Car Rental or Shuttle? Any Discount Coupons?

We are needing to either get a shuttle from MCO to a Disney hotel or rent a car. We will have a little one in a car seat so don’t want to do an uber/lyft. We are thinking about the possibility of keeping the car for the duration while we are there. How is parking at MK? That is the only park we would drive to vs using Disney shuttle service.

Any discount codes or places you trust to book a car rental? I have looked at Undercover Tourist, Costco, and then the main car rental websites.

It seems the shuttles from the airport to Disney hotels has gone up quite a bit even from about a year ago (November '21). Any shuttle companies you have used and had a great experience?

Thanks y’all :slight_smile:

What Disney resort are you staying at? I’m sure others could chime in with parking there.

Most would recommend MK being the one that you use Disney buses for because it doesn’t take you to the TTC, but rather, you are closer to the front of the park.

If you are a Costco member, I recommend checking there. I have been stalking my car rental rates diligently. A week long rental for a minivan started at $783 - and now, at 17 days out - my minivan is down to $420. That feels much more manageable to me - ESPECIALLY now that parking is free.

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We stay at the Swan / Dolphin normally. They changed their bus system up so instead of the bus going directly to MK like all the other Disney buses…it goes to the TTC. We tried that last time and didn’t really care for it. We ended up walking over to the Board Walk resort as their MK bus goes directly to MK. It’s just a little more work. But I didn’t know if driving to MK would be better (and parking close hopefully) than walking to Board Walk and taking the board walk bus to MK.

Right now Costco is the best rate we have found other than booking a small company that we have never heard of. I don’t want to risk that with my little one. That’s awesome you got your rate down!

Driving to MK still puts you at TTC, so if you are staying at swolfin, it’s still better to walk to BW and grab a bus.

I used Florida Towncar in July, and I would highly recommend them. They keep up with your flight, too, so they know when you are arriving. They are a family run business, and a little behind the times electronically, but I would not hesitate to use them again. They have a flat fee that covers both arrival and departure. They charge $10 for a car seat IIRC.

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This. Car rental rates may have come down.

I checked and the cost of my 9-day Budget rental dropped from $650 to $375.

Edit: if you book Budget through Costco you can enter your Fastbreak# and skip the line at the counter at MCO.

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If you are staying at Swan or Dolphin, I think you get free parking at the parks.

For MK, parking is at the TTC. It’s the largest lot + ferry or monorail. So buses are generally more convenient for MK but if the one from Swolphin goes to TTC, then another option is to walk to BW like you suggested. Average time from BW to MK is 25 minutes including waiting. Driving + parking + ferry is maybe 35 minutes (my guesstimate). Taking into account walking to BW, not a huge difference.

We recently had a rental and I decided that it’s the last time when flying into MCO. Picking up cars is always a hassle and we didn’t use the car once during our stay, though we did drive south afterwards. From now on we will use Uber from the airport, for 4 people it’s cheaper and faster than the shuttle bus.

Depending on your child’s age, I’d consider bringing a booster seat and just using uber/lyft. But if you need a bigger seat for a smaller child, I understand it’s a hassle, that’s why I’ve rented a car in the past.

With Costco, you can just rebook when the rates go down - so keep checking!

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Ah thanks!! I didn’t realize we would still have to go to TTC. I guess the only positive is we don’t have to wait for a bus.

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Thanks!

What everyone said: Costco has the best deals I have found so far. I am getting a rental (two little ones) but we will take the Disney shuttle for MK (at least for RD). Might drive if we go back after nap, because I think my toddler might enjoy the Monorail/ferry.

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