Tolls from Port of Miami to Orlando?

[maryr1oz]

Hi there,

My husband and I will be travelling from Australia, and we will be disembarking the Magic in Miami then heading up to Disney World. We are renting a car through Sixt, who have (from what I see) the worst toll costs. I know the booths around Miami don't accept cash, and that driving around tolls will add significant time to our journey, so I'm trying to work out another option.

I bought an EPass sticker on Amazon, but when I received it and tried to register, it will not allow without an American drivers license number.

Does anyone know if I buy the SunPass sticker, whether that is able to be registered with an international license? Annoyingly the SunPass website seems to be geo-locked so that I can't access it at all from Australia, so struggling to find much information.

If anyone has any insight - or options I'm not aware of - i'd love to hear from you

Thank you!

 

[hrhdhd]

You could rent from another company, too.

When I pull up Sunpass to create an account, both the transponder option and the prepaid toll-by-plate option do not ask for a license. The transponder option signup looks like this:

 

[Mango7100]

We have a UniPass which we bought off Amazon and have used it several times when driving from Tennessee to Florida. We also used it for the express lanes in Miami which saved significant time with the high traffic in Miami

 

[Girl of the South]

Yes, I agree you can rent from a different company. It’s not a really long drive if you are just doing point to point and your savings might not be worth bothering with. However, I am sure you can get from Miami to Orlando without driving on Toll Roads. I will look up the Route for you tomorrow and post it here. When are you coming up? Happy to mail you a Florida map if you’ve got at least a month. Mail is taking a while.

 

[Girl of the South]

This link may work?
Port of Miami to Orlando No Tolls

Almost works! In Google Maps click on OPTIONS and then Avoid > Tolls

 

[Clarkson U]

Or rent from another car company. I rent from enterprise rent a car all the time and they usually charge $3.95 per day when toll roads are used plus tolls. If you are driving all in one day it is a very small extra cost and they do it well.

 

[maryr1oz]

Thanks everyone, we will have the car for about 8 days while we are in Disney World, and then return to MCO on departure. I'll keep checking other companies, just can't find anything close price wise at the moment - acknowledge if I need to pay for tolls with Sixt then it will take me closer to the other companies prices.

I know we could drive and avoid tolls - just seems to add over an hour - not a deal breaker, just not ideal.

 

[maryr1oz]

You could rent from another company, too.

When I pull up Sunpass to create an account, both the transponder option and the prepaid toll-by-plate option do not ask for a license. The transponder option signup looks like this: View attachment 755383

Thank you! That looks promising...

 

[Clarkson U]

Thanks everyone, we will have the car for about 8 days while we are in Disney World, and then return to MCO on departure. I'll keep checking other companies, just can't find anything close price wise at the moment - acknowledge if I need to pay for tolls with Sixt then it will take me closer to the other companies prices.

I know we could drive and avoid tolls - just seems to add over an hour - not a deal breaker, just not ideal.

So with enterprise you only pay the extra charge on actual days you use toll roads. If there are days when you don’t use toll roads they don’t charge you the extra. That is how it has always worked for me and I rent from them and drive toll roads in Florida a lot.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Brightline will be opening their train route from Miami to Orlando airport and will start selling tickets in May. The tickets start at $79 and they have packages for families. You can sit back and leisurely enjoy a train ride rather than driving the 3 hours.

 

[Girl of the South]

That's a great idea to take the train up from Miami! Then at the Orlando Airport you can rent a pass for the Tolls - someone here on the board told me about it. You reserve in advance and get it from a little vending machine at the Airport: Visitor Toll pass - rent at MCO Airport

 

[auntlynne]

I did some internet research and keep running into the problem of a foreign address. They have drop-down options for US, Canada, and Mexico. And offer no option for other countries.

And nowhere does it seem possible to use the transponder without creating an account - which requires the address.

Also, can’t find a source which shows which toll roads still accept cash.

They don’t make it easy!

 

[auntlynne]

Brightline - I have ridden the train between Fort Lauderdale and Miami for cruises from Miami. Clean trains, on time, good customer service. Luggage over 24/25” must be checked at $10 a bag (on our trip last October; previously, no charge).

Once at the Orlando Airport (where the station is), pick up a rental car and use non-toll roads. Will you actually need a car? If staying off-site, sure. But maybe get a rental from a neighborhood rental location, not the airport?

Do you need to fly home from Miami?

Here’s the latest from the Brightline website:

 

[Bound4DisneyWorld]

Thanks everyone, we will have the car for about 8 days while we are in Disney World, and then return to MCO on departure. I'll keep checking other companies, just can't find anything close price wise at the moment - acknowledge if I need to pay for tolls with Sixt then it will take me closer to the other companies prices.

I know we could drive and avoid tolls - just seems to add over an hour - not a deal breaker, just not ideal.

I just took a look and my driver‘s license is not part of the information required to get a SunPass transponder. You could try using a VPN. That will allow you to connect through a server from another country to sign up for one. That said, I don’t know that they would ship one internationally. You can buy a transponder in person at Walgreens, CVS, or Publix either before or after your cruise.

 

[auntlynne]

I just took a look and my driver‘s license is not part of the information required to get a SunPass transponder. You could try using a VPN. That will allow you to connect through a server from another country to sign up for one. That said, I don’t know that they would ship one internationally. You can buy a transponder in person at Walgreens, CVS, or Publix either before or after your cruise.

It‘s not in the purchase of the hardware where the problem lies - it’s in creating an account - so you can load $ to pay for the tolls. (I could not find a way to enter an address other than one in US, Canada, or Mexico).

 

[maryr1oz]

Thanks so much everyone - I think i'll try and pick up a SunPass sticker at Walgreens before we leave on our cruise, and see whether I can get it registered. If not, we will either avoid tolls or suck it up and pay the Sixt fees.

I looked at the Brightline alternative, and hiring a car in Orlando instead. For three adults, we currently have an SUV from Miami to Orlando, for 9 days, for $300 including insurance so i'm struggling to find anything more cost effective.

 

[maryr1oz]

I just took a look and my driver‘s license is not part of the information required to get a SunPass transponder. You could try using a VPN. That will allow you to connect through a server from another country to sign up for one. That said, I don’t know that they would ship one internationally. You can buy a transponder in person at Walgreens, CVS, or Publix either before or after your cruise.

Thanks so much for checking that out!

 

[auntlynne]

Thanks so much everyone - I think i'll try and pick up a SunPass sticker at Walgreens before we leave on our cruise, and see whether I can get it registered. If not, we will either avoid tolls or suck it up and pay the Sixt fees.

I looked at the Brightline alternative, and hiring a car in Orlando instead. For three adults, we currently have an SUV from Miami to Orlando, for 9 days, for $300 including insurance so i'm struggling to find anything more cost effective.

At $300, you got a deal. Google Maps can plot your trip to avoid tolls.

I’d love to hear how you create a payment account without a North American address. The sticker needs one too, just like whichever form you buy from Amazon.

Some toll plaza also accept cash. I am just having a hard time finding information in which ones.

 

[auntlynne]

How much out of the way are these two options. This is what Google Maps says are routes without tolls. I picked Sixt at Miami airport. (The yellow teardrops are railroad crossings).

Avoiding toll roads seems very doable.)

 

[randumb0]

How much out of the way are these two options. This is what Google Maps says are routes without tolls. I picked Sixt at Miami airport. (The yellow teardrops are railroad crossings).

Avoiding toll roads seems very doable.)

View attachment 755593

Depends on the time of day. I95 has the worst traffic in Florida. Avoid rush hour and the time difference is minimal