Offsite with no hire car

[Sully]

Hi all,

Looking for any experience of anyone who has stayed off site in a villa in the 192 vicinity (formosa gardens/indian creek/emerald island area) and have not hired a vehicle for their stay.

We have stayed in this area twice before and found it very convenient but both times we were sharing with another family and we hired a 8 seater vehicle to accommodate us all.

Our accommodation is booked but we have yet to book car hire. We have noticed a marked increase in car hire costs since our last visit and this, coupled with the recently announced increase in parking costs at disney is making us question if there is a viable alternative for our next visit.

For this next visit we will be travelling as a group of 4 and spending most of our time at disney parks, with one overnight stay at a universal resort hotel.

I have calculated out that with a 14 day car hire cost at £375 + the $25 per day car parking cost this would average out at $60 per day budget to equate to the same total spend in transport. Having looked at the fare estimator tool on the lyft app I am finding that the costs of return journeys to the parks are likely to be less than this amount. Obviously we would need to factor in additional journeys to supermarkets etc and our airport transfers..

I'm interested in gaining feedback from anyone who has recently stayed in a villa location and who have not hired a car for their stay - how did you find it? How did the costs balance out? And most importantly, would you recommend this approach?

We have found driving easy enough during our previous stays so we are not adverse to getting a car, in fact we have already contacted Florida Transport to enquire about their Next Day Car Hire Service which we found to be fantastic during our last stay, but the recent announcement of the parking hike got me thinking if there is an alternative before we commit to the NDCH service from Florida Transport, particularly with the introduction and rise in popularity of Uber/lyft since our last stay.

Part of me thinks we have nothing to lose as if we try using lyft/uber and find it doesn't work for us am sure we will be able to hire a car for part of our stay once we are there but interested in any pearls of wisdom we can gather!

Thanks in advance.

[coggie]

Personally I'd always have a car as it offers me flexibility but if you find it a lot cheaper just using taxis then go for it. I'm guessing you've factored in to and from the airport in your calculations

[Sunset girl]

A few people I know that have been to Florida recently haven’t bothered getting a car they have just ubered their way around !

[Minnie18]

We went for the first time this year and found Uber to be great. We are planning on staying in a villa next year and just using uber as we done the same as you costing up a car hire =uber and for us Uber comes out much cheaper.

[bighal]

There is no way we would stay in a villa without a car. I know its possible but having to depend on waiting for a car to turn to go anywhere puts us right off, our time is more valuable than the small potential savings. There is also the option of having a smaller car..

[pad406]

Originally Posted by bighal

our time is more valuable than the small potential savings.

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100% agree with this.

[mick]

Originally Posted by pad406

100% agree with this.

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200% agree with this.


The 47 square miles of WDW is fantastic. We like to see the other 65,700 square miles of Florida though - where we like, when we like and to be able to change our minds 50 times when we're out.

Mick

[pad406]

Originally Posted by mick

200% agree with this.


The 47 square miles of WDW is fantastic. We like to see the other 65,700 square miles of Florida though - where we like, when we like and to be able to change our minds 50 times when we're out.

Mick

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Lol, and Mick doesn't (or at least shouldn't) get lost 50 times like the rest of us

[mick]

Originally Posted by pad406

Lol, and Mick doesn't (or at least shouldn't) get lost 50 times like the rest of us

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Struggled a bit in Frostproof and Zolfo Springs once on the back way home from AMI but thankfully Joan had loaded "Here we go" on to her iPhone for such eventualities.

Mick

[RickT]

A car for a villa stay is a must, forgetting about park parking prices, having the car there is so much easier for example, nipping out for lunch, evening meal, walmart quick trips for items you forgot to get, nipping out for a takeaway once kids in bed, nipping again to walmart enroute to a park...

You also run the risk of having limited number of UBER drivers in the area where you are staying and then no one turning up for 30/40 minutes..

its each to their own, but i wont stay in a villa with no car.