Rapid-Fire Pre-trip Questions

This is a tricky one. When you arrive the first day they will note that you have a car when you arrive at the gate to the resort. On Disney property I either do not have a car, or have it for the entire time and get charged appropriately. You can tell them at the gate that the car is leaving after the one night, but not sure that will keep them from charging you. I would likely tell them when arriving that you are not keeping the car and it is going to be returned that day (not the next) so there will be no charges. You might need to keep an eye on your room charges and speak to the desk to let them know the car is no longer on property.

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We parked in the garage. Itā€™s right next to the hotel. Like a 2 min walk to the front door from the bottom level. This was Surfside.

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I probably donā€™t have answers to specific questions b/c our last trip was 2019 but we had our car each of the 3 times we went to Orlando. We used it sometimes but other times used public transport. It really depended on if parking was easy / cheap at the location we were headed. We really enjoyed using the skyliner, for example, the last trip.

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Our trip will only have the car for two full days to facilitate the travel to KSC (foreshadowingā€¦LOL). We will return the car after that and then continue on with Disney Transportation for the remainder of the trip. I typically never rent a car, so that is why I am pretty heavy on the transportation questions so far.

We have booked old reliable Pop for skyliner use. We love it.

The bonus of having the car for two days are:

  • Grocery run on day 1 to stock up on supplies
  • Transport us to race bib pickup for Marathon Weekend right after our day at USO
  • Get us to and from Kennedy Space Center the morning after the 5k race.

Question #8:
What is your preferred driving route from WDW property to Kennedy Space Center and how long does it typically take to get there? ā€¦ and, of course, does it have toll roadsā€¦

417 to 528 to 407. Or 417 to 528 and then north on 3. I cannot remember which of these we did when we went from WDW to Kennedy. 417 and 528 are toll roads.

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We use the 407, the Challenger Memorial Parkway.

@Shellott_hill , it really is a very easy drive. Even for us (actually DH since I donā€™t drive) given yā€™all drive on the wrong side of the road.

The only thing we found difficult the first time was that the GPS would show us exiting the toll roads when it was actually just the branch off through the tolls! :joy: Once we realised that we just ignored the GPS.

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Thank you for the great responses!

Question #9:

Our plan is to drop the car at the Walt Disney World Car Care Center. What are our transportation options from there to the WDW resorts?

You can call them in advance and they will take you wherever you want to go on property - resorts or parks etc.

There arenā€™t buses that pass there. In theory you could walk to the TTC but not sure how easy / feasible that is.

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Whew! I am mostly done with transportation-type questions. Now onward to more park related questions.

See the source image

Question #10:

Our goof-troop has been to UOR before and loves to do the thrill rides. We have not been since the opening of Veloci-coaster. We have ridden Hagridā€™s in the past, but this will be my DD first time on the ride. She was hesitant in the past, but now has worked up the courage to do all the thrill-rides.

We will build a touring plan for UOR (USO and IOA) as we get closer to the travel date. In advance of that, I am curious to see what everyoneā€™s touring strategy would be for one-day in both parks with Early Entry that ends around 5pm and we will not have express pass. (This will be on Jan. 4) Seuss Landing, Popeye and Dudley, and the majority of the rides that are just screens/simulators are out.

What would be your plan of attack for thrill-rides?

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I was able to help with all your other questions, but this one I canā€™t. I could not go to UOR on January 4th without express passes. Hopefully someone with that experience around the holidays will chime in and help. Anyway you can move your Endless Summer stay to one of the resorts that gives express?

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I just wanted to say that Iā€™m loving this thread. Canā€™t wait for January!

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I can relate. Earlier this year I looked at pricing an upgrade and it was ridiculous. It seemed like all the hotels were booked up. The only thing available was out of our comfort level for pricing.

That being said, we will only have a handful of attractions we want to do on this day. We feel with Early Entry and a good touring plan, we should be able to get through our list of attractions with time to spare.

I am starting to get excited now! We are almost home.

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This past Wednesday January 5, 2022 was a CL 5 overall. EPA was only at IOA. I think Universal would have to predict higher crowds in order to have EPA also at USF on January 4th. That could happen as I would expect somewhat higher crowds in '23 vs '22.

Letā€™s get your handful of attractions nailed down so we can help with your 1-day plan.

USF:
Gringottā€™s
RRR
Mummy
MIB??
Bourne??

IOA
Hagridā€™s
VC
Kong?? (part screen)
FJ?? (part screen)
Hulk
Dr. Doom

Thoughts??

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Are they cashless tolls? In 2019, we got the FL Visitor Toll Pass for our rental from MCO. It was very easy to use. In 2021, we just bought the SunPass because we used it throughout FL and we can use it when we go to other east coast states.

ETA: I highly recommend the Visitor Toll Pass. It is very easy to use and free.

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You can pay by plate as well. Buying Sunpass or similar ahead of time can save you a little bit of moneyā€¦but last time we were there, I just used the pay by plateā€¦Basically, just drive straight through as if you have SunPass, and you will receive a bill in the mail. I didnā€™t have to do anything, and didnā€™t need to deal with having cash or change, even for out of state drivers.

Iā€™m not sure, however, that works for rental vehicles, since they charge the plate of the name on the vehicle registration.

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We used the Visitor Toll Pass for 3 different rental cars in 2019. We added and deleted the license plates from our Toll Pass account as soon as we got the cars and returned the cars.

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Weā€™re hiring a car for 2 days to go to KSC and Legoland.

The car comes with a E-toll reader. We get charged $5 a day for each day that we pass through a toll, plus the cost of the tolls. So an extra $5 for us since the route to Legoland doesnā€™t use toll roads. We get billed a few days later.

Edit: thereā€™s a limit of $20 for the use of the transponder, so if you use it for 5 days you still only pay $20. Plus the actual tolls of course.

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That is my assumption for this trip as well. I will assume IOA will be the starting point for Hagridā€™s and VC.

That looks pretty close to what we are thinking.

During a trip about 5 years ago we took DD on the mummy not realizing that it turned into a high-speed roller coaster after the easy-bake oven. She was a little traumatized. I will be working on her to give it another shotā€¦it is one of my favorites.

We have never really had an interest in or tried Dr. Doom. It looks like your standard carney ride. I can be convinced if you think differently.

Hulk will be tough to convince DD. However, I have high hopes of convincing her after she does VC. She really is hyped for VC.

If crowds are high, we would drop MIB. I will have to see once I throw it into a TP.

Bourne sounds great. I always passed by Fear factor in the past and could potentially see the Bourne show.

Depending on how the day goes, we could be convinced to throw in one or two of the popular screen rides (Spidey, Transformers, Simpsons). Not saying we will get to them, but we will keep our options open.

When I am on business trips in other states, National rental car company will forward along the cost of each toll at a later date. There was no need for me to use a Toll Passā€¦ they just took a picture of the license plate.

Unless others know differently, I will assume it is the same in Florida.

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So you pay $5/day to use the toll pass plus the cost of tolls.

With the Visitor Toll Pass, you donā€™t pay the $5/day. You just pay the tolls.

Hereā€™s my post on using the Visitor Toll Pass:

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