How essential is a hire car?

Ohanaa · 16 Jul 21, 09:42 PM

First time booking Disney world.

I think Iv got most things mapped out but We would like to hire a car as our youngest son (8) has severe autism and isn’t very good at waiting...So shuttles/buses could be a pain... but I’m concerned how much it will cost to park it at the hotels overnight for the whole stay and the parks if we have to take it.

Plan is 2 weeks onsite at Disney.
Then 1 week staying in AVentura universal.

Doing 13 parks. 6 Disney, 3 universal, 3 at sea world and discovery cove.

First 10 days ish staying in the Disney resorts.
Then do the 3 sea world days & discovery cove in the middle.
Universal at the end of the stay.

Approx it’s £20 a day ish to park the car at the hotels overnight from what Iv read. Disney is $15-$25 and aventura is similar.

So £400 ish.

I know we need it to get to seaworld, Busch, aquatica & discovery cove.

Will we need it to get to many of the other parks?

Sorry if this has been asked before. Paying for parking isn’t something I thought about and Iv just realised!

Orlandoguy · 16 Jul 21, 10:19 PM

A car is most definitely not essential however the pros outweigh the cons to not having a car

Ohanaa · 16 Jul 21, 10:35 PM

You are probably right.

We can afford the £400+ parking but I just didn’t factor it in on top of the actual hire car price.

For some reason I didn’t think you would have to pay to park the car at the hotel you have already paid for. Silly me.

**2point** · 16 Jul 21, 11:08 PM

Having a car you can eat off site at a fraction of the cost. That will offset much of the parking charges.

DonnaD · 16 Jul 21, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by Ohanaa

You are probably right.

We can afford the £400+ parking but I just didn’t factor it in on top of the actual hire car price.

For some reason I didn’t think you would have to pay to park the car at the hotel you have already paid for. Silly me.

You won't have to pay to park at the Disney parks while you are staying at one of their hotels. The Disney Water Parks have free parking for everyone.

While at Aventura, you won't need your car to get to any of the 3 parks as it wouldn't save you any time and you would end up walking further. Just get the boat from Sapphire Falls next door and you don't have to trek through Citywalk to the theme parks. For Volcano Bay it must be a short walk as it is very close.

As the parent of an 18 year old with moderate autism, I think your plans might be a bit too ambitious though. I would struggle to do all those park days without any children to worry about. I would save the Sea World Parks for a future trip. You would have no problem keeping busy at Disney parks for two full weeks. You would then only need a car at Disney to save the hassles of traveling by bus and give you a bigger choice of restaurants. You could easily skip the car for your week at Universal as Citywalk is so close for meals. You would also be a short UBER ride from numerous offfsite restaurants for more choice. We just stayed there for 5 days with friends and I never moved my car. I do use it when we stay at Disney as it is so much more spread out.

**cornishfrogboy** · 16 Jul 21, 11:21 PM

The key question is whether you intend paying through the nose to eat in Disney whilst staying within their empire. The savings of eating off site are huge, but you would need a car to do this. It is either rather difficult to get off the Disney area without a car using public transport or expensive, should you use taxis. If you have a car for this phase, then you will pay £20 a day to even keep it on site.. plus of course, the car hire fee.

I would be tempted to stay off site and hire a car if I intended doing all three ‘empires’. A really good solution is to hire a car and use Lake Buena Vista Village resort and Spa at around £150 a night for a 3 bedroom self catering.. and where parking is free, so you would only pay for parking when driving in to Disney. It thus enables you to either drive or to use the courtesy shuttle if it suits. We generally eat a cold continental breakfast of Orange Juice, Bread Rolls, ham, cheese tomato etc and then take a picnic including very cold juice (to cool the back pack), into the parks, much preferring this to Burgers, Pizzas, Dogs and fries with Soda at $12 a pop in the parks. We always eat out at night.

LBV (or similar) also is very close to D.C., SW and AQ, where parking is free if you have purchased a D.C. ultimate (swim or non swim). It is also sufficiently close to Disney, that if in block 5 and your room points in the right direction, you can see the Epcot fireworks from your balcony. In this way, you can mix your Disney days and SW type days into each other and if your boy has ‘needs’, you can easily return to the accommodation to chill out in no time at all (once you get to your car).

I would then drive to your Universal phase, making it just 3 days, dumping your car on arrival to save on Car Hire, Parking etc.

I would get a taxi or Uber to MCO for departure.

I know that there are departures from your plan, but in some ways, they may make sense, give you a better standard of accommodation and also give you an escape from what can be a rather overwhelming experience of theme, theme, theme from getting up until going to bed. It is imho, better to dip in and out… particularly with the stated Autism of your boy.

Best car hire deals? I would be surprised if ‘Andy’ at discount Florida car hire (DFCH) does not give the best deal. His after sale service is raved about on the DIBB, particularly in very recent, Covid times. Andy will also give abundant advice, even if he fails to ‘close the deal’. It is generally best to try a direct approach by phone as his phone price will generally beat that on the web site.

Hope it helps.

Warkman58 · 17 Jul 21, 11:31 AM

Don’t forget the Magical Express will not run from 1st January 2022 so yiu will need to get to and from the airport also

Ohanaa · 17 Jul 21, 08:11 PM

Thanks everyone. My partner realllllly wants to stay on site as it’s our first time going and possibly only time as we like to visit different places.

I think we will defo opt for a car for the first 14-17 days and drop it back when we just have universal left.

We can get a Uber back to the airport.

We plan to do a couple
Of sit down meals at Disney (Ohana if character dining comes back, topolinos for breakfast and possibly another) but not eat in Disney every night. Probably eat a cold breakfast in our room (Walmart delivery of cereal, pastries, fruit etc) Take snacks and do some quick dining or whatever it’s called in the day.
We are not huge eaters and there is no way I could eat two full sit down meals a day.
My daughter also really wants to try some of the normal
American dining after hearing different places named on YouTube videos over the years! Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Cheesecake Factory etc.

I think we will get the hire car and suck up the costs!

I thought we had to pay at the parks so that’s a bonus I wasn’t expecting.

My daughter will think any American snack from Walmart is amazing as she’s not had it before so I don’t be limited to only buying the Disney themed park treats.