slippahs

Going to WDW in May without a rental car and will be staying 2 nights at the Safari and 5 at the Dolphin. Booked the R/T to/from MCO on Tiffany's Towncar service after reading stellar reviews here, but am wondering about the hotel-to-hotel transfer between the Safari and the Dolphin. Tiffany's Towncar is quoting a $30 price for a hotel-to-hotel transfer, but I'm unsure what a cab fare between the two hotels would be, nor which of the two would be a better option.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Mary2e

Take it from me.... RENT A CAR. The cost is not that much and you will most likely use it. Seriously. A car for 5 days will run you under $200 (maybe much under). I don't know how much the towncar service will cost, but it can't be all that much less.

I wouldn't think of going to WDW without a car... after all, there are plenty of other places to go in the event you don't want to actually go into a park, or if the weather is so-so. We always save a few hours for the outlets.

toomanybooks

Totally agree with Mary2e. We always rent a car, for the same reasons. Time is serious money at WDW. Figure out what you are spending per waking hour.

Plus you can run to Sam's Club or Costco or whatever so as not to pay $10 for a six-pack of beer and to have a decent selection of wine, among other things.

Orlando is a cheap place to rent a car. At some times of year, we've paid as little as $12 daily for a midsize. No, I don't know how they do it. And you get miles/points!

If you want to drop it off for a few days and rerent, Swan/Dolphin has a rental office.

slippahs

We've been looking for a car rental and did the math. It'd come out to over $400 for the rental + parking fees at the Swan/Dolphin. Seems the convention that's taking place during our vacationing week in Orlando has wiped the car rentals and hotel rooms clean.

We're set with Tiffany Towncars at $125 total for the airport transfer and the transfer between hotels. But, for seven days total (an actual six at the park), would a car rental really justify an addition $275?

Mary2e sent me a very detailed PM, and I sincerely thank her for that, which has got me on this rampage with the car rental agencies. Am looking in to it further... Maybe PL would be the best option in this case.

Mary2e

From my perspective, the $275 is well worth it considering the amount of time you're spending and the places you're staying - but you already know that .

Keep on trying, you never know if the rates drop. There may be specials one week before you go. For your time frame I would expect to see some. MCO is often on the list. PL just may be your best way to go, but don't do it just yet.

chowder

I have never taken a cab or car service between WDW and MCO, nor within WDW, though I have seen the airport shuttle counters displaying cheap fares, and seen cabs in WDW.

The only way I would even consider your plan is if time is of little importance for the duration of your trip, and if you never intend on leaving WDW.

Just this past wkend my friend rented a midsize at MCO (not at terminal) via PL for 15++ from Hertz. There are always conventions in Orlando. Hertz location is gigantic. Something tells me they couldn't possibly run out of cars there alone.

I would recommend a car if dining/other-theme-parks/shopping are a priority of yours, as lots of great stuff can be found off WDW property, including Sand Lake or Int'l Drive dining, Universal's Islands of Adventure (great rides), or even a peek at Celebration (change of pace).

I only went to the parks 1 day this trip, basically to ride Everest, and did an easy and efficient 3 park, 9hr "highlights" loop. This is not possible w/o a car (bear in mind there's a parking hit at each theme park if you don't have a season pass holder with you). At night, they stop charging for theme park parking, and you can drive in conveniently (say after a nap or dinner) just to see laser-fireworks at Epcot, for example.

Assuming Safari doesn't charge for parking (being LBV), and Dolphin charges ~10, and assuming both have free shuttle/bus service to all-things WDW, it still might be worth stashing your car at Downtown Disney or similar for free, and bussing from there.

Even when I go to eat at hotel property restaurants, such as BlueZoo in yours, hotel parking for diners is free. I'd recommend this strategy to eat at Boma at the Animal Kindgom Lodge (and check out the animals on nightvision) and definitely recommend it for the California Grill atop the Contemporary Resort during Magic Kingdom fireworks ~9-10.

On the chance you haven't been to WDW before, you can orient yourself here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/propertymap.htm
Safari is to the right of #19.

Gas is about 2.60/gal there now (3$ across from the Hertz yikes -- don't worry, it's not captive). Ironically, gas is cheaper at WDW than in greater Orlando (there's a good story behind this).

For you, the only annoyance I can even think of about driving is paying those silly <1$ tolls on the Bee Line to/from MCO.

Have fun, slippahs. Thx for the help with Hawaii.

slippahs

chowder, Mary2e and toomanybooks, mahalo for the detailed comments and suggestions! Am still looking in to that car rental, but will keep you posted.

FWIW, is there anyone out there that spent 6 days at WDW without a car? Would like to hear a firsthand account on the difficulties of getting around, should I not be able to convince my SO of the car rental.

mkt

WDW itself is fairly easy to get around without a car. It's quite possibly the only part of Orlando with decent public transportation. The only catch is you're stuck with everyone else who is using WDW transportation during their stays, and you're not free to do things at your own schedule. WDW is pretty easy to get around, also being quite possibly the only part of Orlando with decent signage tellin people where to go.

Mary2e

No, none of us would consider it .

Seriously, I know of 1 family who went for 5 days without a car. They have a 7 & 5 year old and planned to spend the entire time in the Magic Kingdom with a stop in MGM studios for one day. They also stayed at the Caribbean Beach resort. They say they were perfectly fine without a car, but their vacation goals were to do nothing but the 2 parks and the pools at their hotel. In other words, they had no intention of leaving the property - and they didn't.

I will admit to going ONCE and not renting a car. It was for 4 days, we stayed at the Polynesian and planned not to leave the property and stick to the Magic Kingdom & Epcot only. Animal Kingdom wasn't even opened at that time. It wasn't so inconvenient, but that was because of where we stayed. We had far more transportation options than you will have at the Dolphin (monorail, small boat launch or buses) and never had to wait for a bus. This was before Universal was even open and the outlets were just being built.

So, I will say that I would go without the car for a short trip in which I'm staying at a conveniently located hotel in which I don't only have 1 means of transportation available to me. In other words - you don't fit those qualifications.

slippahs

Alright, I got the picture... car rental it is.

I used some stackable coupons with National to find a rate at $217 +$40 parking at the Dolphin. Perfect.

Mary2e

I knew we could convince you

toomanybooks

Plenty of people do it and seem to love the WDW bus/boat transportation. Good places to look for info are www.disboards.com, www.mousesavers.com, and the various Yahoogroups.

Scott in LA

Just so the other side is represented-- I never rent a car when I go to WDW. I think it's really a matter of what you want to do while you're there. If you're staying at a Disney hotel, and don't plan on leaving the property, there's no need to. Transportation to/from the airport is now free, transportation within WDW is free and convenient, and you get that extra vacation benefit of not having to worry about driving anywhere.

Of course, if you plan on doing other things in Orlando, or are staying at an off-property hotel, a car might make more sense. I never do either of those things, though, so I don't even consider it.

This is one of those issues that's clearly a matter of personal preference, probably bordering on religious-like zealotry. I've been with friends who insist on having a car, even though they're staying on property--I think it's more hassle (and cost) than it's worth, but to each his own. I've also been with friends who drive down, so they have a "free" car at their disposal, and yet take Disney transportation everywhere--clearly, they enjoy the benefit of not having to drive while there.

If you choose to rent a car, great--but just know, it's not required.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I have stayed at the WDW Hilton and the Swan without a car ( at the hilton beside downtown disney there is a hourly/half hourly serivce to the parks)

At the Swan/Dolphin there are the disney buses and you can walk to MGM/Epcot and the Boardwalk.

As long as you are happy relying on the buses/walking and staying within Disney you can get by without a car for your stay.

Regards

TBS

slippahs

Thanks for the replies. After reading through disboards.com and considering the info posted here, it looks like a compromise between the two alternatives will be made.

Car rental for the first few days while we're at the Safari.

Then, return the car at the Dolphin, slow the vacation down a bit and enjoy the parks along with the WDW transportation.

This seems to be the best balance between price, flexibility and comfort.

Will report back after trip.