One way rental car

[ChuckElias]

I know we've talked about this, but I can't find it with a search. I even looked through the FAQ under Ground Transportation, to no avail.

Which car rental company/companies will rent a car one-way from MCO to Port Canaveral. And where would you drop it off in Port Canaveral?

Thanks.

And @Disneyfalcon, while reading through the FAQ, I noticed that the old "rules" for dinner dress code are still there. Just letting you know in case you want to update it.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Thanks, Chuck! I was kind of waiting until Disney updated it on their website, but It's been reported enough I have no doubt it's true.

A bunch do! I've used Hertz, Avis and Budget. They're all in MCO and have drop off locations within 5 miles of the port. They run shuttles all morning from their office after you drop off the car.

 

[flynnibus]

How does Disney do transfers from MCO if you fly the day before your cruise?

The Disney transfer model is confusing if you are not going direct MCO->Port-MCO. @Disneyfalcon any insight you can share here?

We were toying with flying, but I don't want to fly day of, and transportation seems to be a wrench in it all if we fly the day before and want to stay in a hotel prior.. say in Cococa or elsewhere.

 

[Phonedave]

To add to the rental car - I have done one way rentals as well. All the major companies do it, and there was no additional fee. Many of the cars go back to MCO the same way, but in reverse - people drive one way from the cruise port to MCO. You can do that as well. The shuttle will pick you up at the cruise port and bring you to the rental service.

As for Disney transfers. Disney only runs transfers on the day of the cruise. Either MCO to Port or WDW to Port.

If you want to fly in early and use Disney transportation you have two options.

1) Stay at the airport, and arrange for Disney transport out of MCO the next day - Get an early time, so you arrive at the port nice and early
2) Arrive at MCO, take DME to WDW, stay at WDW and take Disney transport the next day to the port - they will pick up around noonish

If you want to stay at a hotel overnight somewhere else, then you are pretty much on your own. This is what I did last time I cruised. I arrived at MCO the day before, rented a car, drove to Cape Caneveral, stayed overnight there, returned the car the next day, and took the car rental shuttle to the port.

I can't remember if we rented a car to get back to MCO, or if we took Disney Transfers. I *think* we used the transfer service.

I can look up what hotel we stayed at - It was about 2-3 blocks south of the RonJon Surf Shop. Clean and seviceable, and a block from the beach, but nothing special. It's not as if it was full of bugs and I was afraid to use the batroom, but it was definately not a 4 or 5 star hotel either.

We had planned to go to the Space Center and "do stuff" on the day we arrived, but by the time our flight got in, and we were checked into the hotel it was around 3:00 PM so we just hung out, went to the beach a bit, ate dinner, and got up uber early to get on the ship (we were the second family into the cruise terminal that day)

-dave

 

[flynnibus]

Thanks for that Dave

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on the beach last time and it worked perfectly for our needs (slept 5 in one room, affordable, etc). We got in late, so really only looked around in the morning and went shopping before heading to the port. We drove down and just paid to park at the port rather than deal with the shuttles.

This time, I have a reservation for a hotel back on the mainland.. again sleeps 5 and under $100 http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/cocoa/coiaa/hoteldetail but just minutes from the port. Have been trying to piece together the alternatives if I flew. I wouldn't want to pay disney $200+/night just to stay at Disney.

Paying the higher port parking (7 day cruise this time) is painful... but it still seems like the least disruptive. Renting for a day seems cheaper than the transfers.. but with the added overhead of dealing with the rental.

Right now our plan is drive down day before.. crash for the night, and park at hotel or port depending on what the hotel allows. Gives us the most flexibility, and should be least stressful. Flying would be nice... but it is going to be at least $1k more expensive and lots more moving pieces.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Dave is correct. If you fly in the day before the cruise, you will have to get either to WDW or the airport to use the transfers on the day of your cruise. They won't run them the day before. Staying at the Hyatt in the airport is awesome because it's convenient and because Disney will get your bags from your room similar to when you stay on property.

 

[rani8600]

For the one way rentals to the port. Are the car places good with the shuttles? We are planning on dropping off the car early like around 930 just to give ourselves time. Do the shuttles run pretty regularly? I think we are with dollar or budget.

 

[Phonedave]

Thanks for that Dave

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on the beach last time and it worked perfectly for our needs (slept 5 in one room, affordable, etc). We got in late, so really only looked around in the morning and went shopping before heading to the port. We drove down and just paid to park at the port rather than deal with the shuttles.

This time, I have a reservation for a hotel back on the mainland.. again sleeps 5 and under $100 http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/cocoa/coiaa/hoteldetail but just minutes from the port. Have been trying to piece together the alternatives if I flew. I wouldn't want to pay disney $200+/night just to stay at Disney.

Paying the higher port parking (7 day cruise this time) is painful... but it still seems like the least disruptive. Renting for a day seems cheaper than the transfers.. but with the added overhead of dealing with the rental.

Right now our plan is drive down day before.. crash for the night, and park at hotel or port depending on what the hotel allows. Gives us the most flexibility, and should be least stressful. Flying would be nice... but it is going to be at least $1k more expensive and lots more moving pieces.

One way rental really is not THAT bad, especially if you are with two adults. I rent from National - I am an Emerald Member, get points, and a discount via work. Emerald membership is free, and when you are a member, you get to use the "emerald Isle" - you do all your paperwork before hand, and then you just go to the garage, find a car in the section marked "Emerald Isle" (what ever car you want) and drive out, when you get to the gate, you hand them your paperwork, license, and credit card and 10 minutes later you are done and on your way. It takes longer to get your luggage.

Returning the car is easy as well. But it can be a bit of a wait if many people are dropping off (which happens in the monrning on cruises)

-dave

 

[Disneyfalcon]

For the one way rentals to the port. Are the car places good with the shuttles? We are planning on dropping off the car early like around 930 just to give ourselves time. Do the shuttles run pretty regularly? I think we are with dollar or budget.

They're very good. Unless you hit someone on a bad morning, the shuttles are very regular. We've never waited long.

 

[flynnibus]

Returning the car is easy as well. But it can be a bit of a wait if many people are dropping off (which happens in the monrning on cruises)

-dave

I'm a career traveler... it's not the paperwork I'm referring to But as a career traveler what I value is stress-free. The overhead I was referring to was more along the lines of dealing with schedules due to pieces you can't control (shuttle bus schedules, etc), having to transfer luggage multiple times, more dependent pieces, etc. Basically more pieces to juggle and fit together.

 

[FlyTriPacer]

For the one way rentals to the port. Are the car places good with the shuttles? We are planning on dropping off the car early like around 930 just to give ourselves time. Do the shuttles run pretty regularly? I think we are with dollar or budget.

We just used Hertz (MCO to port) and Budget (port to WDW). We dropped the Hertz car at 0930 and were at the port by 1015 (1100 port arrival time). We waited until 1030 to get into the terminal. The day we disembarked we were at Pop by 1030, and that was with a stop at Walmart. Shuttles were running regularly when we went to/from the port. We had early seating for supper, so we were off the ship by 0730 (talked to servers a little the last morning or we'd been off a bit earlier).

 

[ChuckElias]

Has anybody used Priceline to arrange your rental? When I'm going to rent a car for a trip, I almost always use Priceline; but that's never a one-way trip. Anybody have any experience with doing a one-way rental this way?

 

[mickeysbrother]

Has anybody used Priceline to arrange your rental? When I'm going to rent a car for a trip, I almost always use Priceline; but that's never a one-way trip. Anybody have any experience with doing a one-way rental this way?

Expedia is usually pretty good just put in mco to Port canaveral sorry dont know the code for that one and dates. They will bring up all the companys in mco. Just book and enjoy. Make sure to put it for 24hour rental since thats how they operate. You can always drop it off before the 24 hour period.

 

[bow0303]

Just reserved with Dollar. Can anyone share their opinions on them? Also, I believe I read one car company should not be used at the port. Cant quite remember but think it was Avis. Am I right?

 

[ChuckElias]

Just tried this on both Expedia and Priceline, and it won't let me do a one-way to Port Canaveral. Any suggestions? Maybe I have to call one of the companies directly?

 

[bow0303]

Just tried this on both Expedia and Priceline, and it won't let me do a one-way to Port Canaveral. Any suggestions? Maybe I have to call one of the companies directly?

I tried a few places and booked with Dollar. Wanted to go with Enterprise but while they offer one way rental its showing as being sold out. I called them and they confirmed that one way rental is very limited. They suggested that I continue calling to see if anything becomes available.

 

[ChuckElias]

I finally got my act together and used Priceline to get the one-way rentals. It took me a little time to figure it out, but I got it.

It's going to cost me $93 (Budget) for the drive to the port and $124 (Thrifty) to get back. $220 is pretty good, I think, considering I won't have to pay for parking and I'll have transportation for the evening before the cruise as well. Shuttles wouldn't work well for us, and even if they did, this will be cheaper for 5 people. I'm getting excited!!!!