How do you deal with tolls?

[Colfireman]

Leaving on Sunday, flying then renting for 2 weeks. How do you deal with the toll roads. Bring lots of change, Prepaid card (if available) or other? We will be traveling to the Shuttle launch, Down to Tampa and other.


I come from an area with no tolls at all so this is new to me.

Thanks

Greg

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

A couple of 5's, 10's and 20's is all you'll need.
Throw the change you get back from the toll collector in the ash tray and the bills in the glove box and you'll be all set for your 2 weeks.
It's no big deal.
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[Colfireman]

Hey thanks for the quick reply.On another note I see you have stayed at Summer Bay. We are staying there for 2 weeks thru RCI. What was it like? Whats the best route into WDW?

 

[tkldisney]

The directions on their website using 417 South are great. There are two $1.25 tolls. I always have a few quarters on hand. Both of those tolls are man'd but there are some that aren't and require exact change. Rental car companies will charge your cc the toll + extra if you don't pay. Avis just charged my dh cc 9.39 for a 50 cent toll he missed in TX because no one had change.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Hey thanks for the quick reply.On another note I see you have stayed at Summer Bay. We are staying there for 2 weeks thru RCI. What was it like? Whats the best route into WDW?

Summer Bay was great for us. We had a 2 bedroom 2 bath Condo on the 3rd floor with a Pool downstairs, club house pool and kiddie pools were close by.
You'll like the place.
We used Rte 192 to get into and out of Summer bay and WDW by way of World drive off Rt 192, no tolls.
You can Google a map using the Summer Bay address,
17805 US Highway 192, Kissimmee fl, follow the map to World Drive and follow the Disney signs to get to the parks.
Good Luck All,
Joe

 

[Hannathy]

I pay them!

I'm sorry I have been reading this all day and resisting but I couldn't any longer.

Just have some cash on hand, I don't think the tolls are that high that you would need an excess amount of money .I never travel without some cash on my person, you never know when electronic sources will be down.

 

[safetymom]

Bring lots of quarters. Many of the toll plazas on the weekend are not manned. Exact change only is required. Don't count on getting change.

 

[AbbysFamily]

Safetymom... Or anyone else? We are driving down from up north. I was considering getting a mini sun-pass. (I have family in florida, so I can get it mailed to me I think.)

I'm not sure that its 'necessary', but it would save a bit of time stopping at the tolls so I'm tempted by it.

Anyones thoughts? Am I too worried about this? I have seen the difference in IL that it makes so I'm torn by the idea. (This is my first drive down! Always flew before).

 

[safetymom]

If you can get it ahead of time that would be great. You have to activate the account before you can use it.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Driving around New England and down to Florida is a lot easier with my Fast Pass (same as a Sun Pass).
If you plan on doing a lot of driving on a lot of toll roads while you're in Florida, spend the extra $5-$10 and get a Mini-Sun Pass. when the balance on the pass falls below $5 they preplenish it back to $10 using the major credit card you authorized them to use.
Also, If you plan on doing a lot of driving on a lot of toll roads while you're in Florida Bring your GPS if you have one.
http://www.sunpass.com./
They talked about the Sun Pass on a previous thread,
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2380298
Check it out,
Good Luck All,
Joe

 

[Capt_BJ]

The MINI-Pass is a good deal BUT

it can not be moved from car to car nor even easily removed. it glues to the inside of the windshield and the package says it won't work unless it is glued to the windshield - I have not tried that.

now when I bought it for $5 you got $5 in credit on the pass so it is essentially free if you simply want to dispose of it after.

To OP - check your car rental company as some will also rent you a SUN-PASS which allows to to use the electronic toll lanes which can be MUCH MUCH faster. They just add the tolls to your rental fee.

 

[NHdisneylover]

The MINI-Pass is a good deal BUT

it can not be moved from car to car nor even easily removed. it glues to the inside of the windshield and the package says it won't work unless it is glued to the windshield - I have not tried that.

now when I bought it for $5 you got $5 in credit on the pass so it is essentially free if you simply want to dispose of it after.

To OP - check your car rental company as some will also rent you a SUN-PASS which allows to to use the electronic toll lanes which can be MUCH MUCH faster. They just add the tolls to your rental fee.

My understanding (having rented from two different companies in Florida last month--Budget and Avis) is that nearly every car rental comapny in the state now offers this. The way it was explained to us is that you do not actaully have a normal transponder in the rental car, but that the rental car company's a billed not as infractions but just as tolls when the cars "run the toll." You HAVE to go through sunpass only lanes to take advantage of having a "rental transponder." Then you are billed by the car rental comapny directly to your credit card when they get the bill. You pay for tolls plus a "transponder" rental rate (I think we paid $2.50 per day with a mixumum of $10 for the week). This was so much easier and faster than dealing with coins and going through the regular lanes.

 

[Colfireman]

Thanks everyone for the ideas and comments. With respect to the rental transponder I will check into that.