Rental car to Disney World or ship's excursion

[Cairnmom]

We will be in Port Canaveral from 7-6pm. Thinking about renting a car and driving to Disney World for the day. Anyone try this? Are we better off doing the ships excursion? I've heard that the ships excursion drops you at the transportation center and then you have to take a bus or monorail to the park. So that is extra time and we want to arrive either before or right when the park opens. Our rental car agency opens at 7:30 am and it's a 5 minute ride from the port. Any advice?

Edited April 8, 2014 by Cairnmom

[sjcruiser]

We have been to Disney on our own, and on the ships excursions. We preferred the ships excursions, and you do get dropped at the transportation center, but it was great for those in our party who wanted to do a different park from the others. Its not that much time difference, and we saved on the gas and parking fees with cruise line, not to mention getting the shuttle to pick up the car and back. Since we'd done Disney before, we opted for the Magic Kingdom, and to mainly ride Space Mountain, and a few others, but we really wanted to take in the parade and a few shows, along with picking up some souvenirs.

[JohninDC]

We did this for a PC stop earlier this year, but visited Universal. we were off the ship about 7:30 or so (travelling with 4 women/girls :o), and were in our Avis car and driving just before 8:30 - we were at Universal just after 9:30 so add 15+ minutes if you were going to WDW (will vary slightly based upon which park you visit). We left about 3:45 and were back on the ship (free shuttle from Avis) by 5:20.

 

The rental car was under $50+gas and tickets were about $93 each -- the ship wanted $165 per person so we saved about $325 by doing this on our own. :D

[Cairnmom]

Thanks for your feedback. It is just 2 of us and we aren't so much interested in the money saving aspect as we are in getting to the park as early as possible and having more time, so considering that, I think the rental car pick-up at 7:30 might be the way to go.

[c-cruise]

We will be in Port Canaveral from 7-6pm. Thinking about renting a car and driving to Disney World for the day. Anyone try this? Are we better off doing the ships excursion? I've heard that the ships excursion drops you at the transportation center and then you have to take a bus or monorail to the park. So that is extra time and we want to arrive either before or right when the park opens. Our rental car agency opens at 7:30 am and it's a 5 minute ride from the port. Any advice?

 

If your going to Magic Kingdom then you will end up at the Transportation and Ticket Center regardless of if you rent a car or take the cruise line bus transfer.

 

Magic Kingdom typically opens at 9:00 or even 8:00 if there are extra magic hours that day for resort guests. Magic Kingdom is by far the slowest of the 4 Disney parks to get into.

 

If renting a car I would allow at least two hours from walking off the ship to walking into Magic Kingdom.

If the cruise line tours leave first thing then they will likely get you to the park sooner as you will get right on the road and won't have the slowdown of dealing with getting a rental car. The rental car locations are not at the port so you will have to take a shuttle to your agencies off site location. Plus the bus loop is right at the transportation and ticket center so you won't be parked a mile away and waiting to take the parking lot tram in.

[Cairnmom]

I still think we are going to rent a car. We plan on taking a taxi to the rental agency as soon as we exit the ship. We will save time by not waiting for a shuttle. We also will book our Disney tickets online and take advantage of Fastpass Plus where we can book our 3 FastPass tickets ahead of time which will also save time. This is the plan and we'll see how it goes!

[SunnyJenna]

Thanks for your feedback. It is just 2 of us and we aren't so much interested in the money saving aspect as we are in getting to the park as early as possible and having more time, so considering that, I think the rental car pick-up at 7:30 might be the way to go.

 

If money is not an issue, why don't you hire a taxi???? It will be the fastest and most convenient way to get there (and most expensive)!

[kdawg954]

With only 2 people, I'd really consider going with the cruise line.

 

Money wise, you won't be saving much. $329.98 on Carnival for 2 people, all transportation costs included, convenience and a guarantee of not missing your ship.

 

If you do it on your own. You are talking $228 just for tickets and parking. Leaves you around $100 to spend on rental car, possible taxi to/from port from terminal, gas. Plus you have to drive . . . and park, and have to worry about time, etc.

 

It just doesn't seem worth it to do this with only 2 people. Things have to be perfect to gain about an hour of time . . . but look at everything you need to do to gain that hour and there are certainly no guarantees it will go perfect (delays at rental agency, traffic, stop for gas, parking, speeding/accident, etc.)

 

It only is worth it when you get a family of 4 or more. Then the savings make it worth it. 2 people . . . take the cruise line excursion.

[kdawg954]

If money is not an issue, why don't you hire a taxi???? It will be the fastest and most convenient way to get there (and most expensive)!

 

This is true, if money isn't an issue, this would get you there the fastest . . . hell you could probably negotiate with the cabbie for him to stick around. $250 (tip included) for the day. He more than likely won't make that for the day and would save you over $100 in fare.

Edited April 11, 2014 by kdawg954

[Cairnmom]

We decided to go with the ships excursion. Looking forward to a fun, stress-free day in DW!!