WDW first then Cruising out of Miami

[3fish]

Hi,

I'm wondering if we hit WDW before our cruise, is there accessible transportation from one of the WDW hotels down to Miami? Or do we need to rent a car? Is this even advisable? Help please!!!

 

[Bree]

DCL does not provide transportation from WDW to POM. National/Alamo are located at WDW at the Car Care Center by MK. They will pick you up at the resort to get your rental. I believe they are at the Swan/Dolphin too. You will take toll roads from WDW all the way to Miami. Search here for threads all about that process. National/Alamo provide shuttle to POM after returning the rental car.

ETA: My SIL and her family did this in reverse in February (POM to WDW). She said the process was super easy.

 

[Flossbolna]

Just to add tat besides Alamo at the Car Care Center and at the Swan/Dolphin, there are a number of other rental car agencies that have locations in the hotels in the Hotel Plaza Boulevard just outside Dowtown Disney. We picked up a car on our last trip at Dollar at the Wyndham. An easy 5 minute walk from the Marketplace bus stop.

The drive to Miami is not complicated, but it takes some time. I would prefer to do it the evening before and stay in a hotel in Miami the night before the cruise. But it is doable in the morning, especially if you are prepared to take an early start. I think it is about 4 hours.

 

[3fish]

DCL does not provide transportation from WDW to POM. National/Alamo are located at WDW at the Car Care Center by MK. They will pick you up at the resort to get your rental. I believe they are at the Swan/Dolphin too. You will take toll roads from WDW all the way to Miami. Search here for threads all about that process. National/Alamo provide shuttle to POM after returning the rental car.

ETA: My SIL and her family did this in reverse in February (POM to WDW). She said the process was super easy.

Thank you

 

[3fish]

Just to add tat besides Alamo at the Car Care Center and at the Swan/Dolphin, there are a number of other rental car agencies that have locations in the hotels in the Hotel Plaza Boulevard just outside Dowtown Disney. We picked up a car on our last trip at Dollar at the Wyndham. An easy 5 minute walk from the Marketplace bus stop.

The drive to Miami is not complicated, but it takes some time. I would prefer to do it the evening before and stay in a hotel in Miami the night before the cruise. But it is doable in the morning, especially if you are prepared to take an early start. I think it is about 4 hours.

Thank you

 

[Shea&Van]

We did this as well. We hit the parks in the morning, had a late lunch, and then left for Miami (we rented a car for our trip so we already had it for the drive). The kids took nice long naps, but it still took close to five hours with some heavy traffic and bathroom breaks/gas stops. My husband dropped us off at the hotel, returned the rental car to the Miami airport, and then took the hotel shuttle back to the hotel. We overnighted at a hotel near the port and then hired a private car to the port (the hotel had a shuttle, but it was Spring Break and we didn't want to have to "fight" to get a seat on the shuttle with our party of 8!).

My advice would be to allow plenty of time, especially if you have little ones who need frequent breaks. And, do some research on the toll situation. We got a pass from our rental car that covered every toll for a certain price (Sun Pass?), but it was very confusing and I wish I had done more research on what was the most economical.

The drive itself was easy on the Interstate, but we did encounter a bad accident scene which added a good amount of time to our travel and traffic picked up a lot when we got close to Miami.

Overall a wonderful WDW/DCL vacation and it's totally do-able.

Enjoy every second!!

 

[KYDad]

We are doing the same thing in December. We are picking up a car at Alamo on site at WDW. I am going to try to be on the road by 8 am the day of the cruise. That way if it takes 5 hours, we will be there by 1pm.

 

[goofygal531]

We did this last summer and planing to do it again in 2016.

We rented a car from Alamo thru Costco. $38 for a midsize SUV for the day. Of course my husband had to upgrade at the desk to a Dodge Durango for an additional $50.

The drive went by fast, about three and half hours. It's a very boring drive. Nothing to see but flat land for miles.
Pack snacks and drinks. We found one Dunkin Donuts along the way and the line was ou t the door!

 

[jrabbit]

I've gone from the Cruise out of Miami and driven to the World afterwards. We didn't have any issues. We took the toll road from Orlando to Miami vs going over to Port Canaveral and down the coast. I think it saves about an hour.

Every 40 miles or so there was break areas between the north and southbound lanes. Clean bathrooms, several fast food options and gift shops.

I would do the drive again in a heartbeat (either direction). I would try to be on the road by 8am like another poster said to make sure that I arrived at the cruise on time.

 

[3fish]

Thanks everyone, you've been very helpful and encouraging.

 

[1buckeyegirl]

We are doing this in November and planning on renting a car from the car care center and returning it to fort Lauderdale airport. Make sure you know which route you are taking and know where the cashless tolls are, I believe they start in Miami. If you go to the fl toll road website you can map your route and see exactly where and what kind of toll each stop has. Have fun!

 

[3fish]

We are doing this in November and planning on renting a car from the car care center and returning it to fort Lauderdale airport. Make sure you know which route you are taking and know where the cashless tolls are, I believe they start in Miami. If you go to the fl toll road website you can map your route and see exactly where and what kind of toll each stop has. Have fun!

Sweet! Thanks ♡

 

[jrabbit]

RE: Tolls - just be sure to get a car with the SunPass equipment in it. Turn it on and drive. Several weeks later the tolls will show up on you VISA statement.

If you are going to WDW and a DCL cruise, those last $20 in tolls are not going to break your budget!!

 

[KYDad]

If you are going to WDW and a DCL cruise, those last $20 in tolls are not going to break your budget!!

Good Point!!!

 

[mantraf]

we did the drive from Orlando to Miami in April had a car from Alamo took about 5 hours stopped for breakfast used US27
dropped the car off at airport and used Alamo shuttle to the port

 

[pgroom48]

We live in Miami and the fastest and best way to go it Turnpike all the way to Miami and then you hop on 95 South for just a few miles to the Downtown Exits. If you rent the SunPass you can also use in the Express Lane in Miami and avoid any back ups. It should only take about 3 1/2 hours. Whatever your GPS says do not us any side road or get of for other routes. They will always take longer and you'll hit traffic and slower speed limits.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We just did this over Easter break. We booked Alamo in advance to pick up at the Dolphin the afternoon prior. We took the bus from MK to the Dolphin so no need to call for shuttles.
There is no need for any Sun Pass device; we were told it would simply read our license plate and bill our cc the cost of the tolls + $3 per day that we use any toll booths.
We had a good, full breakfast at Cape May Cafe (stayed at BC) at 7:30am. We stopped for 1 bathroom break and it took around 3.5- 4 hrs. There was a bit of traffic once we got off the TP. Not awful; it was a Sunday but still enough to rattle us a bit and we completely forgot to refuel before dropping the car off. I think it was around $30 fuel surcharge which was still cheaper than if we prepaid for fuel. (IIRC was $45.)
The Alamo shuttle waited a good 20 mins. There were only 2 other families on the bus so plenty of seating. The driver did check our paperwork upon boarding. Not just our copy of the rental contract but also the little receipt we were given when we dropped off the car.
HTH

 

[jrabbit]

another thought about returning rental cars to Miami Airport

Don't bother looking for "cheap gas" within the last couple of miles of the airport. Yes there are stations around there, but there is a very easy to get to gas station (Shell I think) right as you go into the rental car return. Even if it's 40 cents/gallon more expensive you will "overpay" $10 on a 25 gallon fill up (overpaying $2-$3 is more likely). Yep, that's not breaking my budget either.

The older I get the more I'm inclined to go for "no hassle" and this is one of those areas. For me this is like not driving around for 10 minutes to find the closest parking spot - I'll go to the back of the parking lot where no one's parked and walk (its good for me) and save the 10 minutes of frustration.

 

[3fish]

A wise course of action!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

OP, on the main thread about sailing from Miami, there are horror stories about dropping cars off that were rented through Hertz. I just wanted to put that out there in case you're trying to choose between companies. I chose Alamo because of its convenience at the Dolphin and positive comments about dropping off at MIA.

ETA: I just looked up the details on my cc. We were charged $33.10 for not refueling before dropping off. (full-size car with 2 adults, 1 teen)
As for tolls, we were charged $8.00 then approximately a month later an additional $0.70. (On my cc bill it's specifically listed as Alamo Tolls.) I don't know if somehow we accidentally weren't charged for some tolls but that's not even close to the $20 that others mentioned. We sailed on April 8 so I'd think by now they have posted all the tolls.
We entered the TP at Osceola Parkway.