My daughters-in-law are going to kill me!

[Minnesota!]

I would just skip having to drag it all along and use DME. It's another reason we love that service!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Maybe they aren't staying on-site so are not using MDE

If you can't find a van to transport all of you, perhaps request two different cars from a car service?

Good luck!

 

[soccer mom]

OK, it's me again, OP. I found one car company with rear facing car seats and they want over $600 rt!! I didn't even ask them about getting us to Universal for a day. There are ten of us, so I would have to rent three town cars, but that still doesn't solve the rear facing car seat problem.

So, my next question is do we rent a car or take DME? I have never even considered DME because I feel like we are wasting our precious vacation time having to leave the hotel three hours early and I don't even know how long it will take to get from MCO to POR or how long it takes at the airport to get everyone loaded and on the road? Do you ever have to wait at MCO for a bus to arrive? I am afraid to rent a van because my daughters-in-law will probably want to go everywhere in it. They are afraid of the buses with the babies. Thanks for letting me rant.

Back to my question, can anyone help me feel better about DME and get the magic back into this trip?

 

[SweetieinVT]

For that large a group, I would just take DME. The babies will be fine. And if you rent a van you will still have to leave pretty early for the airport. It doesn't seem like it's worth $600 to me. If you really need to have a van, I would have them bring their own car seats and gate check them if the babies are traveling as lap babies on the plane. It seems like the simplest solution. Even if you just buy cheapo car seats for the trip, it will still be much simpler than dealing with potentially dirty and gross car seats in a van, specially since they seem few and far between.

 

[Alesia]

I have never even considered DME because I feel like we are wasting our precious vacation time having to leave the hotel three hours early

If you rent a van, you're still going to need to leave 2.5 hours before your flight. Is the extra 30 minutes really worth it?

and I don't even know how long it will take to get from MCO to POR or how long it takes at the airport to get everyone loaded and on the road?

With DME it's generally 60 to 90 minutes. If you rent a van, it will only save you a few minutes.

They are afraid of the buses with the babies.

They shouldn't be. The babies are much safer on the buses than they are in a van.

 

[goofy4tink]

OK, it's me again, OP. I found one car company with rear facing car seats and they want over $600 rt!! I didn't even ask them about getting us to Universal for a day. There are ten of us, so I would have to rent three town cars, but that still doesn't solve the rear facing car seat problem.

So, my next question is do we rent a car or take DME? I have never even considered DME because I feel like we are wasting our precious vacation time having to leave the hotel three hours early and I don't even know how long it will take to get from MCO to POR or how long it takes at the airport to get everyone loaded and on the road? Do you ever have to wait at MCO for a bus to arrive? I am afraid to rent a van because my daughters-in-law will probably want to go everywhere in it. They are afraid of the buses with the babies. Thanks for letting me rant.

Back to my question, can anyone help me feel better about DME and get the magic back into this trip?

You're actually losing all of 30 mins if you use DME. Just about everyone here suggests leaving your resort no less than 2 hrs prior to flight time...so that's only 30 mins less than using DME. Seems like a lot of money to get an addtl 30 mins...even if it were an hour it would still be a lot to spend.

As far as babies and the buses? Those kids are going to be safer on the bus than in a car. That area can be nasty when driving....you either have the natives who drive as would be expected (crazy but they know where they're going) or the tourists who drive too fast, or too slow, and have no idea where they're going so they make abrupt lane changes! I hate driving in this area. The buses have very good drivers (for the most part anyway). There are tons of babies and young children that ride the bus at WDW with no issues whatsoever.
It should take less than 90 mins to get to POR from MCO..probably a bit less. No, there aren't actually buses sitting there, waiting for you to walk up. Well, there could be, but it doesn't always work out that way. If you rent a car, or use a car service, it's going to take at least an hour to get to POR. The only time I have made it to my resort, not using DME, in under an hour was when I had carryon bags only. It takes about 10-15 ins to get from the gate area to the main terminal. Then, down to level 2 where baggage claim is. The wait there could be 15-30 mins. Then it's 30 mins to WDW...this doesn't account for time to rent a car, or to get to your towncars. So, it's pretty much a wash when it comes to comparing times from MCO to POR. At least an hour, not more than 90 mins.

When traveling with that many people, and you want to get to other areas, you are going to have to expect it to cost a fair amount. To get to US/IoA, you can always take the Mears shuttle...that's about $20, pp, r/t...for adults. Kids are probably less. But, that's going to be expensive as well. There is no inexpensive way to move that many people around Orlando.

 

[Michblue]

DME is super easy and convenient. The time from our flight landing to us eating lunch at POP is usually 90 minutes. We use the MDE tags for our luggage. So we just head down to the MDE level after we land. It's usually only a 5-15 minute wait before we are bording a bus. Then we sit back and watch the little welcome home movie. Fun and easy.

Our pick up time at the end of the trip is usually 3 hours before our flight. There is time to kill at the airport, but honestly I'm so tired by then I just sit and read.

There are sooooo many babies on laps on buses at Disney, no worries there. Your grand babies will be safe. When I traveled with little ones I always brought a sling so they would be straped to me for easy bus travel.

 

[soccer mom]

Thank you everyone for your help! I feel better just having made a decision. I am giving them two choices....bring your car seats or ride the bus (or stay home !) I didn't know how the car seats would work in the vans with the base and then the carrier, but you know, I don't care! They can figure it out!

 

[mrsdsj2007]

def bring your own seats! My cousin just rented one (I told her not to) - and the first 2 she was offered had VOMIT stains! and still smelled -- it was orange...she took pics...she finally got one that wasn't stained or smelled but it was old and the cover was frayed...she didn't dare check under the cover

 

[tjmw2727]

With a group that big I would definitely use DME!

We have used DME over a dozen times but when we stay at the Dolphin we use a town car. I can honestly say that on the inbound the timing is about the same as you can skip baggage claim and head right to the bus. On the return DME only picks up about 30 minutes earlier than a town car.

By using the bus service you will have the opportunity to split up and with that large a group I imagine you will. Not everyone has to return to the hotel for babies naps, some can stay for extra magic hours etc.

I agree with your last post- the parents need to be responsible for this aspect of the planning. If they feel that they need the car seat they can make the arrangements to bring or rent the seats as well as rent a car.