Help me decide plz!

[crazy43]

Arriving next Friday, 9/17 (11:15am) until Wednesday the 22nd (11am), 6 of us total with luggage. Starting to think I don't want to take DME at peak times cuz I saw a picture of long lines about 10 days ago. We're looking to reduce areas where we are unable to socially distance from crowds, best we can of course given that we're doing the trip anyway.

Looked at rentals for 6 of us (Large SUV seems like the only option as a minivan might not have room for the luggage?) and Hertz and Avis have Pathfinders $307-$368, Dollar is a bit lower, but not sure if they are reliable enough. Do you think this is the better deal vs. Ubering to and from the airport, plus using it only to get to MK and AK, each once?

Any insight as to how I should look at this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

Have you factored in the parking rate per night at the hotel?

 

[DisneyGirl1721]

We have always done DME only until our trip last week when we did a rental. I was SO glad that we did. I didn't think we would use it - but we actually used it more than we ever realized we would. I will definitely do a rental next time I go!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Distancing and long waits are two separate issues. I’m thinking that you ll have less line and more ability to just distance urself as best as possible. I’d just use ME you already paid for it in ur rate… it’s so simple and why Overthink it at this point …
Keep an adult at the beginning and end of ur group and control it urself.
pixie dust ur way for some fun memories and safe travels too! Enjoy!!!!

 

[crazy43]

Have you factored in the parking rate per night at the hotel?

Ooooh, excellent point thank you! Last time I had a car at Disney, a loooong time ago, there wasn't a charge for parking.

 

[JCornell]

Personally, between distancing and what it's become, I think we're done with DME. It was a no-brainer when they also handled your luggage both ways but now it's just a shared bus that you have to wait for and make extra stops you're not interested in. Sure it's free for a little longer but just not that appealing to us.

We had a rental in July and it worked fine. We had to get an SUV to handle our luggage. However, as someone who hasn't parked at the parks in about 15 years, I would caution that the walks to the entrances are a heck of a lot longer than I remembered and the lack of trams amplifies that. We stayed at CSR so we had to drive to all of the parks. We're doing Swan in November so that means only 2 parks that need buses so we're debating between a rental or a limo for the airport trip (Uber's still feel a little cozy) and busing it for the 2 parks but I wouldn't be surprised if we just do the rental again.

 

[crazy43]

We have always done DME only until our trip last week when we did a rental. I was SO glad that we did. I didn't think we would use it - but we actually used it more than we ever realized we would. I will definitely do a rental next time I go!

Thank you for your insight! Which rental car company did you use?

Distancing and long waits are two separate issues. I’m thinking that you ll have less line and more ability to just distance urself as best as possible. I’d just use ME you already paid for it in ur rate… it’s so simple and why Overthink it at this point …
Keep an adult at the beginning and end of ur group and control it urself.
pixie dust ur way for some fun memories and safe travels too! Enjoy!!!!

Thank you!

 

[Drewsdad]

We gave up on MDE and found FL tours. They provide great service. www.fltour.com

look at their website

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

A minivan has more cargo space than most SUV’s unless you get a suburban or Yukon XL. Pathfinders and other 7 passenger SUV’s put the 3rd row in the trunk, basically.

 

[crazy43]

We gave up on MDE and found FL tours. They provide great service. www.fltour.com

look at their website

Thank you for this suggestion, definitely thinking about this now. Looks more affordable than 2 airport Ubers with the ability for a store stop. Do we get to pick the store or must it be Publix? Thx!

 

[DisneyGirl1721]

Thank you for your insight! Which rental car company did you use?

We used Alamo! We got a medium sized SUV for $100 more than a compact car.

 

[JCornell]

We gave up on MDE and found FL tours. They provide great service. www.fltour.com

look at their website

I've seen a lot of posts for FL tours. The other ones on my radar are Happy Limo and Tiffany Town Car which also have lots of favorable posts.

As for the rental option I tend to favor National since my work has a good discount code and I really like the Emerald Aisle which lets you bypass the counter. Lines can be really long at the rental agencies so any that let you bypass that are preferable. As mentioned previously, if you stay on site you will have to pay for parking at the resort but the parks will be free to park.

 

[MrKnight]

I would recommend either DME or Uber/Lyft.. Renting a car will be very expensive due to parking fees, tolls, rental fees, etc.. Also, there is no way to guarantee that you will not also have to deal with a long line at the airport car rental counter, this is honestly inevitable and you should factor in that at some point on your trip you will have deal with crowds and situations where it will not be possible to "social distance" especially since there are no government-mandated Covid restrictions in Florida.

 

[JimMIA]

With six people plus luggage, neither a minivan nor any SUV would really work.

We were going on a 6-person trip in Alaska and I rented a 12-person van and was going to take the back seat out. Canceled due to Covid, but I think that's really the only thing that would work.

I would look for one of the many van services who are actually capable of transporting 6 people with luggage. You've had some good suggestions above and Fla Tours is the sponsor of this forum. Tony Hinds is another service who gets great reviews here.

 

[crazy43]

Thank you all! Decided not to rent a car, will do FlTours (likely) to and from the airport and then Uber or Lyft to AK and MK. Much appreciated!

 

[MrKnight]

Uber or Lyft to AK and MK.

IMHO, if you are staying at a WDW resort it would be easiest and most effective to use WDW transportation.

 

[msjprincess]

Thank you all! Decided not to rent a car, will do FlTours (likely) to and from the airport and then Uber or Lyft to AK and MK. Much appreciated!

May I ask why you are planning on Ubering to MK? Drop off is at the TTC so you'll still have to take monorail or ferry.

 

[JCornell]

May I ask why you are planning on Ubering to MK? Drop off is at the TTC so you'll still have to take monorail or ferry.

Or you can Uber to GF or Contemporary and walk it in.

 

[JimMIA]

Thank you all! Decided not to rent a car, will do FlTours (likely) to and from the airport and then Uber or Lyft to AK and MK. Much appreciated!

One thing to remember about Uber/Lyft it that, with their current Covid procedures, you will need two vehicles for six passengers. No passengers are allowed in the front passenger seat, so the capacity limits are 3 for X and 5 for XL.

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

One thing to remember about Uber/Lyft it that, with their current Covid procedures, you will need two vehicles for six passengers. No passengers are allowed in the front passenger seat, so the capacity limits are 3 for X and 5 for XL.

Great point