Will we need a rental car?

[Eddygirl]

Hello again Canadian Dis-ers!

I am a little scared about planning a DW trip. To summarize:

*Early May 2014

*2 Adults, 2 kids. DD will be 13. DS will be 10. I may or may not be celebrating my 40th.

*2 weeks. First 2 days and nights at Universal. The remainder at DW. We were thinking 10 Magic your way PH's with the Dining plan (if we stay on site)

*I think I might win out to stay on site...either POR or a Deluxe if we can.

*DH and DS want to go to Cape Canaveral to see NASA. DD and I may or may not go, but probably should as it will be a once in a lifetime thing.

That is about as far as I have gotten...Holy Hannah! Oh...we are West Coaters and would fly out of Seattle direct to Orlando if that makes a difference.


Question is do we need a rental car? I think definitely no if we stay onsite. I would really appreciate any experiences with the various shuttles and services. I know if we start with Universal then we would not get the Magical Express.....but need to take Universals. We would need to get to DW after Universal and then have a day trip to Cape Canaveral.

If we end up off site, then I think we would need a car.

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? Any help is very much appreciated!

Eddygirl

 

[sk8jdgca]

I always get a car and with your schedule you may need one. It's ice to have a car to get groceries, go to the outlet mall, to not depend on the Disney buses

 

[minnie mum]

I think in the long run you would be wise to get a rental car for the first part of your trip. Use it to go to Universal and then to get from the dark side to WDW. Get groceries and any other off site shopping done (outlet malls). Get that trip to the Kennedy Space Center done (totally worthwhile IMO).

Then get rid of the car. Once at WDW, you really don't need it. Disney transportation will take you where you need to go, and you can arrange for ME to take you back to the airport. There are places at WDW or DTD where you could drop off your rental, depending on the company you go with. The Transportation board has lots of info on car rentals.

 

[CdnKayDee]

We did 6 WDW trips no rental car. Then trip 7 we rented a car because of a promo that made the rental super super cheap.Needless to say we have rented a car ever since. So yes you can get by without the rental and yes it is super awsome to have. If you say yes to the rental just keep checking for promos.

 

[JenluvsDisney]

I love having a rental car at Disney and, if your budget allows for it, I would definitely recommend it. If you're staying onsite you get free parking at all the theme parks, resort hotels, etc. I've done the Disney transportation thing and felt like, on top of all the other Disney planning, I had to spend my whole day working around bus schedules. And if you want to dine at a different resort hotel from the one you're staying at the amount of time it takes, especially if multiple transfers are involved, can be daunting. With a car you can go where you want when you want. You can also get offsite for cheaper shopping and dining. We don't do the Dining Plan and have found that by getting offsite for suppers (which can be MUCH cheaper than Disney offerings) we can almost offset the cost of the car rental.

Both Emerald and Alamo have rental locations near the Magic Kingdom and, as others have mentioned, you can drop your car off there when you're done with it and get shuttled back to your room if you'd like to take advantage of ME for the plane ride home. I booked through Emerald last Summer and by signing up for their "rewards" program (free to do through their website) was able to get some coupons and a free upgrade which made the rental less expensive. I've also used Budget because of their Costco discount, which involves pickup and drop off at the airport, but I've found the process was pretty streamlined and I would definitely consider doing that again if the rates were better than the rentals on Disney property.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[Sue M]

If you get a car rental, I'd get it for getting you from airport to universal, then to wdw. Make your first day at wdw the cape canaverl day, then return car. If you rent with either Alsmo, National or Budget they are easy to return. Budget is in DTD Doubletree, and the other 2 are in the CCC near MK.

 

[Disneylvr4]

I agree with the others who say get the car, we always do and have never wished we hadn't bothered, it's always come in very handy!

We always use one where we make an offer on the daily rate, it's called priceline. I think the last time, May 2012, we got a van for under $300 for the week using them...check it out!

 

[drcandon]

we always get a rental, even though it is just the 2 of us. DW and I are at the stage now that we push the parks in the morning , go back to the hotel for a rest etc around noon or so, then head of to a Disney food venue (if they offer free dining)...and stay in the parks until later...

We tried that scenario a few years ago when Disney bus lines were much better then they are now and it basically killed the entire day...

For example we usually stay at AKL...even though that one used to offer dedicated buses, it is still anywhere from 20 to 50 minutes to another resort hotel ( wilderness lodge and the hoop de doo is a real track). of course first you have to get back to the hotel - if you want to freshen up, that adds another 20 to 40 minutes depending on the bus connections...for example one day we just missed the AKL bus @ MK..another one came in about 15 min, then add 25 min to get to the hotel, and you just messed up the better part of an hour..the you still have to get somewhere to eat...

The worse and longest is to downtown disney from the Poly...that is the better part of an hour...worse on a crowded day..

In a car - as long as you remember where you parked it is a matter of walking to the car or catching the trams..watching for the traffic to get to the hotel or next place and then parking...done....since staying on site gives you the ability to park anywhere for free..a rental is well worth it...and if you don't eat at the disney food places then getting off site to a place to eat would be , well lets say I am not going to do it...

oh yea..just one thing to remember ..while you stay onsite at one of the true disney hotels, parking is included...at Universal it is a painful $18 per day..if even if you stay at one of the Universal hotels...

 

[Eddygirl]

Thank-you all for your thoughts and experiences! It is so helpful to hear from you.

I think if I can find a good deal we probably will, even staying on site. The whole transportation thing is kinda daunting. We are used to walking everywhere at DLR. I guess the whole size and scale of DW is hard to get my head wrapped around. I have read so many trip reports and it does seem that once people have rented a car they love it even staying onsite.

Thanks again!

 

[Sue M]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really prefer to let Disney do the driving! We spend a few days in Ft Lauderdale Pre wdw to visit family, so I have a rental there. Drive up to wdw, and as soon as I check in, I return the car. I'd rather spend the $ on other more fun things then driving.

We also go back to our resort for a mid day break, then in the evening we plan dinner location based on which park we will be going to. It's never been a problem for us. And I can have that adult Bev at Epcot, or wine with dinner without worrying about driving.

Yes, you may have to wait a few minutes for a bus, but driving, your waiting for the parking lot tram. And getting to MK, you have to get the parking tram, then wait for the monorail or boat to finally get you into MK.

But that's me.

 

[caisland]

We drove down in 2006. We parked our car and thought we would use the buses.
After an hour standing August heat waitng for a bus at animal kingdom we decided to use our car.
We have rented ever since using Alamo certificates we got thru airmiles.

Insurance usually costs me more than the rental.

 

[mamaCta]

Having a rental car in the WDW area makes things so much easier. Everything is so spread out, in the park and out of it.

 

[Sue M]

We drove down in 2006. We parked our car and thought we would use the buses.
After an hour standing August heat waitng for a bus at animal kingdom we decided to use our car.
We have rented ever since using Alamo certificates we got thru airmiles.

Insurance usually costs me more than the rental.

We have car rental insurance on our ICBC car insurance. It's an add on, and very cheap. The car rental places charge insane prices for insurance, your right, it pretty much doubles the cost of the rental

 

[caisland]

In 2009 I was covered by my then insurer while driving the rental in Florida. Cost me $350 for 2 weeks in an SUV.
I changed insurers and they don't cover Public Liability when you are stateside unless it is your own car insured with them.
Good to check with your insurance and be sure.

 

[naomiswanson]

Approaching some people who are in this kind of services is the best thing you can do or you can search to the internet so that you will find where you can get the rental car.

 

[Northstar]

You'll be fine either way at Disney, as long as you stay onsite. The buses aren't bad. However, if you plan a lot of resort to resort travel (like for dining), be aware that buses don't go resort to resort, so you'll have to change at a park. More trouble than it's worth IMO. I'd plan to dine only at parks and monorail resorts if I didn't have a car.

I wouldn't advise renting a car at the airport for your whole stay if you're starting at Universal, for two reasons: 1. onsite at Universal is walking distance to EVERYTHING. I guarantee you won't use the car while you're staying there. 2. Parking is NOT free at Universal onsite hotels. You'll pay $18/night to have that rental car.

So if I were you, the two options I'd look into:
1. Shuttle, airport to Universal. Taxi, Universal to Disney resort. ME, return to airport (no rental)
2. Shuttle, airport to Universal. Rent car from Hertz (they have rental desks in the Universal hotels) for pickup at Universal and drop off near Disney, then take Magical Express back to airport.
You could also rent a car for pickup at Universal and dropoff at the airport, but my experience has been that that is way more expensive than your average rental.

You'll have a great trip either way.