well? Just went back to see if I could find it. The company name was Horizons. The poster was very happy with the service. It was &35 pp each way. You might want to check into that.

 

[Gracie09]

I think the issue is you are going to get it fast OR you are going to get it cheap.

 

[CrackTheSkye]

I think the issue is you are going to get it fast OR you are going to get it cheap.

I am coming to realize this. But I think I've found a solution!

I just found out that A good family friend of my dads lives around Orlando and her son (dads childhood friend) works at WDW. We've been talking with her and she is either going to pick us up/take us back or arrange for us to be picked up free of charge!


This brings me to my next question, anyway her son that works at WDW could get us a discount on anything even if we've already paid half of our balance? We're doing the spring special with mid tier dining plan. Can he go back and get some of that taken care of? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[goofy4tink]

I am coming to realize this. But I think I've found a solution!

I just found out that A good family friend of my dads lives around Orlando and her son (dads childhood friend) works at WDW. We've been talking with her and she is either going to pick us up/take us back or arrange for us to be picked up free of charge!


This brings me to my next question, anyway her son that works at WDW could get us a discount on anything even if we've already paid half of our balance? We're doing the spring special with mid tier dining plan. Can he go back and get some of that taken care of? Anyone have any experience with this?

Probably not. When CMs get discounts for others, they usually have to be there with that person when they use the discount. I think you should probably quit while you're ahead...take the free ride. That's a very nice thing for someone to do...it's an hour from Sanford to WDW, so they're taking a huge chunk of time out to help you get to your resort.
If they should offer to get you some kind of discount then fine. But I certainly wouldn't ask for it!

 

[chartle]

This brings me to my next question, anyway her son that works at WDW could get us a discount on anything even if we've already paid half of our balance? We're doing the spring special with mid tier dining plan. Can he go back and get some of that taken care of? Anyone have any experience with this?

My niece works for WDW at AK and she could get us 40% off a room but 50% if she "stayed with us". This was the week before Xmas and with the rates at the time off site was still a way better deal.

The big issue is she would have had to book the room and pay for it. So you would have to rebook and get the money to her. Also even if she wasn't in the room she would have to be there at check in and I think everything is in her name.

As an extra perk for the holidays she had some discount coupons for TS but they were blacked out at Via Napoli for the time we were there.

The best discount we got was at CiCi' pizza. she got us almost 50% off our bill. She also gets discounts at WDW gift shops but we had to be very careful that she had the money in her hand as we when to the register so she was buying it.

But as goofy4tink posted, a ride from the airport is a pretty big favor.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Watch car codes, we went way down two weeks out of our trip. I had a minivan $300 for 8 days. Great to have on site, offsite eating and as we had one time a dental emergency. Full size and mid were less expensive but we had a full car that trip needing a minivan.

 

[CrackTheSkye]

Probably not. When CMs get discounts for others, they usually have to be there with that person when they use the discount. I think you should probably quit while you're ahead...take the free ride. That's a very nice thing for someone to do...it's an hour from Sanford to WDW, so they're taking a huge chunk of time out to help you get to your resort.
If they should offer to get you some kind of discount then fine. But I certainly wouldn't ask for it!

The ride is well enough indeed! I had no plans of asking him. His mother had mentioned that he may could get us some discounts but was unsure. I was just curious what, if any. But the ride is great enough and I wouldn't want to put him through the trouble of having to get a discount applied.