|
Car Hire & Transportation Discuss the best way of getting around Florida. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Display Modes |
16 Jan 20, 07:54 PM |
#1
|
|
Trying for More Ears
|
Full Size SUV rental - DIBB Tips Summary
Hi all,
Firstly, as a long time reader, first time poster, thank you all for the help you've shared! The DIBB is a wonderfully friendly place, and you regular contributors in the Car Hire section are a great font of knowledge. Hugely excited for our first ever Orlando holiday in April with the Disney-mad gf and her family in tow. Particularly thrilled about the full size SUV I've booked as I love driving something big and new with lots of toys. Honestly I'm almost more excited about the car than the rest of the holiday combined! We went for a full size suv because we're staying "off-site" in the in-law's private hire villa three nights, then before the arguments start we're moving to Disney's All Star Music resort for the remaining seven nights. Their villa isn't far and I'm planning to do a bit of ferrying to and fro to make use of our free Disney park parking when we're staying on Disney property for the 7 nights, particularly when me and lady will have been up early using our extra magic hours, then can drive over for lunch and wiz over to a park with the kids in the afternoon. The point of this long post is because I wanted to summarise the DIBB advice I have used and noted so far on the car rental front, partly in case anyone else found it useful, and so that the experts could let me know if I've misunderstood or missed anything. Here we go..
I think that's everything I've learned from the great DIBB encyclopaedia so far... sorry for the long post, I hope people find this useful rather than irritating, and please let me know if you think I've missed anything or could plan to do things better. I will update this thread as I learn more! Oh and of course, if anyone has been or is renting a car through Alamo MCO in early 2020, please let us know what Full Size SUV's you've seen in the row...! Best, G
__________________
Edited at 05:11 PM. |
|
|
16 Jan 20, 08:31 PM |
#2
|
Getting Excited
|
We didn’t have a visitor toll pass when we were there in 2018 because they weren’t a thing then. Alamo toll service is the cheapest of the car hire toll services so you might decide it’s easier not to bother/display your tourist status.
|
16 Jan 20, 08:38 PM |
#3
|
VIP Dibber
|
Welcome to the DIBB and, as you say, most of us regular contributors to the car sub-forum are a helpful bunch.
In 36 trips to Florida we've not spent a single night in a WDW hotel and we've not been to a park since 2010. So you won't see me ever contributing to either the hotels or parks threads as I have absolutely minimal current knowledge. We have however hired a car on every visit and maybe driven in excess of 50,000 miles so I do pop on to this forum now and again We love the 47 square miles that WDW has to offer but now tend to explore the other 65,700 square miles of Florida. You certainly seemed to have got most of the car hire stuff covered and I can only make one or two minor comments. Not sure how you did OLCI through the US site but all you need is the bar code. Absolutely no need to do the second separate STC process. The only card Alamo are interested in is the one they swipe at the barrier. They have no interest in how you paid. You can go to either garage A or B at MCO. Done OLCI seven times in last 4 years and never done that process involving having two tabs open The VTP process took us less than 5 minutes and don't forget that MCO handles over 800 flights a day and only a handful are from the UK. So the vast majority of "tourists" using it are American. We only use satnav when we go off the beaten track and maybe use "Here we go" on Joan's mobile once every visit. Free and doesn't use data if you download maps before you go. If I remember anything else I'll post again Mick
__________________
Edited at 09:03 PM. |
16 Jan 20, 08:43 PM |
#4
|
|
Imagineer
Join Date: May 03
|
Echoing the above - I have no idea what a Toll Pass is. On every Alamo hire we've had including the two we had in 2019 - I've just always driven through the auto tolls (ie not stopped at the cash lane).
Alamo then charge my card, but it's never been much at all. Just querying this bit also... "we're staying in a villa with the fam for three nights, then before the arguments start we're moving to an All Star resort for the remaining seven nights. The villa isn't far and I'm planning to do a bit of ferrying to and fro to make use of our free Disney park parking" ...I'm not sure what you're trying to say there. We stay on site so it's been a long time since we've had theme park parking to pay for, but if I'm reading you correctly, I'm not sure why you think you'll get free parking when you're staying in a villa. Only those staying onsite when they visit the theme parks with a car will get free parking. Maybe I've misunderstood what you are saying there, but I thought I'd flag it just in case. |
|
|
16 Jan 20, 08:49 PM |
#5
|
Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 09
Location: Lincoln
|
We visit next month and are hiring a full size SUV. I fully intend on taking pictures for the appropriate thread so I'll try to update here.
We've (I've!) also gone for the Visitor Toll Pass. It looks cheaper than Alamo's default offering so that's always a bonus
__________________
Been: Boston (2023), Los Angeles (1998); New York (2023), Orlando (2010, 2014 and 2020); Philadelphia (2023), San Francisco (1998); Washington DC (2001 and 2023) |
16 Jan 20, 08:57 PM |
#6
|
VIP Dibber
|
The VTP is certainly cheaper than any car company's Sunpass scheme.
The current VTP trial period is totally admin fee free and some tolls are actually cheaper. For instance we were charged 52 cents leaving the 417 at j3 onto the Osceola and the "pay cash" rate is $1. Alamo is the best of the Sunpass schemes and their daily charge is $3.95 per USAGE day with a maximum for the period of $19.75 Mick
__________________
|
16 Jan 20, 09:08 PM |
#7
|
VIP Dibber
|
G
If you post what villa community you're staying in I'll happily offer some directional advice if it's in the Davenport area. If you look on Google Maps you'll see that MCO is surrounded by a gyratory road system. MCO is split into two sides A and B and is basically a symmetrical mirror image with car hire garages both sides. We always collect at B for two reasons. Firstly it's nearest to gates 70-99 APM 4 where all direct flights from the UK land. Secondly our car is on auto-pilot on to the 417 south which you access very close to leaving garage B Mick
__________________
|
16 Jan 20, 09:19 PM |
#8
|
|
Thread Starter
Trying for More Ears
|
Sorry Bozza, I didn't write that bit very clearly - we are staying off-site with family in their private hire villa for three nights, then staying on Disney property for the remaining 7 nights of the trip. So for the last week we will have free park parking as we are staying on the Disney all star music resort. At least, thats what I've understood we can do. And granted we will be paying for overnight parking each night at Disney All Star Music.
As for toll pass, interesting reading both schools of thought. I totally get the convenience of letting Alamo deal with it all, but for me the Visitor Toll Pass wins with no admin charge or daily fees compared to the Alamo Sunpass. Saves the cost of a few drinks or a meal And Mick I believe the in-laws have hired a villa in Crystal Cove Resort, Kissimmee...? Google maps and Apple maps are both giving me three route options depending on what time of day I look...
__________________
Edited at 11:04 PM. |
|
|
16 Jan 20, 09:26 PM |
#9
|
VIP Dibber
|
Crystal Cove is a new one to me I'm afraid. We always stay at Highgate Park which is west of Disney on the US27. I would recommend the 417 option rather than the 528/I-4 though. After a long tiring flight the 417 has maybe 20% of the traffic of the Interstate.
Mick
__________________
|
16 Jan 20, 09:42 PM |
#10
|
|
Imagineer
|
We stayed on Crystal Cove Resort on Poinciana Blvd on our 2017 trip - it's a very nice resort - but at times the traffic and junctions can be busy - you can choose either to go to the 192, Osceola Parkway or the i4 - we were there in July so it was very busy.
That year I had a Full Size SUV booked through BA Avis, but they never had any and I had to make do with a 7 seat van. 2018 for our East Coast road trip I had a Dodge Journey. This March we are arriving and picking up in Atlanta - have now changed my booking several times, went down to Std 7 seat SUV with DFCH and hertz, 17 nights £614, but changed today for Alamo Full Size for £635 - mainly as tolls with Alamo are cheaper. Hope you get a nice motor, and I picked up a few things from the thread - can you go up the Full Size SUV line and tell them the vehicle you want?
__________________
2016 SoCal Road Trip (Trip Report), 2017 Crystal Cove Villa, 2018 US East Coast Road Trip 2011 Highgrove Villa 2014 Calabria Villa 2015 West Coast Road Trip (Trip Report) 2006 West Stoneridge Villa, 2007 Windwood Bay Villa 1997 Airtours, 1999 BA Best Western LBV, 2001 Westridge Villa, 2005 Westridge Villa (Trip Report) |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
DIBB Savings |
AttractionTickets.com
Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10 Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS |
theDIBB Blog |
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »
|
theDIBB Menu |
Exchange Rates |
US Dollar Rates
Euro Rates |
DIBB Premium Membership |
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership? Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as... "No adverts on theDIBB Forums" Upgrade Now |