Sat nav hire?

[m1ckeymouse]

Hi Everyone

We are going to book our car hire today, we are only having 2 days, just to get us to KSC and a bit of shopping and will be using the Alamo brits link and collecting from the Dolphin. To add a Satnav to the booking is about the same price as updating the maps on ours, we were just wondering if the hired satnavs were ok, or is it best to update and take our own?

If we do take our own, will the update include the internal roads of WDW, or is it going to get confused (Tomtom Start).

Thanks so much for your help
Suzanne

 

[GirlDreamer]

I've never used satnavs from Alamo, so don't know what they're like. But I did hire one from a UK company, and I wasn't happy with it. I would probably just update the maps on the one you've already got, at least you know how that one is working.

 

[disneyholic family]

a few years back i bought one from amazon.com and had it delivered to the disney resort (which meant i had to get from the airport to the resort on my own)..

it worked really well....i've used it every trip since..

but this time i think we're going to use waze on my iphone..
we've rented an unlimited data SIM card, so theoretically we should be able to use waze...
i'm still going to take my old satnav just in case...

but i prefer waze since it has live updates..

 

[wayneg]

Have you compared your quote with Virgin Holidays, I find them a little expensive usually on longer rentals but for a short 3 day rental next month I found them the cheapest.
For 2 days they only charge £10.53 to add on a tank of gas and extra drivers & £4.96 for Sat nav.

http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/travel_extras/car-hire/

 

[Trevski220]

Purchased a brand new sat nav from Walmart last year, for less then the cost of updating maps on my uk one! Does mean travelling from airport to Walmart with out sat nav, but was the best option for us, pre ordered it so it was ready for collection

 

[arieliwish]

I've hired one from ebay for the two weeks we're away (thanks to Wayne for the links!) and it was around £20. I picked a seller with a good % score. As I don't have it yet I can't comment on the service or equipment but I will report back in September!

 

[m1ckeymouse]

Thanks everyone. Thought I had it all sorted until Wayne said about Virgin car hire, it does work out slightly cheaper and much cheaper if you take into account the Sat nav for 4.95, the cheapest I can update my TomTom for is £20. So hopefully I can get that booked tomorrow.

My other quotes included a booster seat for DS, but I'm thinking we might try to take our own although I'm not sure if we can just take it as additional hand luggage on the plane, really don't want to waste space in the case!

Any thoughts welcome

Thanks all
Suzanne

 

[~Piglet~]

My other quotes included a booster seat for DS, but I'm thinking we might try to take our own although I'm not sure if we can just take it as additional hand luggage on the plane, really don't want to waste space in the case!

When flying with Virgin we have taken our DD's buggy and booster seat with no problems. Last trip though we didn't take our own seat we just took one from the large pile at the car hire pick up - can't remember which company, whoever Virgin were in partnership with last year

 

[Princess Leia]

We take our Tom Tom with us. We are able to set our destination prior to the flight and are ready to go on arrival. Our maps are from 2010 and things didn't seemed to have changed much when we were there this month. It had no problem within Disney although their signing is really good anyway.The beauty of your own is that you are familiar with using it. I now have built-in SAT NAV in my own car which allows me to leave USA maps on the Tom Tom. I have been able to lend it out to family memebers for their trips to USA and Canada.

 

[disneyholic family]

i finally updated the maps on my garmin nuvi - no cost to update..

this is the device that i bought 3 years ago...

 

[Elise79]

Thanks everyone. Thought I had it all sorted until Wayne said about Virgin car hire, it does work out slightly cheaper and much cheaper if you take into account the Sat nav for 4.95, the cheapest I can update my TomTom for is £20. So hopefully I can get that booked tomorrow.

My other quotes included a booster seat for DS, but I'm thinking we might try to take our own although I'm not sure if we can just take it as additional hand luggage on the plane, really don't want to waste space in the case!

Any thoughts welcome

Thanks all
Suzanne

You can take a booster free of charge with Virgin. They will bag it and put it the hold. We usually pop in the case outbound and it comes home loose!

Also, getting to KSC is really easy. It is very well sign posted and the drive is straight forward.

From Disney head on the I4 east to the 528 which is signed for International Airport and Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Centre.

Follow the 528 as far as you can go and the road forks. That the left hand fork (it has number but is also called the Challenger Memorial Parkway). Follow that till you reach the T-Junction and take a right, then follow road and you will find KSC on your right Journey time just over 1 hour

 

[m1ckeymouse]

Thank you all so much for your replies and especially Elise79, those directions are fab.

We booked the car today through the link Wayne gave us and just went with the gold plus cover inc sat nav and fuel. It was completely affordable and necessary as we tried to update our sat nav tonight only to find that there isn't enough room on it even if we take the UK maps off and it doesn't have an sd card slot

I really should check these things before I post

 

[Elise79]

I generally use google maps before I go - we have sat nav on our phones but have hardly ever used it in FL. I do however seem to have a inbuilt GPS

The road after the 528 to Kennedy is the 407. There are a few tolls on the way but they all have cash lanes that give change so no worries about having lots of quarters.

The other thing if you are heading to KSC consider pre-buying online one AP. It is $13 plus tax more expensive than a standard ticket but will give you free parking worth $10 plus you get 20% off food and drink and 10% off merchandise. KSC Annual Pass

 

[wayneg]

The other thing if you are heading to KSC consider pre-buying online one AP. It is $13 plus tax more expensive than a standard ticket but will give you free parking worth $10 plus you get 20% off food and drink and 10% off merchandise. KSC Annual Pass

Didn't know they had started charging for parking, not been for a few years but was always free on our visits.
Just found this article, started last Sept. http://www.floridatoday.com/article...or-complex-adds-10-parking-fee?nclick_check=1

 

[thelawlessfamily2013]

Was going to ask has anyone used mobile apps for sat nav, especially nav free USA?

 

[duffdo]

I downloaded TomTom for iPhone for about £40 used it for my trip in 2011, plan on using it this year too. No problems at all with it. It doesn't need to use data which is a big bonus!

 

[wayneg]

Was going to ask has anyone used mobile apps for sat nav, especially nav free USA?

Relatives were planning on trying the NavFree app but they were offered Sat Nav with the car rental for £7 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.USA