Yet another DME v. town car quandry

[SuzanneSLO]

We arrive at MCO at 11:20 pm and will depart (more than a week later) at 6:00 am.

In the past we have always rented a car, but my DH is mellowing and last October our rental car spent serious time working on its sun tan in the hotel parking lot! I think we only used it 3 times in 10 days.

So, we were all ready to use DME and we are perfectly fine with not getting our luggage delivered to us until the morning following our arrival. But then, I started thinking about the return trip and that pick up at the resort at 3 AM or so and I keep wondering what was I thinking when I booked that flight!!!!!

Now, we are thinking that maybe we should take a car service for the return to the airport and maybe get an extra hour of sleep. With a town car, we also will get dropped off on the departure level, which will be helpful because we can't use RAC due to the insanely early time of our flight.

But, of course, most of the car services give you a break on the cost if you book round trip, so now I am thinking: why not just take the town car both ways?

Help! As you can tell, I am in a quandry of nuerotic indecision and need some guidance from all my good DIS friends. Thanks.

-- Suzanne

 

[CleveRocks]

It seems that you know all of the pros and cons of each (you're such a good DISer!!!). It's the age-old decision between cost and convenience, and I can't help you with that personal opinion.

But I'll try ....

How much later do you think a car service will pick you up? 30 minutes? An hour? To me, an extra hour's sleep isn't worth the $60 or whatever the one-way ride will cost you. Taking an elevator up 2 floors from Level 1 to Level 3 doesn't make we wanna open up my wallet, either.

But that's just me.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

How much later do you think a car service will pick you up? 30 minutes? An hour? To me, an extra hour's sleep isn't worth the $60 or whatever the one-way ride will cost you. Taking an elevator up 2 floors from Level 1 to Level 3 doesn't make we wanna open up my wallet, either.

I was thinking that a car would pick us up around 4 AM and that the DME pick-up would be between 3 and 3:15 AM. Also, since I am not really worried about traffic to the airport, I would think that if we got out to the car at 4:05, the car would wait for us, but DME would leave when it was ready to leave, even if we were still dawdling (or just hadn't synchronized our watches with the DME driver). So, with DME, we probably need to plan on being ready for a pick up at 2:55-3:10 AM. So, I figure, all told, about an an hour difference.

If these times had a PM after them, I would agree no big deal, but those times in the AM (and we are flying to the West Coast) makes an hour seem more significant.

Do you think my assumptions are wrong?

I know some people have posted that DME (if you don't grab your luggage) is probably just as fast as a car service on arrival, but never having used either, I wasn't sure if that was a minority opinion.

-- Suzanne

 

[robinb]

I took ME twice after being strict car renters. It was fine and we would probably use it again.

HOWEVER ... the times on our flights were not the LAST flight in and the FIRST flight out. I have heard of people having their luggage delivered in the middle of the night when they have a later flight in. I wouldn't want to be woken up at 2:00 AM for luggage delivery. As for the return flight ... there is NO WAY I would catch an ME bus at 3:00 AM to sit around an empty airport from 3:30AM on waiting for things to open.

I would recommend that you look into renting a car for at least to/from the airport. I rented from Alamo/National and was able to pick-up and drop-off at the Dolphin in December when we rented a car to see my in-laws in Tampa. It's not bad for a couple of days, especially if you have a Saturday night keep.

 

[Edd]

I think you are thinking right. Somehow bus service at 0300 doesn't appeal to me either. To tell you the truth if you are going to take a car service back into Orlando International it would probably be wise to take one out so you know who to look for.

 

[kaytieeldr]

But, of course, most of the car services give you a break on the cost if you book round trip, so now I am thinking: why not just take the town car both ways?

Because... while sure, you get a 'break' on the round-trip fare - $60 or $65 for the one-way fare is still $54 cheaper than the round-trip fare. $54 is a mid-priced dinner, or a couple of t-shirts, or a Pal Mickey, or... you get the point

 

[pamjb]

Suzanne,

I sent you a PM, but here is a note. I believe that luggage services at the resort will hold your luggage until the next morning if you request it. Just pack a change of clothes in your carryon. Frankly, you should do that anyway.

I am having the same predicament as you. We always have used a towncar company for transport, as I like the free grocery stop. But kids and I are taking a quick trip to ESPN weekend, and our flight doesn't arrive till 11 pm. I won't need the grocery stop, since it is a quick trip, but I like the convenience of having my driver waiting for me at baggage claim.
What to do What to do

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I would recommend that you look into renting a car for at least to/from the airport.

Robin: Thanks for the thoughts but the one thing we are pretty sure that we are not going to do is rent a car to return to the airport based on my past experience.

We had an early flight a couple of years ago and had left our rental car with valet at WL. At 4 AM, it took us almost 30 minutes to get our car after we arrived at the valet stand. We had tried to call from our room before we checked out but there was no answer. And at the valet stand, no valet. Back inside, the clerk who had just checked us out had gone back into the back room. Finally, she came out and was able to rack down the valet!

We had planned on 10 minutes at most to get the car and were sorry that we hadn't gone with our first instinct the night before to retreive the car and self-park. We made our flight but would have preferred the extra 20 minutes at the airport to catch our breath.

-- Suzanne

 

[robinb]

Robin: Thanks for the thoughts but the one thing we are pretty sure that we are not going to do is rent a car to return to the airport based on my past experience.

Yikes! I don't blame you for not not wanting to repeat that experience! I would have been very, very grumpy myself. We almost always self-park even though we are DVC members and stay where we can valet for free. I would rather just go out and find my car than wait for a valet to bring it around. If I do valet the night before we leave, I will remember your experience and make sure my car is self-parked.

I recommended a rental car because you seemed to want to get a few more winks before your dawn flight. With your own car there is no waiting on someone else's schedule or idea of when you need to be to an empty airport.