Magical express verses renting a car

I became a convert to the car rental last year when we stayed offsite and realized how much time we’ve wasted using Disney buses.

The drive from MCO to just about anywhere on Disney property is 30 minutes.
Getting your luggage & picking up the car may add another 30 minutes.

At the end of your trip, you will need to allot 3-4 hours before your flight for Magical Express. If you have your own car, 1.5 - 2 hours max. We went from the entrance of Animal Kingdom to our gate at MCO in 55 minutes on our last trip.

I’ve come to terms with the new parking fee only because time is more precious to me than their nickel & diming. I want the 60 day FPP window. I want the ease and convenience of controlling our drive to the parks. (10 minute wait for a bus on a good day + 15 minute drive to the park vs. no wait for a car & 7 minute drive to a park).

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I love your humor :rofl:

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We rented a car with Alamo last year and I was hugely impressed with the whole experience. You can do everything online before you arrive at MCO, so that all you have to do is literally choose a car, get in it, drive to the gate where they check your licence, and drive off. It’s so quick and simple.

Even when things went a bit wrong, it was fine. The car we chose turned out to have a very slowly leaking tyre, so we needed to swap the car out. No problem. We called the 1-800 number, which was answered very quickly. We drove the car to the Disney Car Hire center, gave back the keys and walked straight to the replacement car. Simple!

This summer I’m not hiring a car because I’m travelling alone and I’m not confident driving on the wrong (!!) side of the road. I’ll be using Uber/Lyft the whole time. I’m not using Disney busses. Not even DME, which seems to take far too long to get to the airport.

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:smiley:

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Yeah right. Lol!!! I do wonder how this will effect transportation especially as we either pay more or ride the busses… or Minnie Vans.

My preference would definitely be to hire a car and drive. As I said, the Alamo experience was first rate, and I loved the first (leaky) car. But my friend did all the driving, bar one home-to-park trip, which I did so that I can say that I’ve driven in America. But I really lacked confidence — all the more so this year as I’d be on my own in the car.

Plus, with parking at $22 a day, the Uber/Lyft plan isn’t necessarily all that more expensive. And it’s more convenient — no tram journeys.

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I’m just teasing you, man :wink:

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I can’t understand why. This year I’ve maybe made a couple of changes. At most. I can hardly remember them. I think I changed an ADR at one point. I think.

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Oh that’s right. I must be mixing you up with someone else…

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That would explain it.

I’ve remembered the changes I made. I decided to change my hotel reservation. I’m now staying at Six Flags Over Texas and skipping WDW altogether.

But that’s all.

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I’m definitely in the rent a car camp - I like the flexibility, and the ability to stop off at a grocery story on the way from the airport to WDW to get breakfast, lunch, and snack foods, as well as adult beverages for chilling out in the room. The savings on all of this stuff usually covers the cost of the car. However, the new parking fees may change that equation.

The best way to find discount rates is to use carrentalsavers.com - as you are not locked into the rate (like on the bidding sites), you just keep coming back and cancel/rebook when you find a better rate. Also, once you have a booking you can use autoslash.com to track rates and book a better deal when it appears.

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Never heard of the carrentalsavers.com site. Will check it out! Thanks!

Really? It has been heavily discussed in here in the past, but perhaps not very recently. For more info, check out

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I get the lack of confidence, I was terrified, only drove to Universal rather than everywhere except MK, and next trip I’ll just use uber.

It’s annoying, because I like driving and the (leaky) car we had was a really nice car and was pleasurable to drive, except for the whole me-being-terrified thing.

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As you can see from all of the above, there are many opinions. Here’s mine.

I’ll start by saying that I always drive, so I always have a car. And I’m perfectly happy leaving it parked the whole time I’m there. I never drive to a park or DS; the only time I might drive is if I’m going to a different resort for dinner. And now in the era of Uber, I doubt if I’ll be doing much of that anymore either. My Type A, OCD, Commando touring days are behind me. Vacation is about relaxing a bit (even at WDW); I spend 90 min a day, 5 days a week, in a car commuting. Even if it takes a bit longer, I’m more than happy to let someone else do it for me on vacation - especially in the evenings if I want to enjoy some adult beverages.

If for some reason I were to fly into Orlando, there is no way I would rent a car there; I couldn’t justify the cost, the hassle of the rental process (arriving and departing), the drive from/to the airport, the new resort parking fees, etc.

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The others have far more experience that I when it comes to rental cars at MCO. I can say this much, I rented a car online via Delta airlines for 4 days at Fort Myers FL airport. Drove to Naples and back 3 days later. The cost seemed reasonable when I booked it but after taxes and such it wasn’t that cheap. We used National and the car was like new. Be careful with add on items such as insurance and GPS units. Your own insurance will usually cover the rental and bring your own GPS if needed. Now back to driving from MCO to your resort. There was MUCH construction going on when we were there in March so be prepared for Many Detours. As mentioned Disney is now adding on a heavy fee for over night resort parking. If staying on property the parking fee is waved at the parks. Personally we have used the ME every trip and have never waited all that long at MCO. It is true that on departure Disney books the ME for you three hours before your flight and 4 hours on holidays. Considering all this I believe ME is the only way to go but that’s me and mine.

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Ditto…

We rent our car via COSTCO (free additional driver), usually with Alamo.

Love having a car to pick up stuff, go to the outlet, drive to and from whenever we like.

I’ve heard it both ways, really, it’s a preference for you. I love driving to the gate… makes me tingle!

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Totally agree. And I use Costco too because the rates are so much better. And usually with Alamo.

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