Tell me about your car rental experiences

[schoen]

My DH and I would like to squeeze just a few more days out of our AP's, so we have decided to fly in early the day before the cruise, and spend the night the night after the cruise. I am very familiar with renting and returning to MCO, but I know nothing about the Port.

1. what companies operate at both MCO and the port?

2. what should I expect in terms of time to get from the rental place to the ship? Conversely, from the ship to the rental place?

3. What is an average price? right now I have a one-day rental booked for around $85-is that pretty standard? Should I keep trying for a better rate?

4. Do you like renting the car VS Disney transfers (which we would have to combine with ME, which doesn't sound too appealing)

5. Any tips, tricks, or advice from experienced folks?

 

[226ra]

Through Budget I was able to get $50 one way from MCO to the port, $40 port to MCO (airport taxes drive the rentals originating at the airport higher than for the reverse route).

 

[KSDisneyDad]

1. Mousesavers has a great list for this. That said, we typically always use Budget for DCL.

2. Ship to rental is about 5 minutes. Add a small wait for the bus although they seem to come fairly fast. At most, maybe 20 minutes with wait and drive.

I typically drop off the family & luggage off at the port and return the car myself and catch the bus over to the port without the luggage. When returning, I have the whole family join me on the bus ride over to save time.

3. Again, check Mousesavers or other rental car code places. We have a one-way minivan rental for about $80 one-way on our upcoming trip that includes an overnight stay. Other cars should be a lot less than a minivan (generally $40 to $50 one-way). After the cruise, we are renting from Saturday morning to Monday afternoon for about $153 including all taxes and fees in a minivan.

4. We like renting to save money for 5 of us. For us, one-way transfers would be $175 each. For about $233 (or $117 less than Disney), we have a car the entire trip in Florida which includes 3 extra nights. That enables us to visit a place before the cruise to pick up water & alcohol, as well as after the trip to visit DTD, DHS and Universal.

The advantage of Disney transfers is they help with luggage if you're going directly to the airport. It's an expensive porter service for a family, but for a couple, it's worth it. My parents are using it after our cruise as they are heading directly to the airport and don't want to hassle with a car.

You can always rent a car one-way and use Disney on the other leg.


5. Again, dropping off at the port saves having to lug your luggage on the bus. When you drop off at the port, there are porters right there that take your luggage away and you don't see it again until it's at your stateroom later in the day.

I also keep playing with new discount codes to save money. The prices fluctuate sometimes daily. The price for our 3 days after the cruise started around $250 and fell twice to our current price of about $153.

 

[IrenicMom]

1. Mousesavers has a great list for this. That said, we typically always use Budget for DCL.

2. Ship to rental is about 5 minutes. Add a small wait for the bus although they seem to come fairly fast. At most, maybe 20 minutes with wait and drive.

I typically drop off the family & luggage off at the port and return the car myself and catch the bus over to the port without the luggage. When returning, I have the whole family join me on the bus ride over to save time.

3. Again, check Mousesavers or other rental car code places. We have a one-way minivan rental for about $80 one-way on our upcoming trip that includes an overnight stay. Other cars should be a lot less than a minivan (generally $40 to $50 one-way). After the cruise, we are renting from Saturday morning to Monday afternoon for about $153 including all taxes and fees in a minivan.

4. We like renting to save money for 5 of us. For us, one-way transfers would be $175 each. For about $233 (or $117 less than Disney), we have a car the entire trip in Florida which includes 3 extra nights. That enables us to visit a place before the cruise to pick up water & alcohol, as well as after the trip to visit DTD, DHS and Universal.

The advantage of Disney transfers is they help with luggage if you're going directly to the airport. It's an expensive porter service for a family, but for a couple, it's worth it. My parents are using it after our cruise as they are heading directly to the airport and don't want to hassle with a car.

You can always rent a car one-way and use Disney on the other leg.


5. Again, dropping off at the port saves having to lug your luggage on the bus. When you drop off at the port, there are porters right there that take your luggage away and you don't see it again until it's at your stateroom later in the day.

I also keep playing with new discount codes to save money. The prices fluctuate sometimes daily. The price for our 3 days after the cruise started around $250 and fell twice to our current price of about $153.

So, I was going to type out my response. And then I read this. Which is about 90% identical to my situation, so I'll just say "DITTO!"

 

[algae]

1. what companies operate at both MCO and the port?

No companies are right at the port. Hertz, Budget and Avis are close and seem popular between the 2 points. All are a few minutes away from the port and have shuttles. We used Avis the last 2 times. Using the Sears/Avis website, we get about $74 prepaid for the rental one way (less than 24 hours). Looks like others get a bit lower in price with Budget. Our experience is that the Avis cars are in better shape, but that may not be the case now-a-days.

2. what should I expect in terms of time to get from the rental place to the ship? Conversely, from the ship to the rental place?

Actual driving time is less than 15 minutes. Waiting for the shuttle can vary a lot. Budget and Hertz seem to have a lot of shuttles and can get people from the ship to the rental place fairly quickly. Avis has fewer shuttles, so it can take a while. For embark, Avis shuttles were only for getting people off the ship until about 10:30AM. On our sailing this month, we waited 1.5 hours at the port at disembark for the Avis shuttle because the line was long and they had some broken shuttles.

Budget and Hertz win here.

3. What is an average price? right now I have a one-day rental booked for around $85-is that pretty standard? Should I keep trying for a better rate?

That's a tad high. For Avis, one day was $74, 2 days on the way back was $130. Seems that some rental companies will give you a discount if you pre-pay online also. While saving $10 is always good. How does that compare to how much you paid for the trip and how much stress and hassle is it worth to save the handfull of dollars?

4. Do you like renting the car VS Disney transfers (which we would have to combine with ME, which doesn't sound too appealing)

We like renting for the flexibility. DCL transfers were fun the first time, but we now end up staying in the area before or after and like to have a car. Lot's of stuff nearby: WDW, KSC, Univeral Studios (Harry Potter!), etc.

5. Any tips, tricks, or advice from experienced folks?

If you rent, go ahead and use the e-pass/sun-pass auto-toll thing. You can sail through all the toll booths and save a lot of time at a smallish additional cost.

If you rent, you can get to the port much earlier than the DCL transfers. So, if you have a low boarding group number, I'd rent to get on the ship earlier.

 

[kcashner]

Don't know if you are aware that you can also get a car near WDW (in the hotels by Downtown Disney. Budget, Thrifty/Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, and Avis operate from WDW and MCO and have locationss near the port.

We usually pay $35-50 for a full sized car (including all taxes and fees). You can find discount coupons at rentalcodes.com and mousesavers.com. There is no easy way to find the best rate--just try all the codes. Add a few dollars for gas and tolls. We usually do ME from MCO to WDW, and then get the car the last afternoon at WDW. This way we can make a store stop if needed and enjoy dinner at a resort other than where we are staying. In the morning, pack up and head to the port. You pay for a 24 hour rental, not a calendar day.

Depending on the agency, they are 5-15 minutes from the cruise terminal; all have free shuttles back to the port.

 

[PixieMom712]

The only thing I have to add to all this great info is another vote for checking mousesavers.com. They sometimes have great discount codes. Also check with any 'clubs' you are a member of - I know the bank USAA and NRA have coupons for rentals, AAA might too!

 

[Billinaz]

On our cruise last week, I used Budget and a code from flyertalk.

A minivan MCO to the port $40 plus tax

From the port to MCO $60 plus tax.