Renting a car and cruising

[4407mark]

DW and I will be in the parks for four days in early December and then a four night on the Dream to celebrate her birthday and then one night back at Disney post-cruise. We are flying and I am contemplating renting a car vs using Disney transportation. My wife's argument against is that we would be parking the car at the port and paying parking there. Does anyone have any experience with renting a car, returning it at port (where?) and then renting another car post-cruise? I tried searching the forums but could not find anything similar (likely my error). Thanks in advance!

 

[Lisa F]

Between the cost to park at the resorts and the cost to park at the Port I'd use Disney transport and Uber/lyft you need it.

You can return at the Port too - you'd search as a one way rental. Same to return to airport. I'd been considering this but seems like a lot of extra overhead to me.

 

[Capt_BJ]

These companies have locations in or near the port and run shuttles

<Alamo, National, Enterprise>, Hertz, Budget, <Dollar, Thrifty>, Avis

grouped means they share a location and shuttles

roughly in order of distance from the port (ANE is IN the port, Hertz just outside, others down A1A a bit but none more than 2 miles away from most terminals) LOCATION is CAPE CANAVERAL which is a town ... the port is not a town . . . it is a business entity

Some will rent and pay to park, others will split and do two rentals .... depends on your daily rate or is 'weekly' less $$. There's no ONE answer on this one as seldom do two folks pay the same thing for a rental!

and yes this is discussed OFTEN

 

[deliela999]

For our 3 night cruise in March it was cheaper to rent for the week and pay for parking at the port than any other combination I could come up with. It was nice to have the car waiting when we got back, plus the car seat, stroller, and a few other things we didn't need on the cruise could stay in the car. I'm not sure what we'll do for our next one but I'm sure it will partially depend on what else we decide to do in Florida and how long we stay.

 

[fredandkell]

Like @deliela999 said, price it both ways - with parking and without, and see which is cheaper. We have done two one-ways several times and it's very easy and it was way cheaper than the DCL transportation for our family of four, plus you can stop for snacks, etc. There are all major car rental companies right by the port (all within a mile) and all have free shuttles that take you to and from - it's easy/brainless, not stressful.

 

[quickcat]

We have done it all ways. We hated the two way option. Waiting for the shuttles to the port after dropping off the rental car and on disembarkation day was long and time consuming for us. Our preferred way is to just park at the port. Yes you have to pay for parking but to us it’s worth it being able to come and go and not waiting for shuttles.
We have taken Disney transportation in the past and don’t mind it, just prefer to drive ourselves though.
Sounds like a fun trip!! Have a great time

 

[FigmentSpark]

We have rented and parked both times. It's worth it to us to just have the van there when we get off. No fussing with shuttles. Just go. That said, I start watching for rental pricing very early in my process. I've found that within 3 months to 1 month before your trip are the best prices. Check multiple times a day. You could cut that pricing in half. In 2017, we rented from Alamo at the airport for $297 for a total of 12 days. Paying the extra $125 (I think it was then) was a no-brainer. Since we needed a car on either side of our trip, renting, returning and renting again was going to cost just as much.

My advice, keep your options open. Make a reservation but not a commitment, then, if the prices change, make a new reservation and cancel the old one. We do this with the Costco website, as it shows 4 different rental companies at once, but you do need a membership to use it.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Remember to factor in the cost to park at Disney. Cost is determined by resort level. But you're looking at somewhere in the ballpark of $100 right there, in addition to everything else.

 

[Capt_BJ]

you can cut the cost of port parking by using an off site ... typical shuttle ride is about 10 minutes

Lotsofhonor.com is $8.95/day if you qualify
Parkcruise.com is $10.95
port is $17 (including day of arrival and day of departure. )

 

[disneylove69]

I like the freedom so I do a rental, drop off at port and rent when we dock.

 

[4407mark]

Thank you everyone! Greatly appreciate the help!