Need help from the experts!

[Pooh93]

We are booked on the 11/13-11/18 Disney Magic cruise out of Miami. Today I am cautiously optimistic it will sail. Tomorrow maybe not. Lol.

We are also trying to squeeze in a few days afterwards at WDW.

Is it easier to rent a car and make the drive to Orlando? If so, what is the closest car rental at Port and how do you get there?

Or should we book a car service to drive us to Fort Lauderdale and fly to Orlando from there?

Has anyone done either of these? Or is this too much to try and do and we just fly back home and and bag WDW?
Thank you!

 

[luckytobeme88]

I am not the DCL expert you seeking, but I have done the Miami DCL sailing. Here is my experience to share with you:
1: We flew in Miami and had transportation arranged to take us to the port of Miami.
2: After the cruise, a van from our car rental company picked us up to retrieve our rental
3: We drove to Orlando (~3 hours+/-)
4: Stayed a few nights at Disney's resort
5: Drove to Orlando International Airport, returned our rental and flew home
It is absolutely doable.

 

[JWG]

I'd price it out and see which is more favorable to you. They're likely not too different in time taken.
It's a 3 hour drive (ish) and with waiting at the airport before, collecting luggage after, etc. I don't think flying is faster.

 

[princesscinderella]

I'd price out rental cars first, sometimes you have an extra fee if you don't return it back to the place you rent it from. Rental prices are crazy right now so whatever you choose reserve early. We live in soFla and its a 3.5 hr drive from miami to orlando, and since they kick you off the ship so early you would make it into orlando in time for lunch. You could fly to orlando but the timing of the flight schedule can make it time prohibitive vs just driving up there. I'd uber or car service to the port and get the rental car once you get off the ship, don't pay rental fees and port parking for it to just sit there while you are cruising.

 

[Pooh93]

I'd price out rental cars first, sometimes you have an extra fee if you don't return it back to the place you rent it from. Rental prices are crazy right now so whatever you choose reserve early. We live in soFla and its a 3.5 hr drive from miami to orlando, and since they kick you off the ship so early you would make it into orlando in time for lunch. You could fly to orlando but the timing of the flight schedule can make it time prohibitive vs just driving up there. I'd uber or car service to the port and get the rental car once you get off the ship, don't pay rental fees and port parking for it to just sit there while you are cruising.

Thank you. Thinking about booking it now and can always cancel.

 

[Pooh93]

I am not the DCL expert you seeking, but I have done the Miami DCL sailing. Here is my experience to share with you:
1: We flew in Miami and had transportation arranged to take us to the port of Miami.
2: After the cruise, a van from our car rental company picked us up to retrieve our rental
3: We drove to Orlando (~3 hours+/-)
4: Stayed a few nights at Disney's resort
5: Drove to Orlando International Airport, returned our rental and flew home
It is absolutely doable.

Which rental company did you use?

 

[luckytobeme88]

Which rental company did you use?

I think we had Hertz

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We’ve done a WDW stay multiple times after Magic sailings out of Miami. We always rent a car at the MIA airport car rental center (usually with Alamo, once with National) and drive to our resort. We have either used a taxi or, more recently Uber/Lyft to get from the port to the car rental center to pick up the car, although National/Alamo/Enterprise share a free shuttle. We prefer the convenience of traveling on our own rather than using the shuttle. Cost has usually been $25 to $35, including tip, but YMMV.

 

[Pooh93]

Thank you everyone for your input!

My daughter is a nurse and gets a discount which saved a whopping $10 for a rental. LOL I went ahead and booked so we are set. I am picking up at Miami Int'l airport and dropping at the WDW car care on property.

I booked with National....ANYONE have any HORROR stories?

I am assuming it will be very easy to get an Uber/Lyft after the cruise at port.

I hope everyone gets to cruise who has one booked. Fingers crossed for all of us.

 

[JWG]

We use National for work so I've rented from them a lot both business and personal. No horror stories. Not always perfect, but never a complete breakdown or "we have no car for you" issues. Actually have gotten a few nice upgrades here and there on both business and personal trips.

I would watch for coupons that may come up (just search National Car Rental coupons). They may not have any for a 1-day one-way rental, but who knows.

 

[insureman]

We are booked on the 11/13-11/18 Disney Magic cruise out of Miami. Today I am cautiously optimistic it will sail. Tomorrow maybe not. Lol.

We are also trying to squeeze in a few days afterwards at WDW.

Is it easier to rent a car and make the drive to Orlando? If so, what is the closest car rental at Port and how do you get there?

Or should we book a car service to drive us to Fort Lauderdale and fly to Orlando from there?

Has anyone done either of these? Or is this too much to try and do and we just fly back home and and bag WDW?
Thank you!

We flew to Fort Lauderdale from Providence and Ubered over to the Marriott Stanton South Beach for 1 night because it was a DCL bus pickup hotel. Booked the hotel on our own with Marriot points. After the cruise we took DCL bus to MIA to the Alamo rental area and drove to Disney World then dropped the car off at the WDW Car Care Center. Took magical express back to MCO 4 days later to go home. This was 2 years ago so I'm not sure what has changed since then.

 

[Pooh93]

We use National for work so I've rented from them a lot both business and personal. No horror stories. Not always perfect, but never a complete breakdown or "we have no car for you" issues. Actually have gotten a few nice upgrades here and there on both business and personal trips.

I would watch for coupons that may come up (just search National Car Rental coupons). They may not have any for a 1-day one-way rental, but who knows.

I was just thinking.....only thing that concerns me is what if we get to the airport and they do not have a car for us? Then we will be in deep trouble as we won't be able to get to WDW. Hopefully on 11/18 which is a Thursday, we won't have to be as concerned. It's not a holiday travel week.

Your post helps relieve my fears a bit.

Always something new to worry about!!

 

[JWG]

I was just thinking.....only thing that concerns me is what if we get to the airport and they do not have a car for us? Then we will be in deep trouble as we won't be able to get to WDW. Hopefully on 11/18 which is a Thursday, we won't have to be as concerned. It's not a holiday travel week.

Your post helps relieve my fears a bit.

Always something new to worry about!!

Worst case scenario I've run into is them trying to convince me to upgrade for a "nominal fee" and me saying no to find out they didn't have my class available and had to upgrade me anyway (obviously at no cost) or getting a less than stellar car (older, more worn, high mileage, dirty). I usually just want my rental to get form point A to point B and it's not a permanent lifestyle choice so that hasn't bothered me. Never a complete lack of any vehicle whatsoever.

There have been a few more recent horror stories (not us) of people arriving to find out they had to pay more than agreed upon and such related to the current rental car deficit. Especially in more land locked areas like Hawaii. I don't think that's a long-term issue. We rented through Avis (actually through Undercover Tourist as part of our ticket purchase) this March (mid-March) in the height of spring break and surging travel and had no issues. Got the car we had pre-paid for with no additional fees. We did choose to upgrade at the counter for more trunk space (we had an abundance of luggage), but that was our choice.

 

[Pooh93]

Worst case scenario I've run into is them trying to convince me to upgrade for a "nominal fee" and me saying no to find out they didn't have my class available and had to upgrade me anyway (obviously at no cost) or getting a less than stellar car (older, more worn, high mileage, dirty). I usually just want my rental to get form point A to point B and it's not a permanent lifestyle choice so that hasn't bothered me. Never a complete lack of any vehicle whatsoever.

There have been a few more recent horror stories (not us) of people arriving to find out they had to pay more than agreed upon and such related to the current rental car deficit. Especially in more land locked areas like Hawaii. I don't think that's a long-term issue. We rented through Avis (actually through ****************** as part of our ticket purchase) this March (mid-March) in the height of spring break and surging travel and had no issues. Got the car we had pre-paid for with no additional fees. We did choose to upgrade at the counter for more trunk space (we had an abundance of luggage), but that was our choice.

Thank you again.

If you see a woman on the news on November 18 going crazy at the rental car center in Miami, you will know who it is. hahahahaha

I am sure it will be fine. Our family has said, "we might be riding with our luggage on our lap, but we will make them give us a vehicle." As long as I can see out the window to drive. hahaha

 

[DisneyConvert]

I was just thinking.....only thing that concerns me is what if we get to the airport and they do not have a car for us? Then we will be in deep trouble as we won't be able to get to WDW.
Always something new to worry about!!

 

[deliela999]

Worst case scenario I've run into is them trying to convince me to upgrade for a "nominal fee" and me saying no to find out they didn't have my class available and had to upgrade me anyway (obviously at no cost) or getting a less than stellar car (older, more worn, high mileage, dirty). I usually just want my rental to get form point A to point B and it's not a permanent lifestyle choice so that hasn't bothered me. Never a complete lack of any vehicle whatsoever.

There have been a few more recent horror stories (not us) of people arriving to find out they had to pay more than agreed upon and such related to the current rental car deficit. Especially in more land locked areas like Hawaii. I don't think that's a long-term issue. We rented through Avis (actually through ****************** as part of our ticket purchase) this March (mid-March) in the height of spring break and surging travel and had no issues. Got the car we had pre-paid for with no additional fees. We did choose to upgrade at the counter for more trunk space (we had an abundance of luggage), but that was our choice.

I ran into the upgrade thing once in Portland. I'd reserved a compact and she kept trying to sell me an upgrade to a mini-van. The price of the upgrade kept coming down as I said no. I finally pointed to my printed reservation and said I'm not paying more than this. Ok, would you mind driving the mini-van anyway? Sure. It turned out to be great for that trip and somewhat changed my anti-van stance! We met up with family, each with their own car, but we could pile most everyone in the van and save driving 4 cars everywhere. I got outside to get the van and they had a whole row of them, everyone was getting a van that day.

 

[OpieDoodle]

So a few things on different fronts. I can't really help on the driving from Miami piece. Its do-able but most certainly a drive.

So here's the things I can help with in terms of rental cars. Your best bet is to book from the airport. The Airport generally has more cars than the smaller locations. Its a much lower risk of them not having a car for you if you're not after a specific car like a van. If you book a small car and they don't have a car for you generally they'll give you free upgrades into whatever they do have.

Prices right now are NUTS for cars. I really don't understand why either but here we are. Hopefully things calm down but the best rates we found is booking through Costco if you're a member. We usually book with Thrifty or Avis. We only ever have issues with off airport locations.

 

[Pooh93]

So a few things on different fronts. I can't really help on the driving from Miami piece. Its do-able but most certainly a drive.

So here's the things I can help with in terms of rental cars. Your best bet is to book from the airport. The Airport generally has more cars than the smaller locations. Its a much lower risk of them not having a car for you if you're not after a specific car like a van. If you book a small car and they don't have a car for you generally they'll give you free upgrades into whatever they do have.

Prices right now are NUTS for cars. I really don't understand why either but here we are. Hopefully things calm down but the best rates we found is booking through Costco if you're a member. We usually book with Thrifty or Avis. We only ever have issues with off airport locations.

That is good advice and we are set to pick up at Miami Airport.

 

[hrhdhd]

Prices right now are NUTS for cars. I really don't understand why either but here we are. Hopefully things calm down but the best rates we found is booking through Costco if you're a member. We usually book with Thrifty or Avis. We only ever have issues with off airport locations.

The car rental companies sold off a lot of their fleets because no one (or few people) were traveling for a year. Now they are having to rebuild.

 

[hrhdhd]

That is good advice and we are set to pick up at Miami Airport.

If you plan to take the turnpike, be sure you understand the car company's toll paying policy. Some charge tolls plus a fee for using the transponder.