Wow, crazy expensive to pay for tolls now in Orlando!

[Disney Dukers]

We rented a car from Dollar for our holiday next week. We got a really good rate so I was pleased but then they said we have to pay 6.99 (times 9 days) for pass24 so we can use the toll roads. That's crazy that we have to pay 62.00 for tolls?! We aren't going to be driving around either, we just got it for Disney. We wanted to rent to get around the parks and resorts and downtown disney. I had no idea you couldn't pay cash at the tolls anymore. This sucks.

Can you drive from Orlando Airport to DW without going on a toll road by any chance?

 

[goofy4tink]

Fixed the title. I 'think' you may have reversed the i and the s...which would look like a **** word. Too funny!!!

I will be watching this one...we're renting with Dollar in Oct....I am quite happy to pay my own tolls. Yes, we are driving from Sanford, but once at WDW, we aren't going offsite..so $6.99 a day is more than excessive.

 

[MonorailRed]

No worries! You can pay cash at the toll plaza. If you take SR417 South, there are two tolls that are $1.25 each. When you approach the toll, keep right. You will "exit" the highway, pay the cash toll and then merge left back onto the highway. There is usually one open cash lane and one lane that takes exact change. I usually pack some quarters in my camera bag.

 

[Alexander]

We rented a car from Dollar for our holiday next week. We got a really good rate so I was pleased but then they said we have to pay 6.99 (times 9 days) for pass24 so we can use the toll roads. That's crazy that we have to pay 62.00 for tolls?! We aren't going to be driving around either, we just got it for Disney. We wanted to rent to get around the parks and resorts and downtown disney. I had no idea you couldn't pay cash at the tolls anymore. This sucks.

Can you drive from Orlando Airport to DW without going on a toll road by any chance?

(side note, why is there stars in the title in the word expensive? I didn't do that.)

You should be able to opt out of using their ezpass system. We rent cars all of the time, though never with Dollar and we pay cash on the toll roads. You can still pay cash on toll roads between MCO and WDW. The non-cash toll roads are in the Miami area.

 

[Disney Dukers]

Fixed the title. I 'think' you may have reversed the i and the s...which would look like a **** word. Too funny!!!

I will be watching this one...we're renting with Dollar in Oct....I am quite happy to pay my own tolls. Yes, we are driving from Sanford, but once at WDW, we aren't going offsite..so $6.99 a day is more than excessive.

Thanks for fixing it! And, yes that is quite excessive.

 

[Alexander]

This is from the Dollar website:

Drive like a local! Opt-in to Pass24®, a pre-paid toll service from Dollar Rent A Car, and bypass toll booths on your drive. No more waiting in long lines searching for coins or cash or waiting for receipts. With Pass24®, you'll cruise right through traffic in the express lane. In areas where the Tollways have converted to All Electronic Tolling, there is no option for a rental car to pay the tolls in cash. If your travels will take you on a toll road in an area where there is no option to stop and pay cash for the tolls, Pass24® is the perfect solution.

Pass24® is available in Dallas*, Denver*, Fort Lauderdale*, Fort Myers, Houston, Jacksonville, Key West*, Miami*, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa* and West Palm Beach. Just add Pass24® to your reservation and you'll be on your way, without taking a toll on your travel time.

*These cities have no cash option for toll roads

So you can opt in or out of using the pass system. Orlando is not one of the cities listed that is cash less.

 

[Disney Dukers]

We just called Dollar and they said yes we needed something like Pass24 as they do not have any cash tolls left in the area.

On another note we just called Sunpass and she was really friendly when we told her our 'story' and she said no problem we don't have to pay 6.99 a day at dollar. She said we could order on line or with her on the phone a 4.99 mini transponder pass. We would put a 10.00 amount on it at time of purchase, she would then add another 5.00. So for just 15.00 we will get the transponder and 15.00 worth of toll $. On top of that she said what ever we don't use at the end of the holiday she will credit our credit card back. Oh and they get mailed out in 3-5 business days at no extra charge.

 

[Disney Dukers]

This is from the Dollar website:

Drive like a local! Opt-in to Pass24®, a pre-paid toll service from Dollar Rent A Car, and bypass toll booths on your drive. No more waiting in long lines searching for coins or cash or waiting for receipts. With Pass24®, you'll cruise right through traffic in the express lane. In areas where the Tollways have converted to All Electronic Tolling, there is no option for a rental car to pay the tolls in cash. If your travels will take you on a toll road in an area where there is no option to stop and pay cash for the tolls, Pass24® is the perfect solution.

Pass24® is available in Dallas*, Denver*, Fort Lauderdale*, Fort Myers, Houston, Jacksonville, Key West*, Miami*, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa* and West Palm Beach. Just add Pass24® to your reservation and you'll be on your way, without taking a toll on your travel time.

*These cities have no cash option for toll roads

So you can opt in or out of using the pass system. Orlando is not one of the cities listed that is cash less.

Hmm, interesting. I read this on my dollar reservation confirmation e-mail which lead me to belief that there wasn't any cash tolls left.

"There are toll roads within this area that have converted to all-electronic tolling or cashless tolling. In these areas, there is no option for a rental car to stop and pay the tolls in cash. If your travels will take you on a toll road in an area where there is no option to stop and pay cash for the tolls, Pass24 is the perfect solution for 6.99 a day. If you choose not to select the Pass24 pre-paid tolling option and do travel on one of these all-electronic toll roads, and do not have your own tolling device in the vehicle, the applicable toll will be paid for you and an administrative fee of $25.00 will be added to each toll utilized."

I'm getting confused now! LOL I wonder how I can find out for sure that it is cash tolls from MCO to POP?!

 

[DebbieB]

I think if they changed the tollways (417 or 528) from MCO or Sanford to Disney to electronic only, we would have heard about it. That's about the only way you can get from the airport to Disney unless you go some backroads.

 

[hintofspy]

Trust me, I drive these roads (417 and 528) at least 6 days a week - they still take cash. Don't bother with Dollar trying to cheat you - you can still pay cash. Also, if you aren't going to be in the area, I would not bother with the transponder either - there is the additional risk of credit card fraud (people are now figuring out your transponder numbers and racking up charges on others' credit cards). Just grab some cash from the ATM before you head out, get a little change for the exact change tolls (only when you exit, and only at certain exits - while on the roads you can always pay cash and get change) .

 

[bumbershoot]

This might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_toll_roads_in_Florida


You know, I just don't see how it would be possible for there to be a toll system where cash is 100% not possible. Especially in such a tourist place. There will ALWAYS be people driving their own cars long distances, who do not have any sort of transponder in the car. So...I don't believe them.

DH went through a toll late at night, with no cash in the car, and no human there. They had envelopes there for the taking, with the address of the place to send the toll, and the amount at that toll booth. We sent in a check for the amount with the rental car's license plate number, it was cashed, it was all just fine. We did send it in FAST, FWIW.


This site has a toll calculator and gives Cash as an option to calculate with.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

We just called Dollar and they said yes we needed something like Pass24 as they do not have any cash tolls left in the area.

On another note we just called Sunpass and she was really friendly when we told her our 'story' and she said no problem we don't have to pay 6.99 a day at dollar. She said we could order on line or with her on the phone a 4.99 mini transponder pass. We would put a 10.00 amount on it at time of purchase, she would then add another 5.00. So for just 15.00 we will get the transponder and 15.00 worth of toll $. On top of that she said what ever we don't use at the end of the holiday she will credit our credit card back. Oh and they get mailed out in 3-5 business days at no extra charge.

You are talking with a rep in a call center who is paid to sell. Not a good source.


And did sunpass tell you that the toll roads around Orlando are still taking $$$$?


But Dollar does have a racket going. I have used toll passes with other agencies and it is only charged on the days you actually use it and costs more like $3 on those days.

 

[maciec]

Trust me, I drive these roads (417 and 528) at least 6 days a week - they still take cash. Don't bother with Dollar trying to cheat you - you can still pay cash. Also, if you aren't going to be in the area, I would not bother with the transponder either - there is the additional risk of credit card fraud (people are now figuring out your transponder numbers and racking up charges on others' credit cards). Just grab some cash from the ATM before you head out, get a little change for the exact change tolls (only when you exit, and only at certain exits - while on the roads you can always pay cash and get change) .

Just to claify .... what you are saying is that on the way to Disney property from MCO we can go through all of the tolls and still pay cash. Is that correct?

I am renting from Budget and I just wanted to verify before I got to the counter.

Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

Just to claify .... what you are saying is that on the way to Disney property from MCO we can go through all of the tolls and still pay cash. Is that correct?

I am renting from Budget and I just wanted to verify before I got to the counter.

Thanks!

Yes. I drove from Sanford to US/IoA, to Cocoa Beach, to port, over to AKL, to Tampa, back to WDW, and returned to Sanford...not one single toll booth was all electronic. I used cash at them all. Not a problem. Oh, that was in late April of this year..so pretty recently. I am a bit confused by Tampa being *ed though....I had no problems at all.

I can just see myself bickering with Dollar about this in Oct. I'll be printing out the sheet that says it's optional.

 

[maciec]

thank you very much for the clarification! We don't go until October so I'm hoping things don't change before then.

 

[hintofspy]

Yes, you can pay cash at all of the tolls. Now, some of them, you might need exact change for, so make sure to keep some quarters handy just in case! Also, stay to the right when you get closer to the toll booths, as you will branch off (almost like you are exiting, but no fear, you are not ) to the right to get to the cash lanes.

 

[magsmom]

Believe me, we were on 417 last month in the eastern Orlando area (in our own car from MA, not a rental) and they took cash. I cannot believe they would take the cash tolls down. The extisting infrastructure is too great.

This is no less than a scare tactic, IMO, and do not fall for it. If you are that concerned, bring your GPS from home and program "least use of toll roads" (which we have done before). The journey takes you through industrial areas near the airport, but the ride is pleasant. A safe area, if memory serves, the GPS brought us out near Sea World.

 

[Disney Dukers]

Thanks everyone, you've all been helpful.

 

[Orlando Vic]

We just called Dollar and they said yes we needed something like Pass24 as they do not have any cash tolls left in the area..

That is simply not true! Just have some change (quarters) handy and you'll be fine paying in cash.

 

[Disneyfanatic108]

We also had this appear on our Budget reservation that we would automatically be enrolled int their program ( no transponder) they would pay the tolls from the license number and charge a very large service fee to do so. Only tolls down in Miami are non attended.