Transportation question

[Benay127]

Hi everyone! My family of 3 is hoping to board the Disney Fantasy this November (fingers crossed that's actually happening) and I have a question that has probably been asked a million times. Our cruise leaves Sunday but we're flying into Orlando on the Friday prior to go to Universal and Disney Springs. We're staying at the MCO Hyatt for two nights.

I'm torn on how to get around while we're in Orlando. Is renting a car for Friday and Saturday and then driving to the port (then returning the car) the way to go in terms of convenience? I keep reading horror stories of having to wait hours to even get a car. We can also do Lyfts around Orlando and then maybe hire a private car service to get to the port on Sunday? We're using DCL transfers for the way back since we're going straight to the airport.

Is renting a car worth the struggle? I'm also worried that Lyft prices will be astronomical but there's not much I can do about that. Thanks for the help!

 

[HiStitch626]

The first thing I would do is go ahead and price rental cars today and see what kind of rates you can get. Dropping a car at the port is not difficult. You can either drop off everyone in their luggage and just have the driver come back from the rental car place or everyone can go to the rental car place and take the shuttle from there.

cars are more expensive right now, but that may improve by November as the rental agencies increase their fleets. We did not have any trouble with Lyft during trips in December and April, but we also weren’t trying to go out to port Canaveral.

since you are staying at the airport, the easiest thing to do might just be to use DCL transfers from the airport on your trip out to the ship.

 

[Lilsia]

I would rent a car for your in town portion and then take Disney transfers to the port from the Airport. It's not worth paying extra hassle of driving yourself to the port and dealing with the rental car. Private transfers are good too. But I like the peace of mind knowing that if something happens and we get delayed, Disney will hold the ship for anyone using their transfers. Have fun.

 

[luvincruising]

I agree with HiStitch626 and price out a rental to use in Orlando and drop-off in PC. Once you have the rental pricing, compare it to using Lyft/Uber. I use Ride Guru - https://ride.guru/ . It has pricing for Lyft, Uber, and taxi.

Good luck.

 

[Robbydj13]

If you are only planning to go to Universal and Disney Springs, I would use ride share for both those and DCL busses to and from the port. It will save you the hassle and cost of parking at universal and save you the hassle of parking at DS. Not to mention the hassle of returning the car at the port if you decided to go that route. Now, if you were able to get a great deal on a rental car, then go for it….but given the current rates, Id Uber

 

[Cheburashka]

Is renting a car for Friday and Saturday and then driving to the port (then returning the car) the way to go in terms of convenience? I keep reading horror stories of having to wait hours to even get a car.

What time are you arriving on Friday? If you don't really need the car on your arrival night, maybe rent it on Saturday morning? Just thinking that it might be easier to pick up a car from MCO early morning before breakfast, before a lot of flights have started coming in.

In terms of what the rental experience is like, we rented during Christmas week 2020 and lines were the worst I've ever seen at MCO. The longest lines by far (like 2 to 3 times as long) were the budget rental places- no clue why but that was the case when we were there. We rented from Enterprise and although the line was much shorter than the budget places, we still ended up waiting about 45 minutes. The do it yourself kiosks were not in service- no clue if they are now. There were plenty of available cars so that was no issue at all. For my March trip, I used Magical Express & didn't even glance at the car rentals.

So bottom line, if I were to rent from MCO anytime soon, I would avoid a budget company, try to get a skip the line arrangement if at all possible, and might arrange to pick up the car early (like 6am) on Saturday morning if that worked for my schedule.