Rental Car to Disney?

[Daisy14'sDH]

Doing the math at the current price of flights it seems that renting a car and driving might actual be more cost friendly in getting to Disney. At least by the time we add in cab fares and all that other fun stuff...

Any suggestions on a deal or recommendations from Buffalo to Orlando?

Air port drop-offs are ok, but our ressy starts on the 18th, and we have BBB followed by CRT starting at 11!!!! Pretty sure we can drop the car off at MCO take Magical Express to POFQ, check in, hop the bus and be in front of the castle by 10... :fingerscrossed:

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Are you talking about turning in the car when u arrive in Florida (and using ME to get to the resort, and then get another rental for the return drive?), or is ME just if u fly? A couple years ago we were trying to cut costs and still enjoy our annual Disney vacation, but we were concerned neither of our cars would be dependable... so we rented. We live near Albany, NY so we picked up the rental there, went home to load it up, did the road trip down (kept the car for the full week) and then drove back home. In hindsight, we regretbit... we didn't save all that much between gas, tolls and an extra $100 fee they charged us because there was a *little* beach sand in the trunk (has never been a problem for Florida rentals, but Albany, NY is t used to that I guess- annoying!!). Anyway... after it was all said and done, we all agreed we should have just flown. We drove the following year but took our own car (a new, dependable one) and did save $$. This year we just budgeted for the extra cost so we could fly. The novelty of driving has worn off.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Well its supposed to be a Daddy Daughter roadtrip with , but complications have ensued and we've determined that we can fly or drive at the same price more or less, with the less hopefully being driving lol. wants to have the experience of a roadtrip... so we are hoping to use ME at MCO, my is flying in with our on the, (he's at for and is on the). The plan is quite complex. My has to have his home on the, so he has to fly home no matter what, we added 3 nights to our ressy and have to be home on the for some important meetins meaning we have to fly home.... its a mess lol

 

[Happyjen27]

There is a car care center right on Disney property you can use. The price was not significantly more to drop off there versus the airport. We even picked ours up at the airport and dropped it off at the Car Care center, and there wasn't a huge impact.

What you can do is drop your stuff off at the resort, then take the car to the Car Care Center right on Disney property and then a shuttle will bring you 3 to your resort. I think they will even bring you to a park if you want and you can start touring.

Time is money at Disney, and it might be nice to not have to navigate the MCO driving and parking if you can avoid it.

 

[mm1971]

Well its supposed to be a Daddy Daughter roadtrip with , but complications have ensued and we've determined that we can fly or drive at the same price more or less, with the less hopefully being driving lol. wants to have the experience of a roadtrip... so we are hoping to use ME at MCO, my is flying in with our on the, (he's at for and is on the). The plan is quite complex. My has to have his home on the, so he has to fly home no matter what, we added 3 nights to our ressy and have to be home on the for some important meetins meaning we have to fly home.... its a mess lol

All this to take a road trip? I say fly to Disney, enjoy your vacation and let them take a road trip some other time to somewhere 12-14 hours away. Sounds crazy to spend the same amount of $$ (more or less) and wasting 20 somewhat hours.

 

[Disney2013Girl]

By the time it was all said and done, it would have been about $800 for my family to fly down. It will be about $500 total to rent a car (including gas, but not including tolls) for 14 days.

The $500 does not take into account the hotels/food along the way, but considering we're also getting to see both friends and family along the way (including a day on the Gulf with friends in Tampa and a day with family in the Mountains with family in TN), it's a bargain.

 

[seashoreCM]

Double check the geographical restrictions for the rental car. Usually it is unlimited miles only in the rental state and neighboring states.

Yes you could drop off a rental car at Orlando Int'l Airport (paying the drop charge if any) and take Magical Express to your resort, but the same timing guidelines apply. If you are delayed (traffic?) getting into MCO you could miss your restaurant reservation.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Well Ive called Hertz, and its a go! Its $237 with an intermediate (Toyota Corolla) including free drop right behind All stars! This works out very well. Cab shouldn't be more than $20 from there to POFQ... if you know any good coupon codes for Hertz I'll take it!

 

[imchatti]

We drove from NJ to Disney last month (July 2013). We rented a full-size car (VW Passat - didn't think that would be full size, but it was) and kept it for the whole trip. Keeping it was cheaper than returning and renting again to come home. One way trips have a mileage charge. The rental was $350 for ten days (might have been 11, i can't remember). Gas was about $150 total. So for a family of four it was half price. We drove with two children ages seven and four. They were really good and yes i would do it again for a summer trip (we wouldn't have the time during the school year).

 

[disneysmyhappyplace]

Well Ive called Hertz, and its a go! Its $237 with an intermediate (Toyota Corolla) including free drop right behind All stars! This works out very well. Cab shouldn't be more than $20 from there to POFQ... if you know any good coupon codes for Hertz I'll take it!

You shouldn't have to pay for a cab. Most big rental companies will drive to any property on Disney and drop you off. We have never paid for a cab

 

[momto2inKC]

We're renting a car to drive down to Disney on our next trip. Flights are CRAZY expensive from KC to Orlando (for the 3 of us about $1,000 round trip). So we've rented a car through Avis ($220) and will be driving

 

[AnjieNet]

We're renting a car to drive down to Disney on our next trip. Flights are CRAZY expensive from KC to Orlando (for the 3 of us about $1,000 round trip). So we've rented a car through Avis ($220) and will be driving

As a family of four in KC, we've thought about driving as well but also taking our pop-up and staying at Fort Wilderness. I haven't convinced my husband yet though. It's an awfully long trip for our soon to be 3 year old. The 9 year old would be fine though. We'll be taking a slightly shorter trip to Texas at Thanksgiving to see grandma this year so we'll see how that goes first.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Lots of interesting responses so far. This is a fun read actually... we all know how much our vacations cost at WDW, but very rarely do we see how much it costs to get there...

 

[The Hendies]

Part of the cost of driving from the northeast is the TIME it takes! I have limited vacation time and using 4 days to travel would severely cut into park time. Round trip for us in November was just $220 per person and a rental car for 12 days is another $250. I can't rent a car and drive for $700 when considering the rental, gas, extra meals, hotel, etc when driving both ways.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

using GasBuddy dot coms website its pretty accurate at determining fuel usage. In this case somewhere around $120 for 1 way with a 2013 Corolla. 2 drivers we can drive straight through making stops along the way for photos meals and good stuff. We should get to Orlando 26-28 hours after leaving Buffalo. We'll be tired but not exhausted, and should only need 1 nights hotel before our Reservation begins. Food? We were going to eat out either way lol!