Transportation question

[PrincessDuck]

Okay, we are flying in the night before our cruise and staying on Disney property. So, we can take ME to the hotel from the airport. We are thinking that we can then rent a car that night or next morning to drive to port. We would then pay for parking at port. After the 3 night cruise we would have the car waiting for us at the port...not a big deal to us. We are then staying on Disney property for 4 more nights. We would keep the car until the night before or morning that we leave. We would then ride ME back to airport. We are thinking that renting from somewhere on property would be cheaper than renting from the airport? And we would have the car for a week which should give us a better rate. We are planning on going to Sea World for 2 days and Magic Kingdom for 2 days this trip. So we do need the car after the cruise.

Does all of this make sense? and where are the best places to rent from? Best price?

Dates are flying into orlando Dec. 16. Leave on cruise Dec. 17-20. Turn car in on Dec. 23/24.

This is the last piece of the puzzle for our trip and I need help with this one. Hubby has been supposed to figure it out for months now and now we leave in less than 3 weeks.....

 

[Rob S.]

Although you may get a better rate to rent for a week, you will lose all that savings and then some paying to park at the port. Most of the rental car companies have a location near the port with a free shuttle. You shold look into a one-way rental to the port and then a one-way rental when you return from the cruise.

 

[kcashner]

The companies near the cruise terminal are Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Hertz, and Enterprise. All have free shuttle to/from the port if you choose to do "one way" rentals.

Near WDW, Budget is in the Doubletree by Downtown Disney, someone is in the Hilton (Avis, I think). They will shuttle you to the hotel if needed. Avis, Budget, and Thrifty are on site at MCO. I've never seen a rental near WDW cheaper than at MCO; I consider it a bargain if it is the same rate. I have seen off-airport rentals be MUCH higher. For our next trip, we'll get the car at MCO when we come in and drive ourselves to WDW. Yes, we could take ME, but the price is better renting at MCO and we'll have the convenience of not having to mess with getting the car the next morning! It may vary on your dates.

The only way you will know what is cheapest is to price it out....week rental vs. 2 "one way" rentals (why pay for 3 days + $45 parking unless you're getting a super deal?) Rental codes are available at rentalcodes.com and mousesavers.com

A final idea--if you are picking up and dropping off at MCO, you can get a car thru hotwire or priceline. Those rates are as low as $12 per day. In that case, it WILL be worth keeping the car for the whole week! They don't do one way rentals and do ONLY airport pick up and drop off.

 

[NancyIL]

I am flying to Orlando this Thursday, picking up an Avis rental car at the airport, and returning it to Avis in Cape Canaveral on Sunday. I was able to get a great 3-day rate of $83.20 for a compact when I booked it in August. When the cruise ends, I'll pick-up a Budget rental car in Cape Canaveral and return it to the Budget location at the Doubletree near Downtown Disney the next morning. That economy car is $36.92. We're staying onsite post-cruise and will take ME back to the airport.

Since you are just now checking availability for the week before Christmas, you will probably find some pretty high rates. Good luck!

 

[PrincessDuck]

I was under the impression that anytime you rented from an airport location is would cost more because of extra fees and stuff. Maybe this isn't the case when compared to a Disney location. We lived within driving distance until a little over a year ago, so renting a car in Orlando is new to us.

I kinda figured that rates would go up as we got closer, but this is the only part that I requested that my husband take care of. Just a little miffed about him not taking care of things sooner.

I had not thought about priceline/hotwire. I will check that out for sure.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Daisy

 

[disneyfaninaz]

How many of you are going on the cruise and where are you staying at WDW before the cruise? Have you considered taking DCL transportation to the port and then renting a car from the port after you return for your stay at WDW? Depending on the resort you are staying, you can pick up the DCL bus and it will take you to the port. DCL will also transport your luggage for you. It is very easy after your cruise to get a shuttle for many of the local car rental agencies and pick up a car for your return to WDW.

Just a thought.

 

[MK032197]

How many of you are going on the cruise and where are you staying at WDW before the cruise? Have you considered taking DCL transportation to the port and then renting a car from the port after you return for your stay at WDW? Depending on the resort you are staying, you can pick up the DCL bus and it will take you to the port. DCL will also transport your luggage for you. It is very easy after your cruise to get a shuttle for many of the local car rental agencies and pick up a car for your return to WDW.

Just a thought.

In January we will be heading to WDW for 1 night before departing on a 4 night cruise and then will return to WDW for 3 nights before flying home. We are doing ME from the airport to the hotel and then DCL transp. to the port and from the port back to WDW and then ME from WDW to the airport. ME is free and the DCL tranportation is $35 per person one way $70 round trip but then there is no rental car to deal with and no charge for parking.

 

[PrincessDuck]

There are 4 of us so it would be $140 each way using Disney transportation. That is a total of $280 which is insane! I have looked at travelocity without using codes...still getting to that.....and can get a an intermediate car from Avis for $254.30 total. Plus the parking is only a little more than using Disney. This is having the car for 8 days...so it gets a weekly rate. I tried pricing it out to do 2 seperate one way rentals and the trip back from Port Canaveral is really up there. It is around $400 for just those 4 days.

These are preliminary numbers....still researching.

 

[PrincessDuck]

We are going to Sea World for 2 of the days, so we have to have a rental car. If it wasn't for needing the rental car, we would have just done a town car to the port and back for the same price as Disney transportation. We are staying in a villa and plan on cooking some while we are down there. So, we have to have a grocery store visit also.

Daisy

In January we will be heading to WDW for 1 night before departing on a 4 night cruise and then will return to WDW for 3 nights before flying home. We are doing ME from the airport to the hotel and then DCL transp. to the port and from the port back to WDW and then ME from WDW to the airport. ME is free and the DCL tranportation is $35 per person one way $70 round trip but then there is no rental car to deal with and no charge for parking.

 

[kcashner]

If it helps your planning, I'm paying $40.60 for a 24 hour rental from MCO to port in December.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

There are 4 of us so it would be $140 each way using Disney transportation. That is a total of $280 which is insane! I have looked at travelocity without using codes...still getting to that.....and can get a an intermediate car from Avis for $254.30 total. Plus the parking is only a little more than using Disney. This is having the car for 8 days...so it gets a weekly rate. I tried pricing it out to do 2 seperate one way rentals and the trip back from Port Canaveral is really up there. It is around $400 for just those 4 days.

These are preliminary numbers....still researching.

You would only have to use DCL from WDW to the port. You can use the rental car shuttle (free of charge) to the rental car location in Port Canaveral to rent your car.