Renting a car

[satorifound]

How far is Disneyworld from the airport? I was reading that if you stay at the cabins you really should have a car.

If we rent the car do we have to pay for parking at the resorts?

 

[goofyernmost]

Part One...WDW is about 18 miles from the airport. Disney will transport you from there to the cabins, I think.

Part Two...no, there is no charge for parking anywhere on WDW property as long as you are an onsite guest.

Part Three (unasked)...If it were me, I would have a car, but that is just me. I found so many times that I needed to leave the grounds to go to a store and buy stuff that Disney didn't have available or had it at incredibly high prices. It also afforded me the advantage of coming and going whenever I wanted. JMHO!

 

[tefrench]

I would certainly agree with number 3 above. Having a car just adds to the flexibility for both traveling off disney property and sometimes on. We found it easier to use the car to travel to downtown disney. A tip I learned this year when renting a car. Reserve online and continue to shop for rates up until the very last minute. I first booked the rental about six months out. About one month out I found a lower rate with the same company and reduced my total by over $100. Two days out the rate was again lower by another $100.00. Both times I booked the new rate first and then cancelled the higher rate. It pays to keep checking.

 

[Nermel9]

Part One...WDW is about 18 miles from the airport. Disney will transport you from there to the cabins, I think.

Really, it's only 18 miles? I thought it was like, 40 or something! Maybe I went a really weird way last year, it seemed like it took forever to get there from the airport, we rented a car and drove and it took about 45 minutes! And we didn't sit in traffic or anything!

 

[IlliniMouse]

Really, it's only 18 miles? I thought it was like, 40 or something! Maybe I went a really weird way last year, it seemed like it took forever to get there from the airport, we rented a car and drove and it took about 45 minutes! And we didn't sit in traffic or anything!

Depends on which airport you flew into. Sanford is quite a bit farther away.

tefrench...thanks for the top to keep checking car rental rates! I made reservations for car rental, but now I'll keep going back to see if it goes down!

 

[Nermel9]

Depends on which airport you flew into. Sanford is quite a bit farther away.

tefrench...thanks for the top to keep checking car rental rates! I made reservations for car rental, but now I'll keep going back to see if it goes down!

No, it was definitely MCO...I don't remember how we got there, but I followed the directions from the Birnbaum guidebook...so it's not like I just went down there and made up my own directions...oh well! Something I'll have to look into before I go!

Anyway, I love having a rental car at WDW...I don't think I could ever depend on the buses to take me everywhere. I checked Alamo for a while, and I finally got a good rate a couple of months ago! I check every now and then to see if it will drop anymore but if not, I'm happy with the rate I have. Renting a car might cost a little extra $$$ but it's worth it to me to be able to come and go as I please!

 

[hookedonears]

Not having stayed at the wilderness cabins before, I really don't know how long the bus waits are. For us personally, we do not prefer the hassle of finding our hot car, driving, parking, waiting for trams in the immense parking lots to take us to the front gates. Taking Disney transportation seems to be carefree and just apart of magic. Out of our 9 visits to the World, we only rented a car once because we were staying off property and going to Sea World that trip. It wasn't a bad trip, but the Disney magic just didn't seem to be apart of that trip. I don't think you can go wrong either way. If you don't rent a car, spend the money you save on a nice meal.

 

[nanceliz]

We always had a car when we stayed at Ft. Wilderness. (where the cabins are). You can take the buses, but you have to take a bus to one of the main areas to get a boat to the MK or another bus to the other parks.
Taking the boat to MK is cool but we liked to take our car to AK and HS.

Have a great trip!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Does anyone know if there is a rental car place super close to WDW if not in WDW?

 

[tlenzendorf]

We flew into Sanford 3 weeks ago, so we had to have a rental car. It sat at the cabins except the 1 time DH went to Walmart(for stuff we COULD have done without). Other than that we used the golf cart to get around the fort. Loved, loved, loved it!

 

[mcgregml]

Does anyone know if there is a rental car place super close to WDW if not in WDW?

You can rent onsite from Alamo at the Swan or Dolphin. I can't remember which. A couple of trips ago, I used a one way car rental to transport myself, my stuff, and do some grocery shopping before turning it in - much cheaper than a town car service!

 

[WillCAD]

You can also rent from Alamo and National at the Car Care Center in the MK area. If you make a ressie at the CCC, you can call ahead and they will send a shuttle to pick you up from your WDW resort, and when you return the car they will shuttle you back to your resort.

My preference at WDW is to always have a car. I've only taken a few trips without one over the last 20 years, and I hated being at the mercy of the WDW transportation system.

 

[ppin1pod]

I'm surprised there aren't more replies on this!

We will be staying onsite in Sept for the first time, and I am not sure if we should keep a car or not. We'll be at the Carib Resort, and plan to get a car to go "off campus" for the first 2 days, but are not sure if we should keep it for the rest of our stay.

My travel agent suggested renting a car from the rental place inside Disney. Pros? Cons?

Anyone willing to offer up more info on Bus Wait Times, and (especially) making it on time to dinner reservations using the busses/onsite transportation?

Thanks!!

 

[nonnasally]

We are going in October for DH's 60th birthday surprise. He is not the disney enthusist that I am however the F&W fest will be right up his alley. ( I hope) Plus, we are taking his bestfriend, DGD. He always likes a car no matter where we stay in the kingdom. The last time we did without and he was miserable. I think no matter where you stay in the park having a car is a good thing. Bus scheduling aside, its just nice to have your own set of wheels for that emergency when running late for a dinner res. etc.

 

[satorifound]

UGH The decision is SOOO hard. What makes it harder is we need a mini van because there are 6 of us. It costs double of a small car.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Depends on which airport you flew into. Sanford is quite a bit farther away.

tefrench...thanks for the top to keep checking car rental rates! I made reservations for car rental, but now I'll keep going back to see if it goes down!

Checking on rates is a great tip. I actually had just re-ran the rates for our rental car that we are picking up tomorrow before I pulled up this thread. Today it was higher but over the weekend I found a lower rate (all same site, enterprise) and I googled coupon codes and found 25% off code on twitter of all places. It saved us another $15, but hey every $$ counts. Keep checking, it seems that rental cars are more unpredictable than plane tickets anymore. Also one of the rental companies actually has an on site pick up (either Hertz or Avis) you could take DME to Disney and then the rental place will come pick u up at the hotel and drive u back to thier place (in WDW grounds) and you will have the car. Often times it is cheaper to rent not at the airport b/c some airports charge additional fees (for example in Sea-Tac airport its almost a $50 surcharge to get in/out airport and the fee they pay to park there).

I personally dont ever rent a car (when we fly), we are this trip b/c we were driving and my car has been acting up alot lately. We use disney transportation but we never leave property for anything so thats why we dont need a car. The way I look at it, I go to spend time at Disney, not in Orlando, if I can't get it on property or bring it with me, I dont need it. so for us it would be a huge waste of money.

We have only needed a car twice before when we went, once I was very very sick and we had to come home early (no flights that day), and we could have used a car to get me to the dr (later on I found out that Disney actually runs a shuttle to urgent care from most of the resorts) and the second time we wanted to pick up some adult beverages. We went to the Hess over at the Boardwalk and took a cab from DS to there and then back to our hotel. It cost us like $15 w/ tip. If its emergency enough to get me off property I'm willing to pay cab fare.

 

[Katie Dawn]

UGH The decision is SOOO hard. What makes it harder is we need a mini van because there are 6 of us. It costs double of a small car.

That is a tough situation. As you know the wait within Ft. Wilderness can even longer than at other resorts because you have to take a set of internal buses (that run within FW only) in order to get to the bus system that takes you to the parks.

It seems like many people solve this by renting a golf cart (which is not only practical but would be fun!) but I don't think that 6 people could fit on a golf cart. I don't suppose at least 2 of those 6 are little ones that could fit on laps could they? The golf carts have 2 bench seats (one facing front, the other facing back). There may be rules about how many can go on a golf cart. The Camping Discussion Boards would be very helpful in that regard.

Otherwise..... here's hoping for some pixie dust on a fantastic car deal! :

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We usually drive to WDW and we NEVER use our car once we get there. We park it and don't see it again until we pack up to leave. We have found the buses to be very efficient. Our waits usually average about 10 minutes. We flew to Disney last year and we loved the Magical Express, and once again, we never needed a rental car. We usually eat at a location in the park we are visiting that day or at a close-by resort, so making ADRs has never been a problem either.

 

[satorifound]

That is a tough situation. As you know the wait within Ft. Wilderness can even longer than at other resorts because you have to take a set of internal buses (that run within FW only) in order to get to the bus system that takes you to the parks.

It seems like many people solve this by renting a golf cart (which is not only practical but would be fun!) but I don't think that 6 people could fit on a golf cart. I don't suppose at least 2 of those 6 are little ones that could fit on laps could they? The golf carts have 2 bench seats (one facing front, the other facing back). There may be rules about how many can go on a golf cart. The Camping Discussion Boards would be very helpful in that regard.

Otherwise..... here's hoping for some pixie dust on a fantastic car deal! :

15, 13, 10 and 8 are their ages. I guess I still have time to decide.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Anyone willing to offer up more info on Bus Wait Times, and (especially) making it on time to dinner reservations using the busses/onsite transportation?

If you're talking going resort to resort, the standard line is allow up to 90 minutes each way. Is it likely to take 90 mins each way? Probably not. But if you arrive at the bus stop as soon as the bus pulls away, and you arrive at your connection as soon as that one pulls away, and you're traveling a goodly distance, it could be 90 mins.

I usually get a car specifically for this reason. As well as I like to take an afternoon break and the buses don't seem to run as frequently in the middle of the afternoon as they do early morning or in the evenings. Plus going off-site for snacks and adult beverages for the room.

Also, as far as rental car rates, check Mousesavers.com. There are often codes posted there or information on where to find rental car discount coupons.

I swear by National. I got a free Emerald Aisle membership a few years back and they are usually running some kind of special deal when I go to MCO. Plus I get to bypass the rental counter, get in my choice of vehicle, go to the exit booth and I'm off!