Rent a Minivan or an SUV?

[Mindymom]

We are renting a car to drive to the Port from Orlando. There will be 3 adults and 2 children. At least 5 suitcases plus carry ons. Any suggestions on which type of car to rent. Need space for all the luggage.

 

[Grumpy's Mom]

Mindymom,

We had the same issue in December. We stayed at WL for two nights before heading for the port, and then spent the rest of the day after disembarking at DTD until our flight left at 3:00 p.m. from MCO. We had separate rentals each time. I finally decided to rent a Ford Explorer, I guess because I have owned 4 vans, drive an SUV now, and that is what I am used to. It seems like once you finally get out of a van, you don't really want to go back!

We had two adults, two teens, 5 suitcases (one had our Christmas decorations and gifts in it) and carry-ons. My own personal car is a little larger than the Explorer, but I compared the size of the cargo area online, and figured it would be okay. Everything fit well in the Explorer, the car was very nice and roomier than I had expected. There was plenty of room for one more in the back seat.

We rented through Budget, had a brand new Explorer both times, and enjoyed it very much.

In fact, if the engine was a little bigger (it was a 6 cylinder), I would consider buying one!

Hope that helps!

 

[got2gp]

That's a tricky question. Depends on the size and shape of the suitcases. We had 4 people with 5 suitcases plus 4 carry ons and we couldn't make it fit in any of the suvs available and still be able to see out the back window. It did however fit beautifully in a Pontiac Aztec. They may be ugly, but boy can they hold a lot! It didn't drive like a boat and the ride was nice. We had to drive from Orlando to Miami, so we didn't want to be cramped but if you'er willing to cram it in there, just about any suv or minivan should do fine.

 

[1stNoel]

This summer rented a Lincoln Navigator SUV on Hawaii and a Ford Windstar Minivan on Maui. With 3 adults, 3 kids, 7 large bags (dive gear, ugh!) and multiple carry ons - we did not fit in the very large Navigator. We had to send one person in a cab with luggage to and from the airport, as I didn't want to strap things to the roof. It was surprising that in a truck that is so big you have warning buzzers when you're backing up, there wasn't more storage.

We did fit all in the van though. There is more floor space in the vans and the kids don't need as much leg room. Of course, the van looked like the Clampets arriving in Beverly Hills as we pulled up to the Grand Wailea, but we did fit.

 

[staylor]

I've rented an SUV before for the same size group. I usually go to www.biddingfortravel.com and check out the going rates on Priceline. Then I'll bid at Priceline.
Staci

 

[il-gander]

One thing about renting a mini-van (and any other category, of course) is that you never know exactly what you'll get. When we visited WDW last summer we rented from Alamo and were quoted for a "Pontiac Montana or similar". What we got was a very generic Chevy Astro van. I drive a Montana here at home and it is NOT the same thing (or "similar", LOL). Luckily, there was still enough room for our luggage for 2 adults and 2 kids (and we don't pack light), but there is a measurable space difference between the models. We had an overall very bad experience with Alamo for various and numerous other reasons and will not be renting from them again, but that is another story...

We're renting from the SUV category because the price was better from Budget to get from MCO to AKL and then to the port in October. We've also got an SUV reserved for the trip back to MCO from the port. I think we should be fine with both.

Carla