magical express or car hire from airport

[mrsd08/10]

is the magical express magical enough to get on it at MCO and get car hire next day in the car center at disney?

also anyone regret hiring a car and not using the transport?

[duchy]

We decided to ditch the carhire whilst onsite so will be using the DME on arrival and picking a car up at the Dolphin at the end of our Disney stay. Part of the reason is that we changed our hotel from AKL to BWI so as two parks are now walkable and MK by car is a pain and the Disney transportation is easier however so I think it very much depends on where onsite you are staying.

[sha9]

Not for us, no. It’s just a bus although they do show a Disney video. They generally stop at more than one hotel and can take some time to get from the airport. We always just collect the car from the airport.

[YorkshireT]

Magic express for us every time. It often beats the car. This year someone was on our flight and he drove to where he was staying in Carribean Beach. We had dropped off there. He was behind us and got caught up in a bad fatal crash and didn't get to the hotel until 10, so I know we were beating car hire as we went through before the crash.
And Disney Car Care Centre every time, I used it this year and in maybe 50 car hires this is my best experience ever. It's the only way to go.
Question- do you even need a car when on site or for all of it, you can save lots of money by going the initial days car less on site.
I'm a 'drive everywhere' person but I'd stick often to using Disney transport and save the cash. I got my car this time 5 days in.
Any questions on car care center let me know, there's a few useful bits of info I would like to have known but it's brilliant.
I would never drive to MK from any hotel over the bus as you are in the car park and have to get transport to the front entrance on MK. This can quite easily take 30 mins on its own. The bus drops you off right outside. Even from Animal Kingdom the bus to MK gate was 18 mins (I times it).

[duchy]

I'd read a few grumbles about waiting for the shuttle to the car centre , as it happened the Dolphin suits us better this trip . What are the "useful bits of info"?

[sha9]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Magic express every time. It often beats the car. This year someone was on our flight and he drove to where he was staying in Carribean Beach. We had dropped off there. He was behind us and got caught up in a bad fatal crash and didn't get to the hotel until 10, so I know we were beating car hire as we went through before the crash.
And Disney Car Care Centre every time, I used it this year and in maybe 50 car hires this is my best experience ever. It's the only way to go.
Question- do you even need a car when on site or for all of it, you can save lots of money by going the initial days car less on site.
I'm a 'drive everywhere' person but I'd stick often to using Disney transport and save the cash. I got my car this time 5 days in.
Any questions on car care center let me know, there's a few useful bits of info I would like to have known but it's brilliant.

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Getting caught behind an accident is bad luck and not related to getting DME or not. Last time we got DME we sat on the bus for a while before leaving the airport, we could have gotten our hire car and been on the road.
Using a car or Disney transport is entirely personal preference. We’re moved from AKL to BWI but kept the hire car as I prefer to have it than use buses.

[Mrs Red C]

Love the Magical Express, so easy to use. Don't mind the other hotel drop offs, part of the holiday experience! Money saved on car hire for a few days can be spent on treats 😍

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by duchy

I'd read a few grumbles about waiting for the shuttle to the car centre , as it happened the Dolphin suits us better this trip . What are the "useful bits of info"?

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Few bits are:

Call them up the day before and book on the shuttle. Mine turned up at Boardwalk a few minutes early. Was only person on it.

Don't take the fuel option, bring back full. You have to drive through a Speedway forecourt to enter car return- never easier to fill up when returning a car.

To get to it, you (coming from resort hotels) drive through Magic Kingdom parking booths. This is strange, just stay left and they let you through without paying and you immediately take sliproad on left.

It was brilliant. I arrived, parked in a space, a lady said she'd have a quick look, 2 mins later gave me a receipt for nil, I got on the one of a number of mini buses and the driver set off immediately with just me on taking me to Animal Kingdom Lodge.

They also found me a Titanium Edge and were generally extremely pleasant.

In both pick up and drop off combined, I only saw one other customer.

As I was at Boardwalk when picking up (I love that hotel much better than Animal Kingdom BTW we thought) I nearly went with Dolphin car hire but I'm glad I didn't. It was hardly less convenient to get to Car Care Centre, and easier to get back to AKL (15 mins all in).
If I was taking and returning at Boardwalk I'd probably use Dolphin.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by sha9

Getting caught behind an accident is bad luck and not related to getting DME or not. Last time we got DME we sat on the bus for a while before leaving the airport, we could have gotten our hire car and been on the road.
Using a car or Disney transport is entirely personal preference. We’re moved from AKL to BWI but kept the hire car as I prefer to have it than use buses.

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The point was, he was behind us, as we missed the accident, he didn't. I appreciate it could be variable.
It's purely a personal choice but for me, not having to bother with car hire after a long flight and not having to pay for it is a big plus. But many variables. For example, if I was getting a car the next day, I'd possibly pick up at the airport instead as I wouldn't want to be faffing the next morning as I'd be in the parks.
I think a good scenario if you want a car is a good few days initially without one, then pick it up and save money as you are unlikely to need it the entire trip.
Also when the parking charges come in end of next year for non DVC Brits, that will be another big factor.

[sha9]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

The point was, he was behind us, as we missed the accident, he didn't. I appreciate it could be variable.
It's purely a personal choice but for me, not having to bother with car hire after a long flight and not having to pay for it is a big plus. But many variables. For example, if I was getting a car the next day, I'd possibly pick up at the airport instead as I wouldn't want to be faffing the next morning as I'd be in the parks.
I think a good scenario if you want a car is a good few days initially without one, then pick it up and save money as you are unlikely to need it the entire trip.
Also when the parking charges come in end of next year for non DVC Brits, that will be another big factor.

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We did that once. We had a 10 day stay at AKL booked and just got car hire for the middle 7 days to save a bit of money. I vowed never again. There are people that will swear by Disney transport, others that love Uber/Lyft and others who prefer their own hire car. There’s no right or wrong answer.

The point of the OP (and a similar one a few days ago) is the question of whether DME is anything special not to be missed and in my opinion it’s not anything special.