Port Canaveral

Hi all!! Looking for input and suggestions. My family and I will be flying in at Orlando international the day before our cruise. We are planning to take DD to Disney that day. At the moment I am thinking we get a hotel near the airport so that we may rent a car at the airport, drop my in-laws off at the hotel along with our luggage then myself, DH and DD can make our way to Disney. The next morning we would all head out and make the hour drive down to the port and hopefully we can drop the rental off somewhere near the port and shuttle the rest of the way. Does this idea make sense and can anyone confirm if there are car rental places down by the port where we can drop off the car. Please share any ideas you may have. I am totally open to anything. Thank you!

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There are several car rental agencies near the port that take one-way rentals and have shuttles to the cruise terminals.

This links to a map of rental agencies in the port area. The locations are not up to date, but they all have shuttles:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46477988&postcount=5

Here are the locations at Port Canaveral.

How are you planning to return to the airport? Most will do one-way rentals to the port then either take a shuttle back to the airport if your flight is before 2pm for example, or rent a car if a later flight so you can explore a bit while storing your luggage in the trunk.

And may I suggest that you give consideration to dropping everyone and all the luggage at the port prior to returning the rental car. Rental agencies do get crowded and shuttles can be slow. If you don't have to lug your baggage onto the shuttle there'll be less stress. Also make sure that everyone being dropped off has their boarding information so they can go ahead and at least enter the terminal while waiting on you. You can find them very easily once inside. And head for the port early so that you're not caught up in heavy traffic and maybe be able to catch a shuttle sooner.

There are several car rental agencies near the port that take one-way rentals and have shuttles to the cruise terminals.

 

This links to a map of rental agencies in the port area. The locations are not up to date, but they all have shuttles:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46477988&postcount=5

Thank you

Here are the locations at Port Canaveral.

 

How are you planning to return to the airport? Most will do one-way rentals to the port then either take a shuttle back to the airport if your flight is before 2pm for example, or rent a car if a later flight so you can explore a bit while storing your luggage in the trunk.

 

thank you much. I was guessing we would rent a car after the cruise to get back to the airport. what do you think or suggest?

thank you much. I was guessing we would rent a car after the cruise to get back to the airport. what do you think or suggest?

I would instead use a shuttle service to get back to the airport. Cortrans will shuttle you back to MCO for $20 per person. This way there's no waiting for the rental agency shuttle, waiting in line to rent the car, and time spent returning the car.

I would instead use a shuttle service to get back to the airport. Cortrans will shuttle you back to MCO for $20 per person. This way there's no waiting for the rental agency shuttle, waiting in line to rent the car, and time spent returning the car.

We used Cortrans round trip and could not have been more happy.

I would instead use a shuttle service to get back to the airport. Cortrans will shuttle you back to MCO for $20 per person. This way there's no waiting for the rental agency shuttle, waiting in line to rent the car, and time spent returning the car.

While this is a good option for a couple, OP is traveling with family and in-laws, a total of 5 people. A single day rental out of PC will cost less than $100.

Yes, with 5 people the cost of even the cheaper shuttles add up making shared shuttles simply too expensive when compared with the two private options:

Rental Car - makes 100% sense if your flight departs later in the day (say after 2pm). Considering that on a normal morning you can expect to be at the airport before 9am, what will you do all day at the airport? And what about your luggage? A rental car solves both concerns and you will probably pay less than $100 for a large vehicle.

Private Shuttle or UberXL in this case- I will not bother with a car rental if my flight departs before 1pm because it is time-consuming to get on the shuttle to the rental office and so on. And if there are delays with disembarking (fog, customs, immigration, etc) the problems and lines magnify when trying to get the car. Instead, I would opt for a private shuttle that can handle delays - note there are smaller operations with only a few cars that get into trouble when their bookings get misaligned due to delays.

So the question is: What time is your flight out of Orlando? Later is better in my opinion.

Thank you all! We haven't booked the flight yet. We would like to book a flight that departs MCO around 12pm-1pm hopefully

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Cortrans said $20 a person which doesn't seem bad at all.

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Cortrans said $20 a person which doesn't seem bad at all.

 

 

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Correct! It is a great company and they offer excellent value for money as long as you are OK with sharing a shuttle - meaning you may have to wait for others and the driver may stop at other terminals.

My line of thinking is simply this: if you are going to pay $20 x 5 = $100 for a shared shuttle, then why not shop for a private shuttle for just your family and your schedule? It will not cost much more.

Either way will work just fine - it is your decision!

While this is a good option for a couple, OP is traveling with family and in-laws, a total of 5 people. A single day rental out of PC will cost less than $100.

Maybe, however with bags, they may end up needing a minivan which might be a push.

Price may be prohibitive, but take a look at the Hyatt Regency at MCO. It is literally a walk across the terminal and (at least the last time I was there) was pretty nice. It has a pool for your in-laws and would make it very quick to get to, thus maximizing your time at Disney.

dctravel

I have been shopping for rental cars for after our trip and have noticed a price difference in one way rental from the port to the airport than picking up and dropping off at the airport. I am guessing there is a surcharge for the one way rental?

What time is your flight getting into MCO and how much time are you thinking you will have at Disney? Unless your flight is getting in really early it may not be worth the cost of one day tickets to go to Magic Kingdom. Mornings are by far the best time to be at the parks for crowd levels and wait times. Getting luggage, renting a car, dropping people off, etc. all chews into your time at the parks. Even getting to Disney from MCO, parking, tickets, security, etc. can take a good hour. A better idea might be to fly in the night before so you could take full advantage of the day at Disney.

Price may be prohibitive, but take a look at the Hyatt Regency at MCO. It is literally a walk across the terminal and (at least the last time I was there) was pretty nice. It has a pool for your in-laws and would make it very quick to get to, thus maximizing your time at Disney.

 

 

 

dctravel

Awesome! Thank you I will look into it

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I have been shopping for rental cars for after our trip and have noticed a price difference in one way rental from the port to the airport than picking up and dropping off at the airport. I am guessing there is a surcharge for the one way rental?

Yes the rental price is significantly higher from the port back to the airport. My husband and I were thinking of just using the shuttle service from the port back to the airport.

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What time is your flight getting into MCO and how much time are you thinking you will have at Disney? Unless your flight is getting in really early it may not be worth the cost of one day tickets to go to Magic Kingdom. Mornings are by far the best time to be at the parks for crowd levels and wait times. Getting luggage, renting a car, dropping people off, etc. all chews into your time at the parks. Even getting to Disney from MCO, parking, tickets, security, etc. can take a good hour. A better idea might be to fly in the night before so you could take full advantage of the day at Disney.

I haven't purchased my flight yet but the flight I have my eye on departs at 5:30am. So that should allow more than enough time as long as there are no delays.

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No such thing as "more than enough time" when talking about just a single day at WDW. ;)

Our family of 5 are looking at possibly renting a car & doing DW Post Cruise for 2 days, then getting a hotel near MCO and fly out the following morning so as not to be rushing out the morning of disembarkation, dropping rental off back at MCO and to our flights.We also plan on coming in 2 days early so we have a free day before our cruise on the Oasis next year

Thank you all so much for your help. DH and I decided it would be best to fly in on Thursday, we figured that would give us time to relax and take DD to Disney. It works out well since we have enough Hilton Honors points to cover our stay at the Doubletree. Also, thank you to those who recommended Cortrans. Jaime is really nice and advised me they do pick-ups from the Doubletree as well.

I think you're going to be happy with your decision to fly in on Thursday. Rest up and then get to Magic Kingdom (or whichever park you are going to) as early as you can on Friday morning to maximize your time. The first couple hours of the day are generally the best time to be at the park for crowds. Make sure to get your park tickets in advance so you can take advantage of FastPass+. Since you are staying offsite you will be able to make your ride reservations 30 days in advance. Enjoy your day at WDW and your cruise!

Having just departed from MCO last week, I would allow for two hours to check your bags, go through security and get to your gate. Of course having TSA Precheck would help,

This airport can be very busy with many families traveling.