(Just posted this over on Tripadvisor as well in case someone notices a similarity, lol)
I was planning to write up our whole itinerary for our upcoming WDW trip to get everyone's thoughts but right now the biggest sticking point is how we are going to get around so I thought I'd make a specific post for that
My family (wife and 10 year-old) and I are flying into Orlando on March 28th at 12:30 am for a nine day trip. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs for the first six days (leaving April 2nd) and plan on spending one day in each park starting on the 29th, with a fifth day planned for my son and I at whichever park we would like to have a second shot at (currently reserved DHS) while my wife gets us packed up and ready to go for our remaining days in Florida.
Because car rentals are so crazy expensive right now, my plan was to use Uber/Lyft to get from the airport to the hotel (at 1:00 in the morning) and then use either Uber/Lyft to go stock up at the grocery store (we want to have breakfast/lunch items we can take with us to the park) or use Instacart to have groceries/necessities delivered to our hotel on the 29th.
I thought we could then use Uber/Lyft or the hotel park shuttle for the rest of the time to get us to the parks for Early Entry. Once at the parks we could use whatever is available (hotel shuttle, rideshare, shuttle to Disney Springs and then walk, etc) to go back and forth to the parks during the day (planning on taking mid-day breaks as necessary).
The plan was for my wife to rent a car at one of the close by off-site locations (Avis or Budget are both close) while my son and I spent our last day at a park and then we were all going to head elsewhere in Florida (would like a day at a beach and a day at the Everglades) that afternoon (not planning a full park day that last day).
I was actually quite nervous about this plan. First, I'm not sure how easy it is to get a Uber/Lyft from the airport at 1:00-1:30am and from checking rates around that time I know that if we are able to get a rideshare it will likely cost $65-75 dollars. Definitely don't want to have to wait a long time at the airport in the middle of the night.
Using rideshares to get to and from the park seems easy and inexpensive enough ($10-15 each way) *except* I'm a little worried about both availability and surge pricing around the critical times (like 8a to make it to Early Entry or right after the park closes). I don't want to be stuck, especially in the morning when we need to make Early Entry or at the end of the night when everyone is exhausted.
The bigger unknown to me is the park shuttle. From what I've gathered, the hotel-to-park-and-back shuttles are fairly reliable but again, it seems like A) they can fill up quickly even if you have a reservation (meaning you may have to wait for the next shuttle and therefore miss rope drop) and B) their schedules are limited and subject to change.
Basically, my plan was to cross my fingers and hope that we can get the transportation we need when we need it without it costing us half of our vacation.
Given all of that, I just found out about renting through UCT (where we bought our tickets) and the deals are so good I am now thinking we should rent a car. I wish I had known in advance so I could have booked a hotel with free parking but eh, still getting Early Entry (if we can get there in time) so it's still worth it.
Not having to rely on outside transportation getting to the hotel from the airport in the middle of the night sounds great and having the option to run to outside stores/restaurants whenever needed seems way more easy/convenient than either ridesharing around town (as the closest Publix or Walmart are a few miles away) or getting delivery. It would also give us a quick and direct option for getting to the parks if there is a problem with either the shuttles or the rideshares early in the morning.
But now I have a new set of concerns.
First, I'm reading all kinds of horror stories about renting a car from MCO, even from the 'name brand' companies (the best deals I've found are from Budget and Avis, both of which have abysmal reviews on Google). I have rented cars for years and I've rarely even come close to the experiences I'm reading about - I just can't even imagine how it's possible (though I once rented a jeep in Puerto Vallarta - seems like that is the closest experience I have had to what might be happening at MCO, lol). Waiting in line for hours in the middle of the night to get a car, getting high-mileage cars that have major issues, no customer service help, etc.
So my first question is - how concerned should I be about being able to get a decent rental car from either Budget or Avis in the middle of the night at the Orlando airport? Will I just end up wishing I had waited for a rideshare?
Secondly, I know parking at the parks is $25/day. That combined with the parking fee at the hotel ($20) is more than the car itself costs. Is it worth paying that to get to Early Entry quickly and easily? Can you park closely enough to make the time savings worth it? Otherwise I can try to take the hotel shuttle back and forth to save that $25 (which isn't a lot on it's own, but an extra $100 for the four days isn't nothing).
My concern is that I don't want to have to get up and get on a shuttle at 7a to make it to the 8:30 opening. We're coming from out west so we're already going to be getting up way earlier than we are used to, on top of the recent time change, so mornings are going to be rough no matter what. Anything I can do to make them easier I'm willing to try.
So what does everyone think? Stick with plan A - use rideshares from the airport and rideshares/shuttles to the parks or go with plan B - rent a car at the airport? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
(And I'll post the rest of the questions I have about our itinerary in a separate post)
I was planning to write up our whole itinerary for our upcoming WDW trip to get everyone's thoughts but right now the biggest sticking point is how we are going to get around so I thought I'd make a specific post for that
My family (wife and 10 year-old) and I are flying into Orlando on March 28th at 12:30 am for a nine day trip. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs for the first six days (leaving April 2nd) and plan on spending one day in each park starting on the 29th, with a fifth day planned for my son and I at whichever park we would like to have a second shot at (currently reserved DHS) while my wife gets us packed up and ready to go for our remaining days in Florida.
Because car rentals are so crazy expensive right now, my plan was to use Uber/Lyft to get from the airport to the hotel (at 1:00 in the morning) and then use either Uber/Lyft to go stock up at the grocery store (we want to have breakfast/lunch items we can take with us to the park) or use Instacart to have groceries/necessities delivered to our hotel on the 29th.
I thought we could then use Uber/Lyft or the hotel park shuttle for the rest of the time to get us to the parks for Early Entry. Once at the parks we could use whatever is available (hotel shuttle, rideshare, shuttle to Disney Springs and then walk, etc) to go back and forth to the parks during the day (planning on taking mid-day breaks as necessary).
The plan was for my wife to rent a car at one of the close by off-site locations (Avis or Budget are both close) while my son and I spent our last day at a park and then we were all going to head elsewhere in Florida (would like a day at a beach and a day at the Everglades) that afternoon (not planning a full park day that last day).
I was actually quite nervous about this plan. First, I'm not sure how easy it is to get a Uber/Lyft from the airport at 1:00-1:30am and from checking rates around that time I know that if we are able to get a rideshare it will likely cost $65-75 dollars. Definitely don't want to have to wait a long time at the airport in the middle of the night.
Using rideshares to get to and from the park seems easy and inexpensive enough ($10-15 each way) *except* I'm a little worried about both availability and surge pricing around the critical times (like 8a to make it to Early Entry or right after the park closes). I don't want to be stuck, especially in the morning when we need to make Early Entry or at the end of the night when everyone is exhausted.
The bigger unknown to me is the park shuttle. From what I've gathered, the hotel-to-park-and-back shuttles are fairly reliable but again, it seems like A) they can fill up quickly even if you have a reservation (meaning you may have to wait for the next shuttle and therefore miss rope drop) and B) their schedules are limited and subject to change.
Basically, my plan was to cross my fingers and hope that we can get the transportation we need when we need it without it costing us half of our vacation.
Given all of that, I just found out about renting through UCT (where we bought our tickets) and the deals are so good I am now thinking we should rent a car. I wish I had known in advance so I could have booked a hotel with free parking but eh, still getting Early Entry (if we can get there in time) so it's still worth it.
Not having to rely on outside transportation getting to the hotel from the airport in the middle of the night sounds great and having the option to run to outside stores/restaurants whenever needed seems way more easy/convenient than either ridesharing around town (as the closest Publix or Walmart are a few miles away) or getting delivery. It would also give us a quick and direct option for getting to the parks if there is a problem with either the shuttles or the rideshares early in the morning.
But now I have a new set of concerns.
First, I'm reading all kinds of horror stories about renting a car from MCO, even from the 'name brand' companies (the best deals I've found are from Budget and Avis, both of which have abysmal reviews on Google). I have rented cars for years and I've rarely even come close to the experiences I'm reading about - I just can't even imagine how it's possible (though I once rented a jeep in Puerto Vallarta - seems like that is the closest experience I have had to what might be happening at MCO, lol). Waiting in line for hours in the middle of the night to get a car, getting high-mileage cars that have major issues, no customer service help, etc.
So my first question is - how concerned should I be about being able to get a decent rental car from either Budget or Avis in the middle of the night at the Orlando airport? Will I just end up wishing I had waited for a rideshare?
Secondly, I know parking at the parks is $25/day. That combined with the parking fee at the hotel ($20) is more than the car itself costs. Is it worth paying that to get to Early Entry quickly and easily? Can you park closely enough to make the time savings worth it? Otherwise I can try to take the hotel shuttle back and forth to save that $25 (which isn't a lot on it's own, but an extra $100 for the four days isn't nothing).
My concern is that I don't want to have to get up and get on a shuttle at 7a to make it to the 8:30 opening. We're coming from out west so we're already going to be getting up way earlier than we are used to, on top of the recent time change, so mornings are going to be rough no matter what. Anything I can do to make them easier I'm willing to try.
So what does everyone think? Stick with plan A - use rideshares from the airport and rideshares/shuttles to the parks or go with plan B - rent a car at the airport? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
(And I'll post the rest of the questions I have about our itinerary in a separate post)
