Weighing transportation options for the trip in 13 days.
Planning at this time to Uber/Lyft to and from resort.
May also use Uber/Lyft 2 additional predicted times during the trip, more if needed for Skyliner down.
Can get a car for $123 total but is shuttle to car
This is already nearly a break even for Uber use with tips.
We have a three-split stay this time, so it would be convenient for luggage moves at each transition point as well
I don’t especially care about brand or anything.
Would you shuttle to car?
Have you done this?
How awful is it?
Didn’t you usually rent a car in the past? How is this different than that?
My answer is yes BTW. Because I’m eternally optimistic and how bad could it be?
I’ve shuttled to the rental car lot in several airports and the shuttle itself has never been the worst part. The line to get the car can be very slow since everyone is arriving on the shuttle at the same time.
I think the longest was around an hour but DH swears it was closer to 2.5? It’s hard to remember and we definitely have optimist/pessimist lenses looking back. But I had an especially long wait in Portland in 2021 when travel was ramping back up and staffing was not.
There’s also - maybe still? - renting on property at the car care center? You’d likely not encounter a line at all. You probably need to Uber to/from car care center.
After having Disney move our luggage in June and having moved our own on a previous (long ago) trip, I like moving our own.
I would be terrified of the return honestly. Either you’d have to leave WDW extremely early to allow ample time or risk it taking a while to turn in and wait on the shuttle (that may be waiting on more people in line to return) and then praying you have enough time to checkin, check the baggage, tsa, etc before the flight. That’s too much possible waste of vacation time for me.
Could you Uber/Lyft to property and then rent from the car care center or one of the companies at a hotel on property?
We’ve done it, but not at MCO. Its always been … fine? Relatively unremarkable? Slightly longer time, maybe, but I’ve had nightmare scenarios at on-site airport car rentals (spring break 2021 car rental at MCO was the absolute worst experience of my car rental life), so I guess I don’t assume on-site = good and offsite = bad.
ETA : I recommend sending adult ahead to pick up car while everyone else collects the luggage and hangs out at baggage claim. No need to haul all the luggage onto shuttle and baggage claim is usually better set up for wait times.
This is a great tip. Why has this never occurred to me or any adult I’ve ever travelled with. You could do the same on the way back—drop off luggage and people and have just your own body to get back and through security with.
Exactly! DH and I always divide and conquer, even when car rental is on-site. No need for all 5 of us to wait for the bags then all wait for the rental car shuttle/paperwork/whatever.
Its not the shuttle thats the problem, its the outfits using it. My one and only time using a no name rental agency the car was in questionable condition. Bad enough to cure my extreme frugality… in this area anyway.
Going on ahead to pick up car while other gets luggage is what I was thinking.
I’m not worried about the return. Even if dropping luggage and person on return won’t exactly work because you have to be there with ID to check a bag. But if we have only one bag each it could work since SW = 2 free bags.
Doesn’t make sense to rent at car care center or Swolphin because we would need Uber to get there and that would negate the savings.
Yeah… this what we’ve always done whenever there’s more than 2 adults, even with no kids. It’s just easier that trying to herd the cats into multiple places.
Loose door hinges, crumbs in the cupholders/seat seams, scraped bumper and a noisy engine that sounded like “maaaybeee I will turn over” whenever you started it. I have had daily drivers in this kind of shape, but I wouldn’t pay someone else for the privilege of driving one, basically. Gas gauge didn’t reflect that it was full, even though the pump’s auto shut off engaged so I knew it was. (this caused an argument at return time)
Some of the off site places in Orlando are also really shady about adding fees at the pickup counter… Fox is the one that i hear does this the most, with Thrifty a close second.
This. Usually the rental agencies using shuttles are smaller and potentially less reputable outfits. I’d read the reviews for that specific location carefully to know what to expect.
It would take a really good reason to push me to go off-terminal. Usually the rates at Budget aren’t too bad when booking through UT or Costco Travel.
Personally, I would only rent from Avis / Budget/ Enterprise etc (the name brands). When I was on a business trip alone once I rented with I think Dollar Rent a Car in Vegas. I came out to my car on my last day to head to the airport, and the tire was flat. I called the rental car company and they told me to change the tire myself and I would be charged a late fee if I didn’t return it in time.
My client helped me change the tire and I made it to my flight, but it was embarrassing. For a while I asked companies how they would have handled that situation before I rented with them.
We did shuttle to the car last weekend at Seatac and it wasn’t bad at all! Obviously much easier with only adults and we had limited bags but it was fine. There all of the rental cars were at the offsite location so it was huge but it was VERY nice.
I don’t know as much about Orlando but as long as you aren’t in a rush or getting in super duper late I think you would be fine.