15 passenger van or Mini Van

JayhawkFans

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Update: Thank you all for the advice. After further searching I found that Alamo has a Premium SUV available at the Swan/Dolphin location so I have that reserved. Hadn’t seen that as an option at the Car Care Center where I previously was looking. We have such a short stay pre cruise and really only want it for drive over to FLL so our options were limited. Have it all squared away now. Thanks again!!


We are a party of 5 adults who don’t know how to pack light. We are spending a couple of nights at WDW before our cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. We are thinking we need a 15 passenger van as a suburban or mini van likely wouldn’t have enough room for luggage. Will it still be tricky finding “luggage space” in a 15 pax van?? Or would we be better off to go with a mini van and assume it has plenty of “cargo space”
 
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I have the same situation for an Alaska trip next summer. Six adults + luggage for a 5-day side trip to Denali.

I got a 12 passenter van and we'll put the luggage under or on the unused seats.
 
I do know Tony Hinds uses an attached trailer to his vehicle to handle luggage when he has 10+ passengers for rides
( set up at time of booking)

Always ask any company you are considering how they handle excessive luggage

JimMIA, your rental sounds like a perfect set up
 
We are a party of 5 adults who don’t know how to pack light. We are spending a couple of nights at WDW before our cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. We are thinking we need a 15 passenger van as a suburban or mini van likely wouldn’t have enough room for luggage. Will it still be tricky finding “luggage space” in a 15 pax van?? Or would we be better off to go with a mini van and assume it has plenty of “cargo space”
if no one in your group has ever driven a 15 passenger van you might want to try one out before you go on vacation. plus there is no "luggage space" as such in a 15 passenger as such so you or someone will be crawling to back seats to get luggage as aisle is not that big from the ones I have driven for work. I would be looking at a ride company for transfers needed
 


I believe in some states you need a commercial license to operate a 15 passenger van. And I believe not all insurance carriers will cover it either. A 12 passenger van wouldn't work for 5 people, even with luggage?
 
We are a party of 5 adults who don’t know how to pack light. We are spending a couple of nights at WDW before our cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. We are thinking we need a 15 passenger van as a suburban or mini van likely wouldn’t have enough room for luggage. Will it still be tricky finding “luggage space” in a 15 pax van?? Or would we be better off to go with a mini van and assume it has plenty of “cargo space”
My advice ~ pack lighter. Having to rent a 15 passenger van for 5 people strictly due to the amount of luggage is ridiculous. :sad2:
 
We are a party of 5 adults who don’t know how to pack light. We are spending a couple of nights at WDW before our cruise out of Ft Lauderdale. We are thinking we need a 15 passenger van as a suburban or mini van likely wouldn’t have enough room for luggage. Will it still be tricky finding “luggage space” in a 15 pax van?? Or would we be better off to go with a mini van and assume it has plenty of “cargo space”

This is how much room there is behind the 2nd row of a Suburban (76.7 cubic feet):

Cargo-with-Third-Row-Down.jpg


or an Expedition Max (73.3 cubic feet):

2018-Ford-Expedition-Platinum-Max-53.jpg


If you can guarantee a Suburban rental (and not a Tahoe) I don't see how you could possibly not have enough luggage room, unless you're all bringing your golf clubs on a cruise on top of two suitcases each?
 


I ride in 12 / 15 passenge van regularly as part of work. They are set up to haul people. Dedicated storage space is approximately zero. You would have to toss luggage in the rear seats. I would look at large SUVs as others have said. If you’re planning to bring more than 2 suitcases per person on a cruise, you have more issues to consider than how to transport everything.
 
Agreeing with PPs - if you can't fit the luggage in a large SUV, you won't be able to fit it in a cruise ship cabin....
 
This is how much room there is behind the 2nd row of a Suburban (76.7 cubic feet):

Cargo-with-Third-Row-Down.jpg


or an Expedition Max (73.3 cubic feet):

2018-Ford-Expedition-Platinum-Max-53.jpg


If you can guarantee a Suburban rental (and not a Tahoe) I don't see how you could possibly not have enough luggage room, unless you're all bringing your golf clubs on a cruise on top of two suitcases each?
The problem with your pictures is that OP has 5 people and these only show 4 seats. In order to seat the 5th person, they would have to either use the large portion of the third row -- or pre-seat the 5th person in the smaller portion, drop the bigger section, and then load the luggage around the poor person in the third row.
 
The problem with your pictures is that OP has 5 people and these only show 4 seats. In order to seat the 5th person, they would have to either use the large portion of the third row -- or pre-seat the 5th person in the smaller portion, drop the bigger section, and then load the luggage around the poor person in the third row.

The Suburban picture above depicts an 8-seater model in 5-seater configuration. The Expedition Max picture is a 7-seater in 4-seater configuration. Both are available in 7- or 8-seater configurations (actually, there might even still be a 9-seater Suburban with a bench front row, but you don't see that often) but obviously in OP's case, 8-seater would be ideal.
 
My advice ~ pack lighter. Having to rent a 15 passenger van for 5 people strictly due to the amount of luggage is ridiculous. :sad2:
Guess I need to look further as I couldn’t seem to find anything but a mini van; suburban or 15 pax van. Didn’t see a 12 pax as that would be perfect
 
Goodness ... didn’t anticipate being attacked for my overpacking ... LOL ... I was thinking a total of 3 large suitcases and 3 roller bags for 5 adults (2 families) wasn’t going overboard in packing (my mistake for not clarifying in initial post). We currently drive a Tahoe and don’t see that we can fit everything and still be semi comfortable for 3.5 hr road trip. Wish rental car companies could guarantee exact vehicle as it would make it easier to select full size SUV ...
 
We've rented the XFAZ group again from Sixt, which is the largest premium SUV group and guaranteed to hold 7ppl and 5 luggage. We are 4 ppl with a scooter & winter luggage, and were fine last time. We paid around $325 for 5 days 2nd week in December.

XFAZ is almost always Mercedes GLS, but can also be BMW X7 or Caddy Escalade (at Sixt on Frontage St in Orlando).
All are spacious enough to put 3 ppl in the second row, and drop down the 3rd row for a large cargo area to stack luggage.
 
The Suburban picture above depicts an 8-seater model in 5-seater configuration. The Expedition Max picture is a 7-seater in 4-seater configuration. Both are available in 7- or 8-seater configurations (actually, there might even still be a 9-seater Suburban with a bench front row, but you don't see that often) but obviously in OP's case, 8-seater would be ideal.
Right, my bad on the Suburban. I missed the bench seat. That would work, as long as the people were not too large.

The Expedition would have the issue I described. If the luggage would fit with just the smaller section of the third row dropped, they'd be fine. If the 5th person had to sit in the smaller section with luggage stacked all around, that would be pretty uncomfortable on the drive to Ft. Lauderdale.
 
I was thinking a total of 3 large suitcases and 3 roller bags for 5 adults (2 families) wasn’t going overboard in packing

With the amount of space that you were talking about, I was expecting a lot more. Maybe it is because I grew up in a large family with parents who are masters of Luggage Tetris, I wouldn’t even think about tossing that in an SUV. 2 people in front, 3 in the second row, toss in the bags and go. Though I grew up doing 8 hour trips by van with 6 people, plus dogs and a suitcase each. It’s a matter of perspective I guess. I would have no problem doing 4 hours like that.
 
Goodness ... didn’t anticipate being attacked for my overpacking ... LOL ... I was thinking a total of 3 large suitcases and 3 roller bags for 5 adults (2 families) wasn’t going overboard in packing (my mistake for not clarifying in initial post). We currently drive a Tahoe and don’t see that we can fit everything and still be semi comfortable for 3.5 hr road trip. Wish rental car companies could guarantee exact vehicle as it would make it easier to select full size SUV ...

I've done 4 adults, 3 suitcases, and 4 large carryon bags in my much smaller Ford Edge a couple times so I think you'd have tons of room in a Suburban if you can get one.

When I rented from Alamo recently "Premium SUV" (8 passenger, Suburban or Similar) was a separate booking category from "Fullsize SUV" (7 passenger, Expedition or Similar) so you'd think that would be a pretty likely chance of getting one. Of course, as rentals go they never like guaranteeing anything.
 
We did 6 in a 12 passenger rented van (also for a cruise), they removed entirely the last row of seats & we were not even tight on luggage space.
 
We just fit four large suitcases in the cargo space of my Equinox. Personally, I think 3 large suitcases with 3 roller bags (I assume you mean carry-on size suitcases?) would fit in the back of a Suburban, and you'd even have row in the third room with the 5th person for luggage as well. That's what I would rent.
 

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