Rental car vs. hotel shuttle

[MVBowers111]

We are arriving at the World on October 19, at 11 pm. We leave October 24, at 6:30 am. I'm looking at rental cars, and they are so expensive...we have a large group going and will need a mini van that seats seven or eight. The prices that I'm seeing are in the $400-$500 range. I just don't know that I want to pay that much.

We are staying at Buena Vista Suites, they have a shuttle that goes right to the parks. The guy I spoke to said that the shuttles start running at 8 am and then the return times at night differ depending on park hours, I guess. Will we be all right to just rely on the shuttle from that hotel? Has anyone else stayed there and used the shuttle? Or do I need to suck it up and get a rental car?

Thanks for any help or advice!

 

[Glencora]

Most hotel shuttles run at not-too-convenient times, and only one way. So if you want to back to a park in the afternoon, you're stuck because the shuttles are only picking up.

Have you tried the Rental Car page at Mousavers.com? There are a bunch of different codes and coupons there that you can use to lower the costs, and a lot of people are having great success getting pretty low prices. Try checking out the last ten pages or so of this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2726792 - there's lots of people sharing codes and cooupons. Good luck!

 

[Elmo007]

Depending on how many adults and kids you have, I would think about either a) renting 2 small cars or b) looking into staying on property in 2 rooms. The property shuttles are better than off site hotels. However, on property with a car is the best with the exception of MK where the bus is better because it stops on the far side of the lake, not the TTC

 

[4forMe]

We are arriving at the World on October 19, at 11 pm. We leave October 24, at 6:30 am. I'm looking at rental cars, and they are so expensive...we have a large group going and will need a mini van that seats seven or eight. The prices that I'm seeing are in the $400-$500 range. I just don't know that I want to pay that much.

We are staying at Buena Vista Suites, they have a shuttle that goes right to the parks. The guy I spoke to said that the shuttles start running at 8 am and then the return times at night differ depending on park hours, I guess. Will we be all right to just rely on the shuttle from that hotel? Has anyone else stayed there and used the shuttle? Or do I need to suck it up and get a rental car?

Thanks for any help or advice!

I would definitely suggest a rental car as most of the hotel shuttles do not run at frequent hours throughout the day.

Your best bet would be to go through Budget rental cars and use BCD code X474200 combined with coupon code MUGZ029. This should give you a rate for a minivan under $300 all inclusive. The coupon code for $30 off will be taken off when you return the vehicle. Most of the minivans, however, only seat 7 people.

 

[SamSam]

I would also suggest to keep checking the rates as rental prices just fell this past week for the 1st week of October.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I think that perhaps you should just use cabs.

if you really have 8 then you run a big risk of not getting a vehicle with 8 seatbelts. So you then have the "risk" of driving with unsecured passengers. Not something I would EVER do.

If you wind up with the two cars that's say... $70 a day for the cars and $28 a day to park them at Disney. $100? That's a decent amount for taxis. Even the rate above for Budget is $75 a day, granted parkings only $14 for the van, but it's still pushing $100 as a daily cost.

So you could take the shuttle to the park. If some of the group wants to leave they could probably take a shuttle back and forth for $25 or so each way. Then take the shuttle back to the hotel?

Of course that leaves open how you will get too and from the hotel on arrival and departure day.

Run some numbers and see what makes sense!

I stayed there several years ago and it seemed to me there were lots of shuttles. Maybe ask them to email you the full schedule?

 

[seashoreCM]

You might inquire about whether you need to sign up for specific shuttle times. Also whether they are responsible for providing transportation, notably near the end of their published schedule if that is at park closing.

Then decide whether a rental car is a better idea.