Need Ground Transportation Recommendations
 

All,

We are a family of four (me, wife, and two kids 9 and 5). We land in Orlando (MCO) at midnight, check into an airport hotel and then take a Disney cruise from Port Canaveral.

Question 1 - what is the best ground transportation option for us to take from Orlando airport hotel to Cruise terminal in Port Canaveral? I am debating between getting an Uber ride (have never used it before but maybe this is a good time to test?) or using Disney's Magical Express ($35/head which adds up to $140 for the four of us). Will Uber be cheaper from Hyatt Place at MCO to Port Canaveral? If we take Disney's Magical Express, we still have to take hotel shuttle or cab from hotel to MCO to get on Magical Express. I am debating if it will be cheaper and more convenient to go straight from hotel to Port Canaveral via Uber or a cab?

Question 2 - when we return to Port Canaveral after cruise, we need to head to Universal Orlando theme park. I want to avoid using Disney Magical Express as that will bring us to MCO, which seems far away from Universal Studios theme park. Is a cab or Uber the best option from cruise terminal back to Orlando area? Does Uber operate at cruise terminals?

I appreciate any words of wisdom from users here so that we can have a painless experience!

Thanks in advance!

From my reading of the Uber site, an SUV would run at around $80-$90 for this trip.

The Mears estimator http://www.mearstransportation.com/t...are-estimator/ comes up with $170 for an SUV.

It might be worth understanding if there are additional benefits in terms of less luggage handling if you take the Disney bus from the airport to the cruise port. (I don't know the answer, by the way).

For the return, bear in mind that Orlando airport is on the way between Port Canaveral and Universal Studios - going straight between the two would take you past the end of the runways.

Have you considered renting a car? I know Port Canaveral has a rental car place. Might make it easier and not be any more expensive. With 4 people and luggage you would not be dependent on waiting on buses for other people.

Renting a car is definitely a possibility.

But where will you be staying during your Universal part of the trip? If you are staying on-site, then there will be a daily parking fee added to your hotel bill (and depending on how many days you are there, it can add up.) But if you are staying off-site at a hotel with no parking fees, then given how cheap car rentals can be in Orlando, it is definitely worth looking into that option.

And even if renting a car is a little more expensive, it might be worth it to have the freedom of driving to/from where ever you want, when you want. ^

We are staying onsite (LOEWS ROYAL PACIFIC RESORT AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO) and plan to stay and eat onsite. Don't need a rental car for those reasons.

Has anyone tried using Uber for ground transportation from MCO area to Port Canaveral cruise terminal? If SUV is $60-70 then it is cheaper than Disney Magic Express bus ride.

To be honest, there might be better sites than FT to ask about this. Possibly one of the Disney fora with a cruise sub-category?

One other thing - do Universal onsite hotels really charge guests for parking???

Here is a site with a wealth of info for you:

http://www.mousesavers.com/disney-cr...ransportation/

Yes.

This is AWESOME. Thank you!

Rental Cars
 

Each of the Universal resorts has an on-site Hertz desk. In theory, you could pick up a car at the Cape Canaveral Hertz location (8963 Astronaut Blvd) and return it the same day at the Universal resort. That way, you wouldn't have to pay any parking charges. Plus, you could stop on the way and pick up snacks (if desired).

Checking a few random dates in July and August, I see that rates including tax for a one-day rental start at $131 for a compact.

The next closest rental car locations are at Alamo at Four Points Orlando (5905 International Dr) or Budget at Holiday Inn (5905 Kirkman Rd). Alamo prices out at $76 and Budget at $73. But, each location is about a mile away.

Important: The most direct route between Cape Canaveral and Universal is via State Road 528, which is a toll road. Most rental car companies charge administrative fees on top of the tolls. So, keep that in mind when factoring the final cost.

You can avoid the toll by taking State Road 50. However, that will add at least 30 minutes to the drive.

Universal parking
 

However, if you have a year pass from Universal, there is no parking costs.
I think some people might need to consider buying one year pass instead of paying $17 a day for parking especially if you are going more than once a year.

Only the Preferred and Premier Annual Passes cover parking. The Premier Pass even includes free valet/preferred parking. The cheaper Power Annual Pass does not. The Power Annual Pass is about $100 less expensive than the Preferred and about $250 less than the Premium pass.

Unless there is something you really want/need in the more expensive passes, I don't really see the need to pay extra for them. And even if you have a need (i.e. want that free parking), just getting one person the higher priced pass might work for you as well.

Also, to the car rental suggestion, there is an Avis counter at the Doubletree which is right at the entrance to Universal. I'm going to be using that option on my next trip as I can get a 24 hr rental for about $30 all-in and gives us the ability to eat and do some off-site activities for the 1st day. Then we will move over to the Royal Pacific on-site hotel to get those nice Unlimited Express passes for the rest of our stay. ^