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Old 17 Jan 18, 12:06 PM  
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DollyDimples
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1st (ish) timer questions - Car Hire or Disney Transportation?

Hello.

Planning our first family trip to Orlando for July 2019 for 21 nights.

DH and I went for 14 nights in 2005 and stayed offsite on I-Drive and DS (who will be 11 by then) hasn't been to Orlando but has been to DLP 3 times where we have stayed onsite.

We have started to get a few quotes from Virgin and Ocean Florida now that virgin flights as part of a package are available for 2019.

We are planning to book 12 nights on site at Disney (with Disney directly) as soon as the free dining offer for July 2019 becomes available. Based on prices for 2018 during the free food offer it is likely to be POR or POFQ and we would upgrade to DDP rather than just having the QSDP.

We are fairly flexible about which hotel we stay in though and will price up the cheaper end of Deluxe, Moderate with upgraded DP and Value with upgraded DP and make a judgement on which to go for a the timeof booking.

The main thing we are keen on is having the DDP to know that we have mostly paid for food (we know there will be extras and tips for TS meals) and also the 60 FP+. The room will only be used as a base and we are not likely to spend much pool time at the hotel.

The plan at the moment is to allow 2 full day for each of the parks (one for rope drop and the other for fireworks and Keeping our fingers crossed that Star Wars might be open by then?) and visit a waterpark every third day to allow a later start, less time on our feet etc. On Water park days we will probably book a TS dinner at Disney Springs or other disney hotel but for park days we will be trying to have out TS meal booked for the park we are visiting that day and we will not change park during the day.

After Disney we will move to I-Drive area (looking at 1 bed apartments at Vista Cay, Sheraton Vistana Village but no firm decision yet). We intend to do Kennedy, 3 days of Universal/IoA, Volcano Bay,Seaworld, Busch Gardens & Aquatica.

My main query at the moment is how good is the Disney Transportation and will we waste valuable park time waiting on buses rather than having a car or does the walk from the car parks tend to offset that?

Should we hire a car to collect at the airport to have for the full 21 days or should we just arrange to pick up the car after our first 11 days so that it is there for leaving Disney the next morning? We will insure the car for both myself and DH to drive and it doesn't bother us if we can't drink alcohol.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 01:09 PM  
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duchy
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I wouldn't bother with the car from the airport . Getting off a long haul flight and straight onto unfamiliar roads can be a bit daunting so you may as well save your money and use the free Magic Express. You can pick your car up at Disney a few days later and drop it at the airport.
A lot will depend on where you stay as to how usefula car would be but for both early morning starts and late returns (buses get mega busy back to the resorts after the fireworks) as you have free parking as Disney guest it would be handy. Maybe cost up the difference between having the car from day 3 of your holiday versus day 12 and see what the cost difference would be ? Another consideration might be if you like a drink in the evenings as you'd be paying for a car to sit at the hotel whilst you use the bus or uber .

Edited at 01:11 PM.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 01:45 PM  
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DollyDimples
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Originally Posted by duchy View Post
I wouldn't bother with the car from the airport . Getting off a long haul flight and straight onto unfamiliar roads can be a bit daunting so you may as well save your money and use the free Magic Express. You can pick your car up at Disney a few days later and drop it at the airport.
A lot will depend on where you stay as to how usefula car would be but for both early morning starts and late returns (buses get mega busy back to the resorts after the fireworks) as you have free parking as Disney guest it would be handy. Maybe cost up the difference between having the car from day 3 of your holiday versus day 12 and see what the cost difference would be ? Another consideration might be if you like a drink in the evenings as you'd be paying for a car to sit at the hotel whilst you use the bus or uber .
Thank you for a reply.

Not fussed about both of us being able to drink. so that isn't an issue.

Most likely to stay at POR or POFQ based on what we have seen so far.

Chances are that it would be either very first thing on half of the days and late after fireworks on the other half of the days that we would be looking to use the buses.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 01:55 PM  
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RobertWestwood
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I would agree that it would be easier for you to get the Magical Express but its probably worth having the car after that even just in case your plans change and you want to, say go shopping.

Never stayed on site but the crush of people heading towards Disney transport after the parks have closed has always made me think that I would prefer to have my own car to head off to rather than queue for or be part of the crush in the buses.

One thing to watch out for if pricing holidays with Virgin is that usually their quote will not include all the insurances you need for the car

Generally (but not always) you will find it cheaper to price up the car separately and not take the so called free car offered.

Head over to the car hire forum where there are loads of dibbers with good advice on that
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Old 17 Jan 18, 02:00 PM  
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DollyDimples
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Thank you.

Think we will stick with the original plan. Price with Virgin was with full insurance package (an extra £500ish) but will have a look through the car hire forum to get a good idea of prices.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 03:33 PM  
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Originally Posted by RobertWestwood View Post
Never stayed on site but the crush of people heading towards Disney transport after the parks have closed has always made me think that I would prefer to have my own car to head off to rather than queue for or be part of the crush in the buses.
I'd be more worried about the much larger crush of people heading towards the car park after the parks have closed (especially all those folk heading for the monorail and ferry at MK) and also the queues to get out of the car park. There are more offsite guests than onsite guests, plus some onsite guests will use their car and not Disney transport.

Car hire provides the convenience to allow you to go where you want, when you want, whilst carrying what you want - although it does cost extra. If the OP was staying purely onsite, I'd say that Disney transport - together with the occassional Uber, Lyft or Mears taxi - would be a better and cheaper option. As they are staying offsite on I-Drive in the latter half of their holiday, then I'd say that a hire car for this latter portion would be a good idea to consider.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 03:49 PM  
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jdouds
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Hi we have stayed onsite 5/6 times and always have a car mainly for trip to Walmart, shopping , golf etc. DDP book when free ddp is available. Transport to parks with Disney is very good and generally drops you beside entrance so need for people movers after you park. Have a look at okw or ssr both good. Ssr easier for Disney springs, OKW biggest rooms onsite , our favourite. Okw 1 bed and full kitchen good for snacks drinks , quick breakfast

Edited at 03:52 PM.
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Old 17 Jan 18, 07:39 PM  
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unixgirl
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I'm staying onsite. Flying into MCO and getting DME to SSR, then pick up the car the next day and have it for the rest of the holiday. I got really frustrated using the transport last year before I picked up my car.
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