Magical Express/Disney Transport or Rental???

[maui2k5]

This has likely been discussed before, but I am unable to use the search function and I am hoping I can get some answers to a few questions I have about Disney's Magical Express/Transportation vs. Renting a car from the Orlando Airport.

My wife and I will be heading to WDW Sept 22-30 (free dining!) for another trip. We have been to Disney many times, but have never used Magical Express. Typically we park hop every day and are easily able to see everything over our 8 day period we would like to see. What I have never done is rent a car while there to get to the parks, other resorts or to Downtown Disney from our home resort. This will be our first time at Pop Century so I am not sure how efficient their transportation is in general.

On 4 of the 8 days we are in WDW, we will be eating at restaraunts that do not have direct transportaton from Pop Century. Dinner @ Spoodles, Dinner @ O'Hana, Dinner @ Boma and lunch at Trails End in Fort Wilderness (for nostalgia purposes). Being that there are 4 days that we would have to either take an indirect route to our destinations or Taxi, what do you all think about renting a car from MCO for the entire week? The cost of an intermediate car is roughly $160 with unlimited miles. Taxi's would seem to add up quickly (~$15 each way) and indirect Busses can seem to take up a lof of time (i.e. Bus to MGM from Pop Century then catch a boat to the Boardwalk to get to Spoodles for example)

I have also read that Magical Express now picks you up 4 hours before your flight. Our flight is at 8 PM on our last day. If we were driving I would likely head back to MCO around 5:30 or so.


Thoughts?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've used DME about 3-4 times now and I have no issues with it. I've also stayed at POP, with no car, and traveled to other resorts with no big issues. Sure, it does take awhile to get from point A to point B using WDW transportation but it hasn't been a big deal for us.
However, with DME leaving that 4 hrs in advance of your flight, I would tend to rethink using them for the return to the airport. Yes, the security lines at MCO can be a nightmare, and when you add the newest security threats, well..I'm sure it hasn't helped alleviate the lines!!
I would almost be tempted to rent a car...if you don't want to leave those 4 hrs before your flight departure, and if you don't want to 'waste' a lot of time traveling from POP to other resorts, then you may be better off using a rental car. I found that renting a car at the Dolphin, when we stayed at POP in May, worked out very well for us. We reserved the car for a day when we would be at Epcot, then did the paperwork early afternoon because they close around 4-5 or so. Then we picked the car up when Epcot closed for the night, and drove the quick drive back to POP...a left, a left, a right, a left!
I realize that there are going to be instances where a lot more time is needed in order to get through the security lines, but I'm beginning to think that maybe DME should give people a choice of two times for their pickup.