Deciding to rent a car or not whilst on your Disney/Orlando vacation really comes down to, in our opinion, whether you’re prepared to pay for the extra flexibility that a rental car brings.
Either way, you’re going to need some transportation on your vacation:
Of course, if you’re flying into Orlando’s MCO airport you can pick up a bus, shuttle van, taxi or limo to get from the airport to your hotel’s location. You can find details of the options and the indicative rates on the Orlando International Airport website.
Disappointingly, Disney’s Magical Express, that used to provide complimentary transport for guests from Orlando airport to Walt Disney World resort hotels, is no longer offered. A similar paid-for service is available from other coach operators.
If you’re flying into Miami or Tampa airports, then you’ll definitely be renting a car, due to the 3h 30m and 1h 30m journeys to the Walt Disney World, respectively.
Similarly, if you’re renting a house in the Disney area, then you’ll want and need to rent a car because of the daily trips you’ll be making to the parks, shops, grocery stores, and other activities.
If you’re flying into Orlando and you’re staying at one of the Disney resorts, then you do have the option of skipping the car rental and relying on the Walt Disney World Bus Service to get you between the resort hotels and the parks (and Disney Springs).
This is a very comprehensive, well organised, safe bus service that runs at all of the times that you need, with rarely much of a wait or queue.
The only downside can be that sometimes a bus from your resort hotel to your destination park (or vice versa) can make other stops along the way, somewhat extending your journey! And just before park opening and just after park closing the buses can be quite busy.
Whenever we’re in the Disney/Orlando area we ALWAYS rent a car. We just love the flexibility of being able to go wherever we want, whenever we want, without waiting for a bus or booking a taxi cab.
It’s worth noting that to park your rental car in one of the Disney theme parks does cost $30 for the day. If you visit more than one theme park in a given day – perhaps one in the morning and one again in the evening – you are only charged once. So keep your first parking receipt of the day, just in case!
If you’re staying in a Disney resort hotel, then there is no charge for parking at the theme parks. So, every day that you stay at a Disney hotel and park in a Disney theme park saves you $30!
And, further good news: Disney no longer charges you for parking at one of their the hotels – unbelievably Disney used to!
So, if you are going to rent a car, then our best recommendation to help you find the best car and rental deal is to follow Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert website’s car rental booking advice here.
Generally, booking as far in advance of your vacation as possible is going to secure the best rate.
And because nowadays most of the reputable rental companies and brokers offer very good cancellation policies (i.e. no charge if you cancel up to a week in advance of your rental start), you can always re-book your car rental, and cancel your original booking, if you find a cheaper alternative before you fly.
Most of our recent can rental bookings have been through Qeeq (a car rental broker), because of their great value.
You can cancel up to 24 hours before pick-up with a 100% refund, they’ve been prompt in refunding us in the last 24 months when covid has cancelled our trips, they offer the major car rental brands, and their Price Drop Protector feature will (for some bookings) automatically rebook your reservation if the price drops by a certain amount.
We’ve had this happen a couple of times and what a great, positive surprise it’s been!
We’ll only book major car rental brands (Budget, Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, SIXT etc.) – either direct or through brokers – where we can pick up the car at the airport’s terminal. It’s too much hassle, in our opinion, to get on a shuttle bus (after you’ve been on a plane for 10 hours) and go to an off-site rental company, and maybe save £50.
Picking up rental cars in both Orlando and Miami is very straightforward.